Egmont Fleetway’s ‘Sonic the Comic’ may have been dead for nearly a decade, but it still has its die-hard fans. It would seem some of those fans are alive and well within SEGA – to celebrate today’s anniversary of Saturn racer Sonic R, the company has kept things appropriately British by enlisting the help of STC artist Rich Elson to design some new artwork.
Sonic the Comic was an incredible officially-licensed book that saw writers and artists – usually known for their work on the incredibly grim and gory 2000AD – try their hand at building an expanded universe for SEGA’s colourful Mega Drive mascot. Needless to say, it was a sure-fire success, offering story arcs that expertly referenced key moments in the 16-bit games while ensuring that plotlines did not talk down to the kids reading the comic.
Sonic R is also a product of British creativity, being one of two key Sonic the Hedgehog titles developed for the SEGA Saturn console. Crafted by Travellers’ Tales (now a studio best known for its work on the LEGO series of games), Sonic R was a short but sweet racing title that saw Sonic and pals dart around intricately-designed courses, gathering rings and Chaos Emeralds along the way.
We’re big fans of Sonic R, Traveller’s Tales, Sonic the Comic AND Richard Elson (who is widely regarded as one of the iconic artists behind the UK comic) so this throwback by SEGA’s retro platform SEGA Forever really warms our hearts. You can see a full-size version of the piece below.
Sonic R is actually a decent game if I’m being honest. But it’s not a game I’d play all the time.
Being a UK Sonic fan, I still miss the incredible stories and characters from this comic.
OMG!! Sonic R is one of my favorite Sonic games (more for the music and characters then anything else) and I really enjoyed STC! So seeing one of the STC artist celebrating R’s anniversary like this is a real treat to my eyes.^^
I love this picture it makes me miss Sonic the comic so much. Why can’t they re-release them as collection books?
I have so many fond memory’s of Sonic the comic and Sonic R. I at one point thought Sonic R was a STC game because of metal knux appearing in it lol oh how silly of me XD
Sonic R is one of those games that I can recognize as objectively terrible, but that got its hooks into me at an impressionable young age such that I still love it. Terrible controls, wildly unbalanced characters, but I can’t help but think it’s bizarrely charming despite it all. The absolutely jammin’ soundtrack probably helps that a lot.
Three words.
Bring! It! Back!
(Yes I am painfully aware of the current Sonic racing games, but I think this one would have soo much potential)
Sonic R, to me, is an underrated game that doesn’t deserve the hate it gets. I would happily play this game again over the Riders series any day of the week. The fact they are celebrating its 23rd Anniversary by having Richard Elson commission this art piece is really nice.
Speaking of which, seeing Elson’s artwork brings back fond memories of STC. He clearly still has it in him. In fact, I wouldn’t mind seeing him come back and do some work on the IDW Sonic comicbook series. If that ever happens, it would put a really big smile on my face.