Tracy Yardley! – The Sonic Stadium

IDW has revealed their line-up of Sonic comics for August, and it’s a doozy: the month will see the release of two jumbo-sized Sonic one-shots, plus the monthly comic’s 64th issue, which’ll be all about Sonic.

First, we have a special issue about Sonic’s “900th” adventure, which appears to be commemorating Sonic’s 900th issue of sequential storytelling, including all the comics and manga released over the decades (which you can read about here, FYI, though I really need to add Sonic Adventures & fix some typ-os). Check out the solicit below:

Saving the world is a piece of cake when you’re a speedy blue hedgehog. And Sonic is about to go on his 900th world-saving adventure! Sonic and his friends are playing a game of hot potato! Only the potato is the Warp Topaz, and it could warp the whole world into oblivion! The gang is passing off the Warp Topaz in a relarace to get rid of it once and for all.

The story will retail for $5.99 and feature contributions from “various” writers and artists. Amongst the writers, Ian Flynn has confirmed he’s writing the comic’s bookend framing device. Daniel Barnes (Scrapnik Island) and Aaron Hammerstrom have also been confirmed. Aaron Hammerstrom will also be penciling his story, and Mauro Fonseca will also be penciling a story. Nathalie Fourdraine and Reggie Graham have both been confirmed for colors, and Rik Mack will be handling some of the issue’s inks.

The comic will also have seven different covers, all from pretty notable Sonic comic artists. Easily the most surprising (and most familiar, for our older British readers) is legendary Sonic the Comic artist Richard Elson. His cover was not among the ones shown today, unfortunately.

In addition to elson, we’ve got other legendary Sonic artists such as Tracy Yardley!, Jon Gray, Yuji Uekawa, Adam Bryce Thomas, Evan Stanley, and Nathalie Fourdraine. You can check out Uekawa’s (B) ,Thomas’ (D), and Fourdraine’s (retail incentive) covers below:

Next, we have “Sonic the Hedgehog Endless Summer,” which is part of a larger line of IDW one-shots of summer-centered stories featuring other characters including My Little Pony, TMNT, and Dungeons and Dragons.

We’re bringing you an endless summer with everyone’s favorite characters in four unique one-shots! Wave goodbye to the office and say hello to the beach! Sonic drags Jewel on a well-deserved beach day to spend time with her besties, Tangle and Whisper! But when they all settle in for some rest and relaxation…they realize the Babylon Rogues had the same idea… at the same beach. The only way to settle this is with a totally tubular beach showdown!

The issue will feature writing by Gale Galligan and art by Tracy Yardley! and retail for $7.99. It will also feature three covers from Tracy Yardley! (cover A), Jack Lawerence and Reggie Graham (cover B), and Natalie Haines (retail incentive cover). There will also be a coloring book version of Yardley’s cover. You can check out all of these covers below:

Finally, we have issue 64, which’ll be a special Silver-centered issue featuring two stories. The story is part of a larger story arc about the villain Mimic infiltrating the Diamond Cutters. This will, oddly enough, be the second time Silver has attempted to weed out a potential traitor in a Sonic comic.

This issue is all about Silver the Hedgehog! First, he’s incredibly suspicious of the Diamond Cutter’s new member and he jumps to a conclusion that leads him to some hasty accusations. Awkwardness ensues. Then, Blaze comforts Silver as they bond over being away from home and in Sonic’s world.

The comic will retail for $3.99 and feature writing from Evan Stanley, who is writing the comic’s main story, and Ian Flynn, who will be writing the back up. It will also feature interior art by Aarom Hammerstrom and Evan Stanley, as well as three covers from Jack Lawerence (A), Jennifer Hernandez (B), and Nathalie Fourdraine (retail incentive). Check them out below:

Although these comics are all currently scheduled for August, this could change in the future, as IDW has been known to delay comics. Stay tuned for future IDW Sonic updates!

This year is a year of anniversaries for Sonic in more ways then one, because not only is the franchise itself turning 30, but Ian Flynn’s first published Sonic work, Archie Sonic #160, turns 15. This means that Flynn has now been writing comics for roughly half of the franchise’s entire lifespan, and the time between his first comic, and his next IDW story arc starting later this year, is roughly the same amount of time as between Sonic 1 and Sonic 2006. Yes, that makes folks like myself who remember when they picked up #160 feel rather old!

Since his debut, Ian Flynn has written well over 200 Sonic comics across five ongoing series, alongside a selection of mini-series and one-shots, as well as a couple of Sonic Boom episodes. This gives him the largest body of work of any Sonic writer.

Flynn had been applying for years to the Sonic comic before he was finally brought on. Both he and artist Tracy Yardley! were given a chance to work on the comic by then-editor of the book, Mike Pellerito. Yardley debuted a bit earlier than Flynn in Sonic X #5. Their first story, “See Ya Later Chao,” was written and drawn in 2005, though wouldn’t make it into the book until years later. Though initially not brought on in that capacity, Ian Flynn soon became the head writer of the Archie Sonic book, writing the bulk of the stories from his debut issue on.

Flynn and Yardley!’s debut story, “Birthday Bash,” was a two-part storyline that turned “Evil Sonic” into Scourge the Hedgehog, briefly brought back old school Archie badniks Octobot and Crocbot as a strange fused monstrosity, and also introduced fan favorites Bean the Duck and Bark the Polar Bear as money-grubbing mercs for hire. This duo’s opening chapter would be the first of many, as Yardley became a fairly consistent presence in the Archie books for years. Both Flynn and Yardley would hone their craft over time, introducing bigger and better stories with better art.

On a more personal note, 160 was my big jumping-back-on point for the comics, after dropping them twice in the past. I never dropped them again after this. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Flynn and Yardley significantly redefined how the comics looked and read for the rest of their run. As someone who loved their work, and thought they only got better with time, I was quite content with that.

What are your experiences with Ian Flynn and Tracy Yardley!’s work? Did you pick up #160? Have you ever read that or any other part of Flynn’s Archie run? Let us know in the comments!

I’ve got at least one article in the work about Ian Flynn’s Archie run, in commemoration of this anniversary, so stay tuned for that!

Unfortunately, it does not appear that issue #160 has been reprinted in any capacity, but other Flynn stories from #162 onward were reprinted in the Sonic Sagas collection, which can still be found on Amazon.

Special Note: Tracy Yardley!’s pen name ends with an exclamation point. I thought it fitting to include it here.

IDW Releasing Two Sonic One Shots, Plus a Silver-Centric Issue This August

Ian Flynn’s First Sonic Comic Turns 15 Today