Over the past few years, Archie Comics has been doing a spectacular job of re-issuing old Sonic comics via compilation books. Not only do they help recent fans catch up on the series’ long (and often obtuse and confusing) history, each book sports new cover art exclusive to the collections.
Archie has sent me the covers of five books that won’t see release until spring of 2013. Sonic Universe 4 collects the “Journey to the East” mini-series from the Sonic Universe spin-off; Sonic Saga Series 2 collects issues #168-172 of the main series, starring the team of Super Sonic, Super Shadow, and Turbo Tails; and Sonic Select 7 collects the “Princess Sally” mini-series, plus Knuckles #29 and Sonic #222.
But my favorite covers belong to Sonic the Hedgehog Archives 20 (Sonic #75-78) and Knuckles the Echidna Archives 4 (Knuckles #16-21). Compared to the scattered nature of the other Sonic compilations, the Archives are straightforward collections that follow the comic’s chronology to the letter. Best of all, Archive covers typically emulate the style of the original Japanese Mega Drive art. Kinda makes you wish the entire comic looked like that, no?
