Sonic the Comic (or STC as it is known to many) was the official, British-born SEGA comic that saw life on the shelves of newsagents between the early nineties and the early noughties. The comic chronicled a unique universe based around the Sonic the Hedgehog video games, and several other SEGA franchises including Streets of Rage and Revenge of the Shinobi to name but a few. Fronted by the comic’s mascot Megadroid (depicted in various iterations as being built of parts of SEGA consoles), it saw publication on a fortnightly basis, and contained a variety of other content such as reader artwork and letters, as well as reports on other contemporary events and video games.

Although the comic was discontinued in 2002, the artwork and stories had a resonating effect with many readers, who have continued the comic in an online incarnation as Sonic the Comic - Online. The comic still continues to garner interest to present day, with many stories featured in the comic being cited by fans as some of the best written across all of the many universes of Sonic the Hedgehog.

SONIC THE COMIC CON is a day-long celebration of the UK’s Sonic the Comic and its online continuation: Sonic the Comic Online.

We think it is about time Sonic the Comic had its own special day to commemorate its life over the 21 years! We want to do this by creating a very special event that will showcase the many aspects of what made this comic so memorable, and what has kept it going as a fan creation to date. We already have a day planned full of great events:

• Meet & Greet with Special Guests: Over the past few weeks and months we have been talking with many of the artists and writers who brought Sonic the Comic to life! We look forward to being able to announce the attendance of these guests at Sonic the Comic Con in the near future!
• Art Classes and Tutorials: Our special guests have very kindly agreed to give attendees an opportunity to learn the tricks of the trade! These special sessions will be held throughout the day, to give budding artists a fantastic chance to learn from the best!
• Competitions: We hope you will bring your skills along on the day and enter the art and writing contests, and show off your STC-inspired works! We also hope to be able to offer some very special prizes too!
• Original Works: A range of original hand-drawn, hand-painted original covers and pages will be on display throughout the day, so you can come and lay your eyes on the incredible work that went into their creation. 
• Q&A Sessions: Our special guests will be talking about some of their fond memories of working on the comic, as well as answering your burning questions!

But of course, STCC won’t just be about the activities taking place throughout the day! We’ve made sure we have a venue with plenty of space for attendees to socialise, relax, and reminisce about their favourite STC works. We will also be in the company of many of the writers and artists of Sonic the Comic Online, so we promise the day will be a true family reunion of both generations!

What better place to celebrate the history of an iconic British comic, than in the historic and picturesque city of York!

York is situated in an ideal location and is easily accessible by train from both the north and the south of the United Kingdom via several main lines.

Our venue of choice is the beautiful grade 1 listed Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, which lies in the heart of the city centre! The venue has capacity for 180 attendees, and two versatile halls to hold the convention in. The Hall is a 10 minute walk from the station, and is situated next to the Piccadilly bus stop.

York is an extremely popular tourist destination! If you are planning on staying over for the weekend, there is plenty of choice when it comes to accommodation, entertainment and attractions.

Introducing those behind the creation of SONIC THE COMIC CON...

Michael Corker
(Founder & Editor In Chief of Sonic the Comic, Co-organiser of Sonic the Comic Con)

“A little over 20 years ago I visited the local newsagent after school and there I found something that would change my life: Sonic the Comic! I had already been entranced by the games and now to be able to read further adventures of my favourite characters every fortnight? It was a revelation and for the next seven years I continued to be thrilled as some inspirational writers and artists took Sonic and the gang from the Floating Island to the Special Zone, from Planet Drak to the Ancient Past and beyond! Writers like Nigel Kitching and Lew Stringer along with artists Richard Elson, Nigel Dobbyn and many more had a huge impact on my formative years and I knew that one day I wanted to write and draw for Sonic too.

STC unfortunately ran its final new story in 2000 (the conclusion of a belting ten part epic by mainstays Nigel Kitching and Richard Elson) and the comic became completely reprints. By this point a Yahoo!Group had connected fans from around the world (including Nigel Kitching who would drop in on discussions!) and we simply weren't satisfied with the comic ending, so a small group of us set about bringing the comic back, only this time: online!

It took us a while, but on the tenth anniversary of the comic’s birth, we launched the online version…eleven years later we are still going strong! We've worked with so many incredibly talented artists (many of which unsurprisingly now also work professionally), who have transformed great scripts from equally talented writers in to something special.

Many ex-STC ‘alumni’ are now involved, most notably for the comic's 20th last year which saw Nigels Kitching and Dobbyn team up with me (still find that one hard to believe!) for a touching celebratory tale that SEGA saw fit to print and distribute to all attendees at the 2013 Summer of Sonic convention. Eleven years (fourteen if you count when we first started!), 55 releases, over 50,000 readers and a dream come true later, I think it's about time we got together to celebrate Sonic the Comic in the style it deserves, don't you?” 

Michael Stephenson (Editor In Chief of Sonic the Comic, Co-organiser of Sonic the Comic Con)

"I may have only started reading STC from issue 2, but that hasn't stopped me from becoming the world's biggest fan of Sonic the Comic (I have five copies of issue 1 now anyway)! I spent my youth reading and re-reading STC stories, copying and tracing the art, making up my own strips and going through huge quantities of my parents' office paper. Things carried on this way until the comic ended at issue 223, as I was leaving comprehensive school, shattering my dream of working for Sonic the Comic.

I scoured the internet looking for anyone who read Sonic the Comic during the final years, and as it turned out, there were quite a few fans still out there! Soon after, Sonic the Comic Online was launched, and I wasted no time in applying for an artist position. I began my time at STCO by submitting little graphics and pin-up images now and again, and before long I was part of the family. I’ve been part of the team now for the last decade and I’ve loved being part of the Sonic the Hedgehog fan community throughout. I’ve forged some amazing friendships with the fans, the staff and even the original creators of Sonic the Comic (getting birthday wishes from my childhood heroes still makes me smile).

Since its inception, writers, artists and readers have joined us from all over the world, making Sonic the Comic online truly international; it really is something amazing to be part of! I wish I could go back in time and tell and tell 10 year-old me all about Sonic the Comic Online…I’m sure he’d be excited about it, and I’m sure he’d be even more excited about Sonic the Comic Con and our involvement in it! I can’t wait for the event, and I hope all of you aspiring artists of the future can’t wait either!"

Adam Tuff
(Editor In Chief at Sonic Stadium, Co-organiser of Summer of Sonic, Sonic the Comic Con)

“I was, and still am, astounded by how enduring the characters and stories of the many fantasy universes are, and what an impression they have made on such a large group of people.

Back in 2008 I was fortunate enough to be involved in the creation of the Summer of Sonic, a convention that celebrated all things Sonic-themed and we were over the moon when Nigel Kitching agreed to join us for what would be the first of many successful events. It was obvious that a large proportion of those in attendance had grown up reading the stories Nigel had worked on, and he was swamped by enthusiastic fans for the duration of the day! Nigel was joined by other former colleagues Nigel Dobbyn and Ferran Rodriguez over the following years, and the enthusiasm from fans to meet these artists only seemed to grow exponentially. Last year we were able to publish a new issue of Sonic the Comic as a free gift to attendees of the convention, and it went down a storm; five years on, and more than a decade since the last time the comic had seen print, STC still meant a lot to the fans.

Over the years those involved in running Sonic the Comic Online have also become an integral part of the team backstage at Summer of Sonic, and their passion for the comic seemed to only be exceeded by their artistic capability judging from the calibre of art they had on display. In lieu of Summer of Sonic’s hiatus this year, I suggested the concept to the STCO staff of a “mini” Sonic the Comic themed convention, and the feasibility of a crowd-funded convention. From that point on, ideas began to flow thick and fast. A couple of months (and many, many emails later!) the idea had crystallised into Sonic the Comic Con.

This event promises to offer something very special, and I hope it will provide a very unique opportunity to rejoice once again in a celebration of one of the great eras of British comic writing. I hope many of you will come join us in celebrating too!”

Why does Sonic the Comic Con need funding?

Organising a convention can be an expensive business! However, we want to make Sonic the Comic Con an event totally created by the fans, for the fans! We are making 0% profit on this event, and all those involved are volunteers. This means that 100% of all funding raised will go directly into fueling the event - the more we raise, the more fantastic a convention we can create! Here are some of the initial costs of the event:

• Hall Hire: The most important requirement! Reaching our initial goal would mean we can cover the total cost of the rent of the venue for the day, and gives us full access to the facilities.
• Equipment costs: We’ll need to hire items such as projectors and screens, a PA system and furniture for the venue, in order to host the various activities we have planned for the day. These costs also cover other items such as stationary for those who want to draw, and things like hall decorations.
• Guest expenses: Our special guests are giving up their time to come and talk to you, the fans, and so we wish to be able cover their travel, accommodation and subsistence costs as a thank you! Reaching our goal will enable us to cover these for several of our planned special guests.

How will we raise the funds?

Through Kickstarter, of course! We're aiming to cover our basic expenses from backers alone; our initial goal is very realistic, and we’re sure there are enough STC enthusiasts who would love to make this day happen. The event will be purely invitation only, exclusively to those generous enough to pledge to our Kickstarter cause!

We aren’t just offering invitations to the event however; we have a whole host of awesome bonuses to those who donate very generously; check them out!

In order to reach our goal for this project, we’ve come up with some excellent incentives for those who become patrons of our cause! These include:

• Event invitations: We want you guys to be part of this fantastic day! Many of our backer rewards include an invite to join us on the 26th of October; the only way to attend Sonic the Comic Con is to help us make it happen!
  
• Event Wristbands: A super-awesome STCC band for every attendee at the event! 
• T-Shirts: We have a fantastic shirt* with artwork from Richard Elson to give to those who donate generously!
  
• Artwork by the artists: For those who really help us towards our goal, we have some amazing pieces of hand-drawn artwork by the original artists, created especially for the event! A truly special memento of the day to keep forever! 

We also have grand plans for another fantastic event freebie which we plan to make as a stretch goal target...but you guys will have to help us get past our first target so we can make this dream a reality!

Thank you for taking the time to read this Kickstarter page! We are really excited about what we have in store for the event, and we hope we can far exceed our initial targets in order to fund some of the other great ideas we have lined up.

 

Hope to see you on October the 26th!