Sonic the Hedgehog comic writer on what makes Sonic so enduring
Because he's cool, damnit!
Sonic the Hedgehog has been part of pop culture for over 30 years now. From the original game launched in 1991 all the way up to Sonic's new movie in just a few weeks, Sonic has never been far from the public eye. That goes for Sonic's comics as well. The current run of IDW Sonic the Hedgehog comics is coming up on its 50th issue, which is a milestone well worth celebrating.
Ian Flynn is the writer on the current Sonic the Hedgehog comic series, so he's very well versed in the blue blur. In an interview with Comicbook.com, Flynn was asked how Sonic has managed to stay at the forefront of pop culture for decades on end. You can see his response below.
He's just cool, he's accessible. You look at the fandom and how many permutations they do on just the core element, how many different franchises they transplant Sonic into and he fits surprisingly well. Sonic is just this brilliantly designed character that is simple and elegant and can be modified to give us this crazy cast of characters that we've gotten. The story is inherently simple and charming, but it has enough nuance to it that you can really spin it into something more complex. It's just this really beautifully designed bit of weirdness. I say this, because you know, you step back and you look, it's a blue cartoon animal man, who fights a fat dude with robots. Where's the appeal, where's the universal audience for that? But it works! Something about it just works.
[Comicbook.com]
Yeah...too bad the games say otherwise...