Sonic the Hedgehog 30th Anniversary Special

Sonic the Hedgehog (2018) (Single Issues)

by Gale Galligan, Justin McElroy, Travis McElroy

After 30 years of going fast, it’s time for fans to celebrate the speediest hedgehog of all time! It’s an unbelievable birthday celebration for Sonic the Hedgehog with his first Classic Sonic special! First, in “Seasons of Chaos” by longtime Sonic scribe Ian Flynn and artists Aaron Hammerstrom & Reggie Graham, Sonic goes on an adventure from pleasant spring valleys to wintry wonderlands in search of the Chaos Emeralds. But Sonic’s not alone, with a little help from his friends Miles “Tails” Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, Mighty the Armadillo, and Ray the Flying Squirrel, they’ll race, fight, and fly their way to victory against the baddest of baddies! Then, in “Dr. Eggman’s Birthday,” the vile, villainous Dr. Eggman takes center stage in a story written by New York Times bestseller Gale Galligan (The Babysitters Club)! And how does the bad doctor celebrate the occasion? Only his Badniks know for sure... Finally, in "Sonic Learns to Drive," Sonic's up against a tough challenge: Driving! When the fastest thing alive can outrun any car, will Sonic have the patience to learn... or will he finally get left in the dust? Written by the hosts of My Brother, My Brother, and Me, The Adventure Zone, and New York Times bestsellers, the McElroy Brothers! Grab a slice of chili dog cake and don’t get left in the dust on the most way past cool book of the year!

Genres: Comics, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Childrens, Ebooks, Video Games, Science Fiction

83 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 23, 2021

About the author

Gale Galligan is a New York Times bestselling cartoonist and shrimp chip enthusiast. They’re known for their four BABY-SITTERS CLUB graphic novel adaptations. You can also spot them in The Claudia Kishi Club, a wonderful short documentary on Netflix.

Gale holds an MFA in Sequential Art from the Savannah College of Art and Design. When they aren’t making comics, Gale enjoys knitting, reading, and spending time with their roomies: Lemon the leopard gecko, rabbits Dipper and Penny, Patrick the husband, and Robin the child. They live in Rockland County, New York.

Reviews

[dylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

this makes me wanna buy and play sonic mania so bad ☹️ sonic learns how to drive is so cute. he’s so silly n adorable. i wanna eat him. him forgetting it was the 12th??? he’s just like me fr!!

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Catch up with sonic the hedgehog.

Idw comics freebie for fcbd. Suitable for all ages. Good color artwork. For the 30th anniversary they cover a lot of side characters like Amy Rose and Tails. Also cover are villains like starline and eggman. Basically a sales tool though.

[John Schoen-McCullough · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is meant to get people to buy the comics because there’s a whole story that just recaps everything that has happened in the run up till this came out lol. The story about Amy making comics out of the adventures of Team Sonic was fun! The art is super nice and colorful.

[Bekah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This oversized issue is great for anyone that just wants to have a fun read and a good time. The issue itself is broken up into three stories, with the first (Seasons of Chaos) comprising about 3/4ths the book and the final two (Sonic Learns to Drive and Dr. Eggman's Birthday) finish up the piece.

Seasons of Chaos is an ensemble cast adventure that uses pretty much anyone that showed up in the classic Sonic games or in Sonic Mania. It reads tonally similar to the old Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon in its jovial presentation, though a little better defined story-wise. The characters are split into roughly four teams of three and are all trying to find the Chaos Emeralds for various reasons before finally coming together at the end. Finally, the environments the characters go through correlate to spring, summer, fall, and winter, in that order, and the visual presentation of that is both beautiful and subtle.

Sonic Learns to Drive is a cute, short story that goes pretty much exactly how you think it does.

Finally, Dr. Eggman's Birthday is a vignette where Eggman is dreading his robots throwing him a birthday party, only to find out that they decided to try and get him a more practical gift this time; Sonic's defeat. Cute, silly, and short.

[Biblioiz]

Idk what possessed me to borrow this on Libby, but it was very nostalgic to me, especially since when I was little, I was OBSESSED with Sonic the Hedgehog, specifically Amy Rose. After seeing the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie, I rediscovered my love for the franchise and been trying to heal my inner child since I felt different from everyone when I was little (typical low support needs autistic experience 😁). Now I'm using this as motivation to get back into running!!

For the actual book itself, the art was beautifully simplistic, tribute to the retro golden age of Sonic videogames. Every character had their moment to shine in the first story. The second story made me laugh (I never thought about Sonic driving), and the last two were really sweet (Dr. Eggman's birthday and Amy Rose writing stories). The fourth story I would've loved when I was younger, since I loved Amy and was drawing comic fanfics before I knew fanfiction even existed. This took me 30 min to read. It was a nice quick read on the road.

[Fai · Rating 5 out of 5]

You don't need to be caught up with the rest of the comic, this guy stands all on their own and it's fantastic. Not to discredit the ongoing comic, it's fantastic and I read the new issue every month, but reading 5-ish years worth of comic to be fully in the loop can be daunting for most people. If you're not looking for a tonne of commitment and you love these characters this is a great read. The stories are very sweet, it's fun for kids and has a bunch of delightful easter eggs to spot if you're a long-time fan.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would be beyond down for a second Sonic the Hedgehog IDW run if it was set in this classic Sonic world, this was a lot of fun. The main series has been pretty alright, but it's really dark and brooding sometimes. This was just genuine feel good stories start to end. I'm a big fan of when heroes are baaaasically friends with their enemies, like this iteration of Sonic and Eggman. Eggmans birthday was so special to me lol.

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect standalone anthology that hits all the right notes of Sonic's history. It sits proudly on my bookshelf and is subject to revisits often enough. I always say that IDW Sonic stories are written with more care, consdieration adn consistency than the games, and even for a irregardless special edition, the same applies.

[Alistair Pyke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly nostalgic with a few little Easter eggs in the artwork that I wasn't expecting. The three stories are basic and can be understood by all ages, but still enjoyable even for those of us who have been around for all 30 of Sonic's years.

[لوك النباتي Luke Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

قصص مصورة طريفة و مضحكة للقنفذ سونيك مع اصدقائه 😍
جداً استمتعت بمغامرات القنفذ الأزرق سونيك و اصدقائه
الرسومات جدا لطيفة حبيت جودة الرسومات و جودة الالوان كانت جودة عالية جدا
قرأت الكتاب مجاناً على الكيندل اللامحدود

[Killian Majere · Rating 5 out of 5]

This contained three different stories that were all very fun to read. Excellent art work, unique stories and references both to Sonic's history in games and comics.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super fun. Manages to channel the spirit of the 90s cartoons using the art style of the Japanese posters.

When you read the text, you hear Jaleel White.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

*read during Dewey's Summer Reverse Readathon 2021*

[Carol Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

We love sonic

Maxi age 4:

What an awesome comic book! My favorite was the story about sonic and his friends finding the gems! I loved the action and the punches ‘kerpow’!

[Bryan Variell · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a fun read

It's a good read. One which casual comic readers and fans of Sonic can enjoy. I can recommend this book.

[Meghan Linton · Rating 5 out of 5]

read

Read read read read read read read read read read read read read read read read read read read read please just go ahead and read

[heather tyler]

Cool

Amazing storyline and all the story was really interesting and all around coolest things in the story

Thank u sonic

[Shadoko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read.

Nothing as. complex like the mainline IDW comics, but it does it job on giving you a fun story featuring Classic Sonic and friends.

[Emmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great artwork and a really fun set of stories. It was great setting to see the classic Sonic cast drawn in classic style. All in all, one of the best Sonic comics I've read, if not the best.

[Grace Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely adorable. classic Eggman is delightful.

[Dawn L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute art and LOL 😁

Seriously funny 😁 and I love the art it's so cute 😍. I sped run through it!!! Would definitely reread again!

[Jared Morar · Rating 5 out of 5]

im biased but i love this because like sonic go weeee

[Alexander · Rating 1 out of 5]

McElroys in the credits should have been a clear red flag, don't know how I missed that.

[Roberto Diaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good example of a FREE comic

It gives you a story in the universe it wants to dive you into, and use comic format to put you uo to date in the story it wants you to start reading next, you can stay with it or you can continue with the new arcs or get the details on the story put in front of you with the past collected editions (advertised in this book) so is a win win for the customer.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish for more!!!!

Love sonic the hedgehog band I love these books but I just wish more where free and I love the art as well plz make more books and many make books on the movies!!!! Anyways love these book and wish to get more soon!!!

[Blake Herondale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creo que me hice spoiler de todos los otros cómics jajaj

[Aremu Mohammed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nice art

The art is very amazing and so as the story line I love ahead movies comics and tv shows thank you Sega for these 30 years

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great addition to this Anniversary special. This was super sweet and reconfirms that I want this series.

[Grace Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

adorable art, adorable story. Amy Rose, I love you.