Though he’s marketed to a younger audience these days from his prime years, Sonic the Hedgehog has had various continuities and separate canons, almost as much as some domain characters and all with their own unique spin. Some have been comical and slapstick heavy like Sonic Boom and Adventures of Sonic, some darker along the lines of the ABC show Sonic SatAM, and some like Sonic Underground which we will not discuss any further because I’m getting nauseous just typing it.
Ghosts Of The Future, a fan-web comic by official Archie Sonic artist Evan Stanley, is on the more serious end of the scale, but certainly not devoid of fun. A mash-up of various next-gen hedgehog game plots, it’s produced independently from the blue speedster’s primary handlers, so she gets to flex her creative muscle without interference.
There’s an early chapter where Sonic, now a spectral time traveler after donning a magical medallion given to him by Tikal the Echidna, peers back in time to one of the zones from the first game and reminisces on the loss of his comrades Tails, Knuckles and Amy. Oddly enough, Sonic’s official bio claims he “dislikes tears”, no doubt a nod to the cool and confident demeanor Sega strives to maintain with him.
But instead of his usual relative stoicism, the Sonic of GOTF drops to his knees and weeps for his friends in one of the comic’s more moving moments. It might just be because of the infamy of his home company’s mandate, but it often gives fans pause in a positive way whenever he gets a well done dramatic scene.
The majority of the story is seen through the perspective of Silver, cast as a homeschooled teenager working at a San Francisco restaurant with his family. Sonic, feeling like a ghost, travels two hundred years in the future to get his aid in retrieving the Chaos Emeralds he hid away from Dr. Eggman in alternate dimensions during their last battle, hoping Silver’s dormant telekinetic abilities will turn the tide.
Unfortunately, it’s danger Silver hates the most. He’s reluctant to abandon his sense of normalcy and is mainly focused on courting Blaze the Cat, retconned as one of his neighbors. However, for him it’s no use (seewhatIdidthere?) resisting the call to action, and alongside Sonic and Shadow he’s soon roped into gem hunting, sometimes encountering alternate versions of his friends inside the various zones.
You don’t necessarily have to be a Sega nerd or even a gamer to enjoy this comic. Stanley does a nice job briefly building up Sonic and Silver’s respective worlds before jumping into the action, so while there’s plenty of shout outs and Easter eggs for the Sonic faithful, it’s not to where the uninitiated would feel too lost. While Stanley obviously enjoys giving the cast plenty of ordeals, the humor does become more prevalent as the story progresses- though not to where the events lose meaning.
Her characterization is also very enjoyable. Shadow hasn’t lost any of his bellicosity even while working as an everyday San Fran security guard, which leads to some of the funnier moments. Sonic strikes a nice balance between wisecracking and the appropriate amount of heroism, and Silver is as endearing as he’s ever been. The new characters that make up his family are probably the most well done Sonic OC’s ever (Vinnie is adorable) and the high quality artwork is a major reason why. Stanley has a great eye for background detail without it being too distracting, and her anatomy and expressions rapidly improve as the comic goes on.
Wait, since when was Silver manager for the St. Louis Cardina- oh.
Even though Archie’s been taking more risks with both their Sonic books and their company philosophy in general, I think Ghosts Of The Future is also a good example of what creators can do with a major children’s franchise free of excessive influence. It’s a somewhat more mature take on the character, and yet it doesn’t sacrifice his essence. Click here to check it out, or this time he might just disappear.