Sonic & His Mysterious Manga Menagerie.

[Mike Arcade]

Sonic has gone through a lot of incarnations throughout the years and yet while made in Japan, never really took off well no matter what Sega did, however that's not to say they didn't try, as there is one incarnation rarely mentioned but not well archived, that being obviously (aside from the Sonic Novels) the Sonic Mangas. Now when it comes to Sonic and that popular format of comics known as Mangas, there are 3 known main incarnations, one being the promo Manga for the first Sonic game, one being made post Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, then of course there are the stories of Nicky Parlouzer and Sonic.

http://sonic.wikia.com/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_Story_Comic
http://sonic.wikia.com/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_(manga)
http://sonic.wikia.com/wiki/Dash_%26_Spin;_Super_Fast_Sonic!!

*Warning: Sonic the Hedgehog Story Comic contains Strong Language*
In these links here, particularly with the first link, the comic is translated into English, and oddly enough contains some strong language as the end result of the translation. The Story Comic is an adaption of Sonic 1 and is meant to promote the first game, similar to the effect of the American Sonic Promo Comic. It's quite odd and surreal and you have human girls with fake animal ears and noses, Scrap Brain for example has it's beta name Clock Work Zone even! It's interesting to see how they marked Sonic's debut in Japan.

Dash and Spin is a Gag Manga, made around 2003 post Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, there isn't really a story and it's just completely nuts with crazy expressions and jokes that don't translate well honestly, as far as I know only 1 or 2 stories of Volume 1 are translated into English though I might be wrong, I looked into this one the least honestly.

Now the 2nd and most well known of the obscure Sonic Mangas are the ones with Nicky Parlouzer, an alter ego for Sonic the Hedgehog whose identity as Sonic is unknown even to himself. Most famously enough Amy Rose and Charmy Bee made their debut in these Mangas albeit in a completely different way then how they ended up translated to the games. This gave Sonic somewhat of an origin story aside from the Mary Garnet Story (which was actually told at the end of the Story Comic, and brought back for the 10th Anniversary SA2 Collectors Edition), in one story Nicky asks his dad Paulie who Sonic is and tells him that Sonic once saved his life, not only that but the person that found him safe after the plane crash was his future wife Brenda, giving Sonic a possible Mystical Origin, as vague as it is.

You also have Eggman under the name Dogman in public, Parents for Nicky along with a sister (Sister Sonic? XP), a bully that tries to go out with Amy, all having misadventures with Nerdy, Shy Nicky trying to believe himself only to end up turning into Sonic and saving the day, having no idea he was the one who turned into Sonic. There are rumored to be around 10 or so stories minus 2 known Special Books as listed on the 2nd link, and even then it's not known or confirmed if that's true, there could be more or less even, that's how obscure the mangas are, somehow more obscure then the Novels.

The Mangas do not deserve to be forgotten, they should be archived and yet they have been withheld to those who found them and translated to English, while the translated have been down for years, the only evidence of the Nicky Parlouzer stories are those put up on Youtube. Spin and Dash only has a few stories translated into english, and thankfully a full translation of the Story Comic is available on the Sonic Wikia. However the Original Scans of all these Mangas have not been seen in a long time...

This I feel is something to be rectified, if you or anyone you know have the original scans please let us know, we can't let these Sonic Stories die off as they answer some long lost questions and possible origin stories to Sonic the Hedgehog, until then please post your thoughts and possible leads as we hope and shall discover this fascinating history of Sonic, and remember to believe in yourself like Nicky!

[TheRedStranger]

I gave this a fresher title. I can't wait to hear people's thoughts on this - it seems like quite a diverse collection. 

[Ishapar]

From what I see in your post, I wonder if the first manga helped influence the OVA movie.

[Mike Arcade]

NICKY PARLOUZER LIVES!!!

HUGE update guys, on another fan site I found the lost English Translated issues of the Nicky Parlouzer Stories, at least the only ones that I know that are available anyway, a few pages of the original Sonic Story Comic, and an apparently complete translation of the first Dash & Spin Sonic Manga. This is big guys, so much so that I'm going to share the folder of what I just got. I hope to not only get the Original Issues of these stories but upon doing so hope to one day have a translation of our own for everyone's reading enjoyment and in turn basically revive this lost SoJ Manga Canon through those translations, for now though thanks to those who translated these issues long ago and those who brought them back from the brink I give you all The Sonic Mangas...so far.

Enjoy guys, and for many of you experience for the first time ever The Long Lost Saga of Sonic the Hedgehog

Dash_&_Spin;_Super_Fast_Sonic!!_1.cbz

Dr. Eggman's Challenge 1.cbz

Dr. Eggman's Challenge 2.cbz

Sonic the Hedgehog (Corocoro Special) 1.cbz

Sonic the Hedgehog (Corocoro Special) 2.cbz

Sonic the Hedgehog (Corocoro Special) 3.cbz

Sonic the Hedgehog (Corocoro Special) 4.cbz

Sonic the Hedgehog (Shogaku Gonensei) 2.cbz

Sonic the Hedgehog (Shogaku Gonensei) 3.cbz

Sonic the Hedgehog (Shogaku Gonensei) 1.cbz

Sonic the Hedgehog (Shogaku Ninensei) 1.cbz

Sonic the Hedgehog (Shogaku Ninensei) 2.cbz

Sonic the Hedgehog Book.cbz

[TheRedStranger]

I am considering doing a WWYD/Recon thread & favorite thread for these mangas. Would you guys like that? Is it generating interest enough for that?

[Mike Arcade]

I for one would love to see that happen as these continuities from the Mangas are hardly explored or talked about, hence why you should start that topic and get things going for it, the more it's talked about the more it can get noticed I'd say.