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Myth-SSMBusters: "Sonic Resembles the Artist Who Draws Him"


Badnik Mechanic

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So this is something I've wanted to make/ask for a while, but well see my forum signature right now, I'm way too busy to do the research into it, especially since it means looking through tons of old comic books which are all bagged and boarded just to find a few photos from an old convention to then match up with artwork to see if there's any truth to this one.

 

So here is the story.

 

During Weston Super Sonic, I ended up having a chat with the former editor of Sonic the Comic 'Deborah Tate' who when talking about her days editing the comic and authorising artwork, she said something which at first I thought was a joke, then I realised she was quite serious.

 

That claim is, "All the artists on Sonic the Comic, the ones who drew Sonic, I always thought that they would often base him on themselves, sometimes I would actually see some resemblance in Sonic from some of my staff."

 

Basically, according to the former editor of Sonic the Comic, she believed, that whoever drew Sonic, even though they were working to a style guide, would often base/put in subtle physical features based on their own appearance. 

 

And here is where my topic fails due to my workload. 

 

Here should be a bunch of photos from the mid-late 90's from a specific issue of Sonic the Comic which were of a comic book convention that Sonic the comic attended, along with all the main artists and writers at the time. So it would be a brilliant source of information to check this thing out.

 

However, I can't remember this issue, and I just do not have the time to un-bag and check a large portion of my issues just for this one page with photos on it.

 

Then the idea was to compare the photos of the staff from the 90's to how they drew Sonic and some other characters at the time just to see if there were any truth to this theory. Also it would be interesting to bring in Archie comics to see if there's any truth to this theory.

 

What do you think SSMB? Any truth to this myth?

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Do you remember anything about the issue? Was there anything particular about it? Like, can you remember any of the story or a specific panel that stuck out to you? 

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Nope nothing.

 

I just know it exists because I remember reading it back in the day and when I went through my scanning and bagging phase of logging my collection about 10 years ago.

 

One of the photos in the issue is a close up of Nigel Dobbyn signing something for a fan. Pretty sure Nigel Kitching and Elson are also in the photo too. In fact I'm quite sure of this since I know that in a non published photo that one of the Nigels has, it's of one of the staff signing his older brothers issue, in the background is a baby and the guy who showed him the photo was the baby in the picture.

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Then I honestly have no idea, as I just went on Sonic Scanf and skimmed Issues 65 to 163 and couldn't find anything like that. :( I could have skipped right by it, but I'm almost positive I never saw a picture like that. 

 

Do you remember what the convention was called that Sonic The Comic would go to? 

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Maybe check issue 72? I think that had a feature of them attending the UK comic art convention or something.

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Yes, it was Issue 72!! I don't know how I missed it!

 

jvmS6Zt.png

 

Here's the picture you were talking about. 

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Here we go!

 

cJIwhnv.png

 

HpKch2S.png

 

Hard to believe that back when I originally scanned these they would still come in use.

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I guess if it helps any, here's a picture where you can see everyone clearly from the Sonic story of Issue 72. 

 

Luhspo8.png

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This is actually going to be really difficult, the pics aren't the best, and I doubt there's going to be much in terms of legacy stuff online. 

 

The only thing I could find was this self drawing of Elson from STC issue 61

 

200px-Richard_Elson.jpg

 

Edit: Ok call me crazy... but... is there something about his eyebrows/eye ridge which looks similar to how he's drawn Sonic? I can't quite explain it, but there's something 'heavy' about both the pics?

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Eh, I'm not seeing any kind of resemblance, except about what you said of the eyebrows, in that drawing. I can't explain it, but there is something there. Well, it's probably because both pictures were drawn by him. 

 

There's actually a really good video which shows both Elson and Kitching well. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKaLyILbqiY At around 14 and a half minutes in, but this video is pretty recent. 

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Yes, it was Issue 72!! I don't know how I missed it!

 

jvmS6Zt.png

 

Here's the picture you were talking about.

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Looking over how some artists drew Sonic and added a bit of their own in to him...I'm not really seeing it. Like their drawing style is definitely there though but I'm not so sure about it.

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This seems like the sorta thing that you'd really have to know the artists well to recognise. If you spent a lot of time around them and grew to recognise their mannerisms and facial expressions etc. It's pretty likely that they'd draw with a mirror nearby to reference poses and expressions so if you knew them well, you'd maybe see those expressions within the characters...I dunno....

 

maybe it'd be easier to find comparison photos for the archie artists seening as their work is more recent.

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I remember these photos from STC! :D I remember feeling rather jellies of the photo of a fan getting his art checked out by Nigel Kitching and Richard Elson, haha! :P

 

uuum... I don't see the resemblance to the artists, but they definitely have very distinctive styles and I could probably spot their work a mile away! :P But I had heard something like this before, maybe not about the STC creators specifically though.

 


200px-Richard_Elson.jpg

 

 

When I was a kid, from this caricature I thought Richard Elson looked like Elvis! :D

 

ooh... wait a minute... King of Rock... Sonic's shoes were inspired by Michael Jackson's.... King of Pop... Richard Elson is Sonic! XD

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You have to admit though, this is a pretty interesting explanation as to why the art was so bleedingly awful.

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