Idea thread: if IDW did Archie Sonic reprints

[Big Panda]

So lets say IDW were granted the rights to the Archie Sonic backlog, whether it's just post-reboot or everything. How would you want them to go about it?

Let's start with a hypothetical scenario where they get the rights to the post-reboot stuff only. Would you want them to start the main series reprints from scratch or pick up where Archie left off? Either way they'd need to alter the title to differentiate from IDW's own Sonic comic (I suggest "Sonic Planetary Pieces" for obvious reasons).

And Universe reprints would be very straighforward: just revive the "Universe Sagas" line Archie were planning to do, maybe drop the "Sagas" from the title.

[DabigRG]

9 minutes ago, Ernest-Panda said:

So lets say IDW were granted the rights to the Archie Sonic backlog, whether it's just post-reboot or everything. How would you want them to go about it?

Let's start with a hypothetical scenario where they get the rights to the post-reboot stuff only. Would you want them to start the main series reprints from scratch or pick up where Archie left off? Either way they'd need to alter the title to differentiate from IDW's own Sonic comic (I suggest "Sonic Planetary Pieces" for obvious reasons).

And Universe reprints would be very straighforward: just revive the "Universe Sagas" line Archie were planning to do, maybe drop the "Sagas" from the title.

I'm trying to read your OP, but can't stop looking at your hopped up profile pic.

 

EDIT:From where Archie Left off. 

[Zaysho]

So, assuming only post-reboot would be on the table, I think I'd like to have everything collected in the best reading order, so you'd have a mix of main series and Universe put together in roughly the most convenient order. Not only do I think this would be the best presentation for Archie fans, but also newcomers that IDW's book will likely draw in.

 

Ideally, if it was everything, and all the legal rights are cleared and we never have to hear from people like Penders and Fulop again, I'd say the same thing. This was more or less what I was hoping the "Legacy" books were going to be in the first place, instead of just larger, lineart versions of the Archive line, and it's something I'd still love to see for the Archie series as a means of properly preserving the series.

[GentlemanX]

While I can see the appeal of a chronological release of the series mixing various series and specials together when they occur, I'd personally prefer each series released separately like Archie was doing but in a more reasonable omnibus format.

Start with Sonic the Hedgehog - World Adventure Vol. 1 collecting issues 252-263. Vol. 2 collects 264-272, 276-277 and then all of the Sonic Comic Origins stories to finish it off. Vol. 3 collects 278-290, with 291 also included if possible. Sonic Universe - World Adventure Vol. 1 collects issues 55-68. Vol. 2 collects 69-75 and 79-82. Vol. 3 collects 83-94. If it's possible to release 95-98, do so in a separate book alongside STH 292-whatever they could. Call it Lost Hedgehog Tales and have fans riot. Release Boom 1-7, 11 in one trade. Release Mega Drive in one trade with all three issues, include all the short game adaptions like Lost World, Shattered Crystal, Dash etc. as bonus content. If it's possible to work it with Capcom, release Worlds Collide (STH 248-251, SU 51-54, MM 24-27) and Worlds Unite (STH 273-275, SU 76-78, SB 8-10, MM 50-52, and the two Battle books) in their own respective trades.

If pre-reboot is possible, release in a similar way. Also, have Spaz make new covers for each release reflecting the content of the volume. Please?

[Marcello]

They should do an omnibus of the Shattered World Crisis. It's around 35 issues, so it's doable.

It'd be nice if they'd released the unfinished stories of Mega Drive and Genesis of a Hero in TBPs, too.

[NikoS]

I'd be up for a Shattered World Crisis "complete epic" , and one for Universe as well, i like these giant compilation books, plus they look nice on the shelf.

[Big Panda]

I'd have released Genesis of a Hero as its own book since it's its own thing from the World Adventure stuff.

[Marcello]

Oh, I wasn't including it in the omnibus. I was including Countdown to Chaos, though, since it ends with the world shattering.

Also, get Tyson Hesse for the cover.

[Pengi]

1 hour ago, Zaysho said:

So, assuming only post-reboot would be on the table, I think I'd like to have everything collected in the best reading order, so you'd have a mix of main series and Universe put together in roughly the most convenient order. Not only do I think this would be the best presentation for Archie fans, but also newcomers that IDW's book will likely draw in.

 

Agreed. Having STH and SU together in a good reading order would be a good way to differentiate the books from Archie's releases too.

[Big Panda]

If they were to go that route, how many issues per book would there be? It needs to be reasonable I think.

We should also take into account and use how IDW do other reprint collections of stuff from other publishers.

For instance, their reprints of Archie's TMNT series are basically done the same as the Sonic Archives: 4 issues per volume.

[Zaysho]

32 minutes ago, Ernest-Panda said:

If they were to go that route, how many issues per book would there be? It needs to be reasonable I think.

At least with post-reboot most arcs were very clearly divided for trade, so I'd say maybe 12, though I guess then we have to decide on a ratio of Main to Universe to work with. Hm.

I was thinking volume one would be something like "Pirate Plunder Panic" to "Countdown to Chaos" and followed by "Damage Control" and then "The Chase".

Volume two would be "Shadow Fall," "Waves of Change," and "Great Chaos Caper," vol. 3 "Control" and "Ambush" with "Total Eclipse" and then "Champions" etc. Spread the Origin stories around to coincide with on-going stories.

It works better in my head, admittedly, since I'm looking at one volume with two Universe stories (and two of the weakest arcs, at that, and I haven't really considered where and how to handle "Worlds Unite"), so it'd require a little more re-ordering probably. I'm looking at this more as an introductory thing than strictly for Archie fans, too.

 

EDIT: Now that I see your edit, I can also see this being a little more premium than people would probably be willing to try, so I may need to go back to the drawing board for this.

[Big Panda]

34 minutes ago, Zaysho said:

At least with post-reboot most arcs were very clearly divided for trade, so I'd say maybe 12, though I guess then we have to decide on a ratio of Main to Universe to work with. Hm.

I was thinking volume one would be something like "Pirate Plunder Panic" to "Countdown to Chaos" and followed by "Damage Control" and then "The Chase".

Volume two would be "Shadow Fall," "Waves of Change," and "Great Chaos Caper," vol. 3 "Control" and "Ambush" with "Total Eclipse" and then "Champions" etc. Spread the Origin stories around to coincide with on-going stories.

It works better in my head, admittedly, since I'm looking at one volume with two Universe stories (and two of the weakest arcs, at that, and I haven't really considered where and how to handle "Worlds Unite"), so it'd require a little more re-ordering probably. I'm looking at this more as an introductory thing than strictly for Archie fans, too.

Worked it out

Volume 1:

-"At All Costs" (#252)

-"Countdown to Chaos" (#253-#256)

-"Pirate Plunder Panic" (SU#55-#58)

-"Damage Control" (#257)

-"The Chase" (#258-#259)

Total issues: 12

 

Volume 2:

-"Waves of Change"/"Light in Dark"/"Consequences" (#260-#263)

-"Shadow Fall" (SU#59-#62)

-"The Great Chaos Caper" (SU#63-#66)

Total issues: 12

 

Volume 3:

-"Unleashed"/"Good Day"/"Grand Tour" (#264-#265)

-"Total Eclipse" (SU#67-#70)

-"Ambushed" (#266-#267)

-"Champions" (#268-#271)

Total issues: 12

 

Volume 4:

-"Ray of Hope" (#272)

-"Spark of Life" (SU#71-#74)

-"Fury" (SU#75)

-"The Silver Age" (SU#79-#82)

-"Cold Hearted"/"Back in Business" (#276)

Total issues: 11

 

Volume 5:

-"Thunder, Rain, Lightning"/"Hidden Costs 1" (#277)

-"Face of the Enemy"/Hidden Costs 2-3" (#278-#279)

-"Eggman's Dozen" (SU#83-#86)

-"Keys to Victory"/"Special Occassion" (#280)

-"Wings of Fire"/"Homesick"/"Shards and Sparks" (#281-#282)

-"The Mission"/"Zero Hour" (#283)

Total issues: 11

 

Volume 6:

-"Shattered" (SU#87-#90)

-"Panic in the Sky" (#284-#287)

-"Case of the Pirate Princess" (#91-#94)

Total issues: 12

 

Besides having two volumes each with an issue missing, it works surprisingly well.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

50 minutes ago, Zaysho said:

At least with post-reboot most arcs were very clearly divided for trade, so I'd say maybe 12, though I guess then we have to decide on a ratio of Main to Universe to work with. Hm.

I was thinking volume one would be something like "Pirate Plunder Panic" to "Countdown to Chaos" and followed by "Damage Control" and then "The Chase".

Volume two would be "Shadow Fall," "Waves of Change," and "Great Chaos Caper," vol. 3 "Control" and "Ambush" with "Total Eclipse" and then "Champions" etc. Spread the Origin stories around to coincide with on-going stories.

It works better in my head, admittedly, since I'm looking at one volume with two Universe stories (and two of the weakest arcs, at that, and I haven't really considered where and how to handle "Worlds Unite"), so it'd require a little more re-ordering probably. I'm looking at this more as an introductory thing than strictly for Archie fans, too.

 

EDIT: Now that I see your edit, I can also see this being a little more premium than people would probably be willing to try, so I may need to go back to the drawing board for this.

I wouldn't say it's outside the realm of possibility, premium or not, IDW does this already with tons of their comics, I even collect the IDW Collection of TMNT because it's the best Way to get all of the stories in order and isn't overly expensive compared to the cost of the GNs separately. In that regard, I could see IDW doing this for Sonic easily, if they were to reprint Archie.

[Your Vest Friend]

Considering that I don't think Archie reprints are on the table period, I don't think going a bit more  out there with reprinting methodology can do any harm.

[Agie]

IDW has reprinted stuff from previous licensors in the past, so I wouldn't consider it completely off the table. I think it's safe to assume it's not a priority, though.

But say IDW does get the rights to reprint that stuff, I'd try doing what Archie was doing before they lost the license with the post-reboot content. A part of me does wanna think it'd be nice if they could at least let owners of the Archie versions simply continue where they left off, while making their own editions of the existing books for new fans to snag as well.

Now, as for the pre-reboot content...I'd imagine it'd be such a legal minefield, it'd probably take a while before we saw that get reprinted, assuming there's even a chance it'll happen at all.

But that's just me, really.

[Multikaris]

57 minutes ago, VEDJ-F said:

Considering that I don't think Archie reprints are on the table period, I don't think going a bit more  out there with reprinting methodology can do any harm.

Hence, I think Manga, Fleetway, pre-reboot,  the Sonic Steam web comic, and even obscurities deserve reprints. Throw in the books too, while they are at it.  IDW’s yet to tackle the British and Japanese tmnt material (along with the comic strip), or acknowledge them. 

[Harkofthewaa]

If reprints happen at all, it won't be anything pre-reboot, and here's why:

 

Heck, I doubt SEGA would even want to do reprints at this point, they seem all too eager to wash their hands of this mess.

[MetalSkulkBane]

Can you imagine if IDW was producing 3 lines of Sonic at the same time (Archie reboot, preboot and new line). That would be crazy awesome (and hiiiiighly unlikely).

Slightly more realistic dream for me would be if they could make limited series for both continuities that would tie up all plot points. And then start slowly adapting characters to new IDW line. Honestly, that would be an even better solution. Mobius with Scourge and Eclipse, that doesn't have humans and 'overlander', green Knuckles and other junk, is Mobius for me. Obviously that ginormous number of characters, but while I'm still dreaming we could get more spin-off books.

[Your Vest Friend]

IDW have that history, but SEGA don't, which is what I've said before.

The reason why this sticks so fresh in my mind is last week's official Sonic livestream. The way Aaron was so quick and keen to mention that you don't have to read the Archie comics to get IDW struck me as SEGA doing what they usually do and washing their hands of any past works due to it being seen as irrelevant. They don't seem to want to have to deal with the Archie stuff longer than they have to. 

But this topic is about hypothetical setups for reprints, and to that I don't really have much to say aside from the fact I think separating the three-Universe-arc saga may be a bad idea. 

[SBR2]

I'm certain they'll start from the beginning. I'd hope they'd go the Transformers Classics route and collect about 12 issues per volume. http://tfwiki.net/wiki/The_Transformers_Classics

Yeah it'd mean a fairly long wait between volumes but it'd be so much better than occasional collections holding 4 issues or whatever. Bonus points if they actually reprinted the stories in chronological order.

[Multikaris]

At the very least, Sega MIGHT work out a deal to re-release the series digitally under IDW. 

[Meta77]

2 hours ago, Miragnarok said:

At the very least, Sega MIGHT work out a deal to re-release the series digitally under IDW. 

That's a big might honestly.  Plus I'm sure IDW wants all focus on new things all reprints would do is have people asking "does this mean well see FF in the books since there printing them " all over

[BlueSky]

I dunno about 1 km wide omnibia, I always fear for breaking those in two or more pieces by reading and bending the back.

A bit thicker GN's could do, but no wider than "Complete Epic" is, please.

That is, if we ever get to that.

I think Universe should be kept separated from the "main" StH, though I wouldn't mind too much if it was the chronological order instead.

[Big Panda]

Put together two alternate ideas for post-reboot graphic novel listings.

Option A: reprints containing both StH and Universe arcs. One arc each per book. Hypothetical listings:

 

 

 

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: PLANETARY PIECES VOL. 1

-"At All Costs: A New Lease on Life"

-"Countdown to Chaos: Part 1"

-"Countdown to Chaos: Part 2"

-"Countdown to Chaos: Part 3"

-"Countdown to Chaos: Part 4"

-"Pirate Plunder Panic: Part 1"

-"Pirate Plunder Panic: Part 2"

-"Pirate Plunder Panic: Part 3"

-"Pirate Plunder Panic: Part 4"

 

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: PLANETARY PIECES VOL. 2

-"Damage Control"

-"The Chase: Part 1"

-"The Chase: Part 2"

-"Sonic Comic Origins: Sally"

-"Sonic Comic Origins: Rotor"

-"Sonic Comic Origins: Antoine"

-"Sonic Comic Origins: Bunnie"

-"Sonic Comic Origins: Nicole"

-"Shadow Fall: Part 1"

-"Shadow Fall: Part 2"

-"Shadow Fall: Part 3"

-"Shadow Fall: Part 4"

 

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: PLANETARY PIECES VOL. 3

-"Waves of Change: Part 1"

-"Waves of Change: Part 2"

-"Waves of Change: Part 3"

-"Waves of Change: Part 4"

-"Light in the Dark"/"Consequences"

-"The Great Chaos Caper: Part 1"

-"The Great Chaos Caper: Part 2"

-"The Great Chaos Caper: Part 3"

-"The Great Chaos Caper: Part 4"

 

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: PLANETARY PIECES VOL. 4

-"Unleashed: Part 1"

-"Unleashed: Part 2"

-"Ambushed: Part 1"

-"Ambushed: Part 2"

-"A Good Day to Start Again"/The Grand Tour

-"Total Eclipse: Part 1"

-"Total Eclipse: Part 2"

-"Total Eclipse: Part 3"

-"Total Eclipse: Part 4"

 

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: PLANETARY PIECES VOL. 5

-"Champions: Part 1"

-"Champions: Part 2"

-"Champions: Part 3"

-"Champions: Part 4"

-"Spark of Life: Part 1"

-"Spark of Life: Part 2"

-"Spark of Life: Part 3"

-"Spark of Life: Part 4"

-"Sonic Comic Origins: Into the Unknown"

 

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: PLANETARY PIECES VOL. 6

-"Ray of Hope"

-"Fury"

-"Cold Hearted"/"Back in Business"

-"Thunder, Rain and Lightning"

-"Hidden Costs"

-"The Silver Age: Part 1"

-"The Silver Age: Part 2"

-"The Silver Age: Part 3"

-"The Silver Age: Part 4"

-"Sonic Comic Origins: Snively"

 

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: PLANETARY PIECES VOL. 7

-"Face of the Enemy: Part 1"

-"Face of the Enemy: Part 2"

-"Keys to Victory"

-"Wings of Fire: Part 1"

-"Wings of Fire: Part 2"

-"A Special Occassion"/"Homesick"/"Shards and Sparks"

-"The Mission"/"Zero Hour"

-"Eggman's Dozen: Part 1"

-"Eggman's Dozen: Part 2"

-"Eggman's Dozen: Part 3"

-"Eggman's Dozen: Part 4"

-"Sonic Comic Origins: Razor"

 

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: PLANETARY PIECES VOL. 8

-"Panic in the Sky: Part 1"

-"Panic in the Sky: Part 2"

-"Panic in the Sky: Part 3"

-"Panic in the Sky: Part 4"

-"Shattered: Part 1"

-"Shattered: Part 2"

-"Shattered: Part 3"

-"Shattered: Part 4"

 

 

Option b: One series for StH and one for Universe. Once again 2 arcs per book. Hypothetical listings:

 

 

 

 

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: PLANETARY PIECES VOL. 1

-"At All Costs: A New Lease on Life"

-"Countdown to Chaos: Part 1"

-"Countdown to Chaos: Part 2"

-"Countdown to Chaos: Part 3"

-"Countdown to Chaos: Part 4"

-"Damage Control"

-"The Chase: Part 1"

-"The Chase: Part 2"

-"Sonic Comic Origins: Sally"

-"Sonic Comic Origins: Rotor"

-"Sonic Comic Origins: Antoine"

-"Sonic Comic Origins: Bunnie"

 

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: PLANETARY PIECES VOL. 2

-"Unleashed: Part 1"

-"Unleashed: Part 2"

-"Ambushed: Part 1"

-"Ambushed: Part 2"

-"A Good Day to Start Again"/The Grand Tour

-"Waves of Change: Part 1"

-"Waves of Change: Part 2"

-"Waves of Change: Part 3"

-"Waves of Change: Part 4"

-"Light in the Dark"/"Consequences"

 

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: PLANETARY PIECES VOL. 3

-"Champions: Part 1"

-"Champions: Part 2"

-"Champions: Part 3"

-"Champions: Part 4"

-"Sonic Comic Origins: Into the Unknown"

-"Ray of Hope"

-"Fury"

-"Cold Hearted"/"Back in Business"

-"Thunder, Rain and Lightning"

-"Hidden Costs"

 

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: PLANETARY PIECES VOL. 4

-"Face of the Enemy: Part 1"

-"Face of the Enemy: Part 2"

-"Keys to Victory"

-"Wings of Fire: Part 1"

-"Wings of Fire: Part 2"

-"A Special Occassion"/"Homesick"/"Shards and Sparks"

-"The Mission"/"Zero Hour"

-"Panic in the Sky: Part 1"

-"Panic in the Sky: Part 2"

-"Panic in the Sky: Part 3"

-"Panic in the Sky: Part 4"

 

SONIC UNIVERSE: PLANETARY PIECES VOL. 1

-"Pirate Plunder Panic: Part 1"

-"Pirate Plunder Panic: Part 2"

-"Pirate Plunder Panic: Part 3"

-"Pirate Plunder Panic: Part 4"

-"Shadow Fall: Part 1"

-"Shadow Fall: Part 2"

-"Shadow Fall: Part 3"

-"Shadow Fall: Part 4"

 

SONIC UNIVERSE: PLANETARY PIECES VOL. 2

-"The Great Chaos Caper: Part 1"

-"The Great Chaos Caper: Part 2"

-"The Great Chaos Caper: Part 3"

-"The Great Chaos Caper: Part 4"

-"Total Eclipse: Part 1"

-"Total Eclipse: Part 2"

-"Total Eclipse: Part 3"

-"Total Eclipse: Part 4"

-"Sonic Comic Origins: Snively"

 

SONIC UNIVERSE: PLANETARY PIECES VOL. 3

-"Spark of Life: Part 1"

-"Spark of Life: Part 2"

-"Spark of Life: Part 3"

-"Spark of Life: Part 4"

-"Sonic Comic Origins: Nicole"

-"The Silver Age: Part 1"

-"The Silver Age: Part 2"

-"The Silver Age: Part 3"

-"The Silver Age: Part 4"

 

SONIC UNIVERSE: PLANETARY PIECES VOL. 4

-"Eggman's Dozen: Part 1"

-"Eggman's Dozen: Part 2"

-"Eggman's Dozen: Part 3"

-"Eggman's Dozen: Part 4"

-"Shattered: Part 1"

-"Shattered: Part 2"

-"Shattered: Part 3"

-"Shattered: Part 4"

 

 

Option c: same as b, but the books are closer in size to Archie's versions (one arc per book).

 

 

[Dr. Detective]

I'm glad I got those past issues years ago when I asked my Grandpa for them. 

God, nothing quite beats getting literal stacks of Sonic the Hedgehog comics dumped on your porch. Even if I wasn't a huge fan of the old continuity that's the kind of magic that's hard to replicate.