Archie Comics held the publishing rights to Sonic the Hedgehog for more than 20 years, before Sega split with the company in 2017. During that span, the comic introduced countless original characters that have never appeared in the games or other media. It’s unlikely any of Archie’s original Sonic characters will ever return, but writer Dan Slott has publicly offered Sega the use of one he created: Zonic the Zone Cop. In a thread on Twitter, the Spider-Man writer revealed that he frequently gets asked about the two Sonic stories he wrote, and Zonic in particular. Slott acknowledged the legal headaches that have prevented the use of Archie’s Sonic characters, but promised a painless process for Zonic.
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“Sega, I am super-serious. I would be a dream to collaborate with. If you ever want to use Zonic The Zone Cop in a movie, cartoon, video game, breakfast cereal, you-name-it… the entire process would be headache free. It’d be smooth sailing the whole way,” Slott wrote on Twitter.
While Slott did not mention Sonic writer Ken Penders by name, he did allude to legal issues that prevent Sega from using original Archie characters. Penders sued Archie Comics over the rights to many of the comic’s original characters, resulting in a reboot that removed non-Sega owned characters from the series. Eventually, Archie would lose the rights to produce Sonic comics, with IDW getting the license in 2018. IDW has created some original characters since taking over, and some have even made their way into the Sonic video games!
Whether or not the same can ever be said for Zonic the Zone Cop remains to be seen. Slott introduced the character in 1999’s Sonic Super Special #8, and Zonic made a number of additional appearances after. Slott’s offer could make it easier for Zonic to return, but it all depends on Sega. The publisher is very good at listening to fans, so if there’s demand for the character’s return, it certainly seems possible!
Would you like to see Zonic’s return? Were you a fan of Arche’s Sonic comics? Let us know in the commentsor share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
