Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics)

Sonic the Hedgehog was an American comic book series published by Archie Comics and Sega of America, based on the Sonic video game franchise, and especially the 1993 Sonic saturday morning cartoon. After debuting with a four-issue miniseries cover dated February to May 1993, the first full-length issue was published in July 1993 and ran until December 2016. The series follows the Freedom Fighters, an organization of heroes led by Sonic and Sally Acorn in their battles against Doctor Eggman and other villains.

While largely consisting of its own continuity, certain issues incorporated elements of the Sonic video games into their plots and settings. Over its history, the series had several spin-off series set in the same continuity, including Knuckles the Echidna, Sonic Universe, and two crossovers with Archie's Mega Man series. Alongside the series, Archie also produced comics series based on the Sonic X and Sonic Boom TV series. Following a 2013 lawsuit between Archie and former lead writer Ken Penders, Archie rebooted the series, removing many comics-original characters from its cast, and bringing it closer to that of the games.

Sonic the Hedgehog ran for 290 issues for over 20 years, earning a place in the 2008 Guinness World Records for being the "longest-running comic series based on a video game". It became the longest-running franchise-based comic series in 2015 (surpassing Marvel's 275 issues of Conan the Barbarian) before it was confirmed cancelled in July 2017, following Sega and Archie Comics' decision to discontinue their business relationship.

After IDW Publishing acquired the license, they began publishing their own Sonic the Hedgehog series in April 2018, adhering more faithfully to games continuity. Several artists and writers who worked on the Archie comics, including lead writer Ian Flynn, went on to contribute to the IDW series.