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Okay, so it might not be the first ever Sonic comic made, but it’s definitely one of the earliest. These scans are from the official Sonic 2 Japanese Strategy guide and were very kindly made by Mr Hari Hari (who previously enlightened us about Fang the Sniper).

Hari Hari even made some scans of the official Sonic (1) Japanese Strategy guide


And, because his kindness apparently knows no bounds, Mr Hari Hari took the time to answer some of my questions about the two guidebooks:

Do the strategy guides contain any significant story information?
(such as why Sonic 2 has 7 Chaos Emeralds instead of the six that were in Sonic 1. Or why the Chaos Emeralds in Sonic 2 look different from those in Sonic 1)
Although not written about the difference in Chaos emeralds...
In Sonic 1 it is called "Precious stone" and it is called "Mysterious stone" in Sonic 2.
Similarly in Sonic 3 it is called "Power stone".

Probably they are the same basically but have the history which is different from the legend which is different in each place.
Possibly an element and purity may be different.

Is any information about the civilisation that used to live on West Side Island given?
Sonic2: West Side Island (Legend)
Long ago The people of the island develop a civilization using mysterious stone and got prosperity. However since people tried the usage which is not right as for a stone all were lost. Gods sealed the mysterious stone in somewhere in the island.

Is the Mecha Sonic robot in Sonic 2 given a name?
In Sonic2 Mecha Sonic's name is "Mecha Sonic"

Is the bomb robot from Star Light Zone in Sonic 1 given a name?
In Sonic1 Bomb Robot's name is "Bomb"

In the West the names of Sonic’s animal friends were altered and the art work of the animals was never released. My fellow Western fans and I have spent many years trying to find the names and artwork of all the animals. We have succeeded in doing this for all the Sonic 2 animals apart from the rat. Does the Sonic 2 guide book give the name of the rat or any artwork of him? If so could you scan them? It would help to solve the mystery that has been troubling us for many years!
I'm sorry. I couldn't know the name of the rat.

At the end of Death Egg Zone in Sonic 2? there is a robot that looks just like Dr Eggman. Does the Sonic 2 guidebook give this boss robot a name?
In the Guidebooks in 1992 it was written as the "Death Egg" and was written as "Robot Eggman" in Sonic Jam Official Guidebook(1997).

Cool. If someone can translate, I'll retouch with the English translation.

NICE! Thanks for the info!

as for the comic, well, he (or she) draws Sonic nice, his Tails remains me of the art style in Tom and Jerry when it was mainly angular, but then again, he looks more fox in that comic then the games...I'm thinking that dude who did The Grinch. And his Eggman needs a bit of work on the head, but this is an old comic, I bet now the dude's exceeding in the art department. Heh.
~Neo

<img src="http://www.livaudaisnet.com/Cory/tailsallure.jpg">
You go girl.

Great find big_smile. I love the art style here, Archie's got nothing on this.

I thought the mecha sonic in Sonic 2 was called Silver Sonic...

Anyway, I love the comic. Eggman looks funky but it's all good.

So it is true that Sonic had to make a forced landing on the island, then? Last time I glanced over the story I got that impression, but I can't understand enough to be sure.

Incidentally, check out Tails' profile on pages 42 & 43 of the manual (image 21 on the Sonic Jam CD). The third line says something about Christmas and mint candy. I know he likes mint candy, but what's up with Christmas?

Neo Yi wrote:NICE! Thanks for the info!

as for the comic, well, he (or she) draws Sonic nice, his Tails remains me of the art style in Tom and Jerry when it was mainly angular, but then again, he looks more fox in that comic then the games...I'm thinking that dude who did The Grinch. And his Eggman needs a bit of work on the head, but this is an old comic, I bet now the dude's exceeding in the art department. Heh.
~Neo

I'm assuming you mean the person who produced the animated version of The Grinch who Stole Chrismas. That would be Chuck Jones and in that case I would agree with you as that Tails seems slightly reminsent of Jones' style. Also, I always thought Sonic looks great with google and a scarf. I would really like to see that as an alternative 'costume' for future games.

Nice, big smile.

Yea, Chuck Jones, I figure that was his name, I just didn't say anything for fear it was wrong.
~Neo

As usual, great stuff Smile.

Great job as usual Big Smile!

This is pretty refreshing, especially with memories of the recent (awful) Coro Coro comic fresh in my head. I wonder why they read left to right.

I like his interpretation of Tails a lot, it has great personality to it, cute and energetic, especially compared to the bland presentations Tails has that have plagued everywhere else in the past few years.

Eggman, whilst an interesting take, doesn't really appeal to me. So many artists have given him a "blobby" look over the years, and I've never liked it. Making his entire body, head and all, more egg shaped was a nice idea, but just made him look too short, especially with the large nose. The classic Eggman looks best as a purely round figure.

Sonic spinning just looks....weird and not very good.

It's a shame that there was no name or art for the rat, I'll be surprised if we ever find it (although I'm certain it exists). Are the names and art of the other Sonic 2 animals common knowledge in the Japanese community? I notice that the Sonic 1 animals were listed in the character section of Sonic Dimension, but not the Sonic 2 animals.

Perhaps the rat was added as a last-second afterthought? That would explain why it seems to exist, but not really . . .

Spazz wrote:<img src="http://www.livaudaisnet.com/Cory/tailsallure.jpg">
You go girl.

Great find big_smile. I love the art style here, Archie's got nothing on this.

Mmmm this makes me think that the idea of Tails as a female was hold until before the first Sonic 2 game was released.

Zeta wrote:Perhaps the rat was added as a last-second afterthought? That would explain why it seems to exist, but not really . . .

Nah. As far as I know, the only thing we know of to feature the art and names of the Sonic 2 animals is that Sega art book that Big Smile scanned a while ago, and that didn't feature all of them. The missing Sonic 2 animal artwork can be found in Sonic Jam's character house, however for some reason it only includes the animals featured in Sonic 1.

So I think it does exist, but it didn't make it into the Sega art book for the same reason Rocky, Pocky and Pecky didn't (space constraints) and then it didn't make the cut in Sonic Jam because it wasn't one of the original 7 animals (although I still don't understand why that was a reason for excluding them, I would've thought that maybe the art and names were lost, but the art used is from the exact same "set" of Sonic 2 art).

I actually bought the Sonic 1 guidebook while I was in Japan. I would have posted something about it but it really is nothing special, though there are some interesting things like the original art (some shown in Big Smile's post), and the fact that all the maps were hand-made in what appears to be watercolor. They only did maps as far as Labyrinth Zone, and must not have had the debug code handy for map reference, because the left out the secret area in Labyrinth Act 1, but did point out the exit from it, saying honestly, "we don't know how to get in here." Weirdest of all is that besides the front page, absolutely no official art was used at all, but in its place are "copies" of a lot of the official art (you can tell they aren't exact), like Sonic's poses and the original Badnik drawings. The scan of the cover should give you a pretty good idea (Eggman is the best example). I didn't get the books for the others, but I saw them around.

The comic's Chuck Jonesiness is probably an indicator of how Sonic seems to have been marketed in Japan as having originated in America. It probably reads left to right because most guidebooks in Japan read left to right (though the text flow is still left-to-right), but the feux Made-in-USA might also have something to do with it.

It's also interesting that Tails introduces himself as "Mairuzu Paa'awaa," literally "Miles Per Hour," and definitly not the slightly less obvious "Miles Prower" we have in the west. According to the Sonic Jam manual the Japanese romanization is "Mairuzu Pauaa." I think it's sad that Tails "real" name is such a stupid pun.

Incidentally, check out Tails' profile on pages 42 & 43 of the manual (image 21 on the Sonic Jam CD). The third line says something about Christmas and mint candy. I know he likes mint candy, but what's up with Christmas?

The line says: "Loves Christmas and mint candy." Could it be any less exciting?

Could it be any less exciting?

Actually, it kind of is. I didn't know Tails liked Christmas.

But he's 8. What kind of kid doesn't like Christmas other than kids who are not Christians or non-secular?

It does explain this picture. All this time I thought he was after Sonic's liquor.

Ngangbius wrote:But he's 8. What kind of kid doesn't like Christmas other than kids who are not Christians or non-secular?

But now we know that Tails' official likes Christmas (whereas before it was an unofficial assumption).

I love it when character profiles mention trivial facts such as liking Christmas - it makes the characters seem more 'real'.

Crazy Penguin wrote: (although I still don't understand why that was a reason for excluding them, I would've thought that maybe the art and names were lost, but the art used is from the exact same "set" of Sonic 2 art).

It may have been due to space constraints. For example, a lot of art that was included in Sonic the Screen Saver is also missing.

Are the names and art of the other Sonic 2 animals common knowledge in the Japanese community? I notice that the Sonic 1 animals were listed in the character section of Sonic Dimension, but not the Sonic 2 animals.

That's a good point - I'll try asking around.

^_^

Probably seen these before, but more proof:
<img src="http://www.livaudaisnet.com/Cory/sonic24[1].jpeg">
<img src="http://www.livaudaisnet.com/Cory/sonic61[1].jpeg">

10000th forum post

Didn't it say in the original Sonic Adventure strategy guide that Tails liked Christmas, or am I just inventing that?

Wonderful. We now have concrete postive proof that Tails isn't a Jew.

[quote="Zeta"]Wonderful. We now have concrete postive proof that Tails isn't a Jew.[/quote]

LOL

man I'm nerdy.

I miss the old Sonic drawings. They're so bright and colourful, it's a shame they're not drawn like that anymore.

G.Silver wrote:

I always found that picture rather depressing for some reason. Something about Tails being happy outside in the cold clearly trying to get Sonic's attention, while Sonic continues read his book, ignoreing the little fox, as if he doesn't even know him. It's bad enough this kid gets picked on, now, and to have his only pal give him the, "get away from me, you annoying freak, can't you see I don't want to hang out today" trick, really makes me feel sad for Tails.

Then I just get up and drink a cold can of Coke and I forget about it.

Your avatar is depressing