Few video game heroes have been blessed with crossovers like Sonic the Hedgehog has. Even just in the world of video games, the world-famous Blue Blur has competed at the Olympics with Mario, brawled with a host of Nintendo icons in the Super Smash Bros franchise, and has raced past Sega’s other legendary heroes in the Sega All-Stars Racing series.
Of course, just looking at video games is only scratching the surface of Sonic’s wild history of crossovers. Over in the world of comic books, Sonic has met up with Archie and the Riverdale gang, has briefly crossed paths with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and has most famously shared several storylines with the gaming world’s other famous blue mascot: Mega Man. More recently, Sonic’s cast of characters has even joined the DC Universe.
Given the character’s long history of crossovers and collaborations, it’s incredible that Sega’s mascot still has surprises left for readers, but that’s clearly the case. Recently, IDW announced the last crossover anyone expected for the world’s most famous hedgehog: Sonic X Godzilla.
Coming from writer Nick Marino and artist Jack Lawrence, Sonic X Godzilla is slated for release on July 15th. To celebrate the truly historic event, IDW shared a pair of covers with ScreenRant. The first, by Jack Lawrence and Reggie Graham, depicts Sonic running along rooftops, Godzilla and Mothra wreaking Havoc behind him. The other, by artist Nikola Čižmešija, is a truly epic reference to Attack on Titan, with Sonic taking the place of Eren and Godzilla standing in for the fittingly-named Colossal Titan.
IDW Unveils Truly Impressive Variant Covers For Sonic and Godzilla’s First Big Crossover
ScreenRant also spoke with writer Nick Marino about the genesis of the idea and what it was like to work on two historic but wildly different properties.
Picture it, August 2022. A sweltering heat hung over Long Beach, California. The madness of San Diego Comic-Con had come and gone, leaving behind a convention-sized hole in our hearts. We craved new horizons, new challenges.
A fortuitous viewing occurred when former IDW Godzilla editor Jazmine Joyner showed me a publishing presentation that included some of my work on a totally different Godzilla project that didn’t make it to the finish line. At the end of the presentation, a lone question written in black on a white slide intrigued me. This riddle read: “Sonic X Godzilla?”
We may never know who first posed the question. Maybe it was simply floating in the ether, collectively forged by the merged consciousness of two incredible fanbases who longed to see their favorite heroes together in the same space, facing the same obstacles. But I found this question endlessly calling to me, beckoning me. I simply could not leave it alone.
For nearly four years, I’ve sought to solve that riddle in the form of a five-issue miniseries. The answer begins on Wednesday, July 15th with the release of Sonic the Hedgehog x Godzilla #1.
The idea that the crossover has been brewing for 4 years is certainly exciting, making the event seem massive. Given that the Sonic X Godzilla team had to get approval from both Sonic’s rights holder (Sega) and Godzilla’s (Toho), it makes sense that the book might take a little more time. Additionally, the unique nature of Sonic and Godzilla’s crossover presents interesting writing challenges that Marino was excited to tackle.
I’m a student of crossovers and I’ve been preparing for this moment for decades. If you go back and look at some of our most revered comic book crossovers like The Flash of Two Worlds or Crisis on Earth-One (shoutout to Gardner Fox, the originator), the purity of those stories exists in the simple notion of “what if X was in the same place as Y?”
Once you commit to that basic notion, it’s merely a matter of letting your imagination run wild. A thousand different movies ran through my mind as I imagined the possibilities, and my job became plucking out the best bits of cerebral cinema to describe on the page.
Godzilla is great in a situation like ours because it’s a character with so many constants. You can count on Godzilla to cause mayhem, you can count on lots of destruction, you can count on big action, and you can count on flashes of ethical decision-making amidst terrible odds. I guess you could call those tropes! But to me, that’s just Godzilla’s nature—it’s a character who, by default, makes every battle feel like an Earth-shattering crossover event.
As is apparent in Marino’s quotes, the level of passion going into Sonic X Godzilla is high.
Why Sonic’s New Crossover Is The Character’s Biggest Of All Time
Though Sonic crossing over with other properties is nothing new, his meeting with Godzilla certainly is. Sonic’s most iconic feature, other than his speed, is his attitude. This makes it fun to see him bounce off other characters who might not necessarily share his devil-may-care attitude. In contrast, Godzilla is a massive monster, meaning their interactions will need to be written with a much different approach.
All that being said, IDW has a history of making odd crossovers work. Most recently, the comic giant’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto miniseries was met with rave reviews.
The last day to preorder Sonic X Godzilla at comic shops is Monday, June 8th. If past IDW crossovers are anything to go by, then Sonic X Godzilla is one adventure that fans of both franchises won’t want to miss. Look forward to it when it releases on July 15th!
- Movie(s)
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Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie (1996), Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022), Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024)
- Video Game(s)
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Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog CD, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors, Sonic Generations, Sonic Lost World, Sonic Forces, Sonic Frontiers , Sonic Shuffle, Sonic Advance 1, Sonic Advance 2, Sonic Advance 3, Sonic Rush, Sonic Rush Adventure, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
- First Film
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Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie (1996)
- Character(s)
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Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, Dr. Eggman, Mighty the Armadillo, Ray the Squirrel, Vector the Crocodile, Charmy the Bee, Espio the Chameleon, Shadow the Hedgehog, Big the Cat, Rouge the Bat, Metal Sonic
- Comic Release Date
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229797,248991,248992