Nigel Dobbyn Lends Hand as Cover Artist
From time to time, we get updates on the still unofficially running Sonic the Comic series, now being published online as Sonic the Comic Online. This morning, we learned the new issue just went online, with a special guest.
Nigel Dobbyn, who was an artist on the official UK comic, lends his hands for the cover art this time around. The special feature is meant to mark the 18th anniversary of the series.
You can read issue #254 now. Thanks to Adamis Fox for sending this in. If you have news to share, be sure to share it with us by clicking Send News Tips at the top of every page.
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Whoa… Those drawings don’t look that good. I’m 15 and I can draw a much better Sonic.
I’m sorry, but this art looks REALLY bad.
Glad to see they kept true to the Sonic the Comic art style and made it ugly.
That looks odd..
Wow the art sucks the last issue had some of the best art I’ve seen (Sonic’s story)
Wow Nigel Dobbyn!……You suck!
Well what can I say that hasn’t already been said?………..Better luck next time?
Shut up and go back reading your ugly Archie comics, losers! StCO rocks!
Doesn’t look all that bad, however Sonic does look a bit weird…
they looks likes babies
Chill people. that’s the way the comics used to look when it was running. It’s like a little nostaligia boost for those who either grew up reading them, or like me, were lucky enough to read them via internet.
Sure, Sonic’s spines look a little wonky, but I did like the art style they used to use.
Donna Tyler: Was that really necessary ? There is honestly no “ugly” comic. They both have their quirks and downsides. Neither is better than the other, but it’s alright to like one over the other. Bashing it’s counterpart is a bit childish though.
-Storm
@Storm:
You’re a man with a good head on his shoulders. But to tell you the truth, it would have been SO much better looking and true to the franchise if they had gone with the original Japanese design instead of “Americanizing” it like they did. : / I’ve noticed Americans have a tendency to ruin Japanese things with the intention of “improving” them or making them “cooler”. . . .
Give the guy some credit!
That is a very good imitation of the old style right down to the mistake of Knuckles white “quarter moon” tuffed of hair being mistaken for a siver neck chain.
To all the haters its just a drawing that represents the past style with a twist. Its abit like the american comics going back to that awful crap style of the first bunch of terrible horrid and crap comics. Jesus those were bad.
Danielle: In StC, Knuckles always had that neck chain. Also, it’s not an “imitation”. Nigel Dobbyn WORKED on StC before its cancellation!
Do I see the symbol on Knuckles’ chest moving??
I appreciate him doing the cover. I’m surprised the comments here are so negative about the style, I’m guessing most commenters weren’t fans of StC to begin with and are just basing the style to current “SEGASonic” proportions. Well good to see another ish is out of StCO. Off to get another Sonic fix…
@ Donna Tyler
Ugly Archie comics?
Cue the cover of Sonic the Hedgehog #226:
http://www.blueblur.org/comics/sonicthehedgehog/mainseries/images/sonic226.jpg
As compared to the final official issue of StC, #223:
http://images.comiccollectorlive.com/covers/a45/a453cb0a-c699-4b84-ae3b-11af7c0ff30c.jpg
HA!
You STC fans need to grow up and realize that your beloved childhood comic series had one heck of a horrible lead artist. Nigel Dobbing’s art is 90% of the reason why I can’t get into the UK’s Sonic comics.
@BrandonTH
You realise that StC isn’t American, right?
That said, I’ve noticed that European art tends to be more batbot crazy than other places. Just take a look at the European Sonic 3 cover and behold a perfect example!
Dobbyn was not the lead artist. Richard Elson was.
http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/7482/98523279.jpg
http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/6213/bestofenemies.jpg
http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/3896/sonic4.jpg
And StC had beautiful, painted art, like this example by Dobbyn:
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/3846/megopolis.jpg
“HA!” You stupid Matt need to grow up and accept the fact that you are wrong. StC had wonderful artists and wonderful art. You obviously know nothing about good art. Also, you’re comparing a StC picture from 2001 with an Archie pic from 2011. Sooo logical. In 2001, Archie had…Ron Lim. Wow xD
to be fair, both books have had terrible art (saying an artist is terrible doesn’t make sense to me as one can improve or change stylistically)…..but StC style IS a little jarring. It always reminds me of the EU Sonic 3 cover with the weirdly drawn Knuckles and Sonic”s hands looked off. But I’ve learned to appreciate it for what it is and will agree that Dobbyn’s art isn’t bad…it just isn’t “SEGASonic” which most fans fawn over for some reason
Trez: maybe that’s because I’m European (Belgium) but I find StC’s art more attractive than Archie’s. I don’t care if StC is less “Sega Sonic” in style. It has its uniqueness and charm, and beautiful arts.
@Donna Tyler: But the Archie comics have much better artists (Tracy Yardley, Patrick Spaz, to name two). I’m sorry, but that cover looks UGLY. U-G-L-Y UGLY. The only thing it has going for it in my opinion is that it’s not as horrid-looking as that Sonic Nebulous fan-game. *shudders*
@ Adamis Fox
I agree that this style lends itself to some beautiful depictions of Sonic’s world (LOVE the Death Egg blasting mobius in the Death Egg storyline) and has a charm that some of the recent “SEGASonic” art has been lacking (IMO it’s become kinda generic in recent years but at least its consistant and streamlined) But I think StC is a style one has to learn to love for some. For me it grew on me when I was collecting StC in addition to Archie’s book and by the Sonic 3 arc of StC was just used to it.
@ Donna Tyler
“HA!” You stupid Matt need to grow up and accept the fact that you are wrong. StC had wonderful artists and wonderful art. You obviously know nothing about good art. Also, you’re comparing a StC picture from 2001 with an Archie pic from 2011. Sooo logical. In 2001, Archie had…Ron Lim. Wow xD
Are you for real? I mean, are you this immature or are you smoking something? You honestly seem to think your words carry weight but calling someone stupid and writing with girly, juvenile tropes such as “sooo” (while punctuating your sentences with xDs) only makes your flimsy argument look that much weaker. Since no substantial amount of thinking went into your post, I don’t really need to respond to your silly little retort, do I? But to prove what an embarrassment your last post was on behalf of all Sonic fans, let me just point out that Richard Elson’s Sonic art doesn’t hold a candle to the work of any of Archie’s lead artists past or present with the notable exception of Ron Lim. Even Dave Manak, the series’ third-most reviled Sonic artists (behind Ron Lim and Many Hands) and one of the original lead artists, proved that could produce an on-model illustration of the comic’s main protagonist. The wavey-spined, stubby-armed mutant that you posted pictures of actually has more in common with Ron Lim’s art than you think in that it goes too far outside the boundaries of on-model Sonic art. Do you need proof?
Here’s your idea of a good-looking Sonic, as drawn by Elson.
http://images.wikia.com/sonic/images/5/59/STC71-Sonic.jpg
http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/3896/sonic4.jp
You’ll notice that I picked one classic era Sonic, and one Adventure era Sonic, just to be fair.
Well here’s Archie’s idea of Sonic (*SPOILER* It’s a lot closer to SEGA’s), starting with one of the earliest lead artists, Dave Manak, at the pinnacle of his artistic ability: http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/6103/25329848.jpg
That’s Dave’s classic Sonic. He’s one of the series’ worst artist and already he gets points for not drawing Sonic like a fat, mean-looking freak with short spikes.
Here’s a nice one by one of the series’ bests talents, Steve Butler:
http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/1269/86762022.jpg
SatAM storyboard artist Art Mawhinney adapting to the SA style better than Elson:
http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/124/30094704.jpg
Ooh, let’s not forget fan favorite J. Axer. He is so good I had to pick three:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/33/63251317.jpg/
http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/5906/18205355.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/402/58207467.jpg/
And of course, what would an Archie vs. Fleetway argument be without bringing up the incomparable Pat Spaziante:
Old classic Sonic Spaz art:
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/1364/1617o.jpg
New classic Sonic Spaz art:
http://www.tssznews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/archives_17.jpg
Adventure era Spaz art:
http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/5431/44463777.jpg
http://imageshack.us/f/268/15325506.jpg/
And of course, current artist Tracy Yardley:
http://imageshack.us/f/18/sonic205happyfuzzybunny.jpg/
http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/2301/sonic205happyfuzzybunny.jpg
What do all of these Archie artists have in common? Unlike Ron Lim and Richard Elson, they did not let their own warped sense of proportion get in the way of making good Sonic art. Even though each of these artists has their own distinct style, I can look at each one of the above pieces and say “that’s Sonic from the 16-bit games” or “that’s Sonic from the 3D games”. These artists used model sheets and referred to game art and actually tried to make their own style conform to SEGA’s. And as a result of their efforts, many of them, especially Spaz and Axer, got very close. And that, Donna, is exactly my beef with you StC fans. You incessantly and childishly boast about how much better your comic is than ours, but you’re blind to the very obvious flaws in it’s presentation. I haven’t even mentioned the cover of #254 yet! Good gravy, you’d think that after more than a decade his art would have improved, but no—Amy and Tails still look like bobble-headed babies and Sonic is as bizarre and un-Sonic like as ever.
Why am I so offended by StC’s ugly art? Because as a teen in the late 90′s I’d hear all about how great and “edgier” StC was than Archie and how it stayed true to the games, but in many aspects it was just as f****d up as Archie’s version, if not more so due to the consistently off-model characters, at least one of whom–Amy Rose–who had an entirely different design from the games, was frequently depicted with a gun, and hadn’t an ounce of the lovestruck “cuteness” of Amy as depicted from Sonic CD til now.
Enough logic for you, or shall I be on the receiving end of more vicious, argument-settling laughs and emoticons?
@ Donna Tyler
I wrote a very long response to you but for some reason it did not make it through.
Suffice to say, your name-calling and childish retorts only show how weak your argument really is. I can sum up my entire post from before in just two images:
Richard Elson’s Sonic:
http://images.wikia.com/sonic/images/5/59/STC71-Sonic.jpg
Pat Spaziante’s Sonic:
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/1364/1617o.jpg
End of argument.
Matt: they look alike, I don’t see why you show so much hatred for Elson’s style. If you don’t like it, fine for you. But there are other people who like it and all you’re showing is a lack of respect.
@ Adamis Fox
Lack of respect or not, I’m not the one slinging names like “stupid” around, am I?
@ Matt granted you may like your Archie series art but from the examples you provided yeah in my opinion Elson is the superior, it looks nice more rather proportioned and the guy went on to illustrating marvel comics. Spaz personally I find I don’t like I don’t really understand why people like him but thats what makes us all different. too me his arts just odd with the whole weird eyes thing but hey thats just me, on anther note the reason why the style is so weird is because the people at STC worked with the classic sonic look far longer then anyone at eve SEGA did and were not given any of the new character model sheets and when they saw the change couldn’t adapt to sonics new look quickly enough or ease into it as the comic went into reprint so thats why sonic looks ugly to those unfamiliar with these images, In all
Elson I think is the best sonic artist around for me really looked better, but thats my opinion im not going to disrespect yours its all down to choice,