Mega Man and Sonic’s “When Worlds Collide” Saga Formally Announced

Nope, no more teasers – this is the real deal. Kotaku has the PR from Archie’s upcoming 12 part, yes, TWELVE PART crossover of the two gaming heroes, come 2013. Coming from Archie’s Paul Kaminski:

“We’ve been gearing up for this for years. From the moment we had Mega Man at Archie, we knew we wanted to bring Sonic and the Blue Bomber together. It’s a big budget movie featuring two of the most storied video game
franchises. This has never happened before. We’re making history here, and it’s going to knock people for a loop. This is what comics are all about – drama, fun, action and tons of surprises. Fans will not be disappointed.”

I know opinions towards the move have been pretty mixed; I myself am curious to see where things go. But I gotta say, a 12 part series is quite a big investment! Although there’s a good possibility this work as a side story running alongside the current Mega Man series. Kotaku promises to have more details today during their discussion panel, so stay tuned.

Thanks for the tip, Sketch!

Update: USA Today also has a report out about the upcoming crossover, with word from Ian Flynn and a little promotional art.

The books’ editor, Paul Kaminski, received word that Sega and Capcom signed off on the crossover just before New York Comic Con last fall, and his first call was to Flynn.

“His response was, ‘I have been writing that story since we began the Mega Man title,’ ” Kaminski says. “Of course, I thought he was joking, but not an hour later my inbox was flooded with Sonic/Mega Man story synopses.”

Adds Flynn: “I’m already living the dream by writing the Sonic titles. Then I got to live the other dream of writing for Mega Man. With that many dreams being handed to me, I figured it was only a matter of time.”

Update 2: Comic Book Resources has the entire press release from Archie concerning the collaboration (as well as a Proto Man/Knuckles teaser image we hadn’t seen previously). We’ll drop this after the break.

Archie Comics, the leading children’s comic book publisher in the world and the home to some of the most recognizable pop culture characters, including Archie, Betty and Veronica, Jughead, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Josie and the Pussycats, announced today in conjunction with SEGA and Capcom® plans for a Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man® comic book crossover, starting next year.

The comic book event marks the first time the two legendary video game characters have crossed over, making it a landmark meeting for comic book and gaming fans around the world. The story will be written by best-selling and longtime SONIC THE HEDGEHOG and MEGA MAN writer Ian Flynn and will feature cover art by superstar artist Patrick “Spaz” Spaziante, who illustrated the hit SONIC: GENESIS storyline and the highly-successful MEGA MAN comic book launch.

“This is a historic moment for not only Sonic and Mega Man, but for Archie,” said Archie Comics Co-CEO Jon Goldwater. “We’ve had a long, fruitful history with Sonic and are enjoying great success with Mega Man in all our markets. Bringing these characters together was something we’ve been hoping for since we got both licenses, so this is very much a dream come true for the company.”

The crossover, spearheaded by Archie’s Executive Director of Editorial Paul Kaminski, will be a universe-spanning tale that involves not only the legendary characters, but their expansive and diverse supporting casts and villains for a tale that’s certain to go down as one of the most acclaimed and best-selling comic crossovers ever.

The 12-part storyline will run through the ongoing SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, MEGA MAN and SONIC UNIVERSE titles and be available in print and digitally.

“We’ve been gearing up for this for years,” said Kaminski. “From the moment we had Mega Man at Archie, we knew we wanted to bring Sonic and the Blue Bomber together. It’s a big budget movie featuring two of the most storied video game franchises. This has never happened before. We’re making history here, and it’s going to knock people for a loop. This is what comics are all about – drama, fun, action and tons of surprises. Fans will not be disappointed.”

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