NYCC: ARCHIE ACTION HOUR PANEL RECAP
Oct16Written by:
10/16/2012 1:01 PM 
By Steven Scott
Sonic! Mega Man! New Crusaders! The Archie Action Hour panel at New York Comic con had them all. Oh, and action. Lots and lots of action. In attendance were Executive Director of Editorial Paul Kaminski, Archie Comics President Mike Pellerito, writer Ian Flynn, Assistant Editor Vincent Lovallo, and artists Jamal Peppers (Sonic/Mega Man), Alitha Martinez (New Crusaders) and Ryan Jampole (Mega Man).
The panel kicked off in high gear with details about the highly anticipated Sonic/Mega Man crossover, including the official release schedule and teasing which character will be making an appearance including Proto Man, Knuckles, Bass, and Shadow.
After that, focus shifted to all things Sonic, beginning with the Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed game adaptation in the pages of Sonic Universe, featuring NASCAR racing star Danica Patrick, in addition to some other SEGA mascots. The cover for the Sonic Underground epilogue in the benchmark 50th issue of Sonic Universe was also previewed. In the main Sonic title, the next big storyline, Endangered Species, was touched on with writer Ian Flynn, who promised that the story would come with some big changes.
Next up was Mega Man, covering the recent Proto Man story arc as well as previewing an upcoming issue starring Mega Man’s sister Roll, which would be the first full issue drawn by Ryan Jampole, the artist behind the Short Circuits back up strips.
After a rousing intro to the New Crusaders segment of the panel with an animated trailer, new covers, character designs and upcoming story lines were revealed in the Red Circle corner of Archie’s superhero line. Editor Kaminski highlighted the Red Circle App, which gives fans the most up-to-date access to the New Crusaders output but he also pointed out the print option for fans of the traditional comic reading format.
The panel concluded with a Q&A session with questions ranging from what Sonic’s chili dogs are made of to whether or not SEGA or Capcom had rejected any stories the Archie team wanted to tell. The panel ended on a touching note when one attendee, a young woman from Houston, TX, gave the panelists a heartfelt "Thank you" for producing the Sonic comics, which she escaped to during especially tough times during and after childhood medical treatments. The theater then erupted in thunderous applause for the brave girl and she was greeted later by hugs and words of encouragement from the creators at a signing at the Archie booth directly after the panel.
To catch up on the latest issues, subscribe to Sonic, Sonic Universe, Mega Man, New Crusaders, or download them from the Archie Digital Storefront.