#stc25

Hi Boomers!

What a week it's been! 😵

Last Monday I was interviewed by RadioSEGA to talk about STC25, STC #275, and the comic in general. (check that out here - https://www.radiosega.net/shows/blog/the-manic-monday-show/2018/05/8-bit-music-and-comics-galore/)

On Tuesday we celebrated the 25th anniversary of Sonic the Comic and also released the first part of issue #275 - featuring our biggest story yet in the form of 'The Battle for Drak' featuring art from so many of our talented team! 

(Go read that here - http://www.stconline.co.uk/comics/stc275)

By Saturday we'd added the first part of another special anniversary story from original STC alum Nigel Kitching with art by myself and stunning colours by Nigel Dobbyn - Exit: Sonic has certainly got people talking and we're excited to release the conclusion of that story later this month!

(I hope you've read it by now! If not go here - http://www.stconline.co.uk/comics/stc275#comics)

And on Sunday it was the big day here in Manchester, STC25!! 

It was an incredible day, and I'm thrilled that so many of you were able to attend! It didn't quite go according to plan (what does?! 😂) but everyone seemed to have a brilliant time! 

I'd like to say a massive thanks to you all for pledging to the Kickstarter and helping to make it happen, and another thank you to all of our special guests - Nigel Kitching, Nigel Dobbyn, Carl Flint, Ferran Rodriguez, and Lew Stringer (making his first appearance at a UK Sonic event, amazingly we didn't scare him off!) - they were all brilliant and it was wonderful to see them again. 

Throughout the day everyone got a chance to mingle with other boomers and talk STC, ask questions of the guests and even get some of them to do some special art commissions - after 25 years we finally got to see how Lew draws Shortfuse! 

We had a great Q&A with Nigel and Lew, who revealed untold tales of STC history, a mammoth game of STC bingo (or Bingo Motorway as I called it!) in aid of the Matt's MegaDrive fund in memory of our departed friend Matt Dittmer - including a special Mojito toast in his honour, and there was even opportunity for people to great their own STC art throughout the day. 

It was also a brilliant retirement party for me! I spent most of the day (as with most of the previous few weeks) running around looking as wild-eyed as Super Sonic, but I loved every minute of it - so thank you again to everyone for making it so special! 😅

I've attached a few photos here but be on the lookout for the full set of STC25 photos to appear on our Facebook in the next few days/weeks!

There were also a few videos made, including this one by The_Guy_Silver: https://youtu.be/Ekqv1GTimgE

I believe there's also more to come so stay tuned to our Facebook for more!

All that's left now is for me to sort out shipping all the leftover comics and t-shirts and posters to those of you that were unable to attend! If you pledged for a tier that included postage (such as the Amy & Tekno tier) then I have everything I need from you!

If you originally pledged for an invite and were unable, or did not attend on the day - I may need to contact you for your address and possibly also for postage costs.

So please look out for messages via Kickstarter in your email (whichever email account you use for Kickstarter!) in the next week or so.

My aim is to get everything shipped out before the end of the month.

There's over 50 packs to ship out and only one of me so I'm afraid it will take me time to sort it all out - please be patient, I will work through them as fast as I can! 😉

If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to contact me via Kickstarter!

Thanks again, boomers! 

STC 25 by keh-arts

If you thought we were finished with STC #275, you'd be quite mistaken...

#275 has one more special surprise to share with you and has it got some absolute Superstar talent involved! As a parting gift, Michael has teamed up with STC alumni Nigel Kitching and Nigel Dobbyn on the cryptically titled Exit: Sonic and you’ll definitely not want to miss this tantalising new tale...

Exit: Sonic part 2 will be released later this month!

Check it out, along with a load of new pinups!

We're very excited to announce our fifth guest for STC25, the amazingly talented RICHARD ELSON!

Any STC fan will instantly recognise Richard's art as a staple of the comic's print run - Richard worked with Nigel Kitching to help create the STC universe and provided art for some of it's biggest stories such as 'The Sonic Terminator', 'Running Wild', and 'The Evil Empire'!

Since STC, Richard's done quite a variety of stuff, but the majority of his work has been for 2000AD and Marvel. Richard is currently working on a Pacific Rim 6 part series for Legendary Comics - then heading back to 2000AD.

STC FACTOID!

Did you know that between #224 to #275 (including specials) STC Online has released 180 stories?!

Here's the rundown: 

We did it, boomers!

A MASSIVE THANK YOU to everyone who's helped us reach 100% of our initial goal. This means the event will definitely be able to go ahead and we can begin looking towards our Stretch Goals!

We've got a few stretch goals planned, from extra rewards for generous backers to more special guests.

So, let's talk our first Stretch Goal:

If all goes to plan, May 29th 2018* will see the release of Sonic the Comic Issue #275 online. It's the biggest issue STC has ever had *including* the print run - as it's such a special issue we want as many people as possible to have their very own printed version.

That's right, we're bringing Sonic the Comic back to print for one very special issue!

To achieve this we need to hit £1600 in funding! It'll be worth it!

I've now added two extra backer rewards:

AMY & TEKNO - For those who can't make the event - includes a t-shirt and a comic

SONIC HEROES - Includes an invite, a t-shirt, and a comic

Anyone who has pledged more than £20 per person will automatically receive a comic on top of their existing reward!

UPGRADING FROM SUPER SONIC TO LORD SIDEWINDER PLEDGES

Some boomers might want to upgrade from other tiers to the Lord Sidewinder tier to get their hands on that awesome new Richard Elson print. However, the Lord Sidewinder tier DOES NOT include putting your OC into STC #275. This is a limitation of Kickstarter's system.

If you want to keep your SUPER SONIC reward on top of your LORD SIDEWINDER reward you must have pledged at least £75. If you have any questions please message me via Kickstarter!

Oh, and look out for our next special guest announcement on Friday!

Thanks again, boomers!

~Michael 😃

STC25 Special Guest Announcement!

For the first time ever at a Sonic convention, we're thrilled to announce that the amazing LEW STRINGER will be joining us at STC25!

Lew wrote so many memorable tales for STC, and created a huge amount of fan favourite characters such as Tekno the Canary, Shortfuse the Cybernik, and Commander Brutus!

Lew has been freelancing professionally since 1983 as an artist and writer of humour comics. Over the years he has worked for The Beano, Dandy, Viz, Transformers, Sonic the Comic, Oink!, Buster, and many more for companies such as D.C. Thomson, Marvel UK, Egmont, Image Comics and Dark Horse.

Lew is currently a regular contributor to Doctor Who Magazine, Beano, Toxic, and Epic, and is also self-publishing collections of his older strips such as Combat Colin, Brickman, and Derek the Troll.