"Welcome to Sonic's comic book adventures - A world unique & beyond what you know from the SEGA games! Where Sonic and his friends work to save the world from the forces of evil!"
That's the description we all seem to know from the known yet sorely underrepresented Archie Comics of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Some of you love it, some of you hate it; most of it gets the worst rep imaginable due to the sole existence of a writer named Ken Penders, a man who frankly loved too many Echidnas, was either uncreative and un-Sonic-like in his ideas, and left the lore a mess for future writers to pick up the slack on.
For those that think I'm going to be reminding you all of that like no tomorrow, calm down. Archie Sonic has been dubbed many and many times, yes, though, I figured it would be nice to take my own crack at it. Some issues and arcs have gone unrepresented in some dubs posted on YT, which is honestly quite the shame. So, here's how we're going to do this...
I'm not dubbing a single thing from Penders' run. Everything from Sonic the Hedgehog #160 and onwards is fair game, and so too is the entirety of the anthology spin-off series focusing on side characters, Sonic Universe. And yes, everything before and AFTER the mighty Super Genesis Wave that brought the universe's rebooting is fair game. So how are we going to decide? Some people just wanna get RIGHT to the nitty-gritty, right to the good stuff. Well, don't worry--because while I WILL be asking for viewer input, your (auditioners) input is definitely going to count as well.
Here's how I want things done: In your auditions, in the descriptions below, I want for you guys to tell me what arc or issue you guys would want to see done or what you would most like to work on. At the end of a week, I'll gather up the most common suggestion, and add the relevant characters for said arc to this call. If you have relatively little knowledge of the comics at hand, just tell me a character you want to see in the spotlight. (Even the one you're auditioning for is fine.) Trust me, this series has MORE than enough to go around, no matter which character you say (barring just a few). This way, even the rejected crowd gets a say in the way the project goes.
The Freedom Fighters are all currently here because they're the main characters, constant between both continuities; I certainly won't be keeping them on standby for months on end to get moving.
Other than that, a few ground rules for auditioning:
- Mic quality must be good. Anything that sounds like a DS microphone or something like that gets a hard pass. We're sorry, but that's just business, and we want this to sound as professional as possible. (Though mid-quality mics are still somewhat acceptable. Don't beat yourself up for it at all; sometimes all mics can sound like shit until you tweak them)
- Expect to make a full commitment for a while if you DO get cast. The state of this project is extremely amorphous, so just take note that depending on what we work on first, you may or may not be needed.
- Include your Discord tag in the audition description; that will be our main method of communication when it comes to this project.
- You can have multiple takes if you'd like, though it's not necessarily needed. Three takes maximum.
- Audition for as many characters as you want! I strongly encourage it! The more people you put an audition in for, the better feel I get for your range, and the higher chance I'll have of recognizing dedication and commitment.
- YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PERFECTLY REPLICATE THE VOICE REFERENCES I INCLUDE FOR CERTAIN CHARACTERS. That would be simply preposterous of me. I have only put them there as guidelines for inflection and stuff. Usually whenever I design a character, the first thing I ask is "who would voice this character if I had infinite budget and resources to get all-stars?" None of these voices are EXACTLY like the character in question. They're just there as a base for you to work from. I would love to hear your own interpretations if possible, anyways; it proves to me that you aren't just a pro imitator.
- Above all, PLEASE just have fun with it! Even if you didn't get cast, it's still very good for us, knowing that more and more people take interest in our public tales, so don't feel down no matter what happens!
With that, I'm expecting a wonderful time from everybody! I just know we're gonna have a fun time with this since there's so much to cover. I hope to meet many people with as much love for the series and its mythos as I have, and even more who'll be introduced to said wonders! Looking forward to working with you all!
