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"Sonic & Mega Man: Worlds Collide", also known as simply "Worlds Collide" and initially known as "Sonic & Mega Man: When Worlds Collide", is a twelve part story arc epic spanning three comic titles published by Archie Comics (thirteen part story arc spanning four comic titles if including Worlds Collide: Prelude) - Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Universe and Mega Man. It features a crossover from Capcom's Mega Man universe and Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog universe. It premiered on 10 April 2013.
The crossover was followed by the sequel "Worlds Unite", which began on 27 May 2015.
On 3 July 2012, the website ComingSoon.net provided attendees an overview of details for the event to be held on 15 July at San Diego Comic Con. In the room 24ABC, from 10:00 to 11:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-8), was the event called "Sonic and Mega Man: Video Game Comics Showcase".
The Heroes Collide[]
Image posted on the Twitter by Brian Truitt, 9 July 2012
On 9 July, Brian Truitt, writer, and blogger editor USA Today, posted on his Twitter the image named Heroes Collide, with the following comment: "Hmmm. Just got a super-duper-secret very archiecomics @ mail. Do I asked about it be treated?"
It would have speculated that in the coming days Archie Comics would provide official information about the true meaning of the image.
The Notice of Archie: When Worlds Collide[]
The next day, 10 July, Paul Kaminski, CEO of Archie Comics held a press conference:
"We have been devising this for years. From the moment we had to Mega Man to Archie, we knew we wanted to bring Sonic and the Blue Bomber together. It's a big budget pelicual showing two of the most historic franchises in video games. This never happened before. We are making history here, and will knock out people in an embrace. This is about what comics try - drama, fun, action and tons of surprises. Fans will not be disappointed."
Therefore, the first cover of "When Worlds Collide" as the new comic book titled 12 chapters, is shown to the public.
No Animal-Human Romance[]
On the same day at 3:30 pm, Evan Narcisse of Kotaku held an interview with Ian Flynn, the main contributor to the Mega Man comic series at Archie, titling it as "Sonic-Mega Man Crossover Won't Feature Any Human-Animal Romance". During the interview, Flynn joked about a romance between the character of Amy Rose and Dr. Wily, in response to a similar question made by Narcisse. It was concluded that the work was necessary to unstable when they go through both franchises. At the end of it, the website publishes two promotional images bringing out a Proto Man, Knuckles, Shadow and Bass.
Rivals Collide[]
MTV Geek: Rivals Collide
At 6:03 pm, MTV Geek publishes on its website the interview he made with Paul Kaminski and Ian Flynn, where he proceeds to speculate on the sketch—Tramal line of comics—and the possible reason for the union of both universes. Flynn mentioned the interest of sharing the contents of twelve chapters in a course of four months.
Archie Comics is distributing the series of "Rivals Collide".
Sonic Meets Mega Man[]
At 2:10 pm on 15 July, Comics Alliance published an interview with Paul Kaminski made at Comic-Con, entitled "Sonic Meets Mega Man" which reveals vague parts of the plot and the means by which will be published three books are divided into four chapters each. Kaminski argues that the chronological location "When Worlds Collide" would not go according to any of the two comics, to avoid being incommodious to Flynn in the project.
"The moments of Wily and Eggman will be in this story retail outlets ..."
Plot[]
Following Super Sonic's use of Chaos Control to reverse the effects of the first Genesis Wave on Mobius Prime, the blue Chaos Emerald used by Dr. Eggman to power the wave was transported to an alternate universe, specifically that of Earth 20XX. Appearing in the rainforest outside the Lanfront Ruins, it was discovered by several of the Robot Masters created by Dr. Wily using the supercomputer Ra Moon. Wily's attempts to analyze the gemstone resulted in opening an unexpected communications link between the two universes, allowing Wily and Eggman to communicate with each other. Discovering their shared goals for their worlds-and frustration with certain blue foes-the two doctors agreed upon an alliance. With Eggman's guidance, Wily used the power of the Chaos Emerald to create the Skull Egg Zone, a pocket dimension linking both their worlds together. By combining resources, the two doctors shaped the realm to their liking and created a flying battle fortress from which to enact their schemes for all reality: the Wily Egg. After using the Emerald to launch a second Genesis Wave, the pair set out to acquire the remaining Emeralds. In order to accomplish this, they captured a number of Sonic the Hedgehog's allies and transformed them into the evil Roboticized Masters.[1]
Quickly securing most of the Emeralds, the doctors then arranged for their foes-Sonic and Mega Man-to be tricked into battling each other in the hopes that one or both would be destroyed. The battle began on Mobius, but soon moved to Earth as Mega Man's creator and Wily's rival, Dr. Light, created a Warp Ring to bring his robotic son back home. Fearing further interference, the doctors dispatched Metal Sonic v3.0 and Bass to capture Light as Sonic and Mega Man continued to battle. However, the heroes eventually learned that they had been deceived, forcing the doctors to attack with Tails Man, the first of the Roboticized Masters. By combining their abilities, the two heroes unexpectedly returned Tails to normal, and learned of the doctors' alliance. Transporting to Light Labs, they would arrive too late to prevent Dr. Light's capture, but were able to pursue him into the Skull Egg Zone accompanied by Proto Man and Rush. After a brief battle with Mega Man's old enemies Copy Robot and the Genesis Unit, the heroes ran into the full force of Roboticized Masters.[2][3][4][5]
Proto Man left his allies in order to locate the missing Dr. Light, dividing the Roboticized Masters as several were called off to pursue him. By modifying Mega Man's Mega Buster weapon to mimic Sonic's Spin Dash attack, the heroes succeeded in restoring all three members of the Chaotix to their normal forms. The detectives left to join Proto Man, while the doctors dispatched Robot Master Shadow Man and Roboticized Master Shadow Man to engage the heroes. Despite the formidable team, the heroes were victorious, restoring Shadow the Hedgehog and destroying Wily's Shadow Man. Thanks to Shadow's Chaos Control abilities, the heroes also became aware that reality had been altered, and became even more determined to set things right. Silver Man and Blaze Woman were likewise turned back into Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat by the heroes, while the doctors began work on a deadly battle vehicle, the Egg-Wily Machine X. Unbeknownst to them, the Wily Egg had been boarded by Rouge the Bat, who made contact with Dr. Light for his help in sabotaging the flying fortress.[6][7]
Sonic's team soon battled the last remaining Roboticized Masters, Knuckles Man and Rose Woman, who had been ordered to self-destruct in order to eliminate the heroes. Fortunately, after a heated battle, they were able to return them to their normal forms of Knuckles the Echidna and Amy Rose. Having succeeded in rescuing all of Sonic's allies-that they were aware of-the heroes set out to assemble them and regroup at the Wily Egg, which had stopped thanks to Rouge's sabotage. Unfortunately, Rouge was captured by the doctors and subjected to roboticization, becoming Rouge Woman. She was then deployed alongside an army of Robot Masters the doctors had time-cloned from Earth's past against Sonic and Mega Man's force. Joined by E-123 Omega, the heroes put up a valiant fight despite being outnumbered, even succeeding in rescuing Rouge. Realizing that they were fighting a losing battle, however, Sonic and Mega Man departed for the Wily Egg with Tails and Rush, just in time to see Dr. Light jettisoned from the craft.[8][9]
After Light was rescued by Shadow and joined the allied heroes, Sonic and Mega Man boarded the Wily Egg to confront Eggman and Wily. The evil doctors, their friendship shattered by Eggman's attempt to murder Dr. Light, dispatched the Mega Man Killers to impede their progress. Following a swift battle, the Killers were destroyed, but Tails was injured and forced to retreat with Rush. Fighting their way up through various obstacles, the heroes encountered the Chaos Devil, a monstrous creation of the villainous doctors. Their battle with the creature came to a halt with the arrival of Duo, a powerful ally from Mega Man's universe, who sent the heroes ahead while staying behind to handle the creature. Mega Man and Sonic continued, but faced a final obstacle: Metal Sonic, Bass, and Treble, who tag-teamed the two heroes viciously. After a grueling battle, the two succeeded in defeating them, only to be captured by the Egg-Wily Machine X. Held captive by Eggman and Wily, the heroes then learned the full scope of the doctors' plan: to completely rewrite all of reality using the Genesis Reactor, a device powered by all seven Chaos Emeralds.[10]
Outside the Wily Egg, the battle with the Robot Masters continued, and Sonic's allies were soon joined by an unexpected force of arrivals: the original Robot Masters created by Dr. Light. Taking advantage of the reprieve, Knuckles and Proto Man-joined by Rush and Dr. Light-boarded the Wily Egg to aid Mega Man and Sonic. The red heroes took on the doctors while Light and Rush freed Mega Man and Sonic, who then used the power of the Chaos Emeralds to transform into Super Armor Mega Man and Super Sonic. The doctors also super-charged the Egg-Wily Machine X, leading to a titanic struggle between the blue heroes and their enemies. During the fighting, the Super Genesis Wave was unleashed, consuming all of realty in its blinding light as the heroes managed to defeat the doctors. Harnessing the power of the Emeralds for one final act, Sonic and Mega Man prepared to restore their worlds to normal. Mega Man succeeded without incident, but Dr. Eggman launched a final attack against Sonic, greatly disrupting his efforts and altering their reality.[11]
Aftermath[]
The Prime Zone was catastrophically altered by Eggman's interference. The entire history of the Prime Zone had been greatly changed, and many other elements along with it: the planet's geography had been shifted, with previously existing locations being moved or outright erased, with new locations appearing in their place. Several characters histories had been changed, some on a minor scale (Sally still grew up as a young princess in Mobotropolis) while others were more drastic (Knuckles has now always been the last remaining Echidna on the planet). Meanwhile several characters from the old timeline had vanished altogether, their fate unknown. Events from the majority of the Sonic video games had also taken place: according to Ian Flynn, every major Sonic game up to Sonic Generations, with the exception of Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, has taken place in this timeline.
Additionally, it was revealed the entire multiverse was effected: the reality warping caused the multiverse to collapse in on itself and reboot, creating new realities. The reality warp itself would end up causing the Shattered World Crisis: once the Super Genesis Wave reset the multiverse, the excess energy piled itself onto the Prime Zone, causing Sonic's World to split apart from the strain.
In contrast, the changes to Mega Man's world were minor. The damage done to Mega City by Break Man was reversed, as were the injuries of Mega Man and his Robot Master brothers. Additionally, nobody in this world has any memory of the crossover, with a few minor exceptions: Mega Man comes out of the Genesis Wave with a brief knowledge of the world being out of order and is aware of Break Man's damage being undone, while Dr. Wily, feeling as if he's forgotten the last few months, has been left only with a violent urge to stomp on a carton of eggs...[12]
Due to the Genesis Wave simply making Earth 20XX jump forward in time rather than reset it, the events of the crossover would presumably happen at a later point in Mega Man's future. This was confirmed during the "Dawn of X" story arc, in which Xander Payne topples through a time vortex into the future, witnessing many events set to occur in the future along the way, including a scene from this crossover of Mega Man aiding Sonic in defeating Tails Man. When he got back to the present, he carved a picture of Sonic's head among the things he saw in his jail cell, and blabbed on about "worlds colliding again".[13][14][15]
As predicted by Payne, it was discovered in Silver's future by Professor Von Schlemmer that the "shards" that formed when the multiverse was altered tore holes in the space-time continuum, creating mysterious portals called Genesis Portals.[16] These portals caused travel though many worlds, including the Prime Zone, the present and future of Mega Man's world and the world of Sonic Boom. One of these portals brought Sigma, the arch-enemy of Mega Man's descendent, Mega Man X, to the Lost Hex, where he abducted and enslaved Dr. Eggman, Dr. Wily and the Deadly Six, thus beginning Sonic and Mega Man's next adventure together.[17][18][19] It would also be revealed that the events of their previous encounter still occurred in this alternate reality.[20]
List of Sonic & Mega Man: Worlds Collide issues[]
The storyline of Sonic & Mega Man: Worlds Collide spans over a total of twelve (thirteen with the prologue included) comic book issues that are from the Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Universe and Mega Man comic book titles that is published by Archie Comics (four comics from each series). The story line is split up into three acts (with the exception of the prologue), each which is consisting of four issues:
The whole crossover was reprinted in graphic novel format starting from November 2013. The three volume series compiled each act of the story, while a fourth book contained all twelve parts:
Duo enters the Wily Egg. Note the Goomba beside the Moto Bug.
All of the comic series that "Worlds Collide" take on are either milestone issues (Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man) or right after a milestone issue (Sonic Universe).
According to Ian Flynn, the events of the crossover, from the perspective of the video games storylines of which the reset worlds are based, take place after Sonic Generations and Mega Man 10 respectively. The fact that the former had already taken place is made more evident in Sonic the Hedgehog #250, in which Dr. Light mentions the Time Eater. As for the latter, the crossover included elements from/references to virtually every story-based game in the classic Mega Man series.
Information revealed suggests that the crossover ultimately proved to be vital to the survival of both comics:[21]
Around the time the crossover was beginning, Former Sonic writer Ken Penders had split ties with Archie Comics and was suing for the rights to all the characters he created for the comic, which would have severely compromised the ongoing plotlines had they been removed. The use of the crossover to reboot the comic was needed to both remove his works without further legal issues while allowing for a more game-related storyline with enough elements of the comic's previous state.
Around the time of the release of Worlds Unite, Ian Flynn revealed that had the Worlds Collide crossover not taken place, the Mega Man comic would have most likely been cancelled due to not meeting sales expectations.
The idea for a crossover between Sonic and Mega Man originated as far back as 2004, in which Patrick Spaziante, who at the time had also illustrated for the defunct Mega Man comic by Dreamwave Comics, approached then-Sonic editor Mike Pellerito with the proposal, but was not at the time doable for several reasons. According to Spaziante, the only idea from that original proposal that transferred over to this crossover was the "Shoes and Helmet" teaser image that was used to announce the event.
Although it was initially stated by the creative team that the crossover would consist purely of elements from the video game series' of the respective properties, some elements from the main comic universe had still managed to appear in several places. This includes:
The concept of Roboticization, which would be a major influence in the creation of the Roboticized Masters.
Eggman's Egg Swats, which where among the many resources used to construct the Wily Egg.
All of the issues have variant covers featuring either a Mega Man version or a Sonic version of the cover.
This was one of the few crossovers that was actually canon to the Archie Sonic Universe. Other canon crossovers include: Worlds Unite, Sonic X #40 and the second story in Sonic Super Special #10.
The cover of Sonic Universe #51 is a reference to the Marvel Vs Capcom series.
Blaze is the only major character in Worlds Collide who does not appear in any of the covers (excluding her cameo in Sonic Free Comic Book Day 2013).
