Sonic the Comic holds a special place in the hearts of many Sonic fans, and the Summer of Sonic 2010 is honoured to have one of its famous artists, Nigel Dobbyn, attend and meet fellow comic followers.

Nigel Dobbyn is most famous in the Sonic community for his work in the Tails and Knuckles story arcs in the Sonic the Comic books. With a comic career spanning works such as the dark and illustrious 2000AD, it seems perhaps a strange thing for an artist used to the world of Dredd and The Gronk to focus on the colourful cheery world of Sonic the Hedgehog. Instead, Dobbyn provided a unique style of art that borrowed heavily from both contrasting comics – under the guide of alternate universes. As a result, seeing Tails fight Trogg in The Land Beyond was both exciting and an interesting diversion, whilst not deconstructive to the core Sonic world.

If you find yourself humming to almost every theme tune to Sonic games of the last decade, chances are you’ll know who Crush 40 are. The rock masters behind tracks such as “Open Your Heart,” “Live & Learn” and “Sonic Heroes” will be performing live for the audience at Summer of Sonic 2010, and will be sitting into a Q&A session early in the afternoon too. Prepare to have your Sonic socks rocked off!

Johnny Gioeli is no stranger to the world of rock, and has blown away audiences for nearly twenty years with his incredible vocals, fronting acts such as Hardline and Axel Rudi Pell. Teaming up with Jun Senoue to form Sons of Angels, they later became Crush 40. Gioeli’s powering voice has become synonymous, with a huge number of Sonic the Hedgehog title tracks including Open Your Heart (Sonic Adventure), Live & Learn (Sonic Adventure 2) and I Am…All Of Me (Shadow the Hedgehog).

Jun Senoue is one of the most influential composers in the Sonic the Hedgehog universe, having worked on Sonic titles as early as 1993. Sound directing some of the most prolific soundtracks to date including the Sonic Adventure series, Sonic Heroes and Sonic & the Black Knight to mention but a few, Senoue has become infamous for his musical direction as well as his musical prowess, with his trademark guitar work becoming the staple of countless Sonic the Hedgehog titles. Not only this, Senoue is the composer for the soon-to-be-released title Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1. The double threat of Gioeli and Senoue as Crush 40 has literally redefined the music to Sonic the Hedgehog games as we know it.