Welcome to Sonic The Comic: Reillustrated: issue 5!
The goal of this issue is to recreate two (count 'em!) 5-page strips from issues 46 and 47 of Sonic The Comic, with each panel drawn by a different artist. These are:
- Enter the Cybernik (part 2)
- Enter the Cybernik (part 3)
This is a not-for-profit fan project with no affiliation with the creators of Sonic The Comic.
What is Sonic The Comic?
Sonic The Comic is a UK printed comic that ran from 1993 to 2002, and is well known within the Sonic fandom for its unique interpretations of the characters and lore as well as a number of beloved original characters such as Tekno the Canary, Ebony the Mystic Mog, and Shortfuse the Cybernik.
Why Enter the Cybernik?
Once again by popular vote! Part 2 is where Shorty the Squirrel is placed inside the armour that will turn him into Shortfuse, and in Part 3 Sonic joins the party too! Shortfuse is one of the most well-known original characters from STC in the broader Sonic fandom and remained a regular in the comic right up until his creator Lew Stringer's last issue.
Available panels
All available panels can be found here:
We will do our best to cross out claimed panels on the panel list as soon as possible, however due to work and other commitments there may be a delay, and the panel(s) you want may have already been taken. If this happens, we’ll get in contact with you.
Choosing panels
Since in the past there has been a rush to fill in the form as fast as possible after we open submissions to claim a panel, we will now process applications from the first day in random order to make it fairer on folks who can’t type as fast or can’t get online at that exact moment. (We will still aim to give each contributor their first choice if possible within that.) Applications received after this period will be processed in first-come, first-served order.
Choose several panels in order of your preference—we recommend at least five choices to avoid disappointment. We will confirm which panel you’ll be doing as soon as we’re able. If none of your choices are available we’ll get in contact and invite you to resubmit the form with new choices.
We consider single full-page panels to be “iconic” and want as many different artists to be able to have a go at them as possible. As such we ask that contributors who have had an iconic panel in previous issues to allow space for other applicants to claim future ones.
STC:R is based around one panel per artist, so choose your panel wisely!
Do not submit an application more than once. If we suspect people are trying to game the system, we will consider this a breach of our guidelines and/or code of conduct, and remove those applications.
Please only apply if you expect to have time to complete the panel in the timescales outlined below, or contact us in advance if you think you may need more time.
Timescale/deadlines
Your panel will be given a deadline of at least three weeks after your panel has been confirmed (unless you have applied as a backup artist, in which case it may be at shorter notice). We will let you know your due date when we confirm your panel. We highly encourage you to post WIPs as you work on the panel. Additionally, if we ask for updates and don’t hear from you within a week’s deadline of us asking, we will assume you have lost interest.
Missing either deadline will result in us reopening applications for your panel or handing it over to a backup artist. Please get in contact with us if something will delay work on your panel. We are very understanding about delays but cannot help if we don’t know you’re still interested!
Please feel free to share WIPs and updates on social media and tag posts with #STCReillustrated so we can find them! We rely on fan-generated interest for the project, so the more you share, the bigger a success the issue will be!
WIPs and tech requirements
We require all new contributors to show us at least one WIP of their work, ideally in the Discord, before we will accept their final panel; this is to help us combat the rise of generative AI and tracing of other artwork, neither of which are allowed. A WIP is the working draft of your final image, usually the rough pencils or digital equivalent.
Prior contributors are exempt from this blanket rule though we reserve the right to ask for WIPs if necessary, so please keep your sketch layers or rough drafts available.
The minimum requirements for contributors is that they have the ability to work with the transparent templates we provide, and for formatting the submissions as described below it will probably also require an application that has layer support. The STC:R team has no preference on what application people use within the rest of these guidelines; free options include Krita and GNU Image Manipulation Program; CSP also has a free trial period. Our community is very friendly and generally happy to help with technical (and artistic) questions if it can!
We also welcome contributors using physical media and are happy to accommodate that if possible; get in touch with us if you’re unsure how to interpret any guidelines in relation to physical media. You will need a way to digitise your work and submit it in the format below.
Submission information
These instructions also come with your confirmation email!
No watermarks please: everyone will be credited with their name and social link of their choice alongside the final pages.
You may submit a final panel again with adjustments before the project’s final deadline if you notice anything that needs changing, so don’t worry if you think you might need to make revisions!
By submitting your panel to us you grant us non-exclusive rights to use this art in STC:R-related contexts (eg, uploading to social media or printing copies for participants as previously). You retain full ownership of the art.
Handing back your panel choice
Please let us know if you’re no longer able to complete your panel, as unlike other zines we cannot launch until all the panels have been finished and this allows us to find a new artist as soon as possible.
Leaving the Discord before delivering a final panel may be interpreted as you having handed back your panel, along with missing a deadline or otherwise becoming unavailable.
We understand that life sometimes gets in the way! There are no hard feelings for returning a panel and doing so does not disqualify you from taking part in a future STC:R.
Deadline extensions / Missed deadlines
Please contact us if you think you might miss your deadline. Depending on the point of development of the issue and your current progress, we may be able to provide a short extension of around a week. This will be done at the editors’ discretion.
If we can’t offer an extension and instead decide to give your panel to another artist this does not preclude you from joining a future STC:R issue, unless you have been particularly non-communicative about it without exceptional circumstances.
Composition and content
You’re welcome to use the original panel art as a guide, and we also welcome re-imaginings of each panel! Reinterpret the frame however you like, be it style, composition, etc.
Gore, adult content, AI-generated art, and submissions that we don’t think have been made in good faith will be rejected, and rejections are made at the STC:R Team’s discretion. Check our previous issues or directly with us beforehand if you’re unsure.
Do not trace or lift other people’s art, including the artwork in the original panel itself. We have a zero tolerance approach to this. We want to see your art, not somebody else’s!
We may ask to see additional WIPs of your work if we suspect these guidelines have been ignored.
Lettering
Lettering will be done by one person after the submissions have been received, for consistency. If you’re interested in doing this, let us know!
"Lettering" includes all speech/thought bubbles, sound effect text, and other unbounded text. If in doubt, ask in the Discord and/or save in layers :)
Please keep in mind the amount of dialogue in your panel(s) when creating it; there needs to be enough space for the speech bubbles and SFX to fit, and important details may be covered if there is no room. If you’re unsure whether there’ll be enough space, please get in touch with us.
Contact
The majority of contact will be in the Discord server, which you’ll receive a link to after applying. We ask that all artists join the server, and set up Discord in a way that you at least receive messages if we @ you or a role you are in (we will really only be doing this to occasionally ask for updates!)
We have a STC:R Code of Conduct that we expect all participants to abide by. We want our contributors to feel safe in our community and we prioritise marginalised people’s safety over privileged people’s comfort.
Any questions?
Did we miss something? If there’s anything you want to know, please contact us here: stcreillustrated@gmail.com
Ready to apply?
The form linked below will open for submissions at 16:00 on 26 July 2025. It’ll ask you for the name you want to be credited by, a social media link if you have one, and ask you to choose multiple panels from the strip in order of preference (in case someone else has taken your most preferred options).
Previous contributors, please be aware that the format for panel choices has changed to 46-PAGE-PANEL and 47-PAGE-PANEL so we can tell the difference between Enter the Cybernik Part 2 (issue 46) and Part 3 (issue 47).
One panel will be allocated to each applicant in order the applications were received (except in the first day after opening submissions during which they will be shuffled), so you might not get your first choice.
Apply here; only applications submitted using this form will be accepted:
Thank you so much for checking out Sonic The Comic: Reillustrated!