Two of the greatest heroes in gaming unite this summer in Archie Comics' “World's Unite” crossover event.







Sonic The Hedgehog and Mega Man first crossed over in the 2013 event, “Worlds Collide.” Now in “World's Unite”they and their supporting casts meet again for another world-hopping adventure. Their “Sonic Boom” and “Mega Man X” counterparts tossed into the mix, as well as an array of SEGA and Capcom properties, including fan-favorites like “Street Fighter,” “NiGHTS” and “Monster Hunter”







The Swerve had the opportunity to get the scoop on the event from Ian Flynn, who has been writing “Sonic” since 2006, and “Mega Man” since Archie acquired the publishing rights.







The Swerve Magazine: The FCBD issue has a heavy focus on the Shattered World Crisis. Will this event move that saga forward, or is Worlds Unite a divergence from Sonic's ongoing mission?











SM: How long have you been planning “Worlds Unite?”

Ian Flynn: Sonic’s world will still remain in its fractured state, but fixing it is his adventure and his adventure alone. Once “Worlds Unite” is over, he’ll be diving back into fixing his world.SM: How long have you been planning “Worlds Unite?”





IF: It’s always been in the cards since “Worlds Collide.” The details changed as new elements and opportunities arose, but the idea of a sequel was always there.



SM: When you first pitched “Worlds Collide” to Capcom and SEGA, was it tough to get them to sign off on the idea?





IF: Actually, it was Capcom who pitched the idea to us. SEGA was immediately keen on the idea. The two of them made the entire process incredibly easy, and they were both very generous in letting us mix the properties.





SM: While incorporating Sonic Boom and Mega Man X takes this event further than “Worlds Collide,” why was it important to add so many other characters into the mix this time around?





IF: The novelty of “Worlds Collide” was Sonic and Mega Man crossing over. With “Worlds Unite,” as cool as Sonic Boom and Mega Man X are, it would be “different-Sonic” and “different-Mega Man” added to the mix. With the opportunity to dive into the greater SEGA and Capcom universes, we’re raising the bar. We’re going as far we can with this.





SM: Was it difficult to get access to so much of SEGA and Capcom's IP libraries for this story?





IF: It was interesting to see which properties SEGA and Capcom would let us use. They were very cool and supportive when we settled on the guest-starring properties.





SM: There are a number of disparate tones among the properties in the crossover. How do you approach the different tones while telling an overall story?





IF: I think all of the stories have an underlying sense of adventure. We’ll be paying homage to each of their series while bringing them all to a common ground.





SM: You have a ton of new characters and worlds in this story, what are some of your favorite new toys to play with?





IF: I have always been a huge fan of “Skies of Arcadia,” so any excuse to have Vyse and his crew show up puts a huge smile on my face. I had a ton of fun with the Street “Fighter” cast. And I got a little thrill out of having Sonic meet Alex Kidd. All of them have been a lot of fun, so it’s hard to pick a favourite.





SM: In addition to the crossovers into regular series, there are Battle Books. How do these books add onto the overall story?







IF: Even though the series is twelve issues long, we don’t have room to showcase every single character and splurge on every battle. The battle books give a chance for more creators to have fun with the wild mix of characters.

