When you have over a dozen variants for an issue, one is bound to slip under the radar, and that is exactly what happened with issue #1! Thanks to a tip from a reader, we discovered that there was yet another variant (I feel like we have used that phrase a lot)! It was shown briefly with 10 other issue #1 variants in a video featured on the Sonic Styles Instagram account. Unfortunately, the quickly panning camera and glare only allowed a glimpse.

There has been some speculation regarding this cover, but we just received a tip from another reading that lead to a much clearer picture of this cover. It is actually a retailer exclusive variant for Spencer’s Gifts that was never announced,officially or otherwise. It features art by Jon Gray depicting Tails hoisting Sonic high above the Emerald Hill Zone with the Death Egg floating below the moon. The ominous figure of Dr. Eggman looms in the background appearing to hold the Death Egg in the palm of his hand. With this cover solidly identified, I believe we can put the final issue #1 variant count at 14! Let us hope this is the last one! It is yet unclear if this cover has been released yet or not, but a call to Spencer’s Customer Hotline implied that they are probably not distributing this yet or only in a limited release. We will post updates here as soon as we have them so check back!