Sonic Comics: What Happened to Archie?

Sonic's Archie comics are the longest lasting comic based on a video game character. Er, they were.
Archie's cancellation was a shock. This had been going on since 1993--it was never suppose to end! Now Sega is helping make a new comic with IDW. So WHY. Why did this happen?

Here's a few guesses, though I can't say for sure how true they are. 

THEORY 1

Sega wanted to avoid another Penders situation (another lawsuit). Sonic Forces has some concepts parallel to other Sonic-media, as well as Mania and Archie's Megadrive, so perhaps they wanted more freedom in the future to add-in some ideas that are a little "familiar" with out the risk of angering the wrong person. 

Ken Penders, the previous Archie Sonic big-wig felt that he was entitled to his characters and ideas (some believe this was due to the release of Sonic Chronicles: the Dark Brotherhood, which had similarities to what had happened earlier in the comics with a similar character). In any case, Ian Flynn (the new Archie big-wig) was no longer allowed to use characters Penders created (such as Scourge and Julie-Su), which resulted in the "Super Genesis Wave" AKA the reboot. 

Luckily most of the main characters came from the Sat Am cartoon, but Sega through in a few rules too (like that main game characters can't have family members). Flynn got around this (like claiming "Uncle" Chuck was a nickname), but it seems they are tightening the leash with the new series (where the terms "Mobius," "Mobian," and anything similar are banned). Which brings us to...

THEORY 2      

Sega wanted a comic to occasionally tie-into the games to better support them. With IDW, Sega is  having a sort of monitoring roll, throwing in their two cents to make it match the games. Archie had covered several events (Sonic Rush, Sonic Lost World, etc) and adapted main concepts into their story-arcs (Werehog, Black Arms). They were even being released with a game in a few cases, but it was never a big deal. Plus it was so associated with Sally & the freedom fighters that it likely wasn't reaching the new audiences Sega wanted. 

Many see starting from scratch with less original characters as a good idea because it doesn't take a lot of explaining. Although Archie had a long, interesting history, sharing it in a fast way was never easy. 

Anyway, this theory has some grounds because they recently announced a comic that will accompany Team Sonic Racing, the latest game announced. They had a short, online comic done to go with Sonic Forces which explained a few background questions. The first four issues in IDW's new comic deal with the "fallout of Sonic Forces." This could be helpful. Had Archie been on the same page as Sega back in 2006, maybe we'd know how Blaze got in Sonic's future (with Silver).         

THEORY 3
Sega wanted to reach larger audiences...farther audiences. Archie's Sonic was known for being "the American version," and maybe with IDW they're trying to appease to other countries (the UK for example, who used to rely on Fleetway for Sonic comics).

THEORY 4

The falling out. Either some one at Sega got pissed at Archie, or vise-versa. Maybe Sega was charging too much to use Sonic and his co-stars, or maybe Archie was asking too much to continue supplying comics. Maybe they argued over whether Sonic should be with Sally or Amy. Maybe... 

If this was the case, I think it would have to be pretty big for Archie Sonic to miss out on his next anniversary.  

THEORY 5

All or none of the above. 

For now, no one is sure why Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog, the way-past cool comic, came to an end, but it was quite a surprise. Issues were still planned and in-the-works. There was no real ending, no chance to say goodbye. But maybe there will be a chance someday since IDW is know for bringing back comics, and there are plenty of fans who'd like to see that happen--Ian Flynn included. At the moment, though, the focus has to be on the new series. 

IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog is trying to be as close to the games without being a complete bore. At the moment, it's just been re-introducing/introducing characters and recapping Sonic Forces, but where Sonic is concerned, nothing stays slow forever.