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Gregory James Martin was an American freelance illustrator. He was hired to redesign Sonic the Hedgehog for the US promotional artwork of the Sonic the Hedgehog games throughout the early 1990s by Sega of America, starting with Sonic the Hedgehog (1991).

History

Martin began his career in Disney and Hanna Barbera Studios. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he did promotional artwork for many television shows and video games and loved painting with airbrush.

In the Sonic the Hedgehog community, Greg Martin is known for creating the illustrations used for American and European box covers and advertising for the early Sonic the Hedgehog games. His works can often be classified with the glossy airbrush style used, as well as his interpretation of Sonic himself; with design queues as a "mohawk" style for his spines, more emphasized eyebrows, his distinct smirk seen in almost every piece of artwork, a rounder belly, larger "sausage" fingers, and flatter shoes.

It was not until early 2014 that it was revealed he had passed away on May 21, 2013, and then gained the attention as the artist of the Western promotional artworks for early Sonic games.

Credits

Box artwork

• Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit) (25 October 1991) - international Sega Game Gear box artwork
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit) (25 October 1993) - international box artwork
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (24 November 1992) - international box artwork and American promotional artwork
• Sonic Chaos (25 October 1993) - international Sega Game Gear box artwork and American promotional artwork
• Sonic the Hedgehog CD (23 November 1993) - American box artwork
• Sonic Spinball (16-bit) (23 November 1993) - international box artwork
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2 February 1994) - American box artwork
• Sonic Spinball (8-bit) (September 1994) - box artwork
• Sonic & Knuckles (18 October 1994) - American promotional artwork
• Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble (November 1994) - American box artwork
• Knuckles' Chaotix (March 1995) - international box artwork

Promotional

• Sonic the Hedgehog (promotional comic) (Fall 1991) - cover artwork
• Sonic the Hedgehog Blast - package artwork
• Amazing Sonic (1994) - package artwork

Adaptations

Animation

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog

Main article: Sonic the Hedgehog (Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog)

Greg Martin's design is used in the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog television series. When Sonic was licensed out to make a television series with DiC Entertainment by Sega of America's CEO Tom Kalinske to promote the games, the production utilized Greg Martin's cover art design for Sonic the Hedgehog to be reflected on how Sega of America were marketing the Sonic the Hedgehog series in the West.

Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)

Main article: Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM)

Greg Martin's design is used in the Sonic the Hedgehog television series. Originally, the light hearted Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series) was going to be the only show to air with Martin's cover art design in 1993. However, DiC Entertainment also wanted to expand the show and produce additional episodes for weekday syndication as well, similar to what DIC had previously done with The Real Ghostbusters.

ABC network, on the other hand, had an existing deal in place with DiC and Sega of America to have a Sonic show exclusive to their network and rejected the idea. Quote: "If you guys want to do syndication, be our guest, go with God, but you won’t be on our network." The production came with a proposition that DiC would produce a separate, vastly different Sonic show for syndication instead, the result of which became Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, while Sonic the Hedgehog television series became darker and more serious in order to distinguish itself from the syndicated AoStH.

Sonic Underground

Main article: Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic Underground)

Greg Martin's design is used in the Sonic Underground television series. Sonic Underground would mark the final time a new continuity/project used Martin's design as a base for the hedgehog instead of Naoto Ohshima's, concluding the chapter on DiC Entertainment's many contributions to the series.

Books and comics

Sonic the Hedgehog (promotional comic)

Greg Martin's design is used in the Sonic the Hedgehog (promotional comic) produced by Sega of America to publicize the release of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game. At the time of its publication, Sega of America had little to no exposure to any of the original Japanese fiction relating to Sonic, and the book was an attempt to establish a definitive backstory of Sonic the Hedgehog in non-Japanese regions when the game released in 1991. Sonic's design by the cover's artist, Greg Martin, was used within the 15-page comic.

Archie Comics

Main article: Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics)

Greg Martin's design is used in the Sonic the Hedgehog Archie comic series produced by Archie Comics. It appears at the dawn of continuity alongside SatAM's Doctor Robotnik design. Originally, Sonic's Archie comic series was produced to promote the then-upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog television series but also included other elements from the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and the games early on. The design would be used for the Sonic the Hedgehog (miniseries), before making his transition from a limited run into a ongoing comic book.

However, Sonic the Hedgehog would not keep Martin's design for long. Through the comic's artistic evolution, the comic pulled in more and more material from the games and other parts of the franchise, progressively moving away from elements the miniseries established (outside its characters). The design was discontinued immediately after Ken Penders' first story introducing Sonic's evil twin. Greg Martin's design lasted in the Archie Comics from the beginning till Sonic the Hedgehog issue #11, with its last appearance on the cover of Sonic the Hedgehog issue #12.

In other media

Films

Sonic the Hedgehog (film)

Main article: Sonic the Hedgehog (Paramount)

Greg Martin's design is briefly referenced in the Sonic the Hedgehog film series produced by Paramount Pictures. In the beginning of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (film), Sonic was left unsupervised at home while his surrogate parents, Tom and Maddie Wachowski, left to Hawaii for Maddie's sister's wedding. As soon as the coast was clear, Sonic immediately started throwing a personal party at home, making any messes he wants since he can clean it up in an instant. As he was fooling around, he messed with his quills through alternate quill-styles till he found a style he liked, a mohawk, and partied through the night with Ozzy.

References

1. Gregory Martin Obituary (English) (11 June 2013). Retrieved on 7 January 2014. "Published by The Press-Enterprise: GREGORY JAMES MARTIN 10/14/56 - 5/21/13 Son of James C. Martin and the late Betty L. Martin, died unexpectedly in Boulder, CO. He was born in Loma Linda Hospital. Greg was a very gifted artist. He graduated from Poly HS in 1974, and the Los Angeles Art Center with a Bachelor's degree in 1980. He worked for Disney & Hanna Barbera Studios of which he created & drew the Ninja Turtles, worked mostly as a freelance artist. He is survived by sister Sherry Ann Pemberton; father James C.; aunts and uncles, Pattie and Harold Cade and Joella Hatcher; many nephews, nieces, and cousins who truly loved him. A great son and man to everyone. No services are planned."
2. Greg Martin, illustrator of iconic games such as Sonic the Hedgehog, dies - The Drum looks back at his work (English). Angela Haggerty. The Drum (12 January 2014). Retrieved on 3 December 2023. "Illustrator Greg Martin, who was behind some of the iconic packaging artwork in the 1990s for Sonic the Hedgehog, Pac-Man, Adventure Island and Flintstones computer games, has died. A moderator on the Nintendo Age forum announced his death in early January. The mod wrote: “Greg was the rare person who both worked in and was a fan of the work of others in his industry. I don’t think he ever lost that sense of wonder he had as a teenager for really great artwork, and he was a collector himself of artwork, movies, art books, and other things. “Greg started his career at Hanna Barbera. He worked on projects relating to the Flintstones, Jetsons, Yogi Bear and the rest of the Hanna Barbera line up. It was no surprise then that he illustrated the packaging for the video games related to these properties later on – he already had perfected illustrating these characters. “After Hanna Barbera, Greg worked for Nintendo and Sega and many other companies,” the mod continued. “He produced beautiful 24 to 30 inch airbrushed paintings that took nearly a week to complete. “He was one of the very best and most prolific artists in this area and the list of well loved game boxes he had a hand in is incredible. He also worked on many other projects including teenage mutant ninja turtles, thundercats, and, early in his career, movie posters. In recent years, Greg had spent a lot of time painting plein air landscapes.”"
3. http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=117907
4. http://www.sonicstadium.org/2014/01/greg-martin-box-art-illustrator-for-sonic-the-hedgehog-has-passed-away/
5. ソニック＆ナックルズ セガ Wii(R) バーチャルコンソール公式サイト (Japanese). Sega. Retrieved on 28 January 2015.