Archie Comics' Sonic Universe "Chaotix Quest: Parts 1-2" (partially found original version of comics based on "Sonic the Hedgehog" game series; 2013)
This article has been tagged as Needing work due to its lack of references.
Original cover art to Sonic Universe #47.
Status: Partially Found
During the time that Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comic series was running the heavily edited "Endangered Species" story arc, the spin-off title, Sonic Universe, was running a storyline called Chaotix Quest, in issues #46-#49. Due to the very same legal problems with former Sonic comic writer Ken Penders that were hurting the aforementioned "Endangered Species" story, the first two parts of the four-part "Chaotix Quest" were re-written and re-drawn to remove characters that Penders had created.
Rewrite
The storyline saw the group known as the Chaotix (consisting of Vector the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon, and Charmy Bee) setting out on a journey to search for their old friends and teammates, Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel, who had left on their journey in a previous story and had since lost contact.
In the first two chapters of the arc, the Chaotix arrive in the region of Mercia (a location heavily inspired by medieval England) where they meet up with the region's resident group of Freedom Fighters, usually led by King Rob'O the Hedge and his wife Mari-An.
When the issues were first revealed via solicits, Rob'O and Mari-An were both set to appear in their usual roles, with Rob'O himself even making an appearance on the cover of #47 (part 2). However, when the first issue was released, Rob'O and Mari-An were nowhere to be seen. Instead, their roles had been filled by two new characters, Bow Sparrow and Thorn the Lop.
It was explained during the story that Bow was standing in for Rob'O as the leader of the group after the latter, and his wife and baby son had disappeared for reasons unknown.
Currently, only two pieces of media relating to the unedited version are known to exist and have been released online. One is the original cover to #47 (part 2) which featured Rob'O alongside the Chaotix (which was fully colored and solicited, before being switched out at the last minute for a completely different one), and an alternate "Off-Panel" strip (a short comedy strip that appears in the back of issues) released by artist Jonathan Gray on his DeviantArt page, which saw Vector the Crocodile mistaking Rob'O for Sonic's evil alternate dimension counterpart Scourge the Hedgehog.
Gallery
The final version of the cover during the release.
The unused Off-panel comic strip.
