A Complete History of Sonic the Hedgehog's Race Car Bed

With “Worlds Collide” behind us, many changes will be coming to Hedgehogs Can't Swim's reviews. The reboot of Archie's “Sonic the Hedgehog” comic book universe brought with it many causalities. Some lovable, forgettable, and regrettable characters have now been cast into the void forever. Yet, among the lore and cast left forever by the wayside, there is one that I will especially miss.

I'm talking about, of course, Sonic the Hedgehog's race car bed. So, now that this beloved relic is gone forever, I think it's time to look back on its complete history. Below, I will track every appearance the bed has made in the comic book.

Sonic's race car bed would first appear in issue 51's cover story, “Reality Bytes.” As the story deals with Sonic having a bizarre nightmare, it's fitting it should take us inside his bedroom. His race car bed, which is absolutely befitting someone who has led a guerrilla war against a tyrannical dictator for several years, is practically a main character in this story. It appears at the story's midpoint, when the nightmare begins, and at it's end, when Sonic is officially awoken. The race car is red and its sheets are green. The bed's appearance were enthusiastically received by readers and it would immediately become a fan favorite.

It would be over two years before the bed would appear again, enough time passing that some fans feared it was gone forever. It appears in the second half of the issue's cover story, “Thicker Than Water.” The race car bed shows up in one panel, inside Sonic's hut. It's been recolored gray by mistake. We see Tails sitting on the edge of the bed, playing with a baseball.

Here, the race car bed becomes part of the “typical teenage boy” appearance that makes up Sonic's room. We also see a baseball mitt, a dumbbell, a hockey stick, several tossed around comic books, and a massive stereo system that towers over both characters. Also, it appears that Sonic keeps a poster of himself on his bedroom wall.

Race car bed fanatics would not have to wait as long to see their beloved icon again. It would only take four months before the bed was glimpsed once more. Inside issue 94's “New Order,” we see Sonic reclining on the bed – correctly colored red this time – on the second page. It is here that we see the bed's trademark “number 5” symbol on its sides for the first time. The bed appears again later in the issue, as Sonic and Tails have a sleepover. He's then awoken the next morning, Sonic being shaken out of his famous race car bed.

In this issue, we see the race car bed as a center of Sonic and his friend's life. Earlier, the bed is there in the room as Rotor and Bunnie play a video game, as Tails chats with his friend late into the night. Clearly, this very grown-up and serious race car bed represents not just Sonic and his friends but everything they stand for.

During this period in the comic's history, Sonic and his friends were briefly attending high school. So it's not surprising that, during this time when Sonic's youth was being emphasized, that the bed would continue to appear. It shows up in the very next issue, in the story “Enemy Mine.”

After a frustrating day at school, Sonic marches home and flops down on his bed. In this issue, we can see that his sheets are decorated with yellow polka-dots. Once again, we see the bed as but one symbol of Sonic's adolescence. The basketball hoop, a baseball mitt, comic books, and empty soda cans all reappear alongside the bed, all signifiers of Sonic's status as an adventurer forced into a boyish status.

The race car bed would show up again at the very end of issue 96. In this scene, the bed becomes especially important. While Sonic leans against the bed and reads a “Transformer” comic book, he decides to dress up as a superhero to help the cause. Here, there is a deliberate contrast between Sonic's youth and his need to be an underground hero. Nelson Ribeiro applies his unique artistic skills to the race car bed, depicting it in an almost expressionistic manner.

The race car bed would appears again only three issues later. It shows up briefly on the very first page of issue 99's “Blow by Blow,” glimpsed in the first ray of dawn's light as Sonic and Tails sneak back into his bedroom. It reappears again on page five of the comic. Here, we get a good look at the yellow sheets and the number on the side of the car. This issue also adds another item to the litany of youthful symbols in Sonic's bedroom. A surfboard now joins the other signaling teenage rebellion and playfulness.

Eleven issues would pass before the race car bed made its eighth appearance. It shows up on the very first page of issue 110's “Station Square Attacks!” After Uncle Chuck awakens Sonic and Tails in the middle of the night, we see the bed in two panels. It looks like Sonic has changed his sheets, as they are now blue with white polka dots. Ron Lim brings a particular surreal edge to the bed's depiction, as it shrinks and shifts sizes in the second panel. His bedroom is shown more minimalistically, with only a lamp in the room. Sadly, that's the bed's only appearance in this book.

Ron Lim would draw the bed once again in issue 114's “Twice Told Tails.” After Tails awakens from a strange dream, we get a clear shot of Sonic's bed, as the hedgehog is startled awake by his friend's yelling. The blueish-green sheets remain, the overhead basketball hoop is back, and Lim draws the bed as a shoe-like shape. This is surely a reference to Sonic's famous footwear, which is also white and red. Both of these things, you see, go fast.

Race car bed fans would have to wait until June of 2003 to see their beloved receptacle again, in issue 124's “Sonic Adventure 2.5: Alpha.” As Sonic awakens in the morning, we see him yawn and stretch in the bed. Steven Butler draws the bed looking more like a F-1 race car, as opposed to the usual stockcar racer it's depicted as. Now, the car's markings and numbers are depicted in yellow, as opposed to white. Sonic has once again changed his sheets, as we now see lime green sheets with yellow spots. Butler also depicts the other juvenilia of Sonic's boyhood, such as the basketball, hoop, surfboard, and posters.

Ten issues later, following Sonic's return from outer space, we would see the race car bed again. Sonic lays on the bed and takes a nap. We continue to see the bed, as Sonic has a conversation with his dog Muttski, whom he can now communicate with thanks to the alien translator he gained in space. Jon Gray depicts the bed as a more simplistic red shape, almost unrecognizable as a race car. Sonic's sheets are now green with a plaid pattern. His bedroom looks more mature at first, as Gray draws attention to Sonic's lamp and clock radio. A second look at an earlier panel reveals a “Nights into Dreams” comic book, a stuffed animal, and several toys, showing that Sonic is still a child.

This last good look could have been a send-off for the beloved accessory. In issue 136, two issues later, we would see Sonic's bedroom again. This time, the race car bed is gone. Now, Sonic seems to be sleeping in a regular, four-post bed. Has Sonic cast off the childish excesses of youth by now? Later in the comic, we can see a series of sports trophies hidden on a shelf in the background, showing that Sonic has not totally let go of his childhood achievements.

Race car bed fans should not have despaired though. After a long absence, the bed would reappear in issue 167's back-up story, “Hedgehog Day.” The bed is practically a featured player in this story, as it's seen every time Sonic awakens within the story's time loop. Dave Manak strays from the bed's usual depiction, making it white and red in seemingly a deliberate homage to “Speed Racer's” Mach 5. Manak also brings back the clutter of Sonic's skittish young energy. We see a baseball bat, a surf board, a soccer ball, basketball hoop, and a fanciful alarm clock. This story also provides a peek at Sonic's adjoining bathroom, further humanizing the hero.

After the destruction of Knothole and the Freedom Fighters moving into the nanite created New Mobotropolis, fans speculated that the race car bed was also destroyed. However, Ian Flynn took pains to show that Sonic had Nicole recreate his beloved race car bed in his new home. We see the bed in issue 178's “House of Cards: Part One,” when Nicole awakens Sonic in the middle of the night. At this point, the bed has clearly evolved. This new race car bed now resembles a modern sports car, even including a back fin and a more rounded front with wide headlights. Sonic has seemingly cleaned up his room as his hero-hood has grown. Now, we only see a pull cord lamp and a vintage-style alarm clock in his room. He sleeps now with a simple green blanket atop the bed, presumably meant as a homage to the bed's very first appearance years earlier.

While race car bed fans were excited by its reappearance, this would turn out to be the bed's penultimate issue. The race car bed would make its final appearance in issue 185's “Mogul Rising, Part One: Needful Things.” However, the bed's appearance here is a significant one. Bedrooms play a key role throughout the story, as we see Tails', Mina's, and Mighty's beds. Earlier in the story, Sonic revisits the former site of Knothole. This makes the race car bed's reappearance a poignant one, as Sonic is nostalgic for the secret base were he spent most of his adolescence.

Matt Herms draws the bed in this appearance and it varies greatly from its previous showing. Herms removes the fin, restores the stockcar outline, and adds a yellow hood and a yellow racing stripe at the car's back. Sonic is not using a fitted sheet this time but simply sleeping under a blue blanket. Herms' approach to Sonic's bedroom is less detailed. We see a poster on the wall but it appears to be blank.

Ian Flynn would never depict Sonic's bedroom, much less his bed, after this issue. After the reboot in issue 252, the details of Sonic's home life would completely change, presumably removing the race car bed from canon. Fans were furious about this difference, of course, and demanded the race car bed be returned to its proper location: Sonic's bedroom and our hearts.

Since the cancellation of Archie's comic, these same fans have petitioned IDW to show us Sonic's bedroom and show him sleeping in a child's race car bed, as God and Yuji Naka intended. These pleas have thus far fallen on deaf ears but, if being a fan of Sonic's race car bed for so many years has taught me anything, it's to never give up. So rest your head in your own race car bed tonight and remember, even if it's gone, each of us can never be stopped from going fast even in our dreams.