Tyson Hesse

Tyson Hesse (born August 30, 1984) is an American artist and animator. Hesse is the creator of the webcomic Boxer Hockey and the graphic novel Diesel and Diesel: Ignition. He contributed art to the video game Dream Daddy and the comic book series The Amazing World of Gumball, and was a storyboard artist for the film Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus. However, he is most known for his work on the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.

Tyson Hesse
Hesse in 2012
Born	(1984-08-30) August 30, 1984 (age 40)[1]
Nationality	American
Occupation	Illustrator
Known for	Writing and illustrating graphic novels and comics
Notable work	DIESEL Sonic Mania Sonic Mania Adventures Sonic the Hedgehog Sonic Origins Sonic Frontiers Prologue: Divergence
Parent	Bert Hesse

Career

Webcomics

Hesse produced the webcomic Boxer Hockey, which he started in 2006.^[2] Hesse also created the graphic novel Diesel and its follow-up, Tyson Hesse's Diesel: Ignition. The graphic novel follows Diana "Dee" Diesel, a teenager about to become captain of an airship colony, who gets caught in a war.^[3]

Hesse created the Sonic the Hedgehog fan comic Sonic’s Big Fat Adventure, that became a viral phenomenon. He pitched the comic to an Archie Comics editor and he was hired to provide art for the company.^[4]

Sonic the Hedgehog

Hesse worked as an artist for the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series from Archie Comics.^[5] He later served as the animation director on trailers and animated cutscenes for the 2017 platform game Sonic Mania and its promotional mini-series, Sonic Mania Adventures.^[6] Hesse also directed the Team Sonic Racing Overdrive shorts which promoted 2019's Team Sonic Racing,^[7] the animated cutscenes for 2022's Sonic Origins,^[8] and the promotional animated short for 2022's Sonic Frontiers, Sonic Frontiers Prologue: Divergence.^[9] Hesse has also contributed to IDW Publishing's Sonic the Hedgehog comic series.^[10][5]

After the trailer for the 2020 Sonic the Hedgehog film was released in 2019 and Sonic's design was strongly criticised, Hesse was brought in as the lead artist to redesign Sonic.^[11] Hesse returned for the sequel as the character design lead, storyboard supervisor, and co-producer. He was also a co-producer on the TV spin-off series Knuckles.

Other work

Hesse has contributed art to the video game Dream Daddy and the comic book series The Amazing World of Gumball, based on the television series of the same name.^[12][13] He was also a storyboard artist for the film Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus.^[14]

Comics

Name	No. of issues	Run	ASIN or ISBN(s)	Publisher	Notes
Diesel	5	September 9, 2015 - December 7, 2016	ISBN 9781681595979 ISBN 9781681595986 ISBN 9781681595993 ISBN 9781681596006 ISBN 9781613985786	BOOM! Studios
The Amazing World of Gumball	8	June 2014 – March 2015		BOOM! Studios
Sonic the Hedgehog (2018-)	6	April 4, 2018 – present	B0798377X8 B079835THK B07981PS39 B079839QRM B084HP8BPB	IDW	Cover art

Filmography

• Sonic Mania Opening animation (art direction, storyboarding, producer), Ending animation, Pre-order trailer, Mania Plus Pre-order trailer.
• Sonic Mania Adventures (director, writer, storyboard, art director, production designer)
• Team Sonic Racing Overdrive (director, storyboard, art director, production designer, audio mixing)
• Chao In Space (director, writer, animation, storyboard artist, music and dialogue editor)
• Sonic Colors: Rise of the Wisps (director, writer, production design, logo animation, compositor, music and dialogue editor, sound effects)
• Sonic Frontiers Prologue: Divergence (director)
• Sonic Superstars: Trio of Trouble (co-director)
• Sonic the Hedgehog (film series):
  • Sonic the Hedgehog (film) (lead Sonic designer)
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (film) (co-producer, lead designer, storyboard supervisor)
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (film) (co-producer, lead designer)