Fourth Wall Breaking

Fourth Wall Breaking is a term referring to an instance in which a character in a work of fiction acknowledges the fact that they are fictional. Typical instances of fourth wall breaking directly referring to the audience, directly interacting with a visual they wouldn't otherwise be able to see (i.e. word balloons, edges of panels, etc.) among other things.

In the Sonic comic publications, fourth wall breaking occurred mostly during the early, more comedically-aimed era of the series. Today, fourth wall breaking is extremely rare in the main Archieverse, usually being exclusive to comedic characters (such as Bean the Dynamite), however fourth wall breaking occurs often in the comedic Sonic Boom.

Instances of fourth wall breaking are usually considered non-canon (though this is not usually a problem as the majority of fourth wall breaking instances are minor throwaway moments that possess no baring on the overall story) but more extreme cases render the entire story non-canon, particularly stories that rely heavily on fourth wall breaking to drive the plot along.

Instances

 * Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 33
 * Sonic bounces off of the credits box on the first page, directly acknowledging this fact in the process.