Megathread The Lara-Su Chronicles and Ken Penders topic - READ PAGE 164, POST 4096

[Zaysho]

This was his cover for part one of "End Game," when Sally was "killed." The shark is a take on Johnny Cochran, OJ Simpson's defense during his trial ("If the glove don't fit, you must acquit!"), so he's Sonic's defense in this case.

 

Again, the whole "Sonic on trial" thing was just done seven issues prior to this proposed cover (#40, which serves as an epilogue to "Mecha Madness"). And Antoine was the accuser then, too. I'm really thinking he was trying to one-up Gallagher in some way. The only difference is that in "End Game" (or at least the finalized story) St. John is Sonic's accuser and Sonic didn't get a trial and was instead just shipped off to prison.

[biznizz]

I... wow. Two years after the actual trial. I'm sure that Johnnie Cochran would've freaking loved being portrayed as a f*cking anthro shark (lawyer joke?).

 

There is so much stupid on the page. So Ken shoved his Substitute Freedom Fighters & Geoffrey on the page, fine. But... a white horse accusing a blue hedgehog, then at the time voiced by a black man, of a crime? Whitey the black wolf (who wants to guess who the real criminal of the week is!?)? Same year as another writer's trial plot with the tagline "The REAL Trial of the Century"?

 

Did he actually submit this as an honest to god proposal? Because this kind of flies in the face of his statements that he had Endgame all planned out since 47 was the first part of Endgame.

 

So we have at least two options:

 

1. This would've been a one-off unrelated to Endgame and when this idea got sh*tcanned, Ken decided to add some filler to his Endgame script to pad it out so it'd last until issue 50. Most likely with his stupid ass "The Fugitive" ripoff parody homage.

 

2. If this IS related to Endgame and the trial is about the suspicion that Sonic killed Sally... then this proves that Ken was lying about having the story planned for months in advance since this is absolutely nothing like how Sally was actually "killed" in the story (none of these new characters ever showed up).

 

How much lead time did he have for proposals for future issues?

[Zaysho]

At least according to the tweet, Penders says it was done before the story was even written, so I'm leaning toward this being an early proposal that was quickly canned (was Gabrie actually in the office that day or something?) and it was then re-tooled into what we did get. That said, you're probably right that "End Game" wasn't planned quite as far in advance as he's claimed.

 

At the very least, it might have been proposed shortly after Gabrie took over (#37), since it apparently was Gabrie that shot down the idea of killing Sally (at least according to the interview Dejimon did--which was posted before the crash) as it would've tied the hands of the other writers. Though looking at it like that, "End Game" isn't this big hurrah Penders made it out to be in the past, full of doom and gloom about the comic's future. In any case, I'd guess they probably had less than a year's lead time if that was the case, which I have no idea if that's normal or not.*

 

We should be glad that Gabrie did his job for once instead of letting this misguided retread through. Which is saying something for the guy responsible for giving Penders the go ahead on "Sonic Live!" and the Image crossover.

 

(* This is a stab in the dark, here)

[biznizz]

We should be glad that Gabrie did his job for once instead of letting this misguided retread through. Which is saying something for the guy responsible for giving Penders the go ahead on "Sonic Live!" and the Image crossover.

[MightyRay]

Jeez louise... This adds even more proof that old Penders will capitalise on anything to make a quick buck, as if the backstory to The Lost Ones wasn't obvious. 

 

And I thought I sucked at telling a decent story.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

What's even sadder is the fact he actually designed fan characters for a fucking cover of all things. I mean, if there's anything to prove how desperate he was to shove more and more purposeless characters into the book, it's this cover. He didn't even bother to do a quick sketch to show what the character looks like. They are just shoved onto the cover and given very brief design details.

[horridus]

And you know... besides everything else wrong with it? THere's also the fact that this was meant to be the thing that kicked off his oh-so-big-and-important 'finale' to the comic, the big dramatic plot where everything gets all serious. And he initially wanted a fucking parody of the OJ Simpson Trial, while at the same time ripping off Gallagher's Sonic Trial for Mecha Madness. 

"Oh yeah well Sally will be dead, but hey, just to lighten the mood, we'll give the kids a comedy routine cover. Truly, I am a good storyteller!" 

 

*shakes head* Just... dear God. 

[Pompadour]

Ah yes, Camel Toe the Horse.



Such wasted potential.

[GamerGirl54321]

This makes me somewhat relieved that I never read the pre-reboot comics.

 

Why.

[Agie]

Sadly, I do have some Ken Penders comics in my collection.

 

I'm thinking of giving almost everything with Ken Penders' name on it to a resale shop or something. I can't even look at Kenny's comics anymore. Figure at least someone can make some money on 'em. Someone who's not Ken, of course.

[Ryu the Weredragon]

I... what? REALLY Penders? I--- I have no words. D=

[Gabz Girl]

Looks like a bloody fever dream...and parodying the OJ Simpson trial just a few years after it happened, in a children's comic, is just plain weird. It's like that Holocaust poem all over again.

 

What the hell is up with those character designs too? They're awful!

[horridus]

I keep looking at this, and besides the awful EVERYTHING, I still can't get over just how exactly like the earlier Sonic Trial it is, right down to Antoine's role in the trial. Like... why? What would possess him to flat out copy something Gallagher made? I know, this is the same guy whose Big Plan was a retread of a plot that had been used three times already, but it's just... cripes. I wonder if Gallagher was off the book by this time? Because I cannot imagine this NOT leading to some trouble between the two if Gallagher had known.

 

Then again, as Penders cannot use Athair for his future toilet paper fodder, I'm not all that sure their relationship is that good anyway....

[Zaysho]

I believe Gallagher was still involved with the book, but he was rotated a little more frequently with some of the other writers at the time (DeCesare, Penders w/ Kanterovich, and Fulop... there may have been others, but this was all before Bollers showed up), but he was writing for the book much less after that. I do have to wonder if he knew that Penders was trying this or if Gabrie just put the kibosh on this and called it a day, though.

 

Though, if Penders was trying to pull this kind of shit back then, he probably tried it a bunch of other times or trashed the other writers even back then. Wouldn't surprise me, and would probably explain Gallagher not letting him use Athair in the first place (never mind Penders's own Echidna mythology basically trashed what Gallagher tried to establish...).

[horridus]

I believe Gallagher was still involved with the book, but he was rotated a little more frequently with some of the other writers at the time (DeCesare, Penders w/ Kanterovich, and Fulop... there may have been others, but this was all before Bollers showed up), but he was writing for the book much less after that. I do have to wonder if he knew that Penders was trying this or if Gabrie just put the kibosh on this and called it a day, though.

 

Though, if Penders was trying to pull this kind of shit back then, he probably tried it a bunch of other times or trashed the other writers even back then. Wouldn't surprise me, and would probably explain Gallagher not letting him use Athair in the first place (never mind Penders's own Echidna mythology basically trashed what Gallagher tried to establish...).

 

You know, I'm not sure if it was Gallagher's idea or if they collaborated on it and that the other stuff came afterwards; when Athair appeared, he recited the general backstory origin of the Floating Island, before it was seen in the issues of next year... if Penders didn't come up with that, that's yet another thing he'd have to replace. 

 

That said, yeah, he did kinda ignore what Gallagher did write... and re-reading that miniseries, his characterization of Athair is ways aways from Gallagher's; Gallagher's version of the guy is very passionate and even excitable at times and very big on nature and living with it, while Penders' Athair... really isn't. He's rather subdued compared to the earlier characterization and doesn't seem to have the same belief in natural living as he earlier did. 

 

Penders might as well make a separate character, for how little his take on the guy has in common with his debut. 

[Disonoid 3000]

I keep looking at this, and besides the awful EVERYTHING, I still can't get over just how exactly like the earlier Sonic Trial it is, right down to Antoine's role in the trial. Like... why? What would possess him to flat out copy something Gallagher made? 

 

Hasn't it been established he doesn't read what the other writers make? Maybe he didn't know.

[horridus]

I'd hope so, but this goes beyond coincidence and into REAALLLY suspicious coincidence. 

 

Also, Penders is now dealing with some questions regarding that cover. 

 

https://twitter.com/KenPenders/status/581994112158597120

https://twitter.com/KenPenders/status/581995915247886336

https://twitter.com/KenPenders/status/581996230265303041

https://twitter.com/KenPenders/status/581996504715431936

https://twitter.com/KenPenders/status/581996910359134208

 

So evidently, the OJ Simpson Trial provided 'food for thought' for Penders. For a Sonic story. That's... legitimately disturbing to me, that he could take the tragedy and controversy of that trial and repurpose it into a kid's story and not process what people might find wrong with that. 

 

But then this IS the guy who bent over backwards to defend his use of a fucking Holocaust poem, so I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised. 

[biznizz]

It's disquieting, yet not completely surprising that Kenders lost the plot way before Endgame and his Knuckles series occured. It just goes to show that even during his "prime", he was an incompetant pissant who lucked his way into his job.

 

Next thing you know, he's going to pull out a cover for a Sonic or Knuckles proposal where Sonic/Knuckles and crew deal with the aftermath of two people shooting up a school, citing that Columbine was a wake up call and he needed to give a statement about it since he's anti-gun.

[Zaysho]

Yeah, I think just the timing is a little weird, and even if he doesn't read what the other writers are doing, the editor would at least say "hey, so-and-so is doing this" just to keep the continuity together. I know, I know, this is Gabrie we're talking about, but I imagine he did this much if absolutely nothing else. So, at the very least, I think he'd be aware what Gallagher was working on, even if he wouldn't know the actual details.
 
As for him going on about his inspiration... I can kind of understand a spark, sure, but if that's the case why submit a completed layout if that's not even the intended direction? Like, what the hell? Does ANYBODY do this?
 
On a brighter note, this is the best comment I've ever seen:
 

Twist: Sonic did in fact kill Sally, which he admits later in a tell all book he publishes "If I Did It (It Woulda Been Fast)"

[biznizz]

...And the rights would go to the Acorn family, while Sonic would've eventually been arrested for a robbery in Casinopolis years later.

[Zaysho]

...And the rights would go to the Acorn family, while Sonic would've eventually been arrested for a robbery in Casinopolis years later.

 

Was he caught trying to steal his Chaos Emeralds back from Knuckles?

 

EDIT: OK, serious now. Someone did bring up that Gallagher did the same scenario, but Penders says he never saw it and that his final product was different anyway. Though, I think the editor would at least keep the creatives aware of what's going on, being the job and all. I dunno, it's just hard to take Penders at his word, but that's me.

[horridus]

Neither explanation paints Penders in a flattering light; he was either unspeakably lazy and utterly dedicated to bluntly ignoring what his co-workers were doing to an inexcusable extent, or he was arrogant enough to try and lift something that was already done months ago and then try and do 'better'. 

[Agie]

Penders was a source of inspiration to get that shelf back into shape.

 

I want to get rid of most, if not all signs of his work in my house to give to a resale shop of some sort. I fixed that crooked shelf in the process of looking for his work to remove.

 

Hey, I might get something out of it beyond just the comics being out of my house.

[biznizz]

This is ultimately one of the reasons why Gabrie is one of the worst editors* I've ever seen: he seemed to have NEVER been a moderator between his writers, save for big events like the Adventure adaptation.

 

It's even more unforgivable when ultimately there were only two major writers.

 

*Special mentions also go to the Superman editors in the beginning of the New 52, where their incompetence with miscommunicating the "Superman" & "Action Comics" teams led to George Perez throwing up his hands and quitting DC, and Bobby Curnow's oddly totalitarian actions on those Brony Forums at IDW.

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

 

Not to mention lots of "NYAHNYAH I CAN USE THESE AND ARCHIE CAN'T! PENDERS DOES WHAT ARCHIE DON'T!"

 

Speaking of, he uploaded his proposed layout for Sonic #47...

 

https://twitter.com/KenPenders/status/581675565201027072

 

What the fuck even is this? Some take on the OJ Simpson trial? Cripes he must've hated Gallagher's trial of Sonic following Mecha Madness that he wanted to put Sonic back in the same position seven issues later.

Okay now I know this is a sloppy copy, but...

 

...Izzat a Shark? He looks scary.

 

And the cover is CRAMMED  with characters so hard, that you can't even see Geoffrey. Look there, peeking out near the "C" in "Sonic" along with Dylan.

 

Speaking of the logo, I think he did it wrong.

 

So. He based it off on a trial huh. I'm not sure what is was about, (And I don't wanna know), but it must've been bad.