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

[Disonoid 3000]

 

 

 

 

The Knuckles the Echidna comic! Starring Knuckles, Knuckles in a wig, Knuckles in a lab cat, Knuckles in a stupid outfit, Knuckles in another stupid out fit, and pink Knuckles! Also these other people Ken didn't make and therefore you can actually distinguish them from each other while they wear no clothes! 

[Zaysho]

He didn't draw it. There's a lot of problems with the picture but he didn't draw it.

 

You can tell he didn't because Tails doesn't have a comb over.

[Delta Starfire]

The Knuckles the Echidna comic! Starring Knuckles, Knuckles in a wig, Knuckles in a lab cat, Knuckles in a stupid outfit, Knuckles in another stupid out fit, and pink Knuckles! Also these other people Ken didn't make and therefore you can actually distinguish them from each other while they wear no clothes!

[horridus]

I had to look it up to make sure, but it's Fry in case anybody's wondering.

 

And I think you hit the nail on the head with Penders's feelings about the supporting cast. It just shows more and more that this was not a medium he should've gotten involved in--he just doesn't want to play nice with other creators or respect what they bring to the table. How anyone can carry on like when working on a licensed comic book is beyond me, and I'm sure had it not been Gabrie who took over editorial back in 96/97, it might not have spun out of control as it did the second a Knuckles book came to be. Even though the other writers were quick to introduce their own characters, it's interesting that none of them tried to outright replace the main cast (I suppose a case can be made regarding Mina briefly dating Sonic, but Bollers did not decrease Sally's visibility from what I can tell), but I suppose that shows the difference between Penders and the rest of them.

 

On the subject of sales, this seems like a good time to repeat something from Dejimon's interview: I thought it was funny that he claimed that comic stores weren't pre-ordering as many books after #50, and claimed it was because he wasn't writing for the main book, so he was asked to do back-ups (the boring as all hell "Tales from the Great War" stories) to help with the sales. Like Bethany said... comics tend to drop in sales after milestones or big events (the first issue of the reboot actually saw over 10,000 copies). But it's also funny because Knuckles always had weak sales out of the gate, at least compared to the main Sonic book. Just browsing Comicchron and finding random figures for direct market throughout the run show that it always ranked several spots below the main Sonic book and even the Super Specials when they were a thing. This is, of course, not taking subscriptions and newsstands into consideration, but Knuckles still got canceled primarily due to the weak sales, so the demand still wasn't there (I still don't buy the Wal-Mart excuse). But he continues to insist that the sales the book had were golden and better than we think and perhaps even better than the sales are now (times change though, as biznizz brings up) and that it is all owed to him. The level of denial and self-importance is insane... but somehow not at all surprising after following this shit for a few years.

[Verb & Noun]

Sales are his go to response to everything. "You colored this wrong" "WELL THE TIMES THEN WERE DIFFERENT AND THE SALES WERE GREAT".

 

 

 

 

Also I don't know how I feel about the forums being white now. On one hand it's not 'error message screen of death' blue anymore, so hey.

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

This is both on and off the topic of that cover. Notice how Dylan is specified as being there, as well as Geoffrey?

 

I saw these sets of images from the comics recently and it kind of put the nail into some thoughts I've been having rereading the comics and thinking about what Pendejo did.

 

 

We all know that he focused on the official characters as little as possible, but Geoffrey, the substitute freedom fighters, and Dr. Quack in the main StH series was him trying to force his own characters into 'main character' status. Characters like Geoffrey and Dr. Quack were given more prevalence than characters like Antoine in his stories.

 

In fact, Geoffrey is the best example of this. Looking at the old comics, Geoffrey showed up constantly and more often than Antoine, Bunnie, or Rotor. Why? Because Pendejo was making him one of the main FF/one of the main characters. Rather than work with the team he was given, he decided to amend it. Likewise, the Substitute Freedom Fighters were obviously intended to be a lot more important than they turned out to be.

 

It would be like someone taking the main X-Men team that everyone knew of (Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Beast) but then adding in.. well, lets say a hypothetical character named Particle, and making most of the stories revolve around that character whenever they appeared ("Hey, where's Poochie?"). Of course I'm aware that such things do happen in comics sometimes, but it's just so blatant in the Archie Sonic case. Honestly it reminds me a bit of the Brazilian Mega Man comic where the writer tried to kill off the game cast to make the comic about their own, original character that had nothing to do with Mega Man, bu that's a story for another day.

 

But anyway, see the second image with Knuckles. This is the reason why Pendejo preferred the Knuckles comics. Because he was successfully able to make Knuckle's mother's new husband just as important as any of the official characters. And that his characters outnumbered and greatly 'out-importanted' any of Knux's supportive characters, which was always a huge part of his goal.

 

I could also make some commentary about how Pendejo made as many family members for characters as he could, but honestly it also boils down to "he had to make his stuff important"- though in Elias's case it's the most offensive, since he's intended to be an out and out replacement. You know, like a Brazilian Mega Man comic.

 

TLDR edition: Pendejo wasn't interested in writing 'supporting' cast, he was interested in making his own cast.

[Delta Starfire]

I think Julie is smiling. But is it me, or are Vector and Espio wearing arm floaties? Or is that how their arms are drawn?

[Kamicciolo]

Did anyone notice that Charmy is also missing from the Knuckles group pic?

[Delta Starfire]

Did anyone notice that Charmy is also missing from the Knuckles group pic?

 

Yes, well, Charmy was missing from the Sonic Archieverse for a long time. He went home to fulfil his duties as prince of his people in KtE #15, which was in 1998, and he didn't return until StH #93, which was in 2001. With him gone, the Chaotix was Vector, Espio, Mighty, and Julie-Su. So, yeah, there's Penders replacing Sega characters with his own right there. 

[-blank-]

3. Hershey managed to not see ANYONE ELSE, not even a mirror to blow the mask's abilities. That seems... implausible.

[Delta Starfire]

Okay, this ALWAYS bothered me. She had to go through Robotnik's base, right? Wouldn't she have AT LEAST seen a few SWATbots or something?

[Your Vest Friend]

Yeah, Vector and Espio's shoulders are taken from the game art around then;

 

 

 

Still drawn badly, but still.

 

And Charmy was prone to group hiatuses. Not only is there the gap Bethany mentioned, he had another one in the year Sonic was gone since it was his return that triggered Return to Angel Island. And despite all of these gaps, he was still the most developed of the non-Echidna Chaotix before Ian's run!

[Disonoid 3000]

It just occurred to me that Ken repeatedly refuses to make his own backgrounds and yet continues to give the guy who everyone seems to agree is at least a decent background designer characters to make.

 

Darnit, Ken, think. 

[biznizz]

I forgot, is the actual L-SC book going to be more traditionally illustrated like the piece of fail that page of The Storm is going to be and the cover or is it going to be made with the nightmare renders that Knowles is going?

Because if its the former, then I have no idea just why the hell Kenders would even bother comissioning the renders to begin with. And if its the latter, then why is the Geoffrey prequel and the cover traditional at all?

[Salamander]

It's Ken Penders.  Leave your brain at the door and collect it on the way out.

[Disonoid 3000]

There's a mention of stock art being used to "show the characters from any angle" on his forum, but other than that I don't think we've really been given any hints as to whether he's using traditional art or the CGI models. 

 

If it's traditional, Ken probably got the CGI renders in order to look modern. Or he's stupid. Or both. 

[horridus]

I lean towards the modernity angle; Penders has repeatedly demonstrated a kind of wannabe futurist attitude about stuff, that he somehow is very current about technology and where it is going and all that jazz. 

 

That and Archie did it. If they can do, well then, he has to do but even BETTER! 

[Verb & Noun]

My personal suspicion is that he intends to use the 3D models in Manga Studio Pro's modeling function because it fits the bill of what he was describing as 'a library of stock poses that can be shown from any angle', as Manga Studio has exactly that and he has said before that he was using that program.

[Delta Starfire]

So, it's basically a sprite comic then, but in 3D. 

[biznizz]

https://twitter.com/KenPenders/status/583126090484338690

 

@RobotnikHolmes Mar 31

@KenPenders Will there be a Snively-like character in your comic, like a lowly treacherous minion-type?
0 retweets 0 favorites

‏@KenPenders

@RobotnikHolmes There will be treachery, but not in any form similar to Snively. I'm aiming for the unexpected, not the obvious.

 

So... the big bad guy is going to be either the Praetorian, Micheal Taylor, or Julie-Su/Rutan taking after their sister/mother. Calling it now.

[Disonoid 3000]

The Praetorian will strike what he thinks is a truce with the bad guy, but said bad guy then betrays him!

 

Cause original! 

 

 

Alternatively, Lara-Su's the true bad guy. The stupid bet's all part of her plan. 

[SenEDDtor Missile]

https://twitter.com/KenPenders/status/583126090484338690

 

 

 

 

So... the big bad guy is going to be either the Praetorian, Micheal Taylor, or Julie-Su/Rutan taking after their sister/mother. Calling it now.

Or Soni- I'm sorry, OVERI- OVARY DAY, and he'll be spewing out various things that are not only offensive, but also are in line with Ken Penders' real views towards anyone except himself, and then Lara will be useless at the end while Knu-THE PRAETORIAN saves the day from Soni-OVER-OVARY DAY!

[biznizz]

The Praetorian will strike what he thinks is a truce with the bad guy, but said bad guy then betrays him!

 

Cause original! 

 

 

Alternatively, Lara-Su's the true bad guy. The stupid bet's all part of her plan. 

 

The former has a high chance of happening, since Ken's Knuckles/Praetorian was stupid like that.

 

The latter? I... don't think that Ken's the kinda guy to do that. And by that I mean he has neither the balls nor talent to make his main character anything less than perfect. Praetorian's only a grey area since his role has been usuped by his daughter now.

[Disonoid 3000]

The former has a high chance of happening, since Ken's Knuckles/Praetorian was stupid like that.

 

The latter? I... don't think that Ken's the kinda guy to do that. And by that I mean he has neither the balls nor talent to make his main character anything less than perfect. Praetorian's only a grey area since his role has been usuped by his daughter now.

 

Yeah, I know Ken'd never actually do that, it was just something that came to me. 

[horridus]

Uh-huh. Subtle. Unexpected. Well, I do expect the latter, but not for the reasons he'd want... he does tend to be a rather unexpected writer, in all the worst ways possible and for all the worst reasons out there. 

 

You know what would be unexpected? Lien-Da actually achieving something and not playing catch up with all her male relatives.