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


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He swore up and down it would be ready THIS year. Before that it was 'Coming Soon In 2012'. 

So in effect? Never. There is no set date. It'll get done when it's done. Which is never. 

Well don't be silly Horridus! He's too busy making merchandise that'll never sell!

I'm being totally serious. He made 13 pieces of merchandise and in one year, he hasn't managed to sell one.

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Hee hee, seriously?

If it's taking this long, I doubt he's even started on page 2 yet.

Merchandise? Are there any links on pictures for them? I swear I've seen some Knuckles bootleg on an phone case before.

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He swore up and down it would be ready THIS year. Before that it was 'Coming Soon In 2012'. 

So in effect? Never. There is no set date. It'll get done when it's done. Which is never. 

If I recalled correctly he said it would be out by SDCC of this year. I knew it wasn't coming out then and at I'm willing to bet that it isn't even close to finished.

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Hee hee, seriously?

If it's taking this long, I doubt he's even started on page 2 yet.

Merchandise? Are there any links on pictures for them? I swear I've seen some Knuckles bootleg on an phone case before.

Eeyup, that was one of them. Before that were some secret service patches featuring the Acorn symbol (as in Sally Acorn) back around late 2012 (after the lawsuit was throw out). I can't think of much else he's produced, as right now he's busy shilling an app no one has seen and he refuses to show anyone anything regarding it while making the bold claim that it's just better than other comic apps.

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Sadly, invisible currency won't do him much good...unless he knows some tricks we don't, but I think that's assuming too much of him. He doesn't do well with tricks that are known; what hope does he have with tricks that people have no knowledge of?

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https://twitter.com/anthonymackie

Right so this is Anthony Mackie's twitter page. I believe we shouldn't go apeshit with all of us messaging him at once but I think 1 of us should tell him some low talent fraud of a comic book artist is trying to use his likeness.

If you are be polite as possible, remember were involving someone who has zero knowledge of this situation into this. hopefully Ken gets a lawyer called on his bullshit and he takes the page down for "re-imagining".

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Someone told Penders that he hopes he works for Archie again someday. This is what he replied with.

So I'm not sure if I'm reading this wrong....but does he seriously fucking think there's a chance that Archie or Sega would want anything to do with him again? After the passive aggressive comments towards both, his snarky attitude towards Sonic Boom, his idiotic comments when it comes to claiming Ian stole his stories, and after almost costing Archie the Sonic license because of his actions, he seriously fucking thinks Archie will want to rehire him? 

 

 

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It isn't impossible. Unlikely, but not impossible. Management and staff changes, ownership of certain companies and assets... things could shift enough that it's someday possible.

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If that did happen, I can guarantee you he'd be right back out the door just as quickly as he was hired. The way SEGA and Archie both run ship now would mean he can't have his way, he can't shoehorn his pet creations, and he certainly can't mangle Knuckles. Oh, and most importantly, he'd have to sign a contract that would mean he can't own his work, so he can't pull the same stunt, and he definitely wouldn't like that.

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You misunderstand; I did not reprimand the topic for just that single post, even though it was the springboard with which I decided to make that post (despite a member addressing it already, it had still been reported by someone anyway so I decided to put in a final word about that.) Every other behavior I outlined in my post is in reference to posts that I've seen in whenever I've visited here or have received reports about concerning the last several pages. That post concerning contacting Anthony Mackie literally isn't the only post I've seen that's broken the in-topic rules since I laid them out. So understand that this topic is not in danger from that single post but rather cumulative behavior I've been seeing bubbling up to the surface again. I agree that you've all been doing much better since the first time I had to come in here and even say anything about it, and so I've not been too concerned, and in general I'll let one post or two slide because no one wants to be derided as the Fun Police. But when I start seeing problematic behaviors, when regulars start reporting to staff, and when an administrator comes in the topic to lay down a reminder, I believe it's fair to let you all know that you're not off the hook just yet. Me reiterating myself is to make sure every regular is aware of that.

If I or another staffer ever do decide to lock the topic in the future, it also won't be due to a single post from one person but rather cumulative behavior that we won't feel like dealing with, and it will have to be more excessive or at least more extensive for that to happen.

Edited by Nepenthe
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On another note, in the latest bit of drama, he's desperately trying to defend Lara-Su and his book on Twitter. Tidbit:

There's too much to repost it all.

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Says the bloke who first unveiled Lara in a very impractical, skimpy bikini and then went on to defend said bikini by saying that the girls in California wore worse. 

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Oh no no, don't you see? Because he spotted sixteen year old girls in skimpy outfits in real life AND at comic-con, it completely justifies the Su-Kini and erases any and all sexual undertones or overtones to be had in dressing his underage protagonist in such an outfit for his first major exposure of her. Besides, Echy'dnya culture is DIFFERENT and robble robble robble. 

Yeah, that was a fun time indeed. I still do not know what possessed him to go with that... probably the same force that possesses him to continue justifying it. 

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So, I think due to the fact that we've been having a discussion regarding Mackie's likeness and what, or any, permissions might be needed, I decided to do a little research on the subject (assuming typing shit into Google and hoping for the best counts as "research").

It's interesting, to say the least. I'm no lawyer, and I don't claim to have a deep understanding of this (I intend on doing more reading to get a better idea of all this... because it's kind of relevant to me), but I think it's worth adding. I also wish to emphasize again, let's try not to drag Mackie into this or make this a big deal. It's pointless, and I doubt the man has any interest in some burn out comic creator tracing his image in a two-bit comic starring Sonic knock-offs that hasn't turned a profit.

This is the first article that came up, and I think it's worth reading.

To summarize, a few years ago, Apple barred the production of action figures done in Steve Jobs's likeness. The reasoning being that it infringes on a law for "Personality Rights," which bars the creation of merchandise or use of a person's likeness in advertising without their consent.

Any person who knowingly uses another’s name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness, in any manner, on or in products, merchandise, or goods, or for purposes of advertising or selling, or soliciting purchases of, products, merchandise, goods or services, without such person’s prior consent, or, in the case of a minor, the prior consent of his parent or legal guardian, shall be liable for any damages sustained by the person or persons injured as a result thereof. In addition, in any action brought under this section, the person who violated the section shall be liable to the injured party or parties in an amount equal to the greater of seven hundred fifty dollars ($750) or the actual damages suffered by him or her as a result of the unauthorized use, and any profits from the unauthorized use that are attributable to the use and are not taken into account in computing the actual damages.

However, where this doesn't extend, is in the realm of entertainment.

For purposes of this subdivision, a play, book, magazine, newspaper, musical composition, audiovisual work, radio or television program, single and original work of art, work of political or newsworthy value, or an advertisement or commercial announcement for any of these works, shall not be considered a product, article of merchandise, good, or service if it is fictional or nonfictional entertainment, or a dramatic, literary, or musical work.

Which is why, such as the example in the article, an unauthorized comic book can be published. Unless it's going to be damaging or it's found out that those creators actually invaded people's privacy to create it, they're fine (compare to those that actually obtain life story rights to gain access to information that isn't publicly available).

There's also an interesting discussion I found on CGSociety about the topic of likeness, and parody is brought up a lot in that thread. Examples such as South Park, SNL, Mad Magazine, and even a painting of George W. Bush as a vampire biting the neck of the Statue of Liberty by Alex Ross (seriously) are all brought up. They may toe the line a bit, they may even be a little downright mean with these parodies, but they all seem to get away with it time and time again.

And then there's Todd McFarlane. Who basically obliterates the line and pays for it.

There's a hockey player known as Tony Twist, whose image, and name, was used wholesale for a mobster character that was introduced in the Spawn series. McFarlane outright admitted that his character is based off of Twist. The problem? He didn't clear it with Twist. There's quite an informative post that articulates the subject better than I ever could, so I'll link it here and quote a piece of it. (source)

It's not so much that it injured his reputation. Parodies have done a lot worse than portraying people as mobsters. Political comics do much worse daily and never have to change names "to protect the innocent."

The real reason for the judgment and verdict was due to McFarlane's actual intentions. Basically, he crossed the line of free expressive commentary and entered the territory of cheap sales gimmicks. Twist wasn't getting a piece of the pie when it was clear that he was used as a marketing ploy. Monetarily, it might have actually meant something at the time of the character's creation, since the real Twist was still an active player in the mid-1990s.

[...]

A key reason for the large judgment and verdict itself was because the Antonio Twistelli character actually appeared in the HBO cartoon. That was probably the final nail in the coffin for the jury. While Twist's use as an unlicensed sales tool for the comic was bad, his transition over to other media was even more problematic. The level of exposure increased by a considerable magntiude over that of a comic book. Now, not only was he being used as a cheap sales gimmick for the comic, he was being used for the TV show.

 In summary, McFarlane used Twist's image and name without permission, specifically as a sales hook for his work rather than as a parody/reference/commentary (which is why the above examples get away with it) and that's a big no-no.

Now, where does Pen and his use of Mackie's image fall into this? Well, first off all, what is his intent? Short of grilling the guy, and he's danced around problems like this already with his work, we probably can't say for sure. What we do know, he's traced the man's image and has even said he'd be open to having Mackie play the role in a LSC production (presumably like what happened with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury). I think it's important to remember, however, that what he's doing isn't anything like what McFarlane did. The work is not about Mackie. The character is not Mackie (...in Space). He has also not profited off of this project in any major way (I doubt he'll ever rake in the kind of money McFarlane did), tried to market this character, specifically rendered like Mackie, on any merchandise (e.g. phone cases), nor has he (to my knowledge) made this character or even Mackie's image the selling point. I think the fact that he's been pushing not-Knuckles harder than the title character proves as much.

Things could change down the line, but as of right now, what he's doing technically isn't wrong. It's just really stupid wishful thinking on his part. If anything, I fully expect SEGA to be able to go after him for not-Knuckles when the time comes before (in spite of his bold claims that he has no problem making his case in court but doubting SEGA could do the same).

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Since the topic has been here for a while I'm not so sure,

But has anyone seen...THIS?

tumblr_nr4m8vBPfO1s3syw5o1_1280.thumb.jp

OHMYGODITSERIOUSLYSCAREDTHESHITOUTOFME

If that's the first cover art...

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We snarked on that poster ages ago. Looking at it now Michael Taylor facial shading make him look like he's wearing heavy makeup... 

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Hi, I've been lurking this thread for ...quite some time, actually, even before the thread lost lots of pages of comments. I would want to thank all of you for making this matter so fun to read, it kind of became a habit to check what silly things happen around this man (Or better said, what silly moments he ends up creating) and all the comments here that go along with it.

OHMYGODITSERIOUSLYSCAREDTHESHITOUTOFME

If that's the first cover art...

Now that I see this thing again... It makes me cringe how little consistency Ken Penders has (Nothing new, i know).

I mean, first was Smug the Human:

Generic.thumb.JPG.d21f1fe1adeaf1f09a64b3

Then he was Eddie Murphy:

 Eddie.thumb.PNG.cbcc918f4a2f700fd6610332

And lastly, Mackie:

Mackie2.thumb.JPG.615f16958a0095ce3bd55b

And he's supposed to be the same person. Each time he appears he's different. Different age, different face, even different complexion. Maybe next time Mykhal Taelor is Chris Tucker. My favourite is the Murphy Look-a-like, at least for now.

I mean, it's perfectly fine to change the design of a character to suit what you think it should be, but... Correct me if I'm wrong, that's supposed to happen before you start working on the final product, when you have your ideas clear...

Unless I don't understand the brilliance of all this, and he has the ability to change his entire body and each page shows us a different Taelor, although that seems a lot of work for someone who just "copypasted" red echidnas and glued accesories and wigs in the past.

...I hope the last comment wasn't that rude.

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Doesn't matter if it was rude or not, it's true.

 

A-anyway, I really don't understand where or what he thinks he's going or doing here. There's trying to salvage something you got, and then there's just fucking around. Why start this series after a different series it's not connected to even though it is even though it still isn't because the thing it is and isn't still not connected to no longer exists anyway? And it's not like he gets to declare what's canon to any Sonic anything because it isn't fucking his.

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The fact that Michael (or however he's spelling it now) has a completely different face every time we see him does come across as somewhat racist. Does Ken think all black people look the same or something?

It is kind of ironic that he can't manage to get a consistent look for one human character, yet manages to draw an entire species that looks pretty much identical to one another.

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The fact that Michael (or however he's spelling it now) has a completely different face every time we see him does come across as somewhat racist. Does Ken think all black people look the same or something?

It is kind of ironic that he can't manage to get a consistent look for one human character, yet manages to draw an entire species that looks pretty much identical to one another.

I think the problem with him not staying on model is that he doesn't have anything to directly copy or trace from for every instance... which is strange because I thought this was the purpose of the 3D models he had made. Honestly, it makes me think of Greg Land and his infamous tracing, where he often had different models/sources for the same character, even on the same page.

I wouldn't read much into it beyond Pen being incompetent. His human faces were always wonky when he wasn't drawing from a reference.

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I personally don't buy the 3D model stuff. Even if it would be incredibly funny to see that this is the result of someone tracing over 3D models, at the same time I think this practice would give his work more consistency, because after all, you're sketching over something specifically created for your work and always has the same design.

But seeing how different and weird some characters can look from one time to another, and the proportions changing too, it's a little hard for me to believe it. Although of course, i'm not expert, I just draw from time to time and that's pretty much it.

The only one that has some consistency, at least in my eyes, is "B.A. Baraknux" Xero. Only two pictures with him IIRC, but he looks the same.

By the way, i always wanted to ask, Where does Penders get all these names? I'm mostly asking about the "Part1-Part2", ala Lien-Da, Lara-Su, Auri-On... They always sounded somewhat snobbish and "trying to hard to be sci-fi" to me, though that may be because I don't know what kind of inspiration he used.

I also found a "LARA-SU CHRONICLES WIKI". Seems like a fun place.

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