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

[QuantumEdge]

Sooo, if he's going for an all black crew, does this mean Samuel L. Jackson and Eddie Murphy should watch out for their faces to pop up as well as Anthony Mackie's?  Just a thought.

[AuroraRedwinters]

1 hour ago, QuantumEdge said:

Sooo, if he's going for an all black crew, does this mean Samuel L. Jackson and Eddie Murphy should watch out for their faces to pop up as well as Anthony Mackie's?  Just a thought.

 

I will personally be disappointed if there isn't a Will Smith look-alike modeled from his appearance in Independence Day. Bonus points if he included said character saying: Y'know, this was supposed to be my weekend off, but noooo. You got me out here draggin' your heavy ass through the burnin' desert with your dreadlocks stickin' out the back of my parachute. You gotta come down here with an attitude, actin' all big and bad... and what the hell is that smell? I could've been at a barbecue! But I ain't mad.

[horridus]

2 hours ago, QuantumEdge said:

Sooo, if he's going for an all black crew, does this mean Samuel L. Jackson and Eddie Murphy should watch out for their faces to pop up as well as Anthony Mackie's?  Just a thought.

Given that Taelor himself doesn't look like the same guy with each new iteration of art, you'll be lucky if ANY of these guys are consistently the same person.

God it's almost like watching a timeline of drug addiction... 

[Dr. Detective]

... Oh wait that's REAL!

I seriously, no bullshit, thought for a split-second that might have been mock fan-art made by a very dedicated descentor of Pender's work.

[Blue Blood]

What shape is Lara-Su's head supposed to be under that hair? Does it have corners?

[Big Panda]

His arms are too short. Especially in the first image.

[King Scoopa Koopa]

8 hours ago, horridus said:

Given that Taelor himself doesn't look like the same guy with each new iteration of art, you'll be lucky if ANY of these guys are consistently the same person.

God it's almost like watching a timeline of drug addiction... 

Yeah, if you want to see any of them or Will Smith (as mentioned before) in the comic, you don't need a full crew; just keep watching Taelor and he'll probably turn into them eventually.

 

[Sidronas]

He could probably resuse the inconsistant art of the character and make them part of the crew, that could be simple, but still lazy and under the carpet excuse

[CleverSonicUsername]

14 hours ago, horridus said:

Given that Taelor himself doesn't look like the same guy with each new iteration of art, you'll be lucky if ANY of these guys are consistently the same person

God it's almost like watching a timeline of drug addiction... 

This should be like the first thing you see on Google Images for "cursed picture."

[ThatSpookyGuy59]

I can't look at Geoffrey without thinking that A: His right arm looks like it was copied and pasted onto his torso, and that B: The way his mouth is drawn looks like he just had his wisdom teeth removed.

Also Lara-Su's eyes... they're like bug eyes or something.

[DabigRG]

On 9/28/2017 at 1:39 PM, horridus said:

Given that Taelor himself doesn't look like the same guy with each new iteration of art, you'll be lucky if ANY of these guys are consistently the same person.

God it's almost like watching a timeline of drug addiction... 

Oh my Gosh!   I can't breathe...I can't breathe!

 

Kayne or whatever his name was back there almost looks like a CG character compared to the others.

[Razule]

The echidna guy's loin cloth bothers me the most. Is he just naked from the back?

[horridus]

2 hours ago, DabigRG said:

Oh my Gosh!   I can't breathe...I can't breathe!

 

Kayne or whatever his name was back there almost looks like a CG character compared to the others.

Ten years spent working as a professional on a book, and this is what it all amounts to. Granted, the CGI image wasn't made by him, but the design is still disparate to what all the other ones are, so the point remains. 

Whether you mean Taelor or Xero, this holds true, as does the fact that it's clear that none of the figures in the last picture were drawn, colored and shaded the same way. They're all cut and paste jobs, and as such, there is no consistency between any of them. NONE of them look like they belong in the same picture, because ultimately... they do not. 

2 hours ago, Razule said:

The echidna guy's loin cloth bothers me the most. Is he just naked from the back?

It's looking that way. We'll never know until we get a back shot of the guy. Sooo we'll probably never know. Honestly, we're probably better off. 

[SenEDDtor Missile]

3 hours ago, Razule said:

The echidna guy's loin cloth bothers me the most. Is he just naked from the back?

 

37 minutes ago, horridus said:

It's looking that way. We'll never know until we get a back shot of the guy. Sooo we'll probably never know. Honestly, we're probably better off. 

It was an Ancient Enchiladian Kiss the Cook Apron.

[DoubleXXCross]

Ah, 叔父さん, what are you doing…?

(click for thread but his argument is that the comics were released more consistently than the games and managed the same length of publication, and also comic book movies are currently in and have a better track record than games, but mostly—)

Yeah.

Sonic's not an interesting character, therefore use these comics I previously sued you for using.

Also according to one guy in the comments, Sonic Mania apparently doesn't count as a Sonic game. This is the first time I've ever seen that argued over Mania being the only real Sonic game…

[RedFox99]

Do you guys sometimes wonder if we give this man way too much attention?

[Salamander]

It's just so hard to look away, though.  An argument is that having a thread like this to document his statements and actions may be a useful resource were he to one day become involved in another lawsuit, but were it not for that there would be a strong case for a moratorium on discussing him and his work, as with Sonic Adventure 3.

[DoubleXXCross]

It remains in interest because of the obvious undercurrent of "realise my work on Sonic, which was published for many years and for which I fought in court for many more, was the best Sonic canon and SEGA should be paying me to adapt my work because I literally once said that I was the saviour of the comic and am heavily implying still that I am the only reason the Sonic franchise survived past 1995".

To the point where he's arguing that the games (widely released in multiple regions with a massive amount of promo every single time) are niche and the comics (mostly imports outside of the US) were mainstream simply because of the differences in project scale and release scheduling.

[BlueSky]

8 hours ago, RedFox99 said:

Do you guys sometimes wonder if we give this man way too much attention?

If only you'd know... Still I find it interesting to try to put his train of thought together so well, whatever. He's trying to get attention, let's give him some if it makes his day.

That Mania not being a Sonic game thing though... was it about it being made by someone other than Sega? Isn't that a bit outdated argument considering all the stuff made prior Mania by others than Sega? I really can't get that Mania reasoning whatever argument used...

[Razule]

On 26/09/2017 at 6:48 PM, Mightyray said:

Heaven forbid he does that... I'm also going to bet, that he'll have one token black woman in the crew, who'll either be the 'sassy' one or the 'motherly' one, cause we all know how inter-sectional Mr Penders' feminism is.

Bonus points if she looks like Tyler Perry

[horridus]

1 hour ago, DoubleXXCross said:

It remains in interest because of the obvious undercurrent of "realise my work on Sonic, which was published for many years and for which I fought in court for many more, was the best Sonic canon and SEGA should be paying me to adapt my work because I literally once said that I was the saviour of the comic and am heavily implying still that I am the only reason the Sonic franchise survived past 1995".

To the point where he's arguing that the games (widely released in multiple regions with a massive amount of promo every single time) are niche and the comics (mostly imports outside of the US) were mainstream simply because of the differences in project scale and release scheduling.

Well, here's  hoping that the implicit nature of Penders argument with regards to the worth of his work is enough to pass muster and justify bringing up his opinions on the film, cause otherwise I'd point out that we're only meant to limit our discussions here to LSC and to a lesser extent his work on Sonic in conjunction towards that end, if only to prevent this from devolving into the 'Lookit What Uncle Ken Said This time!' thread. 

Having said all that, it's not the first time he's made this argument and it won't be the last, nor will it become any stronger or more rational. The basis for his reasoning his nothing to do with the actual facts of the matter- that Sonic is a worldwide gaming franchise whose *failures* still make millions more than any of the comics is irrelevant, nor does it have anything to do with the fact that part of its success was built up what people could interpret from him for the spinoff media, because at the end of the day its not about facts, but his *feelings*. His rationale is entirely self-serving- that he will not entertain the idea that Sonic may be heroic for the sake of it speaks volumes of his refusal to actually try and understand the character, to say nothing of the fact he has never actually played any of the games. It's even more hilarious given that he is a vocal defender and fan of Superman, posterchild for heroes whose motivation is doing good for its own sake, yet in left to his own devices, Penders see's Sonic as someone... rather odious. 

The sad thing is, once upon a time he was actually capable of understanding that he owed more to the franchise than it owed him anything. The book's success was due to the fact that for a time it was the only game in town, and he once was able to admit that. Since that time though his ego has exploded to the point where he  now claims there were 'other factors' and he was mistaken at the time. 'Other factors' which he has never shared or elaborated upon, which none the less magically vindicate him at every turn. At this point Penders opinions are not mired in anything factual, but are owed entirely to him absolutely refusing to leave that stretch of time when he had a bit of prominence, because then he has to confront the fact that not only did he leave the only place that gave him a career, but his work was never as important to the book or the franchise as he imagined.

Similarly, there is his bitterness at the fact that none of his Sonic film projects went anywhere. He's going to hate on any Sonic film that gets made without him because it means someone else is achieving what he failed to do, and trying to point out the holes in his logic is fruitless because of it. It's not about facts or the state of the franchise or anything like that, it's entirely about his feelings. Heck, he  tried to use the lawsuit to strongarm SEGA into letting him make a *Knuckles* movie. 

He still has a grudge against Sonic X and calls it a miserable failure because of the part it had in getting his film project cancelled. 

Soo yeah, in conclusion? Any argument he makes about the games and their value as a source of material for the movies is bull, because in the his desire to see the comics used for the movies is all about seeing *his* work for movies and no one else's. He doesn't care about the Games, he doesn't care about the others who worked on the book, and he certainly doesn't care about Sonic- he cares about him, himself, and he. Everything else is secondary. 

[Zaysho]

14 minutes ago, horridus said:

It's even more hilarious given that he is a vocal defender and fan of Superman, posterchild for heroes whose motivation is doing good for its own sake, yet in left to his own devices, Penders see's Sonic as someone... rather odious. 

Quote

While I no longer believe Sally should be killed off, I'm no longer certain if Sonic is a one-girl guy. When you stop and think how Sega looks at the character, he's all ego and attitude. He thinks about number one. He can accept Tails because Tails is the subordinate junior assistant to his main act. He'd consider Sally nothing more than a fun to be with every now and then (if that) and a drag the rest of the time. His attitude towards Sally, and females in general, in probably much like that MTV-character in the movie She's All That. The way he ditches the girl is so Sonic-like. ("You think all I want to do is spend my life with you? That's cool and all, but I gotta go fight Robotnik! Later, babe!")

I know I'm going to get into a lot of disagreement with people over this, but I've yet to hear anyone ever say "Y'know, he can be such an arrogant jerk, but he's really quite lovable under all that!" They usually stop the comment after the word "jerk". People who are conceited and full of themselves generally aren't likeable. Check out most entertainers and athletes as my prime example. There are exceptions, but there are few and far between. (And I can't tell you how many times I've been accused of being arrogant if I dare disagree with anyone's opinion, or not answer their IM or e-mail. It has nothing at all to do with arrogance, and everything to do with lack of time.)

Lazy editorial or not, it still astounds me this man kept his job for over a decade.

Part of me wants to say, at the very least, most of his views didn't directly come through (maybe Gabrie was paying attention or SEGA told him to cut the shit), which is probably why he latched onto Knuckles so readily.

 

17 minutes ago, horridus said:

He still has a grudge against Sonic X and calls it a miserable failure because of the part it had in getting his film project cancelled. 

Not to get too far off topic, but I was thinking of this the other day, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what he said regarding X. Were his film chances really harmed by it? Or was it just coincidence since SEGA had, by then, adopted an international canon? I mean, I saw his original pitches, and ignoring my personal feelings, they weren't going to light the world on fire--he wanted Sonic to be another generic superhero and a vehicle for his own ideas, not actually expand the property in any meaningful way.

[horridus]

28 minutes ago, Zaysho said:

Lazy editorial or not, it still astounds me this man kept his job for over a decade.

Part of me wants to say, at the very least, most of his views didn't directly come through (maybe Gabrie was paying attention or SEGA told him to cut the shit), which is probably why he latched onto Knuckles so readily.

I think it has less to do with outside intervention and more with a combination of him being disinterested in actually trying anything with Sonic as well as being too incompetent a writer to actually *portray* what he claims he thought Sonic was like. This is a guy who legitimately thinks he wrote an ambiguous situation with the Brotherhood and that his work was Uber-Feminist even as he stripped Sally of her agency and concocted Julie-Su purely under the optic of being Knuckles' love interest. Penders is *dreadful* at conveying things effectively through writing, relying on exposition and largely assuming that because HE thinks he did a good job, other people see it that way. Remember his attempts to handle political stuff?

28 minutes ago, Zaysho said:

Not to get too far off topic, but I was thinking of this the other day, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what he said regarding X. Were his film chances really harmed by it? Or was it just coincidence since SEGA had, by then, adopted an international canon? I mean, I saw his original pitches, and ignoring my personal feelings, they weren't going to light the world on fire--he wanted Sonic to be another generic superhero and a vehicle for his own ideas, not actually expand the property in any meaningful way.

I'm looking for it, 'cause I SWEAR he mentioned Sonic X being one of the factors involved in his Sonic film going nowhere. It struck me because when taken alongside his comments about Sonic X being a failure, it comes off as a massive case of sour grapes... then again, anything game based succeeding over any of his projects would provoke similar. 

Aand yeah, you pretty much summed it up- in fact, the reason he latched onto Knuckles was because Knuckles was SUCH a cipher at the time, he could do anything he wanted with the guy. Sonic by contrast already had been written for via the earlier issues and the cartoons, and that meant less leg-room for Penders to hijack things towards his own ends. Hence why it becomes clear that he really wanted Knuckles to be the setting's main hero rather than Sonic... 

[King Scoopa Koopa]

10 hours ago, DoubleXXCross said:

Ah, 叔父さん, what are you doing…?

 

Know what? I actually agree with him. They should use the comics as a source.

I would love to see the stuff we spent the last 40 issues or so seeing brought to life on the big screen. Maybe Ian could be a consultant?

Or, barring that, work with IDW to create some sort of synergy between their upcoming book and the film.

At this point, I don't think it would be too different from doing something based on the games, though, but still.

[horridus]

4 minutes ago, KingScoopaKoopa said:

Know what? I actually agree with him. They should use the comics as a source.

I would love to see the stuff we spent the last 40 issues or so seeing brought to life on the big screen. Maybe Ian could be a consultant?

Or, barring that, work with IDW to create some sort of synergy between their upcoming book and the film.

At this point, I don't think it would be too different from doing something based on the games, though, but still.

I'd pay to see that, both because I think its a good idea, and because I just know Penders would throw a fit over post-Reboot, Flynn penned stuff getting used for the films rather than his own work, which is the only work he views as worthwhile and the only work he WANTS to be adapted whenever he brings up the comics.

It'd be a thing of joy to witness.