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

[Zonic 2099]

The more I look at this cover the more I can't help but remember this tweet.

It's perfectly fine for his characters to have similar origins and adventures to their Archie counterparts. But using the exact same but with Expies will not help these characters stand on their own. Julie-Su the legionnaire who always questioned the Legions ways finally goes renegade. But no, why give Julie-Su character and a new origin when he can just copy paste Praetorian the Enchilada over Knuckles and call it a day cause that totally doesn't hurt Julie-Su's character or her original relationship with Knuckles. Except it totally does. Which is pretty alienating for someone who liked the character and didn't hate everything he did. But then you remember how bad Ken is with criticism.

He's stubbornly fought against any and all criticism the audience he wants to buy and support this thing has brought up. "You don't like the designs? Too bad." "My inking is an eye strain? Deal with it." "Lara's outfit is inappropriate? Let me dig myself deeper as I defend it." Did I miss the part where everyone is required to buy this thing? Considering how big a negative impact his actions had on the Archie Comic, and his desire to use these characters in a new story it's only natural people will be more critical of his work especially when he's putting out such low quality crap.
 

[horridus]

13 hours ago, AlienBunny said:

So I quickly did this. See if did overlap showing that he did trace... it didn't so I put them side-by-side. There are some differences that you have to look for (Julie-Su hair, face, and legs; Lara-Su legs, both seem wider...) . So Penders probably did draw this without tracing, but still doesn't excuse the copying. If he did trace it, then he probably warped it.

If anyone can do this better, please do so.

I wouldn't doubt that he copied without tracing.... though by that some token I wouldn't have a hard time believing that he really is just THAT bad of a tracer on his own. That being said, it's not the first time this sort of thing has happened- a while back he revealed he did a commissioned bit of art of Shadow the Hedgehog, and to the shock of everyone it was actually competent looking. 

It didn't take long for people to realize that the reason for this was because Penders had straight up copied this art from Sonic Chronicles

When confronted over the fact that he had directly copied another artists work and sold it, Penders justified himself by claiming he had only used it as a reference, ignoring the fact that he had copied it right down to the style. Penders precise mindset seemed to be that since it was traced, it wasn't the same as outright theft... which doesn't work given that even if he didn't trace, he literally copied the picture. So, it's a same deal here with the cover image- he likely did not trace Lara-Su or Julie-Su, but it makes little difference given that it's very clearly not his art style. The fact that K'Nox in that image sticks out so badly next to the two only further illustrates this fact given that Lara and Julie have completely different proportions and levels of detail next to K'Nox there. 

5 hours ago, Adamis said:

Why are every female character half blinking ? It's an old cliché for female characters to look "sexy/feminine"... (plus, wooden expressions...)

I'm not even sure WHAT they're meant to convey here. More than anything they just look half-asleep, and the why of that can be summed up on one simple phrase- Penders Can't Draw Emotions. For a guy who makes such a big deal about how covers on comic books nowadays are not 'dynamic' and even uses this as an excuse to vomit on IDW, it's incredibly telling that left to his own devices he earnestly seems to think piling on crap is the same thing as making a dynamic book while simultaneously eliminating the things that actually helped MAKE the cover dynamic to begin with- namely the motion and EMOTIONS of all the characters involved. 

[horridus]

Apologies for the double-post. Penders has updated the image from earlier-

 

Well I'll give him this much- this IS succeeding in emphasizing the old from the new, but not for the reasons Penders likely wants... 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Dear lord, this actually looks worse now. Lara-Su's face literally looks like it's melting, and she looks 60.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

53 minutes ago, horridus said:

Apologies for the double-post. Penders has updated the image from earlier-

 

Well I'll give him this much- this IS succeeding in emphasizing the old from the new, but not for the reasons Penders likely wants... 

M25YL Knuckles/Lara/Julie: Run, run! We must escape the Penders' grasp!

LSC Lara/Julie: You can run, but you can't hide...

Everyone creepily staring at us: We are the Penders Legion. You will be assimilated and buy his epic. Resistance is Futile.

[AlienBunny]

I don't even know what the lighting is on that drawing. 2 am. I did this quickly. Made mistakes, but I remember back so many things I critique Penders on twitter. Hopefully this image will sum it up.

[Zonic 2099]

There is a reason why quite literally every other creator would sooner move on than put out something as degrading as the Lara-Su Beginnings, Ken.

[horridus]

9 hours ago, AlienBunny said:

I don't even know what the lighting is on that drawing.

There's a reason for that. You see all those characters in the back, surrounding the half-finished Spectre? Those illustrations are pre-existing ones that were released and created at separate times, with long intervals in-between. You look closely and you realize that none of them have been colored the same way, nor were they made with the composition of this picture in mind. They're literally copy-pasted, and Penders hasn't bothered to re-do any of them so that they reflect the hypothetical light source of this picture. You might think that they're just there to stand-in so he can do it later, but given that he's released similar group pictures in the past using similar methods, I wouldn't count on it. 

 

[Big Panda]

I just thought of something; aren’t comic/graphic novel covers usually created after the interior work is completed?

[UnknownByME]

So, I'm new here, and I understand what this is, but I'm confused as to how this is supposed to connect to Archie.

How does this fit into the old Archie continuity. Is it set in an entirely new universe? Is Sonic supposed to exist in this world, and just be ignored?

Someone please explain this.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

2 minutes ago, UnknownByME said:

So, I'm new here, and I understand what this is, but I'm confused as to how this is supposed to connect to Archie.

How does this fit into the old Archie continuity. Is it set in an entirely new universe? Is Sonic supposed to exist in this world, and just be ignored?

Someone please explain this.

I'm going to put this as simply as I can - if you are seeking a continuation of Archie Sonic - please read Archie Sonic Online by @SonicWindAttack and his team. You can find a topic about it here:

Ken Penders is trying to claim this is connected to the original Archie Sonic universe because no one gives a shit about his stories or characters, and he's trying to use it as a clutch to draw in readers - much like how he used the original Archie Sonic as a vehicle for his awful comics, including how he intended to make the villain of The Lost Ones the main villain of Archie Sonic after Eggman's death.

It's the same here, he keeps claiming that it's standalone and that it can stand without ties to Archie Sonic, or the franchise as a whole, while also still using pretty much everything from Archie Sonic just renamed to try draw people in.

He does not have the rights to use any Sonic/SEGA character or owned property, and thus he's making fake expies/rip offs of them in order to try skirt past copyright laws. Not-Knuckles on the cover is a key example of that, he looks near-exact to Knuckles with some facial hair, and isn't referred to by name, but it's clear who it's meant to be.

So the simple answer - this is not a continuation of Archie Sonic. It takes place in the Mobius 25 Years Later timeline, but it's Penders trying to use the comic to once again fuel his own shit and try drag in fans of Archie Sonic who are desperately trying to get a conclusion to the comic. 

Luckily - Archie Sonic Online is fan-made, and written by fans passionate about Sonic, and Archie Sonic, and is an actually good continuation of Archie Sonic. If that's why you're interested, please ignore TL-SC and read Archie Sonic Online for a continuation, you won't regret (or at least - you won't regret it as much as you'd regret reading Penders' godawful crap).

[MetalSkulkBane]

13 minutes ago, UnknownByME said:

So, I'm new here, and I understand what this is, but I'm confused as to how this is supposed to connect to Archie.

How does this fit into the old Archie continuity. Is it set in an entirely new universe? Is Sonic supposed to exist in this world, and just be ignored?

Someone please explain this.

Flee while you can. It's not too late.

It is confusing and it doesn't make sense. For starters damn thing isn't coming so who knows how it works? But apparently it's new universe just with awfully long connections to old one.

[UnknownByME]

Just now, Ryannumber1gamer said:

I'm going to put this as simply as I can - if you are seeking a continuation of Archie Sonic - please read Archie Sonic Online by @SonicWindAttack and his team. You can find a topic about it here:

Ken Penders is trying to claim this is connected to the original Archie Sonic universe because no one gives a shit about his stories or characters, and he's trying to use it as a clutch to draw in readers - much like how he used the original Archie Sonic as a vehicle for his awful comics, including how he intended to make the villain of The Lost Ones the main villain of Archie Sonic after Eggman's death.

It's the same here, he keeps claiming that it's standalone and that it can stand without ties to Archie Sonic, or the franchise as a whole, while also still using pretty much everything from Archie Sonic just renamed to try draw people in.

He does not have the rights to use any Sonic/SEGA character or owned property, and thus he's making fake expies/rip offs of them in order to try skirt past copyright laws. Not-Knuckles on the cover is a key example of that, he looks near-exact to Knuckles with some facial hair, and isn't referred to by name, but it's clear who it's meant to be.

So the simple answer - this is not a continuation of Archie Sonic. It takes place in the Mobius 25 Years Later timeline, but it's Penders trying to use the comic to once again fuel his own shit and try drag in fans of Archie Sonic who are desperately trying to get a conclusion to the comic. 

Luckily - Archie Sonic Online is fan-made, and written by fans passionate about Sonic, and Archie Sonic, and is an actually good continuation of Archie Sonic. If that's why you're interested, please ignore TL-SC and read Archie Sonic Online for a continuation, you won't regret (or at least - you won't regret it as much as you'd regret reading Penders' godawful crap).

That's more clear. So King Sonic I guess exists here and is supposed to be ignored.

And I've heard good things about Archie Online, and I've read some of it a while back, but should probably get back into it.

I'm really hoping they release that Sonic Underground continuation sometime soon

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Just now, UnknownByME said:

That's more clear. So King Sonic I guess exists here and is supposed to be ignored.

And I've heard good things about Archie Online, and I've read some of it a while back, but should probably get back into it.

I'm really hoping they release that Sonic Underground continuation sometime soon

Sonic technically exists as he was mentioned in a fact-file, but as a random new name for a hedgehog, and not by name - again - he'll be an expy.

He's confirmed he intends to use Scourge (Not Evil Sonic - Scourge - as in Ian's version of Evil Sonic). He claims he owns Evil Sonic, and therefore he can use Scourge (which yes - doesn't make any lick of sense at all).

[UnknownByME]

2 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Sonic technically exists as he was mentioned in a fact-file, but as a random new name for a hedgehog, and not by name - again - he'll be an expy.

He's confirmed he intends to use Scourge (Not Evil Sonic - Scourge - as in Ian's version of Evil Sonic). He claims he owns Evil Sonic, and therefore he can use Scourge (which yes - doesn't make any lick of sense at all).

What name is used?

Also, can't wait to see them sue the SHIT outta him.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

46 minutes ago, UnknownByME said:

Also, can't wait to see them sue the SHIT outta him.

That's IF he ever gets so much as his first comic. We've been waiting since at least 2014 for that to happen.

[Zonic 2099]

If he focused on the story first maybe he'd actually have the first and likely only volume out by now instead of going at the pace of a snail.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

I think what's weirder is he think if worse came to the worse, he thinks someone would be insane enough to want to finish this up for him.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

17 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

I think what's weirder is he think if worse came to the worse, he thinks someone would be insane enough to want to finish this up for him.

Like, I think at this point, even his insane fans who would hound anyone who dared to critique him back in the day have left the building at this point.

[horridus]

1 hour ago, UnknownByME said:

What name is used?

Technically not a name, but a bio for Geoffrey St. John referenced a 'Blue-Spined Erinaceinae'.... which is basically botched latin for 'Hedgehog'. Yeah, fun fact there- the Echidna have been renamed 'Echyd'nya' and are insisted upon as being alien creatures now, but evidently everything ELSE in the world is named for the real world taxonomy of whatever animal they are. For exame, Geoff himself is called a 'Mephitidae'. Because you know, that's totally consistent. 

Other stellar examples of Penders 'creativity' at work include a 'Princess of Acorn' and 'Warlord Kintobor'. 

That being said, he hasn't given his intended replacement for Sonic a 'proper' name yet. Given that he decided to call his Not-Knuckles 'K'Nox', one can only imagine what lamebrained thing awaits if he should ever choose to reveal it. 

[antyep]

1 hour ago, Zonic 2099 said:

If he focused on the story first maybe he'd actually have the first and likely only volume out by now instead of going at the pace of a snail.

How dare you! That is an insult to snails, for they're much faster than him

[King Scoopa Koopa]

26 minutes ago, horridus said:

Technically not a name, but a bio for Geoffrey St. John referenced a 'Blue-Spined Erinaceinae'.... which is basically botched latin for 'Hedgehog'. Yeah, fun fact there- the Echidna have been renamed 'Echyd'nya' and are insisted upon as being alien creatures now, but evidently everything ELSE in the world is named for the real world taxonomy of whatever animal they are. For exame, Geoff himself is called a 'Mephitidae'. Because you know, that's totally consistent. 

Other stellar examples of Penders 'creativity' at work include a 'Princess of Acorn' and 'Warlord Kintobor'. 

That being said, he hasn't given his intended replacement for Sonic a 'proper' name yet. Given that he decided to call his Not-Knuckles 'K'Nox', one can only imagine what lamebrained thing awaits if he should ever choose to reveal it. 

"S'nik."

[Betz]

10 hours ago, KingScoopaKoopa said:

"S'nik."

Nah, it's more S'noc the Hedgehog. Friends call him Snoc the Hog.

[UnknownByME]

14 hours ago, horridus said:

Technically not a name, but a bio for Geoffrey St. John referenced a 'Blue-Spined Erinaceinae'.... which is basically botched latin for 'Hedgehog'. Yeah, fun fact there- the Echidna have been renamed 'Echyd'nya' and are insisted upon as being alien creatures now, but evidently everything ELSE in the world is named for the real world taxonomy of whatever animal they are. For exame, Geoff himself is called a 'Mephitidae'. Because you know, that's totally consistent. 

Other stellar examples of Penders 'creativity' at work include a 'Princess of Acorn' and 'Warlord Kintobor'. 

That being said, he hasn't given his intended replacement for Sonic a 'proper' name yet. Given that he decided to call his Not-Knuckles 'K'Nox', one can only imagine what lamebrained thing awaits if he should ever choose to reveal it. 

Can I just say, while Geoffrey looks awful, he's far more tolerable to look at than the main character of the story.

[SBR2]

3 hours ago, Betz said:

Nah, it's more S'noc the Hedgehog. Friends call him Snoc the Hog.

I mean I'm expecting King Ogilvie being mentioned at some point TBH.