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

[Tylinos]

I can at least grant that the bottom half looks less bad than it did in the previews last week.  (Though the completely ridiculous perspective issues with the stone pattern on the floor makes it look like the room's curving down off into the abyss.)

Julie-Su, however, somehow looks worse than she did originally.  And she was already the worst part to begin with.

[King Scoopa Koopa]

7 hours ago, horridus said:

It really is amazing that Penders feels such an overpowering need to validate himself via media works that have nothing to do with him or his work, while simultaneously bending over backwards to re-interpret things for his own vindication. As you said, thouse shout-outs are appreciated because everything is under the umbrella of the Star Wars franchise. Thanks to Penders, his Lara-Su crap is officially excised from Sonic, as is the work of everyone who was a part of the Archie Sonic comic. His work is no longer a part of Sonic, nor can he directly use or reference anything from Sonic, and his half-assed attempts to do so while pretending his work is unique isn't going to cut it. 

It feels like things have come full circle, what with his previous Star Wars and Star Trek (and myriad other) references in Sonic, and now Sonic itself is such a reference in TLSC.

Oh, and for fun, if you ever wondered about his tendency to TYPE NAMES IN ALL CAPS...

https://twitter.com/KenPenders/status/1329234573264240640?s=20

[AlienBunny]

I tried. It's not good, but eh. Also I'm assuming they're underground, or surrounded by a cave system above ground and it's night. Either way, I didn't want a bright light from outside shining in. What if it rains? I still don't get sleeping on the hard ground.

[MetalSkulkBane]

That might be weird question, but anyone knows exact date The Lara-Su Chronicles were announced? I just know December 2011.

I'm asking because I wanted to look at first announcement of the project and people's first  reactions, but I get nothing. I can't even find like first reports or something. Even this topic started in 2014.

[Rabid-Coot]

1st of December https://web.archive.org/web/20170117045946/http://www.kenpenders.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=2455

His wikipedia page had the link.

[therealfalconpawnch777]

Oh dear lord the stache has evolved to weird creepy guy at the 7-11 levels of bad. Also Spectre looks like he's spacing out really really bad.

[horridus]

Fun fact about that Spectre- it's copied from an image that was released around five to six years ago.

Yeah. There is literally nothing new on this page, visually speaking. 

Also, that dialogue is just... cripes, why the abuse of the exclamation mark? Are they MEANT to be yelling at each other? Cause lemme tell ya, their faces ain't really conveying anything that warrants an exclamation mark. 

[Tylinos]

Yeah, uh, even completely disregarding the art this time, the dialogue here is a complete mess.  The word balloons are arranged in a way that makes it difficult to tell at first glance what order everything's being spoken in, and even aside from that, this is not how people naturally speak to each other.

This is what Ken is proud enough of to show as an example of his progress so far.  A decade of work, everybody.

[Dr Ryan]

Just catching up on this train wreck. It looks SO BAD. Who does he think will actually buy it? Sales figures will likely be in the double digits lol.

[RobotnikHolmes]

On 11/23/2020 at 4:41 AM, therealfalconpawnch777 said:

Oh dear lord the stache has evolved to weird creepy guy at the 7-11 levels of bad. Also Spectre looks like he's spacing out really really bad.

Holy crap, look at that huge range of expressions, from "eyes half-closed" to "eyes half-closed with mouth slightly agape"

[horridus]

11 hours ago, Dr Ryan said:

Just catching up on this train wreck. It looks SO BAD. Who does he think will actually buy it? Sales figures will likely be in the double digits lol.

Penders operates under the assumption that Archie was this big international phenomena with a super devoted fanbase. He frequently brings up the longevity of the Archie book as proof of the dedication of its readership, and he's not incorrect in that the Archie Sonic comic's readership was indeed pretty devoted.

The problem is that A) He believes that readership is much more widespread and that the Archie book is much more famous than it actually was, and B ) He either doesn't get or REFUSES to understand that the primary draw was the fact it was a SONIC book and that its fortunes always tied into the franchise. He sees the Archie Sonic book as having been independently popular from the games, and as such? He's basically expecting that all those people who liked his stuff on the book would eagerly take it without the Sonic context, when frankly that just isn't true, and that's without getting into how badly he's alienated the former readership of the book since the conclusion of the trial. 

9 hours ago, RobotnikHolmes said:

Holy crap, look at that huge range of expressions, from "eyes half-closed" to "eyes half-closed with mouth slightly agape"

What can be said? Convincingly conveying anything genuine just isn't Penders' forte as a creative. 

[CleverSonicUsername]

Hey it's been a while and I can't reasonably catch up on everything.

 

Has Penders finally released this dumbass thing?

[horridus]

10 minutes ago, CleverSonicUsername said:

Hey it's been a while and I can't reasonably catch up on everything.

 

Has Penders finally released this dumbass thing?

Nope. Just more preview crap, and little hint of when exactly this is meant to come out. 

 

[CleverSonicUsername]

1 minute ago, horridus said:

Nope. Just more preview crap, and little hint of when exactly this is meant to come out. 

 

Well, happy page 420 of the Lara-Su thread, everyone! At least we have each other.

[Guergy]

Penders does strike as someone who can benefit from having an Assistant or Editor.

[King Scoopa Koopa]

And an artist.

And a writer.

[Rabid-Coot]

8 hours ago, CleverSonicUsername said:

Hey it's been a while and I can't reasonably catch up on everything.

 

Has Penders finally released this dumbass thing?

Its in a permanent state of coming out in 3 months and also barely started.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Man, what I wouldn't give to have life so financially secure that I could waste nearly a decade on a comic without a single release and not live in a cardboard box.

[Leebo4]

Okay I do think I could find it again but I think Ken said if he was still head writer then the mecha Sally wouldn’t have happened and instead it would have led to a world war between the Eggman empire and the brotherhood, does anyone know if Ken gave more details please

[horridus]

1 hour ago, Leebo4 said:

Okay I do think I could find it again but I think Ken said if he was still head writer then the mecha Sally wouldn’t have happened and instead it would have led to a world war between the Eggman empire and the brotherhood, does anyone know if Ken gave more details please

It was the Dark Legion, not the Brotherhood. Something, funnily enough, he never bothered to mention on his forum when giving a rundown of his intended plans for the book anyway. Beyond that he has never really gone in-depth into what his plans for that one were, and frankly given his stated belief that the Legion could 'eat Eggman and any version of him for lunch', I'm gonna guess that it wasn't going to amount to much of anything. Not unlike the rest of his 'big ideas'. 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

The idea that the Dark Legion - a small group of technology using echidnas who are so incompetent that they make elaborate political schemes that even in the story, the main characters basically admit "eh, it won't really matter if they win or not" would be capable of taking on the Eggman Empire is beyond laughable.

Return to Angel Island is a FAR more accurate depiction of what would've happened if the plotline was realistically told, and we all know what Penders thinks of that arc.

[Leebo4]

8 hours ago, horridus said:

It was the Dark Legion, not the Brotherhood. Something, funnily enough, he never bothered to mention on his forum when giving a rundown of his intended plans for the book anyway. Beyond that he has never really gone in-depth into what his plans for that one were, and frankly given his stated belief that the Legion could 'eat Eggman and any version of him for lunch', I'm gonna guess that it wasn't going to amount to much of anything. Not unlike the rest of his 'big ideas'. 

Thanks 

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

14 hours ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Return to Angel Island is a FAR more accurate depiction of what would've happened if the plotline was realistically told, and we all know what Penders thinks of that arc.

I actually haven't heard about what he thinks regarding that. I could probably guess, but humor me still.

[antyep]

1 hour ago, Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon said:

I actually haven't heard about what he thinks regarding that. I could probably guess, but humor me still.

He considers that arc a “hissy fit” to undermine his work. He really hated it because it ruined HIS status quo.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

44 minutes ago, Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon said:

I actually haven't heard about what he thinks regarding that. I could probably guess, but humor me still.

Return to Angel Island is an arc in which following the year that Sonic was trapped in space and believed dead, Eggman went to war with Knothole and the Kingdom of Acorn, and Knuckles and the Chaotix had decided upon helping them as Angel Island had the Brotherhood.

Out of universe, the context was until M25YL, Ken had finished his “grand plan” for Knuckles following the beyond idiotic arc where he died saving Dimitri’s life, and going through echidna heaven. Since Ken was no longer writing plots about Knuckles and the echidnas, either due to being done, or editorial not wanting the stories anymore, this was the first time in years that Bollers was allowed to use the Angel Island crew.

Bollers - being a fan of the games - immediately hopped onto the chance to not only have the arc tie into his plans, but tie it far, far closer to the game lore. Knuckles - following Issue 125 where he came back to life and used his remaining Chaos Powers to help stop the doomsday device planted by a group of genocidal aliens (and what caused Sonic to be flung into space as he was trying to stop it, being the only one fast enough to do so).

Anyways, Knuckles had been depowered, and was ultimately feeling weaker due to it, getting a sense of inferiority about it. Then, he discovers what has happened to Angel Island. Eggman - being Eggman - finally decided to take off the kid gloves. Unleashing the full might of his empire onto the island, he easily destroys both the Brotherhood of Guardians (leaving them missing, thank god), and the Dark Legion. He razes Echidnapolis to the ground, and removes the echidna of all their technological advancements, enslaving them.

This has the result of bringing the echidnas back to their ancient depictions from Sonic Adventure, undertaking more traditional clothes like the Knuckles Tribe, and Bollers - calling out the ugly side of the chosen one legends - has the echidnas now believe Knuckles was a god like figure named the Avatar who was capable of destroying Eggman, and saving them all, which isn’t the case whatsoever due to his lacking powers, and weakening strength.

At the same time, the remains of the Dark Legion - led by the newly introduced Dr. Finitevus has picked up the slack, liberating echidnas where they can, and using their technological prowess to dismantle operations on the island. For once, we get an actual decent conflict where the Dark Legion is beyond pissed that their aid to the echidnas are ignored, because they’re too busy naively waiting for a god like Knuckles to save the day, when they’ve been doing their hardest to do so as is. It’s implied they have ulterior motives, but it also has a good reason for why they’d be pissed overall.

Then we get to Knuckles. The whole arc is essentially a call out of Ken’s boring writing, and a course correct to make things interesting. Due to his failing strength, Knuckles dons his SA2 power ups to help him get a boost. When they get to Angel Island, Echidnaopolis is destroyed, and the decades of constantly dicking over mobians because they believed themselves superior finally caught up to them (the Brotherhood at one point allowed Eggman to do as he pleased, essentially saying “lol, not our problem”, meaning this was well deserved. Even the hypocritical treatment of the Dingos bit them in the ass, as Eggman was able to convince them to work for him, due to being oppressed by the echidnas for so long.

Due to the destruction and enslavement, Angel Island under Bollers now resembled the game’s version properly, with several game zones appearing, the echidnas reverting back to the clothing and superstition of the Knuckles Clan, Knuckles’s brother having his ridiculously silly and long name (originally made by Penders) given a shorter pet name that was perfect (Bollers had given him the nickname of Kneecaps the Echidna). 

Above all else, Knuckles is the star. After so many issues of being written as a boring shell of a character by Penders, Bollers had drained him of every ounce of overpowered ability, and brought him back to his personality from the games. He’s got self doubt issues due to the heavy legends being told about him, when he isn’t able to live up to the echidnas’ hype. His firery attitude is back is full force, with his hot temper, and sense of right and wrong finally brought back to the forefront. For all the arc’s achievements, finally making Knuckles be like Knuckles is topping the list. There is so much great comedy in this arc that comes off from Knuckles’ temper, and Sonic and the Chaotix teasing him, or vice versa.

He also finally gets to realise who the bad guys actually are. Knuckles at the end of Penders’ backups was a dumbass who was helping the Dark Legion after they pulled Angel Island into another dimension (Knuckles knew they did this), and his death was him saving Dimitri (the Legion’s leader). The first thing he does upon seeing them in this arc is charging right at them with fury, and Sonic pointing out how much Knuckles hates the legion. Knuckles is also beyond weirded out by the echidnas treating him like this god like figure, and constantly asks to be referred to by his name, not Avatar.

At the end of the arc, not only do they find the encaptured Locke, but Knuckles ends up finding power to dismantle the operation on Angel Island. Not his crappy Chaos Knuckles form, but rather he turns into Hyper Knuckles (in a homage to Mega Man Zero 2 no less), and uses the form and the help of Sonic and the Chaotix to save the echidnas from Eggman.

However, what you might be surprised to learn is prior to Ian, this is actually where the call outs of Locke and the Brotherhood starts. Upon being rescued, and the island liberated, Locke expected Knuckles to stick around and help find the Brotherhood, in which Knuckles says he can’t, because he’s helping with the war on Mobius, which leads to Knuckles finally standing up to his father and not backing down, calling Locke out on his selfishness for once.

I can’t really do justice to the arc with a quick description, but the short version of it all is that it’s an arc that actually makes stuff happen, has all of the echidnas terrible actions finally have consequences, tries to bring everything back to the games’ lore with the introduction of Hidden Palace, and a ton of other zones, make the Dark Legion interesting, and overall bring Knuckles back in line with his game counterpart.

And thus as you can imagine, Penders despised this. Everything I just mentioned, he loathed with a passion. He hated having his cast called out on their shit actions, he hated Angel Island and Echidnapolis being enslaved and razed, he hated Knuckles standing up to Locke, and hoo boy, does he have a grudge against Kneecaps the Echidna following the nickname.

Penders acts like a completely petty child in reference to this arc. Not only does he hate it, not only did he claim that Bollers had vindictively stolen and destroyed his work and lore (he likes to act like only he is entitled to use his characters, although that sure as fuck didn’t stop Penders using Mina and trying to utterly wreck her as a character), following Bollers getting ousted from the comic, and Penders becoming head lead (easily the darkest period of the comic) - he decided to only try to quickly retcon and revert things to normal (Echidnapolis was nearly rebuilt within a few issues, Locke tried to find the brotherhood), but he decided like the petty child he is to fuck around with Bollers’ intended plans.

First things first - there was Bollers’ planned arc with tackling Sally’s emotional baggage - Penders scrapped that, turned it into a bunch of love triangle melodrama, and made it beyond dreadful, and to this day, he still loves to tout around the idea that the Slap was a awful idea conceived by Bollers, and that Penders was somehow “fixing it” when he only made it much, MUCH worse.

Secondly, he essentially tried to character assassinate Mina. He makes a whole milestone story about Evil Sonic kidnapping and taking Sonic’s place on Mobius, which leads to him hitting on every girl he sees. This includes reverting Mina’s character development and making her nearly cheat on Ash, but also includes having Evil Sonic literally have sex with Bunnie and try to be disgustingly sly about it (and yes, given that Bunnie thought it was regular Sonic - there’s a LOT of horrific implications brought about by Penders doing that).

Thirdly and most infamously - Bollers had a plan that Antoine would be changed by the war and would eventually be corrupted by the source of all, Penders retroactively changed all this by claiming it was simply Evil Antoine all along, and made a contrived and boring plot where Sally and Evil Antoine get married because “”””drama””””.  That may have been for the better, in fairness depending on who you ask, but still - it was done out of pettiness.

So yeah, Penders doesn’t like this arc very much, big surprise.