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


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But as for Sonic being killed, even temporarily by Droid? Given Ken's barely hidden apathy for Sonic himself as a character, I wouldn't doubt that Ken would have tried to get that pushed through, but even if Archie was blind or stupid enough to give their approval, SEGA definitely would have vetoed that story point, so it's incredibly  unlikely that plan would have happened outside of "Ken's original idea".

If we're talking SEGA before the Sonic '06 disaster, it's just as likely they would've let a "temporary" death for Sonic slide the same way they let Robotnik bite the dust (eventually to be replaced by a Robotnik that would become "Eggman") or letting freakin' Chaos Knuckles (and Knuckles's temporary death) happen. SEGA was pretty loose with Archie after End Game for a good long while. Not as loose as Gabrie was with the former creatives, but still pretty loose to let as much happen as it did.

 

And, seriously? "The Lost Ones"/Image crossover was supposed to somehow be canon to the Future Mobius stories? Cripes, the man lost all subtlty pretty quick, didn't he?

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I've never been into Archie Sonic (though, thanks to a friend, I'm getting into it), so this whole Penders affair is like comedy gold for me. I understand that some are frustrated over some characters being binned because of the whole thing, so I'll try not to be too bad about it, but oh man.

 

This thing reeks; it's like bad fanart and bad fanfiction had a baby but the surrogate mother was actually plagiarism. Looking at what we've been shown, it's laughable -- sexily drawn "Echyd'nyas" (bwahahahahaha) and some kind of 'real housewives of the Floating Island' dialogue that feels as wooden as David Beckham's acting make this a joy to watch. I get the train wreck metaphor, but I disagree. This is going to be a great thing to observe, from a distance of course.

 

Seriously though, everyone who had characters they enjoyed removed from Archie: I truly sympathise with you. I only hope that watching this bomb can entertain you enough to quell the frustration.

 

---

 

All that said, his recent twitter antics are particularly funny. Does he do this kind of thing often?

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Why isn't Sega getting in touch with him to make this rumored darker tone Sonic movie...gee Ken let us think...it couldn't possibly have anything to do with you taking them to court....TWICE....so what is it then? I can't imagine why they wouldn't wanna work with you >.<

Pretty sure this is the textbook example of the "don't bite the hand that feeds you" saying.

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All that said, his recent twitter antics are particularly funny. Does he do this kind of thing often?

 

Often; though he isn't always so direct with his arrogance. He "tries" to play the act of the struggling creator against the man and used that to drum up early sympathy. But as the questions keep coming in, his facade dissipates. 

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Time for the daily Penders Twitter Roundup! Featuring the latest head-shaking statements posted on Ken Penders' Twitter in the last 24 hours! Today was a goldmine of facepalming, with beautiful posts such as:

 

 

  • "People think I have an ego, so why disappoint them? Great fun, actually." (In a later post, Penders clarified that most of his more arrogant posts were just "having fun with people."
  • In response to criticism regarding Pender's attempt to sell Sonic panels that he didn't draw for $2500: "Please don't display your ignorance and confirm what a fool you are. I inked the story and thus own a share of the art."
     

And then there was this hilarious exchange between Penders and another Star Trek fan:

 

 
Penders: "I rendered an illustration of Spock which Leonard Nimoy personally signed for me, but alas, haven't met Shatner yet."
 
Trekkie: "So what? I've met Leonard Nimoy as well. And Shanter too. Your move."
 
Penders: "I already surpassed you. A long time ago."
 
Trekkie: "If by surpass you mean "Biggest D### On The Planet" then yes you have."
 
Penders: "Nah. You have me beat hand's down for that title. I acknowledge you're better at it than I. Congrats."
 
At this point, another user jumps in with: "Oh wow. Aren't you supposed to be building brand recognition, not insulting the potential buyers of LSC?"
 
To which Penders replies: "That would be unrealistic. People are going to take what I say or do and interpret it however they want."
 
 
So, today we learn that Penders knows exactly what he's doing. He just doesn't care.
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Oh, yeah. Didn't he try to keep any money he would have made, then said he was "going to give Dawn Best half" when she finally got involved?

Now we know how he's barely keeping his head above water, selling original artwork from others.

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  • "People think I have an ego, so why disappoint them? Great fun, actually." (In a later post, Penders clarified that most of his more arrogant posts were just "having fun with people."
  • In response to criticism regarding Pender's attempt to sell Sonic panels that he didn't draw for $2500: "Please don't display your ignorance and confirm what a fool you are. I inked the story and thus own a share of the art."

     

This I find kind of funny since in his letters to the copyright office before, he didn't consider inkers to be "creators" in the sense that they did anything original other than finishing the artwork conceived by actual creators (the writers/penciliers). Never mind that statement is completely disrespectful of inkers and everyone else who works to get a comic book out the fucking door every month (an inker can elevate a mediocre penciler's artwork or ruin a great penciler's artwork). I just find it funny that it appears he's back pedaling from that with regards to his own contributions now. Maybe I'm misreading something, but that's what it looks like to me.

 

At least Dawn Best is getting a cut of the sales (though it appears she wasn't initially aware of that--and I suppose she has a point that they're his pages to sell so *shrug*). I get the impression he always intended to cut her in, at least. His professional practices in general are dubious and self-serving, but I like to think he'll look out for other artists if he really gives a damn at all about creators' rights. If I had money to burn, honestly, I'd probably buy those pages myself, but only on the condition that Dawn Best's cut is guaranteed.

 

Oh, and look, he can't take criticism. Big surprise. And he responds to someone who's already being a jerk by being an even bigger jerk. Penders, maybe you should spend more time working on your script for LSC instead?EDIT: Oh wait, I have some context and I'm going to do something I normally wouldn't do. Much as I don't like Penders, the guy who's trolling him is being a dick. Inkers are not fucking tracers. So, yes, I think Penders slamming this jackass is justified, for once. This wasn't criticism, it was out and out dickery that showed no knowledge of what making a comic entails. Not to mention, when Best breaks down the general price ($150/page) it actually is pretty reasonable, since some individual pages can go more than that(admittedly Santolouco's a random example, but I don't see Sonic pages for sale often enough to bother looking those up) .The only reason I find Penders's statement that he inked the story, therefore has a share of the art funny is because he seemed to discount inkers--himself included, actually--before when he filed for copyrights. And, yes, treating inkers as nothing more than tracers is something of a red button with me. Of course, none of this excuses the downright egotistical statements he has made, including claiming to be the savior of the series or conveniently ignoring his back stabbing Ben Hurst on his Sonic movie pitch or defending an act of plagiarism, but I'll give him some props for once--I expect this to be the only time that ever happens.

------

 

Anyway, I was thinking about something Penders said with regards to the sales of Knuckles books versus Sonic. I found this site which ranks the monthly sales figures and goes as far back as 1995. Granted, Penders's comments are specifically about sales of Knuckles compared to Sonic today, but I wanted to take a look at some months from 1997-1999, the original run of the Knuckles book. Note, the sales figures are speficially for comic shop pre-orders (so these are Diamond's distribution to direct markets, and bear in mind I don't really understand this stuff, I'm just looking at the rankings--someone with more of a brain for this sort of thing is more than welcome to help make heads or tails of it).

 

What I found interesting was that Sonic appeared to consistently rank higher, if even by a few places, than Knuckles. For example, #49 of Sonic, the penultimate issue of the "End Game" arc, ranked 225  (est. pre-orders 7,020 copies) while the Knuckles series' premiere issue, #4, came in at 252 (est. pre-orders 5,041 copies). But that's not fair, Knuckles ain't caught his stride yet. Let me jump ahead at least a year into the series... May 1998, Sonic #61 came in at 189  (est. pre-orders 8,131 copies), while Knuckles #15 (I believe this was the last issue of "The Chaotix Caper" story?) 216 (est. pre-orders 6,224 copies). March 1999 should be important as it features the Knuckles series' first and only "silver" issue. It's also when Sonic received his design makeover in #71. Sonic ranked 183 (est. pre-orders 6,764 copies), Sonic Super Special #9 ("Sonic Kids 2") was 191 (est. pre-orders 5,947 copies), and Knuckles #25 was 201 (est. pre-orders 5,161 copies).

 

I just cherry picked a few months, obviously (and these aren't necessarily actual sales, but what was sold to comic book stores via Diamond), but you can go through and check more of the book's run. As far as I saw though? Sonic still moved more books than Knuckles on average. Today? Well, let's go to September of last year... Sonic #252 was ranked 225 for that month, but est. sales are 10,968 copies and Sonic Universe #56 is ranked 246 with est. sales of 9,253 copies.

 

Yeah, Penders, Knuckles was definitely moving more units back then than Sonic today. I'm sort of doubting the claim that Wal-Mart was really the death-nail for that series. Could it be a contributing factor? Sure, fewer newsstand sales (newsstands are not direct market, by the way), but that doesn't account for the fact that book stores were still a thing back then or any other places that might've sold comics to begin with. Lack of interest from consumers was likely another (possibly bigger?) factor...

 

Anyone's welcome to go through the links about the sales, but the general vibe I got combing through it was that Sonic generally sold better, Knuckles didn't. Neither ever hit X-Men numbers or anything, but Sonic was in a generally healthier state than Knuckles.

Edited by Zaysho
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Someone on tumblr said that Penders was like a Saturday Morning Cartoon Villain come to life. I am now tempted to make a gif of a really wacky stereotypical cartoon villain walking down a sidewalk and zapping people that he passes with Penders' face pasted on it. But I can't be bothered to learn how to make gifs. It would truly make my day if somebody did that.

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That site actually makes things much easier to determine the stats, Zaysho. Thanks!

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Remember that trailer I put up last page for the Lost Ones? The one that says "FROM THE BEST SELLING COMIC BOOK CREATED BY KEN PENDERS"? The comic book that, as previously mentioned, lasted one printed issue before getting cancelled?

 

I have no doubts that Kenders would just delcare that site's statistics to be in error. Ken Penders is the man who, if he's convinced that matzos are made with the blood of Christian children or that the world is flat, will continue to say such, even in the face of all evidence to the contrary.

 

I honestly think that he lost touch of reality LLLOOOONNNNGGG ago. Probably when Knuckles was cancelled. And I have no doubts he had to beg the editor to let his echidnas feature in the backup strips; beg or use what clout he had back then.

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That site actually makes things much easier to determine the stats, Zaysho. Thanks!

No prob! I try... Honestly, numbers and sales figures make my head spin (uh, art school), but I figured someone would find it interesting and useful, especially considering Penders's claims about the sales. Just bear in mind it only covers direct markets (i.e. comic book stores), but it seems like a good guage all the same.

 

I honestly think that he lost touch of reality LLLOOOONNNNGGG ago. Probably when Knuckles was cancelled. And I have no doubts he had to beg the editor to let his echidnas feature in the backup strips; beg or use what clout he had back then.

You're ignoring at the time that his editor was Justin "Don't Give a Shit" Gabrie, who is largely responsible for letting him run amok as he had. Gabrie couldn't do anything to keep Knuckles in print, but his hands-off attitude toward the creative team basically allowed them to do whatever the hell they wanted, and SEGA obviously didn't care at the time as long as basic ground rules were respected (things are much different now, obviously).

Oddly, I can't "The Lost Ones" when I searched the site though... When was it released? I would like to know the ranking/sales for it, even though I already know how that turned out. EDIT: Oh, here it is. Ranked 226 with est. pre-orders of 4, 816 copies--wow, that's actually lower than an issue of Knuckles appeared to do. Interestingly, the Image/Sonic crossover ranked 176 with est. pre-orders of 9,142 copies. I think we owe the novelty of such a crossover to those numbers, personally.

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Don't tell Kevin Smith that. (Warning! Language)

[video snip]

 

That was oddly amusing, even if the mentality still grinds my gears.

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@Zaysho, true, it was Gabrie was just as responsible as Ken & Karl for the book's problems. My main point was that Penders probably started losing touch with reality when Knuckles was cancelled, and he found himself billed behind Karl who usually had more main story writing duty then him, with Ken only getting Knuckles backups until that was cancelled too. He was left to write for so long without much interference, it probably spoiled him rotten, like a bratty child.

 

So Gabrie left around 136, & the editor that Penders had problems with was Pellerito? Because from what I could remember, Ken's last issue was 159 in 2006, either shortly before or during Sonic 06 getting released and SEGA freaking out and putting more executive attention onto the book. And Pellerito was Ian's editor for a long time before Kaminski took on editing duties.

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I've never been into Archie Sonic (though, thanks to a friend, I'm getting into it), so this whole Penders affair is like comedy gold for me. I understand that some are frustrated over some characters being binned because of the whole thing, so I'll try not to be too bad about it, but oh man.

No need to worry really. I'm a big fan of the comics--as they are now and, admittedly, the first few issues due to their AOSTH-y nature--and I find this entire thing pretty hilarious. Though I will miss a few of the characters, it wasn't really a dealbreaker. I'd be a lot more concerned about losing some of the characters that weren't lost, such as the SATam cast.

 

Like most people, I'm sure, I look forward to this coming out just to read the reviews. I eagerly await the comedy gold. Though I wonder if any "big" reviewers would bother.

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Anyone ever hear about Totalbiscuit and the "Garry's Incident: Day One" kerfluffle, where the reviewer ripped apart a bad game, which was given to him so he could make a Youtube video, and the developer filed a false copyright claim to it to try to remove it from the internet?

 

I'd imagine that Penders would act the same way, video review or article with any picture exerpts. "You are putting up photos of my artwork and making money off of it. This is in violation of my rights and I want this taken down".

 

That type of deal.

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Anyone ever hear about Totalbiscuit and the "Garry's Incident: Day One" kerfluffle, where the reviewer ripped apart a bad game, which was given to him so he could make a Youtube video, and the developer filed a false copyright claim to it to try to remove it from the internet?

 

I'd imagine that Penders would act the same way, video review or article with any picture exerpts. "You are putting up photos of my artwork and making money off of it. This is in violation of my rights and I want this taken down".

 

That type of deal.

Heh, people have got in serious trouble for filing false DMCA's against YouTube users in the past. But I wouldn't put that kind of thing past Penders.

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Reading that scrip, I can just see the Star Wars prequel shot/reverse shot as I'm reading it. He even has the bits for a character gets up and look out a window.

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Reading that scrip, I can just see the Star Wars prequel shot/reverse shot as I'm reading it. He even has the bits for a character gets up and look out a window.

 

But, Phos! This is the saviour of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic! How can you question such obvious creative genius?

 

Seriously, on the subject of "saving" the comic, I can kind of see what he means myself. I will admit, it was only after Penders started taking the book in a more serious direction that I really started to enjoy it (some time after issue #40, actually), but even then, there was a period of several issues after #50 that I just found incredibly dull. When Robotnik came back, I think things picked again. But then there was still the whole Chaos Knuckles thing that just went on forever in the backup strips. When that was finally over, I was very happy. Although, even then, it wasn't really over until well after Tossed in Space, so we are talking a multiple-years long story arc that, in my opinion, wasn't all that interesting. Knuckles family drama and all that. 

 

What I'm trying to say, essentially, is that I appreciated Penders treating the book more seriously, rather than continuing with the AoStH style tone of the early years, but I think he took it too far in the other direction, to the point it was humourless and felt more than a little like the way more mainstream comics have been going, which kind of makes Penders seem a bit insecure. But when you're writing a story about anthropomorphic animals with super powers, the best thing you can do is admit that it's a little silly and just own it, rather than trying to cover it in layers of "serious drama", because nobody's going to take you any more seriously because of it, except perhaps fans with no sense of irony and who are equally insecure about their fandom. And, of course, Penders does have his rabid, entitled fans, who agree with him that Sega has no business getting involved in a book that exists solely to market their games... 

 

Seriously, it's quite pathetic. Again, I do feel pity for Penders. A lot of contempt, but pity too. He is incredibly delusional and obviously quite insecure, which I think is terribly sad. 

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Reading that scrip, I can just see the Star Wars prequel shot/reverse shot as I'm reading it. He even has the bits for a character gets up and look out a window.

But...but..he stated on Twitter that he doesn't like Star Wars that much, and only liked the first movie and wasn't as much a fan as he was with Star Treck. *looks back at all the Star Wars ships and references in the comics*

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Did he really say that Tenko?  Because I've always been under the impression he's a big Star Wars fan, given the blatant starship cameos and the parody issue 114 cover of Episode II. 

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Did he really say that Tenko? Because I've always been under the impression he's a big Star Wars fan, given the blatant starship cameos and the parody issue 114 cover of Episode II.

https://twitter.com/KenPenders/status/447234537160859648

Oh yes he said it, as we both know that's gota be full of bull. He has quite a few Star Wars'ish nods in the book, illustrations, designs, writing.

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I think it might be good policy to treat any and all statements made by Mr. Penders with a large dose of skepticism. 

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And Wynmacher wears a Darth Vader-esque suit for some unknown reason...

 

Wynmacher.png

 

Speaking of which, there's another echidna who looks like one of the Star Trek characters from Next Generation. You know, the one with the visor. The above example isn't too bad but I'm amazed how Penders could get away with having an echidna dressed up as a Star Trek character! Surely SEGA wouldn't let that slide nowadays.

 

Actually, here's an image that perfectly describes every echidna in Ken Pender's world (well there is Finitevus who was not created by Penders but eh). It's hilariously accurate! =D

 

 

 

 

tumblr_mhx8uocnKY1rsc7fao1_500.jpg

 

Gabz, I think you just won the internet. ;)

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