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

[Big Panda]

Ken has confirmed there will be stand outs of the characters so people can get their picture taken with them.

This can only end in hilarity...

[horridus]

Truly, I have never been more regretful of my inability to get to a con... not that I've been to many, but I really do wish I could somehow witness this myself. 

 

Ah well. Hopefully one of the Sonic news sites or a fan'll cover what will most likely be comedy gold. 

[biznizz]

To be fair, the dude's got a bizarre backstory crisis that was only fairly recently nailed down - imagine if Ian said "he originates from the Sol Dimension" only for Sonic Team to say "he's from the future where Silver resides".

 

I do believe that was the big hangup confusion as that's almost assuredly what Ian was planning on using. But apparently the Rivals series, where Nega is Eggman's descendant from the future, is supposed to be the correct origin and that he was randomly time travelling & universe jumping to Blaze's world for kicks.

 

Ian originally planned for Nega to, literallly, be an alternate version of Eggman, like what the Rush series initially implied. It was only in about, what, 2011 that the backstory for Nega was confirmed to be Rivals.

 

 

More news from Twitter!

 

Ken has confirmed there will be stand outs of the characters so people can get their picture taken with them.

 

He also said he will be bringing books and original art to the con and will be doing commissions from fans as well.

 

I have a mission for those who are willing to go above & beyond the call of duty. The target will be those standees at the con. Your mission is to get photographs of these standees, with a picture of Penders looking proudly next to them if possible.

 

This is high risk, little reward, but this is information that the internet must have, nay, needs to know so the ammunition to mock Penders and spread the word about this awful project can continue to grow.

[Johnny2071]

Penders is out of his mind. He thinks this entire TLSC farce will be even bigger that Adventure Time at Comic-Con 2013, or The Simpsons Movie, or opening day of Pokemon: The First Movie, or even the Nintendo Digital Event/Super Smash Bros. Invitational.

 

 The only thing bile standees will be used for are gag photo shoots of people being horrifed or faking nausea in response.

[Zaysho]

I never mentioned any of the other times, at least I don't remember if I did; the Droid thing is notable for the fact that he made the guy as a villain for The Lost Ones, and then later tried to have him canonically be an in-universe counterpart to Robotnik in the hopes of intrinsically tying the two works together...

Oh no, that was intentional from the start. Having re-read "Parallel Paradigm" recently, he had every intention of using Droid as another Robotnik from the start. It wasn't just an afterthought to get his pet project out there, all of Droid's generic monologues and even the appearance of Swat Bots under his command (in addition to his... Mandroids) show he lacked any real creativity (never mind respect for what he was writing for) to go beyond the little niche he managed to carve for himself in the 90s. It's pathetic, really.

More news from Twitter!

 

Ken has confirmed there will be stand outs of the characters so people can get their picture taken with them.

 

He also said he will be bringing books and original art to the con and will be doing commissions from fans as well.

I seem to recall he had an ebay with tons of old Archie books up for sale and even some original Spaz artwork (including original vellum overlays and things of that nature). It wouldn't surprise me if he's pulling more of his archives out; I'm sure anybody would buy something Spaz did. Though, personally, I'd be damned if Penders got any money from me.

And the cuts outs... hoo boy, almost makes me wish I made up my mind and got Super Con tickets when I should've...

To be fair, the dude's got a bizarre backstory crisis that was only fairly recently nailed down - imagine if Ian said "he originates from the Sol Dimension" only for Sonic Team to say "he's from the future where Silver resides".

Though if SEGA's got something nailed down, they could just give Archie the go ahead for a story in the future finally. All the teasing and dancing around--considering we had to wait maybe four years or so for the Battle Bird Armada to show up, when Flynn referenced them way back in #163--never got any payoff in the old world.

Granted, I can take or leave Nega at this point, but with all the references and minor cameos, I'd have liked to see something come from it.

[Your Vest Friend]

And even the confirmation isn't exactly reflected in the games; In Mario and Sonic London 3DS, he was said to be both Eggman's descendent from the future and from an alternate dimension.

[horridus]

And even the confirmation isn't exactly reflected in the games; In Mario and Sonic London 3DS, he was said to be both Eggman's descendent from the future and from an alternate dimension.

 

Yeah, Nega is... not one of SEGA's more thought out ideas... then again, many of them aren't. At any rate, his not being in the comic has nothing to do with Penders or his 'ingenious' villain, and everything to do with SEGA and their weird logic when it comes to who can and cannot show up. 

[Tenko]

What I find hilarious is that his initial Twitter post about going to the con has literally zero replies or retweets or whatever goes on with Twitter. Yet his next post that elaborates what he's doing at the con said something like "in answer to all the inquiries"...what inquiries..you had no tweets at all responding to that con post. And if there were inquiries on his forum or elsewhere why not just answer it there?

Just looks funny after you guys going on about him signing stuff for people that aren't even interested and then that happened. It kinda makes his invisible fan syndrome just seem worse >.<

[horridus]

What I find hilarious is that his initial Twitter post about going to the con has literally zero replies or retweets or whatever goes on with Twitter. Yet his next post that elaborates what he's doing at the con said something like "in answer to all the inquiries"...what inquiries..you had no tweets at all responding to that con post. And if there were inquiries on his forum or elsewhere why not just answer it there?

Just looks funny after you guys going on about him signing stuff for people that aren't even interested and then that happened. It kinda makes his invisible fan syndrome just seem worse >.<

 

I checked out his forum. Unless he's being privately messaged or tweeted (rather doubtful), there hasn't been ANY response to this announcement from any of 'his' places. 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Perhaps all the inquiries came from the massive fanbase of TL-SC that Ken says is out there but never once has asked about it online. Ken must just have the ability to sense when someone is interested in TL-SC. Either that or he's lying once again. 

[horridus]

Perhaps all the inquiries came from the massive fanbase of TL-SC that Ken says is out there but never once has asked about it online. Ken must just have the ability to sense when someone is interested in TL-SC. Either that or he's lying once again. 

 

Darn Silent Majority, undermining him while supporting him at the same time.

 

Seriously though. There is no such thing as a silent majority or a silent fandom; people will argue about the DUMBEST crap on the internet and confess to liking the silliest shit imaginable. That's the point of it all. Anything that has fans of some sort will at least have *something* to show for it. 

 

He really has nothing except a dedicated base of detractors who will likely move on to other things once this has all played out. 

[Tenko]

It's probably that large group of fans he keeps mentioning that are too scared to talk online or in the forums etc as they are scared of being confronted by those of us that don't like Ken's work. Doesn't seem to stop Mustang now does it?

[BWsonic3]

Hmm..I live fairly close to Miami..But i really don't want to give the man any more "attention".

[horridus]

It's probably that large group of fans he keeps mentioning that are too scared to talk online or in the forums etc as they are scared of being confronted by those of us that don't like Ken's work. Doesn't seem to stop Mustang now does it?

 

By this logic, things like Twilight and Eragon would not have forums, fansites, or people publically admitting to being fans, given the amount of hate directed their way. 

 

As I said... he's really got nothing, and is just making excuses for the fact that only a very tiny handful of people have shown any support or excitement for him or his new works. 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

There's also the fact that if the silent community was really supporting this and saw the hate Ken was getting for it, I doubt they would all remain silent. As Horridus said, he's more or less just making excuses to try shake off the fact that only a small amount have positive feelings towards TL-SC.

[Johnny2071]

If I were to continue the old (true) continuity, I would resolve every single plot point ever left hanging, focus on reuniting the Freedom Fighters (the right way), taking down Eggman and the Dark Egg Legion once and for all, and having everyone reunited with their family and friends, giving the comic book series/old continuity a proper and ceremonious ending, along with a brief "meanwhile in a different continuity" mention (and no Mobius: 25 Years Later). Once that's done, I don't really care what happens with the current story, but I will never acknowledge it as closer to the games.

[biznizz]

Not related to Sonic, but I found this Short Circuits 4koma (is that term appropriate? Or does that make me sound like a weeaboo?) striip in the latest Mega Man book...

 

 

...To be more cute, heartwarming, and out-n-out genuine than nearly everything that Ken Penders has ever done, even if my knowledge of his writings is limited to just his Sonic stuff.

 

There is justice in this world that Ken Penders will never write Sonic ever again, nor will he ever come close to working on Mega Man (even if Capcom is basically keeping him alive on the back burner themselves; Thank YOU Archie & Nintendo for keeping the Blue Bomber in the public eye for now).

 

Because doesn't that just give you the shivers: Ken Penders' Mega Man comic, with Wily getting killed off to make way for Princess Dr. Droid as reinterpreted for a new generation of rubes "loyal readers to enjoy".

 

Also so that with him gone, the Sonic book could actually get fun enough to have stuff like this:

 

[- Eternal Paradox -]

^^^ Eehh, I'll still point out that one of the funniest arcs I have read was partly penned by Penders...

 

... The sad thing is, I expect he wanted me to take Night of a 1000 Sonics seriously...

[biznizz]

Welp, I'm tired and am about to hit the sack but...

 

In my half asleep state, I just had a thought: Just how the hell do you pronounce Lara-Su's name?

 

Is it Law-ra (Laura, which is how I've always thought it), Lar-ra (first part like Larry), La-ra (phonetically), etc.?

 

Because, honestly, I wouldn't be suprised if it was in a convoluted manner, especially with Ech'yd'nya and all.

[Sunwalker]

Welp, I'm tired and am about to hit the sack but...

 

In my half asleep state, I just had a thought: Just how the hell do you pronounce Lara-Su's name?

 

Is it Law-ra (Laura, which is how I've always thought it), Lar-ra (first part like Larry), La-ra (phonetically), etc.?

 

Because, honestly, I wouldn't be suprised if it was in a convoluted manner, especially with Ech'yd'nya and all.

 

I do not know if there is an official pronunciation, but I say La-ra. Google translator's pronounce seems to think the same:

https://translate.google.com/#en/en/lara-su

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Well there was a thread on Ken's forums that asked about what if Ken was the one doing the Mega Man comic.

 

That....That's not a pretty thought. Imagine the tagline Ken would probably come up with. ''In the world of 20XX, watch as Mega Man runs through his many adventures taking down the plans of the evil Dr.Wily and his alternate counterpart Dr.Droid! But how can Mega Man do it with no girlfriend?''

 

I don't even want to imagine what would happen if Ken was writing for Tempo/Quake Woman.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

Welp, I'm tired and am about to hit the sack but...

 

In my half asleep state, I just had a thought: Just how the hell do you pronounce Lara-Su's name?

 

Is it Law-ra (Laura, which is how I've always thought it), Lar-ra (first part like Larry), La-ra (phonetically), etc.?

 

Because, honestly, I wouldn't be suprised if it was in a convoluted manner, especially with Ech'yd'nya and all.

 

I always figured it was pronounced Lah-rah.

[SIXTH-RATE SOMA]

If I were to continue the old (true) continuity

 

Now now, there's not anything about the new continuity that's any less "true" than the old. These new characters could be every bit as entertaining and engaging as the character that are now gone, perhaps even more-so. Give it a bit of time to prove itself; it may not be exactly the universe you grew up with, but it could be something great in its own right. And, even better, there's no Penders to muck this one up.

[Zaysho]

There is justice in this world that Ken Penders will never write Sonic ever again, nor will he ever come close to working on Mega Man (even if Capcom is basically keeping him alive on the back burner themselves; Thank YOU Archie & Nintendo for keeping the Blue Bomber in the public eye for now).

 

Because doesn't that just give you the shivers: Ken Penders' Mega Man comic, with Wily getting killed off to make way for Princess Dr. Droid as reinterpreted for a new generation of rubes "loyal readers to enjoy".

That's a frightening thought, and I'm not even a big Mega Man fan. But just seeing how shitty "Parallel Paradigm" was and how poorly treated the supposed stars (that is, the Image heroes and the Sonic crew) of that were, I can only imagine how much worse Mega Man would've been under Penders's direction (would Proto Man have been Penders's "Chosen One" just like Knuckles...? *shudder*).

 

Welp, I'm tired and am about to hit the sack but...

In my half asleep state, I just had a thought: Just how the hell do you pronounce Lara-Su's name?

Is it Law-ra (Laura, which is how I've always thought it), Lar-ra (first part like Larry), La-ra (phonetically), etc.?

Because, honestly, I wouldn't be suprised if it was in a convoluted manner, especially with Ech'yd'nya and all.

I say it phonetically, and I think even Penders did in an interview.

Certainly a lot easier than the alien species name... explain to me how that's easier than "Echidna," because I can't think of one.

 

Now now, there's not anything about the new continuity that's any less "true" than the old. These new characters could be every bit as entertaining and engaging as the character that are now gone, perhaps even more-so. Give it a bit of time to prove itself; it may not be exactly the universe you grew up with, but it could be something great in its own right. And, even better, there's no Penders to muck this one up.

Much as I was worrying about how things would turn out, I can't say the new 'verse disappoints me very much at all. I would rather have the old 'verse intact, but it's still pretty unique and I'm happy that it won't want for original characters, enemies and scenarios while still being more connected to the source material. For example, even if "Shadow Fall" wasn't what I hoped it'd be, we got Eclipse now and I think things'll start rolling from there. He's kind of a poor man's Scourge in my view, but Sonic has enough enemies, so I don't mind Shadow picking up a rogues gallery of his own.

That's me though. I can understand why not everyone is quite as accepting, but given the crappy hand that's been dealt to both Archie and the readers, I think Flynn's managed to make some decent lemonade from pretty lousy lemons.

[Johnny2071]

Now now, there's not anything about the new continuity that's any less "true" than the old. These new characters could be every bit as entertaining and engaging as the character that are now gone, perhaps even more-so. Give it a bit of time to prove itself; it may not be exactly the universe you grew up with, but it could be something great in its own right. And, even better, there's no Penders to muck this one up.

 

I don't know how Penders muck up the old one for our heroes (aside from art quality and M:25YL), but his most notable offense was using the court of "law" to take away Sonic's family and friends, and Knuckles' entire brotherhood.

 

How did Knuckles and Relic even become a thing in the first place. They could've at least dropped the entire freedom fighter gimmick and went with "the world's fastest hedgehog, his close friends, and other characters from past games (there are enough of them), as they fight against Eggman and his machines", but they didn't. With that said, it's the SAME continuity, just a watered-down and drastically altered continuity, where characters have no recollection or trace of everyone and everything they ever broke their back for, including Rotor, who literally broke his back, but that's been fixed. At least back when they received everything that came with their sacrifices, victories, and reunions, they were reminders saying "never forget". Sometimes those recoils would work in their favor, other times it would help them grow and become much stronger and Eggman and other antagonist become cheaper. But those were erased and they forgot. It also doesn't help that the memories they do get from the old world would begin to fade away like Alzheimer's or something dreamlike out of Inception.

 

Long story short, you can't have both the modern-gen video games elements and the freedom fighter gimmick. Sonic is a slighty different character in the game universe, a free one.