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Archie Sonic Hiatus Discussion


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I'm amazed some people are trying to defend ken

 

The only character I'll miss was mighty sister. And Sally cause I like spats. Don't judge me lol

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1 minute ago, Captain Metallix said:

Well, this certainly hit me like a brick last night. It's such a shame to see the comic just disappear after 24 years. (And being so close to reaching big milestones too. Almost 300 main issues, almost 100 Universe issues, almost reaching it's own 25th anniversary...)

I think, if Sega does plan on letting another comic publisher make a Sonic comic, it won't have any of the Freedom Fighters coming back. Unless there was some kind of compromise, such as having them IN a new comic, but not focusing on them at all. Basically, I think they'd only become simple background characters at best. At the very least, I hope that Ian Flynn, Tracy Yardley!, Evan Stanley, Aleah Baker and the many others who've worked on these comics, the best of luck in their future endeavours.

So long, Archie Sonic. It's been fun.

5970bb6a0c9bf_Endofanera.thumb.jpg.ecb04e0c21dc7bedc95c179843d639a7.jpg

 Beautiful post.

  Although I think another possible & reasonable compromise would be to let the FF stay but only use them in back-up strips.  The main strip is Sonic, Tails. Amy, etc meanwhile the FF could get their own back-up shorts.  I think that would be a nice middle ground.

 

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I registered today just to comment on yesterday's news -- well, re-registered. I was pretty active here around 2004-7. I was a kid then and annoyed a lot of people. Anyway!

I started reading Archie Sonic with issue #107. At the time, I was seven. I followed it religiously for years, and it was one of the first ongoing narratives I was really invested in. Though I've gone through long periods of not keeping up with it, it's always been important to me. Being an artist for this comic was one of my dream jobs. It inspired to pursue drawing as a hobby, and later, illustration as a career. I read and reread every issue I got my hands on so much the covers fell off. I still have about a hundred beat up, well loved Sonic comics in storage.

I hadn't been reading for the last few years, not out of any dislike for where the comic was going, just because we all drift to new interests eventually. I was planning on catching up soon, actually. I don't know if I should do that now that I know there won't be a true ending. It's crazy that a series that's been running all my life and had such an impact on me growing up is ending so unceremoniously. So I'm sharing my thoughts here because eulogies from those of us who loved this comic are the best send off we can give it in lieu of an actual ending.

I'll happily read a new Sonic comic from whichever publisher picks up the license, but this is the end of an era for sure. Best of luck to everyone who was working on the series at its end. I'm going to go reread my beat up comics with missing covers now.

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The one thing I don't get about the inclusion of the Freedom Fighters/SatAM characters is that, unless SEGA issues the most insane mandate in the history of licensed media, if the comic lasts any remotely significant length of time, there are going to be new/original characters.

So what if they're from an old cartoon? Is a newcomer to the book really going to think any less of Sally or Rotor than they are of Thunderbolt or Axel? I very seriously doubt they'd look at the former and go "ew, who cares? They're old" while being like "oh good, NEW characters" for the latter, or think any more of Holly the Hamster and Chuckles the Chicken if the ones we have do go by the wayside.

And just because they came from another medium? Ignoring that while they were indeed made for the cartoon, they debuted in the comic first, it's not at all uncommon for characters introduced in one medium of a franchise to be adopted by another -- and last much longer there as a result.

Unless, of course, you're suggesting that the likes of Harley Quinn, Jimmy Olsen, X-23, Phil Coulsen, Bebop & Rocksteady, Tokka & Rahzar,   Drift, Jhiaxus, Primus, Karin Kanzuki, and Kylie Griffin, among others, should all be excised from their respective franchises as well.

Oh, and I almost forgot: We should just ditch Amy Rose with the lot of them as well, since she made her debut in an old manga no one outside the most hardcore of fans has ever heard of, right?

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While we're planning the funerals for the Freedom Fighters, let's not forget about Big, Tikal, Omega, I'm pretty sure they aren't in Forces so we can probably count Blaze, Rouge, and Cream, and if Forces crashes and burns, they'll be joined by Silver and the Chaotix.

 

But hey, at least we might get one-dimensional fanservice Shadow every 5-6 years.

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25 minutes ago, KingScoopaKoopa said:

The one thing I don't get about the inclusion of the Freedom Fighters/SatAM characters is that, unless SEGA issues the most insane mandate in the history of licensed media, if the comic lasts any remotely significant length of time, there are going to be new/original characters.

So what if they're from an old cartoon? Is a newcomer to the book really going to think any less of Sally or Rotor than they are of Thunderbolt or Axel? I very seriously doubt they'd look at the former and go "ew, who cares? They're old" while being like "oh good, NEW characters" for the latter, or think any more of Holly the Hamster and Chuckles the Chicken if the ones we have do go by the wayside.

Well, they do have mandates against characters from old works appearing in more current media. And it's not really discriminatory between the East and West or the type of medium either; Sonic OVA and Sonic X assets are just as off-limits as Sonic Underground and Fleetway. The only exception is an asset that's designed by Sonic Team staff and not exclusively for the product (only example I can think of is the Chaotix house design, and that's not a character). 

SatAM/AoStH have been skimming by in the comic because of the grandfather clause (which doesn't apply to the OVA or Underground because they weren't in it long enough). Now that's gone, they have no defence. 

And just to say, it seems they're fine with original characters being made because they'd be part of the current image, you just can't use them once that ends and the product is no longer current. 

25 minutes ago, KingScoopaKoopa said:

Oh, and I almost forgot: We should just ditch Amy Rose with the lot of them as well, since she made her debut in an old manga no one outside the most hardcore of fans has ever heard of, right?

That one is questionable. While she did debut in an old Manga, she was explicitly designed by Kazuyuki Hoshino. It's likely that she was made for Sonic CD first (since Sonic CD would have been in production since Sonic 1), and Amy Rose was added into the Manga as a sort of promotion. It differs to Sally's case because Sally was not made for the games. 

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12 minutes ago, VEDJ-F said:

Well, they do have mandates against characters from old works appearing in more current media. And it's not really discriminatory between the East and West or the type of medium either; Sonic OVA and Sonic X assets are just as off-limits as Sonic Underground and Fleetway. The only exception is an asset that's designed by Sonic Team staff and not exclusively for the product (only example I can think of is the Chaotix house design, and that's not a character). 

SatAM/AoStH have been skimming by in the comic because of the grandfather clause (which doesn't apply to the OVA or Underground because they weren't in it long enough). Now that's gone, they have no defence. 

And just to say, it seems they're fine with original characters being made because they'd be part of the current image, you just can't use them once that ends and the product is no longer current. 

That one is questionable. While she did debut in an old Manga, she was explicitly designed by Kazuyuki Hoshino. It's likely that she was made for Sonic CD first (since Sonic CD would have been in production since Sonic 1), and Amy Rose was added into the Manga as a sort of promotion. It differs to Sally's case because Sally was not made for the games. 

So does this mean the pre-R dropped characters are equally off-limits? And what if the Boom ones?

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Also, surprisingly few people are mentioning Nicole, and that just makes me a sad penguin.

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23 minutes ago, Flyinpenguin117 said:

While we're planning the funerals for the Freedom Fighters, let's not forget about Big, Tikal, Omega, I'm pretty sure they aren't in Forces so we can probably count Blaze, Rouge, and Cream, and if Forces crashes and burns, they'll be joined by Silver and the Chaotix.

 

But hey, at least we might get one-dimensional fanservice Shadow every 5-6 years.

And also Sticks once Boom ends, and the Babylon Rogues, Marine, and Nega. And maybe they decide fanservice Shadow's not worth it anymore after Forces and Boom. 

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My best guess is the next comic series we get that SEGA has in mind will revolve around more of a Lost World/BOOM kind of tone/plot, and as far as lore/continuity it probably won't go beyond characters being aware of where they're at and other places in their world. I'd expect a series that follows a pattern where things happen in one issue, then are forgotten in the next as other things are happening, with each issue being essentially its own thing save perhaps a reference at some point for comedy purposes.

Eggman will be his usual "Ho ho!" self and will likely lack any form of intimidation and/or seriousness in favor of being the quirky guy Sonic and co. poke fun at while whaling on to next Tuesday and belittle fairly constantly while residents of the world take on more of an "Again Eggman?" persona while dodging whatever attacks he performs without genuine fear of him but rather just avoiding the crossfire.

I'm really not thrilled about SEGA taking over with THEIR ideas for a comc series in the near future, but hey. It's all about consistent content and that's the best way to do it. No more conflicting personalities/worlds/etc. Everything and everyone is one big lighthearted and childish joke with a villain a newborn would barely be afraid of.

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The Archie Sonic comic had a good run.  I mostly read it when it was a hot new comic back around 1993-1994.  I find it quite something that out of all the video character comics, Sonic's was the longest running one.  I know most of the issues from the early days are hard to come by.  I had a few that were unfortunately trashed without my knowledge. 

In the early 2010s, I got some archives and I was quite satisfied with those.  I got issue #1 on eBay not too long ago and I'm hoping to buy issue #0 at some point in time.  I thought the Ken Penders situation was absolute bollocks and it didn't need to happen whatsoever.  I dissed him in the comment section of an article about him on TSS.  Hehe!

I hope we get something better from another publisher and I'll even try to get issue #0 of the new Sonic comic.

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6 hours ago, Chris Knopps said:

My best guess is the next comic series we get that SEGA has in mind will revolve around more of a Lost World/BOOM kind of tone/plot, and as far as lore/continuity it probably won't go beyond characters being aware of where they're at and other places in their world. I'd expect a series that follows a pattern where things happen in one issue, then are forgotten in the next as other things are happening, with each issue being essentially its own thing save perhaps a reference at some point for comedy purposes.

Eggman will be his usual "Ho ho!" self and will likely lack any form of intimidation and/or seriousness in favor of being the quirky guy Sonic and co. poke fun at while whaling on to next Tuesday and belittle fairly constantly while residents of the world take on more of an "Again Eggman?" persona while dodging whatever attacks he performs without genuine fear of him but rather just avoiding the crossfire.

I'm really not thrilled about SEGA taking over with THEIR ideas for a comc series in the near future, but hey. It's all about consistent content and that's the best way to do it. No more conflicting personalities/worlds/etc. Everything and everyone is one big lighthearted and childish joke with a villain a newborn would barely be afraid of.

If that's so, I hope they embrace Eggman being closer to Elmer Fudd and Plankton than Amon Goeth, like in Sonic Boom, rather than try to make him effective even with that persona, like in the Unleashed trilogy and apparently Forces. It would be more enjoyable hat way. 

 

Of course, it's possible five years later it swings around the exact opposite way and we get Penders 2.0 and a comic that reads more like the gore-parades of Marvel and DC than a licensed book.

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For me it started with the comics section of Mega Collection. I would spend a long time going through that, and it honestly inspired me to draw. I don't think I'd be where I am as an artist without the comics. They inspired me, in my storytelling too. I think they triggered my creativity. I was waiting for the confirmation that they were done, but it still feels awful. Everything's just stopped. And I don't hold much hope for whatever is in Sonic's comic future. I'll miss what we had, and what we could have had.

The tribute arts' hitting me hard, and to whoever posted the extra menu's music from Mega Collection, thanks a lot for bringing a tear to my eye.

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So that's IT? 

The longest running licensed comic series ever, with nearly 500 issues combined, 25 years in print, countless beloved characters and locations, which launched the careers of lots of famous writers and artists, many of whom were big fans, and captured the imagination of millions of readers worldwide and continues to do so to this day.

And THAT is how it all ends.

No big final farewell, no wrap-up, no heartfelt, touching goodbye issue to send the fans off with a smile and a tear, NOTHING. Just "It's done, screw all of you", coming after six months of truly disgraceful media silence from Archie and SEGA where all we got was "We're talking about it, news coming soonish", not telling anyone about what was happening and pretending that the comic didn't exist.  After all the hard work, ups and downs, trials and tribulations, twists and turns, laughs and tears, drama and excitement, instead of getting a big goodbye or at least something like the final Sonic Boom issue, the longest running and most beloved licensed comic ever ends with NOTHING. No conclusion, no wrap-up, no nothing. 

I wasn't even a FAN of this comic and this pisses me off. There were still so many stories left to tell, so many questions left unanswered, so many readers to entertain, and we get a "kbye". To me, this is the saddest way something can end. So many years of work and storytelling and it just ends, just like that. Is THIS worth all the waiting, speculation, rumors, and confusion?

Disgraceful. My only hope is that the story can at least be concluded in some way, or maybe picked up by another publisher like IDW. But for now, I guess, so long, and thanks for all the fish. 

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I've had grievances and problems with the comics. Issues that I've always complained about or lamented over that screwed with me being able to completely enjoy them at times. Despite that I still liked them a lot and enjoyed them enough to collect BINDERS full of these books. Because despite the personal issues I couldn't get over (like the "Hall of Justice" thing, Sonic being apart of the Kingdom and feeling like a soldier/government official, the Freedom Fighters, the game characters not feeling like main characters to me in place of the other ones to name a few) they also gave me a lot of things that I liked (Good writing, consistent writing, a flowing narrative that gave a shit about continuity, a place for me to see the characters I liked actually get to do stuff, accessibility in a short period of time so that I can have a nice Sonic fix while I wait for the next possible disappointment from SEGA, great drawings, and much more.)

It was the only continuity where it was possible for my favorite gang of misfits, Team Chaotix, to get their own story arc. And I'm still counting my lucky stars how it happened right before the book was cancelled. That was the closest of calls. No arc that was advertised as being about the Chaotix but secretly being about Mighty. No sharing the space with Knuckles. Just the three of them. It's a shame it wasn't a Noir story but I guess that'd have been too perfect too soon for me.

It's a complicated thing to talk about. I like them a lot and always anticipated a new release, yet at the same time, the issue that made me want to get into the books ended up being the worst written story I've ever read concerning the Sonic series (The House of Cards cover where Sonic and Tails were fighting. It looked so cool and was a solid example of what the comics had the guts to try at the time compared to the games that weren't really impressing me with their stories at the moment). 

Laying out all my feelings on the table is always something I hate trying to do. Often it'll sound like I hate things that I just didn't care for or just like things that I actually love despite being unable to turn off my critic side. My dad always calls me "The critic".

But I only dive deep into what my issues are when I truly love and care for a thing. The first issue I bought from the bookstore was this one.

Image result for enerjak cover

I read it and had no idea what was going on but it seemed cool. I was immediately put off by Julie-Su at the end of the issue because I hated her design, attitude, and dialogue (something that would only get worse when I officially got into the book) but that cliff-hanger where Knuckles turned out to be the villain was amazing. I was willing to completely start collecting them from then on... but I didn't.

I just... didn't. 

I have no idea why. I was obsessed with Sonic at the time and starved for new material and stories similar to it. I figure now that the reason was because I was scared. Comics are always intimidating, especially the ones that have such a long stretch of history and backstory to them. I had no idea who Enerjak was as a concept, where they were, who these people were, and if the style of the comic was consistent with what I was looking at enough to justify keeping up with it... And not only that but I was a dumb kid and I didn't know that an issue came out every month only at book stores where I live. I didn't even know that I could sign up for a subscription. Even today I still haven't done that. I always liked driving out to the bookstore to get them.

It wasn't until I got into a routine of visiting Books-A-Million and saw the comics on the shelves again that I decided "Fuck it. I love Sonic too much and I need more of him in my life" so I decided to pick the books up again starting with this issue.

Image result for sonic issue 194

I was even more confused but in a way at this point in time in my life that actually made it more exciting. Jumping head first into a world that clearly had more depth and layers to it than the one I was used to while also focusing on characters I liked felt really awesome. 

I had my problems with them of course. I remember feeling like utter shit at the end of Issue 200 for instance. I wasn't keen on the entire history leading up to that confrontation with Eggman but I remember it really just made me mad. Now that the books are cancelled, I have a feeling I'll go back to all the stuff I didn't like and have a much more fond appreciation for it than I did before. Even that one really long and boring stretch of nothing that happened when Sally turned into a robot. Maybe not that awful "twist" that the traitor Silver was looking for was the person we already knew had been forced to work for the bad guys against their will. Something that Sonic should have put together easily instead of resorting to smacking Silver around for saying things he didn't like hearing...

Yeah, there's definitely still going to be stuff I still don't like but I'll always have a fondness for it.

I think the first big arc I managed to get into from start to finish was the Iron Dominion Arc. It's weird but I actually didn't dislike it as much as a lot of other people seemed to. It was the kind of different that I feel I could appreciate. Eggman's conclusion that Sonic was the embodiment of chaos being the thing that fixed his broken mind still confuses me a bit but on the whole I feel it worked.

It's a little funny looking back and recognizing the fate of some of these characters. Geoffery St. John, a character I didn't care about at all until it was revealed he was a villain, ended up being possessed by Naugus and got erased from the continuity soon after his morality conflict. Which is a sad way to go. 

Mogul ended up getting to keep his casino. Though I guess his plan to wait Sonic out didn't account for the entire world being re-written.

Wally ended up getting taken out in the most humiliating and pathetic way imaginable. Eggman's Dozen only got a chance to get one story arc to look cool and then they were done, which to me is probably the biggest loss. The Sonic series having it's equivalent to the Phantom Troupe/ It's own Suicide Squad is something I really wanted. I got it and then it was taken from me.

The most consistent and well-written Dr. Eggman was taken away too. Oh God. That's the biggest tragedy right there. Eggman from the comics was glorious. Hopefully there's still an avenue existing where we'll get to see some of that again.

I want to do something special for these comics. Maybe write something up about my favorite issues, my favorite story arcs, favorite characters, least favorite issues, least favorite story arcs, most hated characters... something all encompassing like that. I just want to talk about them a lot right now. 

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Just now, Ernest-Panda said:

Tracey Yardley just confirmed on his Facebook he's now officially looking for work now that the comic is cancelled.

This pretty much means that the current incrnation isn't continuing under a new publisher any time soon, and if a new comic is happening in the immediate future, he's not a part of it.

Well... shit.

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 I hope the entire Archie Sonic crew is able to find work elsewhere.  They deserve better then this.  Archie & SEGA alike have done em wrong!

 

 But yea, my guess is whoever gets it next will want to put their own spin on things.   Still hoping we can at the very least keep the Freedom Fighters in the supporting cast but all the other awesome comic chars are most likely DOA at this point.  Though again, who knows maybe whoever gets them will pull a Transformers ReGeneration One down the line and give the Archie cannon a proper finale.  All we can do at this point sadly is sit and wait to see what happens.

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1 hour ago, Ernest-Panda said:

Tracey Yardley just confirmed on his Facebook he's now officially looking for work now that the comic is cancelled.

This pretty much means that the current incrnation isn't continuing under a new publisher any time soon, and if a new comic is happening in the immediate future, he's not a part of it.

Aaaand right as I start to put together a glimmer of hope for the future, I get kicked in the dick again.

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