Jump to content
Awoo.

Archie Sonic Main Discussion


Toby

Recommended Posts

Dang, Barry, now you have me EXCITED for the potential of the license going to a different publisher. I could imagine Boom! Studios being a MUCH better licensor of Sonic than Archie ever was.

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

But wouldn't that mean they'll scrap everything and start from scratch? I mean they'll start a new comic exactly how Sega wants it? That means no SatAM chars, no Archie exclusive chars, just purely game verse?

Yeah this might be good news for most of you.

  • Thumbs Up 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Look, I love Archie Sonic comics. I got into the series with issue 0, I remember buying issue 1 at a gas station in South Dakota on a road trip. I followed the series and every spin-off until around 2001, and have since dived back in with Ian Flynn's run. Despite the years of baggage and bad decisions, both in contracts with creatives and in storytelling, I've enjoyed the series and what it has become. 

But Archie has also been very very frustrating, which we all know why so I don't need to type it all out again. I honestly feel that Mega Drive was almost a test run for what a Sonic comic series could be should SEGA continue on without Archie. We could potentially see a classic Sonic series of comics in addition to the ongoing Ian Flynn 252 reboot era, should all characters and storylines carry over. Also, depending on the new publisher, we could see a return of the trade paperbacks with better paper stock and better contracts and planning to get us all the missing issues. I dislike Ken Penders, but imagine if another publisher found a way to give us those old issues in trade paperbacks? Archie and Ken mix like oil and water, but a new publisher may be easier for him to work with so that we can get past the messes of the past and see some pre-252 stories published again.

Archie has shown that they are changing as a company, and I do not think Sonic is their future. The Archie Adventure line died out. The Archie Action line dried up to essentially become the Sonic series. Outside of Sonic, they are not dealing with licensed comics. Archie is best left without the license and we really deserve something better as fans.

  • Thumbs Up 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, antyep said:

But wouldn't that mean they'll scrap everything and start from scratch? I mean they'll start a new comic exactly how Sega wants it? That means no SatAM chars, no Archie exclusive chars, just purely game verse?

Yeah this might be good news for most of you.

 

Not me. I like those characters along with the game cast. That would hella suck if I lose Conquering Storm.

Given many of us are fond of these characters, that's a big loss. The reboot already had that consequence even for those of us who stuck around.

  • Thumbs Up 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Barry the Nomad said:

I dislike Ken Penders, but imagine if another publisher found a way to give us those old issues in trade paperbacks? Archie and Ken mix like oil and water, but a new publisher may be easier for him to work with so that we can get past the messes of the past and see some pre-252 stories published again.

There's a million reasons why another comics company getting the Sonic license may be a good idea, but this really isn't one of them. Giving Penders any reason to be anywhere near the Sonic IP again is a pretty bad idea.

  • Thumbs Up 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Never really cared for the main comic but it would be a shame if Mega Drive 3 somehow never came to light because of this. Hopefully at least that comes out so I can get some closure there.

  • Thumbs Up 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Ayliffe said:

There's a million reasons why another comics company getting the Sonic license may be a good idea, but this really isn't one of them. Giving Penders any reason to be anywhere near the Sonic IP again is a pretty bad idea.

I don't mean let him make new comics, I meant from a trade paperback back issue perspective. Take MST3K for example. Rhino Home Video made some really bad deals in their later years with the license and in turn it lead to DVDs being pulled from stores and film owners not having a good relationship with the license holder. Shout Factory took over the DVDs and with their own legal team they created new deals and contracts which lead to out of print episodes to return to DVD and streaming.

I truly believe that other publishers that deal more in licensed comics have much better lawyers than Archie, and we could see old Penders era stories and old stories featuring Penders characters back in trade paperback circulation. 

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Admittedly I'm looking at this as someone who doesn't read the comics or really anything about their workings but this topic is definitely interesting!

Is it possible that the Archie-SEGA contract comes under renewal a little ahead of the current one actually expiring? It seems odd that they'd have listings for Mega Drive 3 and even the paperback compilation slated for the Summer if this really is game over, since I'd imagine they'd have known about this at least a little ahead of time.

Maybe they won't be taking subscriptions now because they're down to the last couple of hurrahs but will still be releasing what's left. The likes of Mega Drive 3 can't be massively far away from being done can it?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Assuming the book's been cancelled, I'm going to guess we won't see the license go to someone else anytime soon. Regardless of which company is at fault here, I could see SEGA being wary of licensing out Sonic for another comic so soon after, well, everything that's happened the last few years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Joy said:

Admittedly I'm looking at this as someone who doesn't read about the comics or really anything about their workings but this topic is definitely interesting!

Is it possible that the Archie-SEGA contract comes under renewal a little ahead of the current one actually expiring? It seems odd that they'd have listings for Mega Drive 3 and even the paperback compilation slated for the Summer if this really is game over, since I'd imagine they'd have known about this at least a little ahead of time.

Maybe they won't be taking subscriptions now because they're down to the last couple of hurrahs but will still be releasing what's left. The likes of Mega Drive 3 can't be massively far away from being done can it?

 

If, hypothetically, Sega called for production to cease on the comic, then comics like the planned Mega Drive 3 would be behind schedule regardless of contract renegotiations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Celestia said:

Assuming the book's been cancelled, I'm going to guess we won't see the license go to someone else anytime soon. Regardless of which company is at fault here, I could see SEGA being wary of licensing out Sonic for another comic so soon after, well, everything that's happened the last few years.

I doubt it. Sonic licensing has really been on the ball, I would not be shocked if SEGA has been meeting with other publishers and the reason for the cancellation is that they already have somebody in mind. 

It's bad business to let a license for a comic end with a dedicated fanbase and not have a plan in place. 

  • Thumbs Up 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

From my phone call, I got the sense that Archie wasn't happy about this decision (the woman I spoke to sounded disappointed); if anything, this is a multifactorial issue--Sega was probably tried of all the legal drama, and Archie likely didn't want to deal with fighting for the license when they have other things they have to worry about (literally everything going wrong with the company and all the bad press that comes with it, plus a television show--which is always expensive and a pain to get started regardless if it'll be good or not). 

If Sega pulled out of this, I would not expect them to dip their feet into the comic business again. Why license the brand to another company and run the risk of this happening again, regardless if any new company is reputable?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The fact that there have been solicits out for issues which may never be released strongly suggests that this decision was an abrupt and sudden one rather than something they've been planning or at least anticipating for a while.  They haven't exactly been winding down to this point.  I'm no expert on Archie's affairs, but it looks to me like something significant must have happened behind the scenes.  Developments in the Fulop case leading either Archie or Sega to decide to cut their losses, perhaps?

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, doctorbenMD said:

If Sega pulled out of this, I would not expect them to dip their feet into the comic business again. Why license the brand to another company and run the risk of this happening again, regardless if any new company is reputable?

Simple. Shed the past 20+ years of baggage associated with Archie's shoddy contracts (or lack thereof) and continue to publish comics featuring the star characters that SEGA owns 100% of. Notice that Mega Drive was the first Sonic comic in history to sell out and prompt a second run? 

SEGA is not blind to this. A new series at a different publisher with the likes of Flynn, Yardley and Heese covering classic Sonic would surely be a hit. Also, they could easily continue the rebooted series should they go about creative contracts the right way.

  • Thumbs Up 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

And instead of coming right out, and saying that subcriptions is at the very least, will not be up for the foreseeable future, Archie's Twitter just sends out wacky Archie panels! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, it's become increasingly obvious over the past few years that Archie has become an absolute mess of a company. Frankly, Sonic deserves better. Maybe Sega realizes that.

  • Thumbs Up 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just called in and spoke to Subscriptions and Sales.

>Archie Sales, how can I help you?
Yes, I've been a subscriber to the Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Universe titles and wanted to renew, but the option no longer appears on the website. Would you be able to help me renew?

>I'm sorry, but at this time we are no longer taking orders for those titles. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Ah, okay. Would you know why subscriptions are on hold?

>Unfortunately we don't, we're waiting until we know more but for we're unable to process any more subscriptions.
Really? There's not a chance it's because they're cancelled, is it?

>I'm sorry sir, I don't have any information one way or the other at this time.
Ok then. Thank you for your help.

>My pleasure. Is there anything else I may be able to help you with?
No, that's all. Have a good day.

I don't know if they've clamped down on the info they're giving out, but that's all I got.

  • Thumbs Up 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My interest in a comic that's just the gamesverse characters with no original elements to make the world grow is going to be pretty low to start with. They're gonna have to work to make that interesting.

But. God. I don't know. We're still losing a lot. This is a sad day. There's some sense that you don't speak ill of the dead, right? Just.

It hurts.

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So if the comic does go under, what are the chances that they'll continue releasing the graphic novels they have planned?  I stopped buying single issues many many years ago, so I'm super behind with the comic.

 

I really hope this is either a panic over nothing, or Sonic's comic-verse gets transferred to IDW or something.

The comic is like a surviving relic of how the series was perceived in the west before Sonic Adventure internationalized it everything, we still have the original SatAM cast, We've re-introduced AoSTH characters, Robotnik is a bad guy who roboticizes animals, ect. ect.   On top of that, they're keeping the memory of the characters Sega forgot, and some characters are seeing better usage than they ever have in the games.  It'd be a big shame to loose all of this.

I haven't been too invested in the games ever since Generations, but the comics have managed to keep my interest, and I get more excited for new graphic novel releases than I have for a game in the past few years.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the current comic-verse can somehow live on.

  • Thumbs Up 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

God damn, this is not what I wanted to wake up to.

I'm still skeptical on what exactly all this means (not that I know how comics work, is not being able to subscribe always a sign of a dead series?), but it seems fishy. Like they either didn't intend for this to happen as suddenly as it did, or it just looks that way because every decision Sega makes looks like that. 

Anyway I hope we pick up where we've left off, by Archie or by some other publisher. I refuse to believe they'd just kill 11 years of work out of nowhere.

  • Thumbs Up 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

IDW in general would be fantastic for both Sonic and Mega Man. The quality of the comics has had more to do with the people working on it than the actual publisher, who has time and time again been questionable at best with the stewardship of its licensed franchises. IDW, on the other hand...

Plus crossovers with Ninja Turtles, Transformers and the like would be a nice added bonus. Mega Man X and Optimus Prime sitting down to chat about the nature of robotics and organics and the pursuit of peace? Sign me the fuck up.

  • Thumbs Up 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

54 minutes ago, Barry the Nomad said:

Notice that Mega Drive was the first Sonic comic in history to sell out and prompt a second run?

I think those sales are due at least in part to novelty, though I'm sure an ongoing based around the Genesis era would do fine. I would just hope that the stories and characters wouldn't get dumbed down just because people seem to think the Genesis games were light on story. I also wouldn't want such an ongoing to preclude or take the place of a more modern ongoing similar to what Ian has been doing.

42 minutes ago, 2DaZPassenger said:

I just called in and spoke to Subscriptions and Sales.

Just wanted to point out to everyone that the people you talk to when you call in may not have any information at all concerning what's going on. They may not even work for Archie directly, as Archie may outsource their customer service, etc. (Maybe they don't—I just wanted to point that out as a possibility).

30 minutes ago, pocket said:

I really hope this is either a panic over nothing, or Sonic's comic-verse gets transferred to IDW or something.

I'm certainly not saying I want Archie to lose the license, I wouldn't wish that on them unless it was a mutually beneficial decision and the outcome were guaranteed to be better that what we're getting now, but if Sonic went to IDW, it'd be interesting to see a crossover with TMNT Amazing Adventures.

24 minutes ago, Nerfuffle said:
12 hours ago, Tylinos said:

Regarding Ian being silent, it's worth noting that it's just as possible that Archie told him that the book is ending as it is that Ian saw people tweeting him about it and went "I don't have a clue what's actually happening, so I probably shouldn't say anything."

I don't have a clue what's actually happening, so I probably shouldn't say anything.

lol. It should be noted that Ian Flynn is a classy guy who knows how to keep secrets and respect his clients and license-holders.

7 minutes ago, Candescence said:

IDW in general would be fantastic for both Sonic and Mega Man. The quality of the comics has had more to do with the people working on it than the actual publisher, who has time and time again been questionable at best with the stewardship of its licensed franchises. IDW, on the other hand...

Plus crossovers with Ninja Turtles, Transformers and the like would be a nice added bonus. Mega Man X and Optimus Prime sitting down to chat about the nature of robotics and organics and the pursuit of peace? Sign me the fuck up.

I agree it would be nice to see Mega Man return, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Has Archie commented yet. Normally a company would be quick to debunk this kind of rumour if incorrect. 

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

You must read and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy to continue using this website. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.