Megathread Archie Sonic Main Discussion

[Tani Coyote]

Somehow, I doubt very much Penders is giving all of the details. Archie may have to pay him royalties for using the characters.

 

While Archie "lost" the case, ultimately it sounds like both got a more or less mutually-beneficial end result: they both get to use the characters, and no one gets to sue the crap out of each other. I'm not sure if Penders ever pursued royalties, but it sounds like the judge more or less said the professional version of "Screw this" and just gave them both rights to the disputed property, ergo they cannot really issue demands of each other anymore.

 

Overall... I'd say it's a fair compromise. Lord knows how hilariously stupid property laws can get, so this sort of common property arrangement is actually the best result, since everybody wins.

[QuantumEdge]

While Archie "lost" the case, ultimately it sounds like both got a more or less mutually-beneficial end result: they both get to use the characters, and no one gets to sue the crap out of each other. I'm not sure if Penders ever pursued royalties, but it sounds like the judge more or less said the professional version of "Screw this" and just gave them both rights to the disputed property, ergo they cannot really issue demands of each other anymore.

 

Overall... I'd say it's a fair compromise. Lord knows how hilariously stupid property laws can get, so this sort of common property arrangement is actually the best result, since everybody wins.

I sort of see it as a tie.  Neither Penders, nor Archie get anything more than just getting to use the characters.  By the way, were you deliberately quoting Eggman's Ergo robot from Unleashed?

[SchemingMinor]

So talking about Penders...

 

This is the part that made me go WTF:

 

TSS – We have seen some promotional art for the Lara-Su Chronicles put out there that some fans have been very critical of. How do you respond to this and have you considered hiring a separate artist?

 

Penders – Well, no I haven’t considered hiring out an artist for the graphic novel. My response to the criticism is that it’s more emotional. That they are losing the characters in a way that they’re familiar with and going into something different and change is difficult to handle at times y’know? I’ve been getting support from fans who don’t wish to engage in the online vitriol. They’re very much looking forward to it. I’ve definitely been getting support among my fellow professionals who feel the artwork is pretty solid. As a matter of fact, if I had changed the characters too much, there might not be interest in the film project for example. So that’s been a huge impetus in my choices as far as designs go.

 

 

So let me get this straight, Penders thinks that all of the artistic criticisms about the bad posture, shading, anatomy, foreshortening, ect. is due to that everyone is being so entitled to his characters and so emotionally attached that they can't bend over and worship how he interprets them.

 

What nerve. I didn't give a crap about those characters when they were in the comic book and I still don't particularly care for them today. I can assure you that my judgement about how they look isn't based on "change and attachment" but more of the aesthetic and "what the hell did you do to anatomy" kind.

 

Hey Penders, quit being so self-entitled about your mistakes and twisting everything rational everyone else says about your work into a NO U! contest and take some damn responsibility about your mistakes. It's painful, but kill that goddamned pride and you may learn something.

[Alice Twilight]

Let me guess, do you get them from a newsagents? I used to until I found out theres a comic shop where I live and their up to date and sell the mega man comics but I have to wait an extra day to get the issue I used to hate getting the comics 2 months later!

Yeah. I went into the newsagents last week and saw part 3 of the crossover and I think it was part 7(?) What the heck, Australia?

I'm just going to order them online, I know there's ways of getting them shipped to you personally overseas.

[Tani Coyote]

I sort of see it as a tie.  Neither Penders, nor Archie get anything more than just getting to use the characters.  By the way, were you deliberately quoting Eggman's Ergo robot from Unleashed?

 

Not intentionally, no.

 

Hey Penders, quit being so self-entitled about your mistakes and twisting everything rational everyone else says about your work into a NO U! contest and take some damn responsibility about your mistakes. It's painful, but kill that goddamned pride and you may learn something.

 

Indeed.

 

The sad news is that arguing with him would be about as constructive as a political or religious argument: he's so convinced he's right and the other person's just biased that he will not listen to what they have to say. He's committing the greatest argumentative error: putting himself in a box and assuming everyone around him is just out to get him.

 

I mean, I can't blame him for that, but if everyone thinks you're a moron there's a good chance you probably are doing something stupid.

[Tenko]

Yeah. I went into the newsagents last week and saw part 3 of the crossover and I think it was part 7(?) What the heck, Australia?

I'm just going to order them online, I know there's ways of getting them shipped to you personally overseas.

Don't you have any literal comic shops in your area? Like ones that only sell comics, and the odd action figure etc. I'm in New Zealand and my local comic shop orders direct from Diamond, who as I understand is a rather large distributor of all things comic related. All I had to do was ask them to get it in for me each month and since then I haven't missed an issue.

If not I can understand where you are coming from tho as before I found this comic shop i goto now i had no show of finding Sonic on the shelves. No bookstores sell it here, and like you said the one place I did find it in town originally was months behind. Hope you manage to find a way to get it for yourself!

[QuantumEdge]

Not intentionally, no.

 

 

Indeed.

 

The sad news is that arguing with him would be about as constructive as a political or religious argument: he's so convinced he's right and the other person's just biased that he will not listen to what they have to say. He's committing the greatest argumentative error: putting himself in a box and assuming everyone around him is just out to get him.

 

I mean, I can't blame him for that, but if everyone thinks you're a moron there's a good chance you probably are doing something stupid.

I have to say, Penders is somewhat being a bit irrational.  As far as I know that's how he's been about this, I haven't been very well informed about what Penders has been saying.   Also, is it me or does he look like a whole different person now?    I mean, until I saw that interview at Comic Con, I've only seen pictures of him with the moustache and short hair.  Now though...

[Alice Twilight]

Posted this on another forum, thought it was worth posting here.

 

I heard Ken Penders owns Evil Sonic now.

And people are saying that means he owns Scourge, there has to be some sorta loop hole, Scourge is like an entirely new character now. Other people are saying, no, he doesn't own Scourge for the same reason I said.

This reboot has its upsides, but there's a quite a lot of downsides. I wonder how the comic will be effected from here on out apart from character re-designs and missing Echidnas?

 

[Blackbell]

Just read the interview now- thinking Penders in being a bit naive that the Lara-su Chronicles will go ahead. Believing he can answer the questions fans wanted to know (really?) and NOT relate to any Sega or Archie Comic shows just how much he's actually thought this through. The moment it's released (if ever- I find it hard that he'll actually find someone to put it together-let alone publish it) Sega will be over it with a fine comb. 

 

And that last comment he made stating that Archie could use his characters if they wanted to- who would pay someone for characters they came up with using Sega's original designs as a template? 

 

Glad the reboot is coming up. Get rid of some useless characters. 

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Uh, what reboot? When was that said? Because last I checked we weren't getting such a hard reboot that got rid of characters, especially given that we're getting the Iron King again.

Edited July 23, 2013 by ChaosSupremeSonîc

[Alice Twilight]

Uh, what reboot? When was that said?

The soft reboot after the genesis wave, meaning no echidna stuff or anything related to what Ken wrote in the comic, redesigns for certain characters along with other things we'll see. The first genesis wave changed some things too.

Edited July 23, 2013 by Alice Twilight

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

The soft reboot after the genesis wave.

Yeah, I made an edit. Not seeing this as something to get rid of characters, and I doubt Ian would do so willingly. They didn't need to reboot anything to put the Echidna's on a bus, and until we get get confirmation, there's no telling what they'll do to the other stuff. Especially considering that a lot of it is still there but changed.

Edited July 23, 2013 by ChaosSupremeSonîc

[kimplix]

END GAME.

 

 

More to come in a bit.

 

 

Now to write up a new fan mail for #252

Edited July 23, 2013 by kimplix

[Mauro Fonseca]

The soft reboot after the genesis wave, meaning no echidna stuff or anything related to what Ken wrote in the comic, redesigns for certain characters along with other things we'll see. The first genesis wave changed some things too.

 

You mean the soft reboot no-one said was going to happen, instead explicitly mentioning past continuity is sticking around as much as they can, while being ignored by the fans who think this is New 52 Archie version?

 

Is that the reboot you're talking about?

[Tani Coyote]

Also, is it me or does he look like a whole different person now?    I mean, until I saw that interview at Comic Con, I've only seen pictures of him with the moustache and short hair.  Now though...

 

I'll be honest. I thought it was a woman at first when I saw the picture before I read the article.

 

Really goes to show much his health has been impacted by the stress of this, I think.

 

You mean the soft reboot no-one said was going to happen, instead explicitly mentioning past continuity is sticking around as much as they can, while being ignored by the fans who think this is New 52 Archie version?

 

Is that the reboot you're talking about?

 

If what Ken says is true (he strikes me as more of a moron than a liar), then we don't need to worry too much about the characters. The problem is, will the Editor and head of Archie be open to using them after the bad taste they have in their mouth? We established SEGA doesn't care at all about this case, so it's entirely an intra-Archie issue now.

 

The way things are, the Editor and main writer exchange ideas, with the Editor establishing clear directions to go in (and sometimes specific storylines, as in the Silver arc) and vetting the writer's ideas. Regardless of what happens, the Editor then has to forward the ideas to the corporate heads for approval... who then send it to SEGA.

 

It really is a really annoying bureaucracy, and while it seems SEGA's not really invested in whether the Penders cast stay or not, I get the feeling the last thing the Archie executives want is a reminder of a person who gave them a massive headache.

[RobotOmega]

Thanks for those scans kimplix! Much appreciated!

[kimplix]

Thanks for those scans kimplix! Much appreciated!

You should be thanking CC14 the Vipester. Not me

[Alice Twilight]

I'll be honest. I thought it was a woman at first when I saw the picture before I read the article.

 

Really goes to show much his health has been impacted by the stress of this, I think.

 

 

If what Ken says is true (he strikes me as more of a moron than a liar), then we don't need to worry too much about the characters. The problem is, will the Editor and head of Archie be open to using them after the bad taste they have in their mouth? We established SEGA doesn't care at all about this case, so it's entirely an intra-Archie issue now.

 

The way things are, the Editor and main writer exchange ideas, with the Editor establishing clear directions to go in (and sometimes specific storylines, as in the Silver arc) and vetting the writer's ideas. Regardless of what happens, the Editor then has to forward the ideas to the corporate heads for approval... who then send it to SEGA.

 

It really is a really annoying bureaucracy, and while it seems SEGA's not really invested in whether the Penders cast stay or not, I get the feeling the last thing the Archie executives want is a reminder of a person who gave them a massive headache.

There's also the fact that Archie now have to get permission to use Ken's characters now, so I really doubt they'll show up much or at all.

Does that mean Scourge will not be coming back, since he's Evil Sonic? That sucks, this new altered universe has its ups but the downside of it really puts me in a bad mood because I liked most of the characters introduced by Ken.

Edited July 23, 2013 by Alice Twilight

[QuantumEdge]

I'll be honest. I thought it was a woman at first when I saw the picture before I read the article.

 

Really goes to show much his health has been impacted by the stress of this, I think.

 

 

I think he should've just left it years ago.  If your health is going to be affected by something like this, then it's best to just walk away early.

[Splash the Otter]

There's also the fact that Archie now have to get permission to use Ken's characters now, so I really doubt they'll show up much or at all.

Does that mean Scourge will not be coming back, since he's Evil Sonic? That sucks, this new altered universe has its ups but the downside of it really puts me in a bad mood because I liked most of the characters introduced by Ken.

But Archie and Penders have joint ownership, so nothing is stopping the characters from returning. However, it's likely that Archie will avoid using them for a while, at least until everything has settled down.

[QuantumEdge]

There's also the fact that Archie now have to get permission to use Ken's characters now, so I really doubt they'll show up much or at all.

Does that mean Scourge will not be coming back, since he's Evil Sonic? That sucks, this new altered universe has its ups but the downside of it really puts me in a bad mood because I liked most of the characters introduced by Ken.

As much as Penders wasn't the best of writers for the comic, he still had a knack (pun not intended) for making really good characters.

But Archie and Penders have joint ownership, so nothing is stopping the characters from returning. However, it's likely that Archie will avoid using them for a while, at least until everything has settled down.

And even if they planned on using the characters soon, it would take a while.  Each issue is written and planned well before the release date and since the lawsuit was settled only just last month, to use Penders characters immediately would take quite a few issue for that to happen.

[mistercokehold8]

The way I see it, Archies will probably use the Pender characters when we least expect it

[QuantumEdge]

The way I see it, Archies will probably use the Pender characters when we least expect it

I suppose it would be a good and fitting idea to bring them back in issue 160 (Ian's 100th issue).  However, as I've said the comic is written very far in advance, so at this point they might have written past that issue for all we know.

[Alice Twilight]

But Archie and Penders have joint ownership, so nothing is stopping the characters from returning. However, it's likely that Archie will avoid using them for a while, at least until everything has settled down.

I'd imagine Penders would put a price on his characters to be used in the comic. That's why I'm worried about some characters not returning. I miss Lien-da already.

[mistercokehold8]

In the case of all the missing Echindas, I think it would be cool to do a storyline around that. Have Knuckles go looking for them, and have Thrash try to stop him.