The GHZ Forum

Former writer of the Archie Sonic comics claims to have the copyrights to near every character he created during his run. Somehow I don't see this as a bad thing for the comic.

People still care about Archie?

Seriously though, there's no way this can work. Sega lawyers will hit him with a rolled-up newspaper, case closed.

And nothing of value was lost.

Can we have Sonic the Comic back, please?

Didn't Ian already kill off most of Ken's excessive character backlog already?

I tried to read an Archie comic recently. They had been doing some about the Tails Adventure game on Game Gear and it initially seemed good. All the ducks, the tiny robot, the log cabin, the forest on fire - it was all done correctly. But then they had a cyborg rabbit and a French Napoleon Coyote, both with human hair and full clothes (as opposed to anything normally in Sonic) who took up half the story then proceeded to make furry love in the middle of the comic.

I have no idea what the hell is wrong with them or why this is allowed to be sold. I hope Penders takes it all with him and it never gets published on anything ever again.

Aw hell, I just remembered he gave Sonic a birth name at some point. I don't even want to know what he plans to do with that.

You're just jealous you didn't come up with as awesome a name as Ogilvie Maurice Hedgehog.

Is "Ogilvie" even a real name? I can't even figure out how to pronounce it.

Oh lordie. Someone get WB in here.

Ken Penders wrote:I am currently at work creating a new story featuring my characters, the first of which is a tale of Lara-Su learning about her family, in particular the early days of her grandparents Locke and Lara-Le leading up to the time of the birth of their child. Whether or not this new story or others will feature SONIC and KNUCKLES is a decision only SEGA can make. However, there are plenty of stories to be told with the cast I already have created, and there is a sizable audience for those stories.

Does this mean what I think it means? Seriously, Ken? You think Sega is going to let you run your own licensed Sonic stories outside of Archie? And if not, you think they're going to sit idly by while you profit from an "original work" that consists entirely of characters who are just Knuckles re-colors with hair, eyebrows, and sometimes breasts? And does this give license to the creators of other droll fan characters to just completely run amok? If I were a judge I'd file slapping Penders down hard as completely justifiable IP protection--if not because Penders' work itself, then simply because of the precedent it sets.

But surely, the work that you create on company time belongs to the company. If Archie's contracts don't have that stipulation in them then... well, what were they thinking?

LOLOL

Does he actually have a mental disorder?

Ken Penders wrote:I am currently at work creating a new story featuring my characters, the first of which is a tale of Lara-Su learning about her family, in particular the early days of her grandparents Locke and Lara-Le leading up to the time of the birth of their child. Whether or not this new story or others will feature SONIC and KNUCKLES is a decision only SEGA can make. However, there are plenty of stories to be told with the cast I already have created, and there is a sizable audience for those stories.

Every last bit of this statement is hilariously awful.

This is just so WEIRD.

At Marvel and DC, it is absolutely standard that any new character you create as a work-for-hire writer for an existing franchise -- anything from Scooby Doo to Spider-man -- becomes the property of the owner of the franchise. So either Ken is totally out to lunch, or Archie is incredibly stupid and didn't properly assert their ownership rights in Ken's contract.

Has Ken Penders heard of fanfiction.net?

P.P.A. wrote:Can we have Sonic the Comic back, please?

Is the online version still running? I always thought, while well-meaning, the new comics weren't as good as their offline counterparts and have essentially killed off any interest in bringing it back for real.

But god damn it, the Archie Sonic adaptation sucks so hard. How is it still making a profit?

Crisis wrote:Is the online version still running? I always thought, while well-meaning, the new comics weren't as good as their offline counterparts and have essentially killed off any interest in bringing it back for real.

I was under the impression that STC Online was entirely fan operated because there was already no interest in bringing it back for real. Not true? Do they pay their artists and writers? I assumed they were working for free!

But god damn it, the Archie Sonic adaptation sucks so hard. How is it still making a profit?

I think it's because it's one of the few comics you can still buy at a grocery store, combined with its general kid-friendliness and brand recognition. Nearly everything else at all my local stores has migrated to the proper comic shop, which is an entirely different market and doesn't even carry the Sonic comic.

G.Silver wrote:"original work" that consists entirely of characters who are just Knuckles re-colors with hair, eyebrows, and sometimes breasts?

This is basically the litmus test for whether a fan is coo coo go nutters. Archie should've seen this coming.

Mang, you don't even need to do a google search to know that there at least fifty-thousand Meta-knights with emo hair styles and new names. ORIGINAL CHARACTER DO NOT STEAL.

G.Silver wrote:I was under the impression that STC Online was entirely fan operated because there was already no interest in bringing it back for real. Not true? Do they pay their artists and writers? I assumed they were working for free!

It's fan made, but before it was put out, there was a stronger possibility of the comic returning to print. Nigel Kitching had expressed an interest in continuing the comic when approached by the Onliners, but he obviously couldn't do it for free, so he gave the Online version his blessing. I wouldn't have had a problem with that except I didn't like the online version nearly as much as Kitching's, and the fact that he approves of Online means that he's probably given up ever continuing it himself.

There are other good reasons why STC probably won't make a return, and it's unfair of me to criticise STCO for trying to keep the flame alive, but I feel like in doing so they've stolen the drive from the old writers to make an official continuation.

Delphine wins this thread.

G.Silver wrote:

But god damn it, the Archie Sonic adaptation sucks so hard. How is it still making a profit?

I think it's because it's one of the few comics you can still buy at a grocery store, combined with its general kid-friendliness and brand recognition. Nearly everything else at all my local stores has migrated to the proper comic shop, which is an entirely different market and doesn't even carry the Sonic comic.

In addition, it's the only remaining member of the "old guard" of the American-created continuity. A lot of people are probably still subscribing just out of nostalgia or general affinity of the whole Mobius thing. Whether or not it's anywhere near its source material anymore is beyond me; the most recent issue I picked up was that weird "25 Years Later" thing and I couldn't understand a word of it.

But yeah, "lol" at this whole thing.

K2J wrote:

G.Silver wrote:

But god damn it, the Archie Sonic adaptation sucks so hard. How is it still making a profit?

I think it's because it's one of the few comics you can still buy at a grocery store, combined with its general kid-friendliness and brand recognition. Nearly everything else at all my local stores has migrated to the proper comic shop, which is an entirely different market and doesn't even carry the Sonic comic.

In addition, it's the only remaining member of the "old guard" of the American-created continuity. A lot of people are probably still subscribing just out of nostalgia or general affinity of the whole Mobius thing. Whether or not it's anywhere near its source material anymore is beyond me; the most recent issue I picked up was that weird "25 Years Later" thing and I couldn't understand a word of it.

But yeah, "lol" at this whole thing.

Please refrain from posting copyrighted material owned by [KEN PENDERS} without his written permission. You are subject to international US copyright laws and the diabolical, creative genius of Mister Penders himself.

I still say that Tracy Yardley has done wonders for the comic. He mainly works on Sonic Universe now, but all of the other artists are clearly following his lead visually. There's a level of artistic consistency that just wasn't there before.

didnt he design scourge the hedgehog?

I do empathize with Ken. I mean, he did basically create an entire universe for the Knuckles book... pretty much everything beyond "last guardian, flying island, chaos emerald." Even Knuckles himself was practically a blank slate at the time, personality wise. It's a really unusual situation for a licensed book, to be given so little and create so much. I'm sure Ken felt a tremendous attachment to the world and history and characters he made. Losing control of it must have been pretty devastating.

Also, Archie IS pretty much the worst mainstream comic publisher in America. It's horrifying that they don't pay royalties to their creators when their work is republished. But Ken's not just talking about royalties, he's talking about ownership. And I can't imagine any scenario where his creations are not owned by SEGA.

Esrever wrote:Also, Archie IS pretty much the worst mainstream comic publisher in America.

And yet the only one smart enough to remember their core audience, rather than abandoning the mass market for the diminishing returns of the direct market. From a publisher's perspective the non-returnability of unsold comics in the direct market may be enticing, but by almost exclusively selling their product in scarce (and usually poorly managed) speciality shops they screwed themselves in the long run by pissing away their casual audience and any potential new readers.

Sure! But if Archie's tremendous business sense is bringing in heaps of cash for them, they certainly aren't passing any of it down to their creatives, who are the pretty much the lowest paid in the industry.

That said, I don't think newsstand sales would help much for Marvel and DC these days, not unless they wanted to publish a lot more kid-friendly books. I think bookstores and trades are probably a better way of reaching adult readers. It's certainly how I buy all my comics!