Penders, Flynn Elaborate on Archie Sonic Comic Row

By
Tristan Oliver
– July 9, 2010

Penders Claims No Royalties Paid for Reprints

There has been a whirlwind of reaction from the community and beyond since Wednesday’s announcement by Ken Penders of holding copyright certificates to several characters and more from the ongoing Archie series.

Current Archie writer Ian Flynn remains staunch on not allowing discussion on the matter at the Bumbleking Comics forum.  Still, he released a lengthy statement on Thursday in which he revealed his work-for-hire status at Archie, speculates that Penders signed away his characters when he was employed by the company, and has been assured by Archie legal counsel to continue the series as normal.

Flynn also addressed concerns of a series reboot, speculating that, if anything, Penders would have to revamp:

The Short Version

The Archie legal department is handling things. I’ve been told to keep writing as usual and to continue with our plans for the end of 2010/start of 2011. As I said before: no worries.

The Longer Version

Bear in mind that I don’t have all the information. All I’m going off of is my limited understanding of the ownership of things within the book and franchise. So unless Mr. Penders pulls a rabbit out of his hat, I feel fairly confident in my understanding of things.

1) Work-for-Hire – While I’m bound by my contract to not talk about my contract, I can say I’m work-for-hire. I’ve been on the book for five years (!!!) and I’m still freelance, part-time, on-the-side. All of my contributions to the book are for the book, and I’m paid for that.

All the stuff I came up with for “Young Salem” – Foreman Armstrong, Mortimer Destiny, the Lizarmyn, Horde Lord, concept, etc. – is Archie’s. I can’t do my own book under BKC about Mortimer and Felicia’s younger days.

Sonic-wise, I have a harder parallel to draw since I’ve spent more time using the content within the book and taking it in new directions. I suppose Thrash is the best example, lean as he is character-wise. He’s Archie’s. Plain and simple.

Everyone on staff (and I include us freelancers when I say this) has to sign that contract. So unless Mr. Penders’s contract was wildly different, he signed away those characters before he even created them.

2) SEGA – It is my understanding, as explained by Mr. Penders himself years ago on his forum – that ultimately SEGA owns everything in the book. If it’s associated with Sonic in the book, it is by extension SEGA’s. From my understanding, that is why BioWare could so freely emulate the Dark Legion for the Marauders.

I know there was some confusion elsewhere concerning rights to SatAM. As it was explained, SEGA owns the intellectual property – the characters and such – but DiC retains the rights to the animation. So you wouldn’t see SEGA reselling SatAM boxsets willy-nilly. Conversely, DiC wouldn’t be able to just up and make a new Sonic cartoon.

3) Reboot – Oh if I had a nickle for every time this word got tossed around. I’ve already begun material for 2011 and, as I said before, have been told there’s no need to change. Not that we’re blindly forging ahead, but that we have no reason to stop.

What would need a reboot, in the scenario that Mr. Penders somehow did win out in all this, is his plans. SEGA would not grant him the license to use Knuckles, I can flat-out tell you that with certainty. So right there the core component of the Echidna Lore – the main character – is gone.

He would not be able to use Angel Island, Mobius, or the Chaos Emeralds. Easy enough fix, though, right? It’s Skyhigh Island on Terra using the Magi-Gems for flight. (copyright, by the way. Double-tappsies, no take-backs).

But the entire Echidna cast is comprised of Knuckles knock-offs. Mr. Penders would be required to redesign the entire cast, unless he’s planning on trying to pass it off as parody (which I doubt).

By the time the property would be safe to touch, it would be unrecognizable. It’s not about Knuckles’s society or family. It’s not about echidnas (the kind we think of, at least). It would now be a sci-fi-lite story about some dudes on a flying island. That could be interesting in its own right, but it’s not the story I think Mr. Penders wants to tell, and it’s not the one the echidna fans want to read. So I’m not entirely sure what his greater thinking is here.

Again, take my words with a grain of salt. I’m not privy to absolutely everything going on. But from what I do know I am confident I – and you all – have nothing to worry about.

So relax, curl up with the latest SONIC book, and enjoy it while ignoring the storm outside. This too shall pass.

Meanwhile, Penders has actively addressed questions and concerns via his forum, deflecting both waves of criticism and support.  This morning, he let a potentially major allegation out of the bag, accusing Archie of not paying its past contributors royalties–even as that work continues to be republished in the form of Sonic Archives and other items:

One thing that people should consider when discussing this matter is that unlike Marvel and DC Comics, Archie Comics has never believed in paying the creators at any time for reprints of their work. Neither Michael Gallagher nor Scott Shaw! were paid a dime when their initial 4-issue Sonic mini-series was collected into a trade paperback edition, nor has ANY creator been paid for any of their work currently being printed in the SONIC ARCHIVES series.

Meanwhile, Marvel and DC pay their creators royalties every time their work sees publication anywhere, even if it is used on licensed properties. I know this because I have several friends in the industry who receive regular royalty checks, unlike the creators who work for Archie. Indeed, many of the older artists could use the extra bucks the company generates from the Archie Digest reprints, but the company doesn’t see fit to work things out with them. Why else do you think Dan DeCarlo of all people got fed up and decided to take Archie to court after working 40 years for them?

Fans are essentially subsidizing Archie screwing the creators by taking the attitude that Archie deserves everything when there is more than enough to go around and treat everyone fairly. By everyone, I mean everyone. That includes Mike K, Karl, Dave, Art, Spaz, Fry, Steve, Dawn and everyone else, including Ian. My actions have always been more than just about me. If I win, everyone who ever worked on the book will win. I would think Sonic fandom could support that stand.

The discussion since has morphed less around the copyright concerns and more about royalties Archie allegedly doesn’t offer its staff for the comic.  How this may factor into any litigation remains to be seen.  And what exactly was submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office anyway?  It’s public record, and Monday morning on TSSZ News, we will  go in-depth as to what Penders did and did not seek protection for across more than 130 certificates.