“There is nothing the fans can do about it”
The heavy edits made to Sonic #244 last month were a shock to the system to many longtime readers, especially when word reach that Archie Comics and former writer Ken Penders, in principle, agreed to key settlement terms regarding numerous disputed copyrights related to the comics. We remain unaware as to whether that agreement has been finalized.
But since last month’s unexpected discovery, more edits have been found by fans, in particular edits made to Sonic Super Special #6 where a page from an included back story was outright cut. That edit allegedly included the presence of Lien-Da, one of the characters under dispute.
That, paired with increased frustration and uncertainty among fans has prompted current comic writer Ian Flynn to concede on his forums that things are not going to be the same with the series from now on. Flynn also asked for reactive behavior among his forumers to temper.
“Regardless of what’s going on, there is nothing the fans can do about it. What will happen will happen, and that’s all there is to it,” Flynn said. “There’s going to be some changes. That’s beyond my control and the fans’ control. [....] I’m not asking folks to be happy about it. I’m just asking you be mature about it.”
Flynn did assure fans the comic itself is not in danger, and noted he is working on plans for both the short and long-term.
“The comic isn’t going anywhere. The SatAM cast isn’t going anywhere,” Flynn explained. “I’m plotting out the end of the Naugus subplot, short-term plans for post-crossover 2013, and long-term plans for years after.”
The flip side is that while the events detailed in Sonic #244 did not necessarily close the door on so many characters, these remarks almost certainly do.
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@Paul, what about Conquering Storm?
Also, I know that Sega hasn’t given the green light yet, but is it possible for Archie to make a story based off of Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood? Maybe someone from the Archie staff could ask Sega to ask their permission to do so. If not…oh well, we tried. It’s just so we can get the story going.
G’day DonnieBlue, apologies for the late response.
It’s true that I visit these parts every few days or so, mainly to answer fan questions or throw my own $0.02 around when necessary. Such as when you brought up Posey Possum.
Backtracking to your original message, Ms. Possum could very well have the potential to find an audience out there and make something of a modest success. Though how one defines ‘success’ depends on the individual. Is success measured in units sold? Overnight rating figures? The number of ‘Likes’ on social media? Is this going to be accomplished by the numeric system?
For example, both ‘Star Trek: The Original Series’ and ‘Futurama’ definitely had an audience when they originally aired, but it wasn’t the audience the network had in mind (in particular ‘Star Trek’, which ended up with a strong demographic the network wasn’t expecting). Both suffered from shifting away into the dreaded ‘graveyard’ timeslot where the audience who did watch the shows had little chance to see them.
Same goes with the final few years of ‘Doctor Who: The Classic Series’. The higher-ups in the Beeb shunted it off the successful 2 nights a week format, to Wednesday where it directly battled ITV’s mammoth soapie, ‘Coronation Street’. Unless there is an incredibly major program or event, you will have little chance knocking ‘Corrie’ off the pole position for its timeslot, both back in the day, and now.
It’s a method that results in guaranteed program suicide. Yes it sounds unfair, but that can be the inside world of television for you.
So how does this affect Posey Possum, and to a similar extent, Ken’s graphic novel plans? It’s noted that a number of the vocal minority feel that a series involving Lara-Su and her action force simply cannot work without the SEGA cast. They have every right to an opinion, and can feel this way all they want, though it does seem a tad unfair to give something bad press when you’ve barely anything to go by. If the book goes ahead, then it’s fair for the paying buyers to comment or critique once they have a copy.
(On a side-note, the number of ‘Likes’ on social media isn’t everything. A few years back, there was a movie called ‘Snakes on a Plane’. It was bolstered by a massive viral campaign where fans could suggest ideas and dialogue ((the winner was in fact the infamous reshot sequence where Mr. Jackson gave his rousing opinion regarding their cargo near the end)). The marketing campaign was a great success, and the movie made a profit, but fell way short of the expected figures. So much for that.)
The problem with the planned novel, from what I see, is that some of the naysayers appear to lack the drive or emotional investment for these characters/stories. And I can see a number of them out there reading this and shaking their heads vigorously in disagreement, while muttering how they love the characters Ken created (but still call him names and insults, which always seemed farfetched to me). Fair enough. However, if one has these investments and believe in the characters, then limits come far and few.
For Those Who Came In Late, it may come as a surprise that I have had a great deal of investment in the character Ken created known to us as Lara-Su. A lot. Quite a lot, really. Probably more than it’s considered healthy. In fact, if anyone I’ve spoken to online were to visit me in person, then I could talk about the female future Guardian for DAYS on end. Daaaaayyys I say! So you can probably imagine that I was over-the-moon to see Ken reveal that new design back in late 2011, and particularly chuffed when he chose a certain umbrella title for his project.
So what’s the main point of bringing her up? It’s because of this strong investment in the character (and a powerful imagination often helps) that I see a plethora of stories waiting to be told around her and the Brotherhood. And yes, Knuckles need not apply. Having old rad red would help boost sales amongst the fan community, but I have a feeling Ken has plans to find a different audience to go along with the fans who enjoyed his stories back in the day.
Posey Possum falls under the same category. Some may scoff at the idea of fleshing out her character a bit, or starring in her own adventure, but if you’ve got that investment, drive, plus imagination, then I see little reason for her not to be something of a success in her own way. As you pointed out, the current incarnation of ‘My Little Pony’ is pretty big these days. Who though five years ago that hundreds of adult men would be enamoured in what is generally considered a little girl’s toy line? It’s amazing.
So yes, I am all on board to see Ms. Possum get some attention in the future, especially if Scott Shaw! is at the creative helm.
On another note…
DonnieBlue, while I have been a member of Ken’s Forum since Day 1 (and posting on the original board for years beforehand), I am not a moderator or admin, thus cannot activate your account. If I could, then I certainly would, but that is BobR’s job. He’s sometimes around these parts. Though whether he’s too busy with personal matters, or overflowing with activation requests from the dozens of spam accounts attempting to register on the Forum each day, I do not know.
If you or anyone else wishes to contact me with your agreements, comments, gripes, or slander, you can reach me at autobotjazz1984@hotmail.com , which I check usually once or twice a week. Thanks.
Mr. Anonymous, the Bride of Conquering Storm would be Ian’s baby, so to speak.
As for game adaptations, there have been the odd ‘Another Time And Place’ previews in various issues, and ‘Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood’ was to have a 5-page ‘prologue’ that underwent a drastic rewrite/redraw. One problem when it comes to ‘pure’ game adaptations is that you’d generally be buying the same thing, only without the joys of playing the game itself.
That said, these ‘pure’ game adaptations seem unlikely, especially the pair you mentioned, but you never know what may come in the future. Pretty sure many didn’t expect to see ‘Olympic’ and ‘All-Star Racing’ issues this time last year.
Oh, well. Now when you say, “Pure” do you mean like an exact adaptation? Because that’s not what I was EXACTLY looking for. Although, when it comes to making an adaptation of Shadow the Hedgehog, I can see some problems. Due to the dark nature of the game, the comics would have to be like Marvel, DC, or Image comics.
Now, looking them up online, it’s safe to say the Battle Bird Armada are “safe” for now. They are characters based off of a game that starred only Tails.
The adaptations I was talking about would be taking some elements from the game and adding them with the comics. I mean, they already discussed a majority of Shadow’s past and of his origins, the GUN commander doesn’t hate him and the Nocturnus Tribe has been mentioned more than once. I can imagine Pir’Oth Ix killing off all the banished echidnas. Was Dimitri among them? I can’t remember. Hey, since Dimitri was Enerjak at a previous time, does this mean the concept of Enerjak has gone bye-bye as well?
I can’t believe it.
Sega is not going too good,
Sonic might face a reboot,
And now my favourite comics ??
Since when did things started falling apart ?
~ C
Mr. Anonymous, by ‘Pure’, I most certainly meant ‘Direct To You From The Games’. These adaptations feature only the characters whom showed up on each of the levels, follow the storyline word-for-word, and for the most part conclude with Sonic aquiring all seven Chaos Emeralds to stop the evil Doctor Ro-erm, Eggman while saving Earth and all his cute animal friends. And he only does it because he views the not-so-good Doctor as a minor inconvenience.
This means no Mobius, no Knothole, no Saturday Morning cast, and no inclusion of any other new and/or original characters the authors create.
Now, I can see why many-a fan would rejoice as the book dumps all the ‘knockoff’ characters. It may do well, but only for a bit. Personally speaking, if the book were to operate solely based abound the game cast and concepts, it has the possibility of facing cancellation in the long-term. Granted, the sales would remain steady (or even increase) during the first months, or even 1-2 years. The problem I see is how this move affects the long-term survival of the book (say, 5, 10, even 20 years).
Comic books featuring licensed video game characters don’t exactly have a stellar track record, especially if they stick with only the cast and concepts you see on the screens. Valiant Comics put out a ‘Legend of Zelda’ series two decades ago that by all intents and purposes should have been a runaway success. It wasn’t. Neither was the ‘Super Mario’ comic. There was no logical reason why they shouldn’t have run for years on end, but they didn’t, and unlike Dreamwave’s attempts, certainly weren’t cancelled due to company self-destruction.
(As for the ongoing Mega Man comic, I cannot dignify it with a response, or comment on the contents. Reasons being that 1) I do not read them, and 2) Am not the audience they are looking for, since I have no attachment to Mega Man, and little interest playing the games. Yeah, I did read the reprint of issue #1 during Free Comic Book Day, but it did little to inspire any desire to read more.)
This isn’t to say it’s Sally and her crew that keep the book alive, far from it, but their presence does help maintain a sense of individuality. Losing that unique factor and replacing it with ‘a clone of the games’ can also limit what you do with the characters, thus halt any expansion or growth to make them seem more than simply a bunch of dots on a screen.
As you said, if they were to incorporate new elements from the games into the comics, then I would have no problem with it (unless the content clashes with established canon – see Knuckles’ backstory). Such expansions would help further the plot, and keep SEGA happy that the book maintains the original intent of promoting whatever they want to sell.
Regarding Dimitri/Enerjak, he first appeared in issue #35 as the second part of a back-up Ken wrote and drew (with inks by late comic legend Jon D’Agostino). The problem with the power-mad Echidna is that Ken is listed as sole creator. Usually around this time, his plots are co-written by Mike Kanterovich. It’s possible that Mike was omitted from the credits (further evidence can be seen in the surrounding parts, where he is credited co-writer), and this wouldn’t be the last time someone from the book doesn’t recieve billing for their contributions.
Although I could very well be mistaken, and if Mike K indeed had no contribution to part 2 of the story, then Dimitri/Enerjak would be all Ken’s. So yes, if that be the case, then they would not be able to mention the very concept of Enerjak, despite there supposedly being more than one.
A comic book featuring Sonic the Hedgehog published by Image, you say? Not a bad idea. You can count me in as a reader, but only if Todd McFarlane does the cover art.
You know, Paul, I think that Archie did take notes from DC. Like most comics, some characters reflect off of already existing characters, like Mammoth Mogul is a reflection of Marvel’s villain, Wilson Fisk AKA the Kingpin. Flying Frog however is another story. I read somewhere that his reflection is the Joker from Batman. That’s not what I see. He seems more like Victor Zsasz, the deranged serial killer who sees life as meaningless and he wishes to “liberate” people from life. Every time he “liberates” a person, he carves a tally mark on his skin and this guy has hundreds of them, and he’s saving a special spot for Batman’s tally mark: in his eyelid. Looking at Frog, he is almost like Zsasz. He probably murdered plenty of people when he was a court jester in Mercia, broke into houses and even killed his prison guard.
Also, didn’t Archie already make a crossover with Image comics?
Now when I say the Archie (if possible) have to be like Image, DC or Marvel, I mean adding certain elements to them such as a darker atmosphere, humor both kids and/or adults get, (just like the Animaniacs), black humor and of course be a bit more violent, like the Dragonball, DBZ, and DBGT series.
Mr. Anonymous, it’s funny you should bring up Wilson Fisk. Back in the day, there was a discussion over which voice actors should be playing characters if a new Sonic-based cartoon were to be made in the future. For my part, it was suggested that Roscoe Lee Browne would make a great Mammoth Mogul, based on the way he played The Kingpin during the 1990′s Spider-Man cartoon.
And then he went and died. Darn it.
@Paul Agnew: Well, there’s always Corey Burton.
This is why I like fan-comics better, there are no legal disputes with characters and the author/artist can make the decisions they want.
As much as I love the comics (and Sonic himself), I may just end up giving up the comics if the storylines fall apart as much as everyone’s predicting them to.
Good job, Penders, you’ve royally fucked up the Longest-Running Comic Book series based on a Video Game Character, I fear it may not last as long thanks to you, but no, you had to have your stinking money over goddamn fake characters, are you happy now?
Mr. Anonymous, if Corey Burton were up to it, then I would gladly have him voice Mammoth Mogul. As for Image, there was indeed a crossover featuring the Sonic crew, but it also featured cameos by Ken’s own creations from the then-upcoming ‘The Lost Ones’ series, and that whole matter is a story in and around itself.
A more ‘darker’ Sonic would be nice to have, but I suspect the project would not make it past the checkered flag; for a start, SEGA keeping a watchful eye over their content, making sure it doesn’t tarnish Sonic’s (or their) image. Even if the book made it out alive, there is a risk of younger readers seeing it and become scared/upset over the content, resulting in parents banning the book regardless of whether it has a parental advisory on the cover.
Storm Wendjule, we’ll have to agree to disagree on most of your points, but I wish to discuss the following: You stated that fans are free to make decisions with the characters and have no legal fuss. Sorry, but that’s incorrect. Sometimes a fan production will be shut down if the characters they do not legally own are used in such ways that are seen to (again) risk damaging their brand image.
Good luck (for the sake of discussion) mass producing adult-orientated material featuring Mickey Mouse, because Disney’s lawyers are going to strike hard, regardless of whether a profit is made or not. It’s a standard I see easily apply to SEGA as well.
Not that adult oriented, Paul. But more subliminal. Like the Animaniacs. And as for the violence. A bit toned down like DC Animated.
By the way, do you recall the alien tripod war vehicles from the Sonic X comic? Do they remind you of the Martian fighting machine vehicles from H.G. Wells’ story, The War of the Worlds? Was Archie actually thinking of making a Sonic/War of the Worlds crossover? If so, it’s a shame that they cancelled it.