![Community Reacts…Not Very Well Something tangentially Sonic related has gone somewhat viral among the community today, but perhaps for all the wrong reasons. Unless one believes in the idea all […]](http://www.tssznews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/ken_penders_header.jpg "Ken Penders Updates Lien-Da Design")
Community Reacts…Not Very Well
Something tangentially Sonic related has gone somewhat viral among the community today, but perhaps for all the wrong reasons.
Unless one believes in the idea all publicity is good publicity, it’s so far been hard to see the good publicity gained from this Tweet Ken Penders released early this morning:
Check out Lien-Da as she will be seen in THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES. pic.twitter.com/uR7LxtTNQP
— Ken Penders (@KenPenders) April 25, 2014
On his forum, Penders reveals who actually built the Lien-Da redesign in 3D: Kevin Knowles.
Kevin has more than exceeded my expectations and proven to me that just because he’s located on the other side of the world from me is no reason we couldn’t collaborate.
The model Kevin built will be used as the reference standard for all things Lien-Da. I’m hoping to have the 360º view of her ready when I post the Lien-Da Data File on TL-SC website which is currently being assembled.
On top of that, a well-known actress will be the voice of Lien-Da as we assemble the video presentation, to say nothing of Costume Designer Mike Philpot putting on the finishing touches to the Praetorian’s Hat for unveiling, as well as a couple of other goodies to be announced shortly.
The main focus, though, is on the story and art. I’m hoping to wrap the story very shortly which will then allow me to focus exclusively on the art going forward.
This reveal of Lien-Da for the upcoming Lara-Su Chronicles, still in development, is much more of a statement than the Lara-Su redesign revealed some time ago. You may remember that Ken Penders and Archie settled a federal lawsuit when the ownership over these and other characters used in the Archie Sonic comics came into dispute.
We still do not have a timetable on when The Lara-Su Chronicles will be ready for public release. We will update when we know more.
We would republish some of the community reaction to the above photo, but we imagine we’ll get enough of a taste of it once the comments start rolling in.
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Okay, after reading over one of his posts on his site, I’ve come across the as of yet still not covered news that Penders states that Archie could use his characters at any time they pleased, so whether they are used or not is up to them and them alone. However, Penders also states that there three characters that are “untouchable”: Lara-Su, Locke, and Julie-Su (FUUUUUCK!!!). So, it sounds like they can’t be used, right? However, he also states that if Julie-Su and Locke were to be used during the present day timeline, then they must not contradict what was established in the Mobius 25 Years Later timeline. So, it sounds like they could be used, right? Well, that’s where it get’s confusing. First off, after reading through the terms that Penders DID feel like sharing with the rest of the world, it seems like he hasn’t really defined his use of the term “untouchable”. If he meant “these characters are off limits and cannot be used” then why would he have made terms regarding them? He states that if they are to be used in the present timeline in the Archie comics (which he has not made clear if they are allowed to), their existence must NOT contradict what happens in Mobius 25 Years Later. So basically, Locke stays dead (although how he dies may or may not have to be adjusted) and Julie-Su is around to marry Knuckles and have Julie-Su as a daughter. Well, that COULD have worked, if it weren’t for the fact that Mobius 25 Years Later wasn’t wiped off the map before he even left Archie in the first place! In order for the events of Mobius 30 Years Later to have even taken place, the events of Mobius 25 Years Later had to have been erased and rearranged, creating a “new 25 Years Later” which would go on to become the 30 Years Later timeline. Now Penders obviously was involved with writing the original 25 Years Later arc, but beyond that, there don’t seem to be any records of his involvement with any other stories that followed and expanded the Light Mobius timeline. In fact, the only other project he would have worked on would have been the cancelled Mobius 20 Years Later story arc, which would have tied into past events that were teased during early stories involving Knuckles and Sally. For some reason or other, that project got scrapped, most likely because it would have been futile to explain how 25 Years Later came to be when it was going to be replaced by a new 25 Years Later anyway. Beyond that point, Penders seemed to have no involvement with any future stories, so it was probably around that time when he left the series. So skip forward years later and he still seems to have the idea stuck in his head that the original 25 Years Later is to be the comics’ one true future and is not to be treated like an alternate timeline or dimension or whatever. The odds of that being the case however are very slim, as the history of even the current comics have been drastically altered. So in effect, Mobius 25 Years Later has not only been erased from the timeline once, but TWICE, with the current fate of characters such as Locke and Julie-Su still remaining a mystery. How Penders could ever expect the future of this series to still resemble the vision he had for it when the comics where in their original state within this similar but remarkably different universe where the laws have been drastically changed is beyond me. Frankly, he has made it very clear that he does not care what goes on in the comics anymore, and will only be interested if any of his “intellectual property” is concerned. Otherwise, the only interest he has with the comics is if they meet his end-goal: for Mobius 25 Years Later (version 1.0), not really wanting to be concerned with all of the extensive rewriting to the newly established timeline that this new “Sonic’s world” has would have to be changed and adjusted in order to make that happen. “It’s up to them.” So Locke and Julie-Su could only be used if they were to fit within his grand plans for his expansion of the Mobius 25 Years Later arc into the Lara-Su Chronicles timeline that he has planed. Considering all the headaches that would bring to writers like Flynn, I doubt they are going to waste that much time with trying to figure out how it would work, unless Penders were to be invited over to collaborate, which is even less likely to happen. Despite all of the holes that can be seen in his terms, there is one term that still makes the most sense: Lara-Su is the only character in which any story featuring her which Archie Comics wishes to put into production MUST be reviewed and approved by Penders. All of Penders’ work is being directed towards expanding Lara-Su’s story. Everything that Penders ever wrote for Knuckles’s, Sally’s, and Sonic’s mythos was to set up the stage for Lara-Su eventually becoming the new main hero of Mobius. If anyone were to even mention the name “Lara-Su” in the Archie comics’ present form, they would have to consult with Penders to see if their end goals met up with his, because in Penders’ eyes only one future can exist for Lara-Su, and that’s the one he has been building for her all these years. So other than the plot-hole sandwiches of Locke and Julie-Su, and the Godsend-heavenly-all mighty-new champion of the future world named Lara-Su, anyone else created by Penders in the present day timeline is up for grabs and “fair game” as he puts it (well, unless Archie wanted to kill someone off, then they would have to contact him). So characters like Scourge and Jeffery St. John could still be used without Penders’ say-so, so long as they aren’t killed off and Archie actually feels like using them again (which they should, as they could still hold a lot of potential within the current state of the comics’ timeline). But if you’re like me and hoping that Julie-Su will make some sort of return to the current comic timeline, unless they have already set up some grand-plan with Penders already, I don’t see how they could get her back without basically shooting themselves in the feet again and re-rewrite everything all over again. But who knows? With Penders’ terms being about as clear as a drive through the woods at night with the thickest fog Mother Nature could ever create, there could be at least SOME wiggle-room for loopholes and compromises that would allow Julie-Su to come back or have a presence of some form within the new world of Archie Sonic. All Archie really needs to do is just have the effort and motivation to make that stuff happen and work well. Don’t expect much help from Penders though (I know, surprise, right?). As far as he’s concerned, whatever goes on in Archie’s universe is “up to them”.
(And yes, for the record, I still dislike him.)
It just occurred to me that I should have separated this into paragraphs…….*sigh*. -_-“
Damnit! I said that “Julie-Su” had to be Knuckles’ daughter! Ignore that, it’s pretty obvious I meant to say “Lara-Su”. >.<"
In Red Dwarf, Lister is his own father, so it would make sense so long as time travel was involved
And Fry is his own grand father in Futurama!
AUGH, NO! No more headaches! I can’t wrap my mind around this enigma sandwich wrapped in a conundrum tortilla sprinkled with paradox jimmies! It hurts to even think about it! XP
IDK. Maybe it could work, but if they were to try it at all…I want them to do it RIGHT. Just…do it in a way that would at least give me closure towards this whole thing. It’s frustratingly confusing enough as it is.
Err, it feels like Pender’s is actually trolling the world at large rather then being serious.
KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!
http://nooooooooooooooo.com/
Oh my god. -_- Just. Stahp.
Browsing the comments, I notice a distinct lack of flak being given for the term “diva-isnous”
That phrase is of equal wtf-ery to the gut-wrenching image itself.
Thank you! I thought I was the only one who wondered about this before I went into an uncontrollable laughter for 10 minutes.
Well if you really want opinions on the word “diva-isnous”
It’s incredibly cringe-worthy and the fact that he took the time to think of such a disgusting term is an insult to mankind and he should be fined for coining it.
I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that he thought he had to use the word “bad ass” to describe Julie-Su. What, did he think that her personality didn’t speak for itself? Is he trying to appeal to the “older audience” that he knows is going to be into this comic because they care about 10-year old storylines being completed LONG after they were forgotten and made irrelevant? Because Penders, saying she’s “badass” makes her sound LESS bad ass because it’s coming from you and not the fans of the actual character, who are still pretty upset at you for causing her to be erased from their continuity of choice in the first place. The whole “diva-isnous” thing is just another slap in the face after having to deal with the “hey, I know the term ‘badass’, that makes me respectable to the common reader” thing.
Or, to put it another way:
I think I’m having an addiction to posting these videos. :/
Yeah…maybe curb the videos so they don’t crash browsers for everyone? Please?
-T
It looks like the love child of P!nk and Shaquille.
I still wish I knew what fucked-up court allowed this dumbass to walk away with these characters. My stance on it is still the same; the Characters were created to be in the Sonic Universe, and he created them under Archie, so because he created them for Archie, they should belong to Archie. Why the hell couldn’t he just made new characters for his garbage story? Is he that un-imaginative? I guess so, I’ve seen better artwork on the furrytrainwrecks tumblr, and that stuff is nasty.
This guy is a sick excuse for an artist, and I hate that I have to read the things he wrote already in order to know the entire Sonic comic timeline.
You suck Penders. I normally don’t hate a lot of people, but god do I hate him. So much.
(also, nice to see the Sonic community on the same page for once. :P)
There was no court ruling; Archie and Penders reached a settlement
Even though there shouldn’t have been a settlement anyway. It’s good to see that artists can get full rights to their characters when they’ve been toyed with by a bigger company, but when those artists don’t actually do anything CREATIVE with them and the company that supposedly used them actually used them much better than they did, then the answer is pretty clear as to whom the characters should belong to. Hopefully, Penders will finally catch on to the reality of the situation and will relinquish the rights to Archie before he falls any further. Because really, all he can do is fall by this point. The only question is how long he’ll allow himself to keep falling under the pretense that he is flying higher than anyone else.
10/10 for optimism
3/10 for realism
😉
As an aspiring artist/writer myself, I can understand wanting to keep what you create, but everything he has going into this is all stemming from the Sonic mythos in one way or another; Floating Island Productions, the Acorn Ops, the characters themselves, I’m pretty sure that even though Lara-Su’s dad is probably not going to be in the picture, tons of allusions are going to be made to him and his duty, which would be infringing on Sega/Archie yet again.
I do agree with your statement though, it’s obvious who deserves to have the characters.
PFFT. Oh gawd. xD;
((April Fools was weeks ago, Ken.))
He’s very wrong if he thinks people will buy this.
Ken.
Please, for fuck’s sake.
How can a man be so stagnant in an art design since I was 10 years old? This is the year 2014, how has he actually REGRESSED in talent since I was reading comics with his already mediocre designs? Fucking hell.
KEN WHY
BRO
YOU’RE MAKING YOURSELF LOOK LIKE A FOOL
Wow… really, Ken?
This is supposed to be high quality work to you? No offense to the artist as I get that you didn’t make this, and are probably still learning, but– that thing is actually somehow more cringe-worthy than the previous stuff. Seriously. There is so much wrong about its design and structures, and….
Eh, why do I care? Whatever floats your boat, I guess. We won’t stop you from sinking it. It’s your book.
(*slowly claps in applause*)
AHHHHH GOOD GOD!…..HOW IS THIS IN ANYWAY VISUALLY APPEALING? HAS THE WORLD GONE MAD?!