Megathread The Lara-Su Chronicles and Ken Penders topic - READ PAGE 164, POST 4096

[antyep]

He really, really did have some poor timing. The OVerlander Return was hinted at since the Sonic Adventure Adaptation and got set aside for it, and THEN SA2 happened. I still find it hilarious that he actually wound up predicting that Shadow would wind up intertwined with Aliens. 

Everyone gets one.

[King Scoopa Koopa]

I have, I still have no idea which way I'm supposed to read it. I really dislike that they had to go out of their way to show Sonic's appearance change when just shifting the art would've sufficed. Amy I can forgive due to the difference in age between her incarnations, and even if it's kind of stupid, it was kind of a necessary change. Sonic, however, is just baffling, especially since it wasn't the case with Knuckles or Tails.

[biznizz]

I think they played it way too serious for what it should have been. Heroes having to fight evil while keeping up their studies? Sure, we've got that from Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Power Rangers, Mega Man Battle Network and Mega Man Star Force, X-Men, Spider-Man, even April in the new TMNT cartoon and Robin. It's totally a thing.

 

But they never played it anything like that at all, and I think that's why the concept crashed and burned before even getting off the runway.

 

I'm not saying make Eggman the principal or anything, but for a character kids are meant to relate to, I can see how sticking them in school could be a thing that could work. Heck, all the FF pretty much fit one archetype or another, anyway.

 

It's weird. The more I talk about it, the more I want to kind of see something like that. Not as "the" Sonic canon or anything, but maybe it could be something like a spin-off after Boom runs its course.

[King Scoopa Koopa]

I can relate, but then again, I'm one of the few people who was genuinely interested in seeing what the proposed "Gotham High" could have turned out. And I'm not talking Batman Beyond either.

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

Holy moly some of  those designs are not so good...

 

Simon looks sad as heck. Julie-Su looks okay IMO...

[Wittymations]

Oh, Sonic himself would probably blow the whole thing off, yeah. He's way too busy fighting Robotnik/Eggman and everything else. Sally would probably just have had private tutors from time to time. Others would be hit or miss. I don't know about it not being "Sonic enough" though, just because it's not something that the games feature. It's really just my opinion, though, and after the initial "oh hey we have this in our world again"  thing (which I think should be subtley-handled in the first place), it would really just be in the background as a bit of world-building (bolded to emphasize that I don't/wouldn't want this idea to have a ton of focus, just to exist). I mean, we have Professors and Doctors (the degree-type), so surely Mobius Sonic's World has an education system of some sort. (And, it could have presented with some potential conflict or one-line jokes that the intended audience--schoolkids--would get and understand. I'm not saying it SHOULD be, just that it's not completely unusable/etc)

It's less about Mobius, or what have you, not having an educational system (it's really crazy to say they wouldn't, but more that it's not fitting to Sonic or the Freedom Fighters. They're heroes, warriors. a strike team. They already have their plates full, and some, like Sonic, wouldn't want to be sitting at a desk.

 

Besides, you don't read an action series to read about what Charmy is going to study, or any of those school shenanigans. You read for them to go on adventures, for Eggman to plot some crazy stuff, for fights.

 

While it's fine for them to have schools, you don't want to really read about the main characters GOING to school.

[Osmium]

I can relate, but then again, I'm one of the few people who was genuinely interested in seeing what the proposed "Gotham High" could have turned out. And I'm not talking Batman Beyond either.

 

But seriously, I do believe that the cancelled "Ultimate/Manga" story that Spaz & Ken tried to develop for the Super Special book could have gone down that "Sonic, Tails and the FF's in School" route, given the clothes Sonic, Sally & Bunnie are wearing.

 

 

Also, bonus. A buncha Pen's Echidnas designed by Spaz. Hilarious in hindsight given what they're all gonna look like now.

 

God, I know I'm going to piss someone off but that Sonic page shows how much I don't like Spaziante's style and think it's really overrated. 

 

He drew everybody with these enormous heads and these ultra skinny bodies that look less like Sonic characters and more like Bratz or some shit. He drew all the female characters with realistic bodies and then these enormous heads. Sonic is the biggest offender as he always drew him with this enormous head and a little tiny body which makes him look like a bobble head. 

 

I don't want to get all into it, but I prefer classic Sonic when he looked like this 

When his body wasn't so small, but was the right size, almost Mickey mouse or Felix the Cat-ish (Also I prefer it when his back spines were connected to his head spines, and they weren't separated at the neck, but I won't get into that)  

 

When I think of Spaziante Sonic, I think of this picture

UGH,I HATE THIS PICTURE. His body is way too small, and his head is way too big. It just really bugs the fuck outa me. 

 

But you can tell, that everyone else is affected too. His Sally was kinda weird as she almost looked like a realistic human body with fur and then this enormous head. 

This picture comes to mind, too.

The problem is that Sally(And the other Satam character) under Spaziante's pencil had freaking Fur-Affinity proportions while Sonic has this tiny spherical body and it's really messed up, at least from my point of view. I mean, I can't really blame Spaziante that much as more people were starting to drew her sexualized in the later 90s too, but I never liked Archie's art style at all. Spaziante was one of the better artists during this period, but that's not really saying much. 

 

Plus, those robots are some of the most un-Sonic like robots I've ever seen. I don't even know what the fuck's goin on with Snivley. 

 

 

 

 

And my problems with his art still stand above. 

 

Oh yeah, and I forgot to add, whenever he drew peoples' hands, they always looked broken to me. 

 

This post was REALLY off topic, but I needed to let it out. This isn't a art style topic so I should shut up before I become obsessive. 

[biznizz]

My two cents? Spaz's early stuff showed he had a lot of potential, and his newer stuff is pretty damn good sometimes. It's his long Anime phase in between which was unfortunate.

It didnt help when you had an exciting cover (or at least promising) done by him, yet inside was a Karl or Pen story, most likely drawn by Ron Lim. Did comic shops use to prebag comics with a 'No opening until you buy it' policy? If so, methinks that Sonic was a frequent abuser of that kinda system.

[Osmium]

My two cents? Spaz's early stuff showed he had a lot of potential, and his newer stuff is pretty damn good sometimes. It's his long Anime phase in between which was unfortunate.

 

I will admit I do like Spaziante's older Sonic stuff. Like really old. Like when he just started drawing. 

Like this stuff. 

 

 

 

I think that Sonic had much better proportions in these really old issues, before he started drawing Sonic with the giant head, and like you said everything started getting all anime-escue 

 

 

 

It didnt help when you had an exciting cover (or at least promising) done by him, yet inside was a Karl or Pen story, most likely drawn by Ron Lim. Did comic shops use to prebag comics with a 'No opening until you buy it' policy? If so, methinks that Sonic was a frequent abuser of that kinda system. 

 

Definitley. Even though I don't like Spaziante's work very much, they were no doubt exciting, and you could feel the disappointment when you see the inside and it's drawn by Penders or something.

Like I said, Spaziante was one of the better artists of the time. 

[Gabz Girl]

I'm mixed about Spaz. Sometimes his art is really epic and gorgeously detailed, while other times it's maybe a bit too detailed like J. Axer's work. Then there's his manga-esque which makes me want to gag because it tries way too hard to look like animu/mango. >> However I cannot deny the guy has some major talent and his art for the Megaman comics is really good.

[Osmium]

I'm mixed about Spaz. Sometimes his art is really epic and gorgeously detailed, while other times it's maybe a bit too detailed like J. Axer's work. Then there's his manga-esque which makes me want to gag because it tries way too hard to look like animu/mango. >> However I cannot deny the guy has some major talent and his art for the Megaman comics is really good.

[Verb & Noun]

Honestly I'm fine with Spaz's proportions (more or less, I don't really like his ladies and I think he helped start a really bad trend), his major crime is mostly that he over details things. He's never been a selling point for me. That and Axer.

 

Mega Man seems to be a great fit for him though.

 

 

(This topic has kind of wandered of Pendejo but honestly I think we're all just waiting for his next stunning revelation)

[Osmium]

Honestly I'm fine with Spaz's proportions (more or less, I don't really like his ladies and I think he helped start a really bad trend), his major crime is mostly that he over details things. He's never been a selling point for me. That and Axer.

 

YES. 

 

Whenever he would draw Sally or some other characters similar to her, they seriously looked like a naked human with fur. The problem is that he drew a lot of characters in a way too humanoid fashion and it was creepy, to see a character with a fur-affinity style stand next to someone who basically has Mickey Mouse proportions. 

[Zaysho]

I personally like Spaz throughout, but I admit its his middle-phase post-Adventure that's a little weak. It's a similar problem, I think, that Axer had, and that's making everything hyper-detailed and busy. The Knuckles 20 Years Later designs really show this. It's impressive, I like the ideas, but they are very un-Sonic like due to the extra details and definition of the anatomy, which honestly does not fit with the general aesthetic. Also, all the female characters have tiny little hands for some reason.

 

But he's changed over time. I like his stuff from after "Tossed in Space" which was a nice mix of the SEGA house-style and the previous anime influences, but more simplified. And his recent stuff which makes me feel like SEGA should hire him for American box-art because the CG covers for the games have been stale and boring lately.

 

That's my two-cents though.

[horridus]

And today in the category of self-serving whining, we bring you who else, but Ken Penders.

 

https://twitter.com/KenPenders/status/602731789971423232

 

 

If I say it's a new character, I'm going to get flak no matter what. Simply put, Lara-Su has a father and his name is K'Nox.

 

Effort, man. A bit of genuine effort, and you might actually get a positive response, you self-pitying toad.

[Zaysho]

"If I say it's a new character, I'm going to get flak no matter what. Simply put, Lara-Su has a father and his name is K'Nox."

 

Honestly, in this case, he wouldn't have gotten flak, considering all the other bullshit surrounding this work, but clearly even bare minimum changes are too high of an expectation for him.

[biznizz]

Honestly, people would have expected him to make a new father for Lara-Su. They would have expected him to at least give him a completely different name. The lazy f*** did neither, but given he was too damn lazy to either keep his race all echidnas* or go all out with the whole 'they are all aliens' thing, I think we shouldn't be surprised.

*The Ech'yd'nyas have a unappealing to the eye body type, yet it seems the rest of Pen's Mobius still has the same type of anthros it did before judging by Geoffrey and Brownie Dog. If Pen bothers to handwave this by saying space radiation mutated them after the planet blew up, I'd be surprisex at THAT amount of effort.

I say after since Geoffrey looks at a clearly SEGA style Knuck- I mean K'NOX, which means it's a crapshoot on whether Pen's laziness in making Remington in the old style to match continuity or in the new style from the get-go despite the Sonic-esque body type Knuckles had in that pic.

[Verb & Noun]

Remington will likely be changing, as when he posted an SEGA style image of Remington recently he mentioned that it was a different design/style than would be in the book.

 

So it's likely all Ech'yd'diddy'dums have mangled bodies.

 

Also it's not space radiation that's changing everything, it's TIME RIPPLES! You know, like a quantum flux. Aka that's his 'damn good writing' he promised as for why his new stuff doesn't contradict everything else. Time ripples.

[SBR2]

Remington will likely be changing, as when he posted an SEGA style image of Remington recently he mentioned that it was a different design/style than would be in the book.

 

So it's likely all Ech'yd'diddy'dums have mangled bodies.

 

Also it's not space radiation that's changing everything, it's TIME RIPPLES! You know, like a quantum flux. Aka that's his 'damn good writing' he promised as for why his new stuff doesn't contradict everything else. Time ripples.

 

Actually I've seen people think that's him referencing the Genesis Wave. Like The Super Genesis Wave altered the future or something.

[Verb & Noun]

It isn't. He's said as much, though I understand not taking his word because he lies or distorts the truth so damn often.

 

The thing is I'll believe him on this one because he was already beginning to play with time in stories and had plans to do time shenanigans already (like in his plans he revealed for after 160 that he never got to do).

[Zero Dozer]

Just a magic question: Has Penders accomplished ANYTHING AT ALL on his book? Including a skeleton story, which I'm not seeing anywhere.

 

Because up until now, I can only see that he made Archie fuck the Sonic Comic Universe only for the fucking evulz.

Man, also, why do I think that Flynn should, ya know, take the fight and make Penders give him the rights to write his characters, even if by force?

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Just a magic question: Has Penders accomplished ANYTHING AT ALL on his book? Including a skeleton story, which I'm not seeing anywhere.

 

Because up until now, I can only see that he made Archie fuck the Sonic Comic Universe only for the fucking evulz.

Man, also, why do I think that Flynn should, ya know, take the fight and make Penders give him the rights to write his characters, even if by force?

 

Nope.

 

Speaking of which.

 

3/3 IPhone cases sold

 

That's so fucking funny at this point.

[Osmium]

With Penders' already incompetent and overly complicated writing, the last thing he needed to do was start fucking around with time. (And yes, I know about Mobius 25 Years Later, but the less said about that shit the better.)

Just a magic question: Has Penders accomplished ANYTHING AT ALL on his book? Including a skeleton story, which I'm not seeing

Don't think so. Any time that could have been used making progress was spent playing the victim card and blaming everyone around him.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Looking on Penders' Ebay. Everything he's selling is a fucking ripoff. He's selling old Sonic issues for £12-£15 when you could usually get them for £3-£7 by looking around Ebay a bit.

[Zaysho]

Just a magic question: Has Penders accomplished ANYTHING AT ALL on his book? Including a skeleton story, which I'm not seeing anywhere.

 

Because up until now, I can only see that he made Archie fuck the Sonic Comic Universe only for the fucking evulz.

Man, also, why do I think that Flynn should, ya know, take the fight and make Penders give him the rights to write his characters, even if by force?

 

Just saying, Flynn doesn't have that much pull at Archie. And I'm sure if he got involved in this squabble, riled up the fans, or actually made the drama worse, Archie would have absolutely no problem canning him in favor of a writer who knows where the line is.

 

And, personally, I'd rather Flynn keep his job rather than making noise over something that he had absolutely no control over. Do fans have the right to be upset still? Of course. But this is all beyond anyone's control, that it'd be unfair for anyone to dangle false hope like this, and I really don't think there's a point anymore. All I can do, at least, is accept it and blame the idiot who singlehandedly tore down 20 years of history.

 

 

Looking on Penders' Ebay. Everything he's selling is a fucking ripoff. He's selling old Sonic issues for £12-£15 when you could usually get them for £3-£7 by looking around Ebay a bit.

 

But they come from THE KEN PENDERS PRIVATE COLLECTION. They are therefore far more valuable than the typical stock.

 

I actually do remember he was selling some of these issues with a fucking certificate of authenticity, I kid you not. They weren't even issues he worked on. They were just random issues (that Flynn wrote) that he included in his case for review. I still don't get what relevance he thought the Tails Adventure arc had to anything he did--nothing he created was featured in that story.