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

[King Scoopa Koopa]

3 hours ago, Tenko said:

Its not just research and respect, Ian was, and still is, a fan of the franchise. He used to write fan comics with the characters back in the day, Other M being the most well known. He has a real love for everything in the franchise, it's not just for show like with some creators, it's genuine.

Meanwhile, Penders just waved Sonic X of all things and the franchise itself around as a billboard for his own work.

[Sidronas]

3 hours ago, Tenko said:

Its not just research and respect, Ian was, and still is, a fan of the franchise. He used to write fan comics with the characters back in the day, Other M being the most well known. He has a real love for everything in the franchise, it's not just for show like with some creators, it's genuine.

respect for the franchise, then?

[Tenko]

So apparently he's a "One-Man band" now? If I was any of the number of people working for him on this project I would likely feel a bit offended by that comment. The dude that made some models for him, all the translators (one of whome frequents here), whoever is creating that app for him cause it sure as hell isn't him, the voice actors he's apparently scouted to do voice work on the app, the animators for again, the app, as he's mentioned getting it into a motion comic format.

But no, he's a one-man band, creators rights and disclosure my left nut!!

[CleverSonicUsername]

You know it's funny how anti-Trump Penders is considering how many qualities he shares. The inability to do what is ostensibly his job, mistakenly believing himself to be a great businessman, a success, more culturally important or beloved than he actually is, the narcissism and obsessive qualities in general, and giving hot takes on Twitter in the wee hours of the night.

Penders could use his comic as an outlet for all this pent up energy, and even his hostility, but instead he bathes in it all and splashes us with the murky gross residue of his sickness.

Edit: Not trying to get political here, btw, I just think the comparison is amusing.

 

[SenEDDtor Missile]

56 minutes ago, CleverSonicUsername said:

You know it's funny how anti-Trump Penders is considering how many qualities he shares. The inability to do what is ostensibly his job, mistakenly believing himself to be a great businessman, a success, more culturally important or beloved than he actually is, the narcissism and obsessive qualities in general, and giving hot takes on Twitter in the wee hours of the night.

Penders could use his comic as an outlet for all this pent up energy, and even his hostility, but instead he bathes in it all and splashes us with the murky gross residue of his sickness.

Edit: Not trying to get political here, btw, I just think the comparison is amusing.

 

Penders at the end of the day is a small time narcissist in a big world that mostly doesn't care about him and the damage he causes is fairly limited, while Trump is a narcissist with more power than he should have and the potential for blowing us all to hell via nuclear holocaust just for the sake of his ego, or the absolute guarantee of dragging America through the mud thanks to him and his cronies.

[CleverSonicUsername]

3 minutes ago, SenEDDtor Missile said:

Penders at the end of the day is a small narcissist in a big world that mostly doesn't care about him and the damage he causes is fairly limited, while Trump is a huge narcissist with the potential for blowing us all to hell via nuclear holocaust just for the sake of his ego, or the absolute guarantee of dragging America through the mud thanks to him and his cronies.

Yeah I'm not saying they're absolutely equivocal in terms of impact so much as they share personality traits. I wouldn't even remotely make that argument.

[Sidronas]

5 hours ago, Tenko said:

So apparently he's a "One-Man band" now? If I was any of the number of people working for him on this project I would likely feel a bit offended by that comment. The dude that made some models for him, all the translators (one of whome frequents here), whoever is creating that app for him cause it sure as hell isn't him, the voice actors he's apparently scouted to do voice work on the app, the animators for again, the app, as he's mentioned getting it into a motion comic format.

But no, he's a one-man band, creators rights and disclosure my left nut!!

The person who did the 3D rendering and of ncourse Adamis are the only ones on the project seen that have my respect, unlike the person in charge

[horridus]

6 hours ago, Tenko said:

So apparently he's a "One-Man band" now? If I was any of the number of people working for him on this project I would likely feel a bit offended by that comment. The dude that made some models for him, all the translators (one of whome frequents here), whoever is creating that app for him cause it sure as hell isn't him, the voice actors he's apparently scouted to do voice work on the app, the animators for again, the app, as he's mentioned getting it into a motion comic format.

But no, he's a one-man band, creators rights and disclosure my left nut!!

You forget, this is Penders. The man cannot resist any opportunity to puff himself up and make himself seem more impressive and important than he actually is, and if that means casually discarding all the people who are responsible for making his asinine App fantasy a reality, then so be it. This is the same guy who now refuses to accept that the book he wrote was popular thanks to the Franchise it was a part of being popular, to such an extent that he thinks the niche book is more influential than the actual games that are released worldwide. 

As you said, if he's whining about how IDW is doing things, then it's a wonderful sign that that they're doing things just fine- cause if it were up to him, there'd be absolutely NO surprises in store for anybody by the time it came out. 

[Aquaslash]

20 hours ago, Tylinos said:

In case there was still any doubt:

The one time he actually clarifies himself on something, and it's to make it more clear that he really was saying something ridiculously stupid.  It's almost as if he was worried people might think he had meant something reasonable there.

To enhance the world and universe that I'm frankly privileged to be a part of? To provide challenges and or obstacles to Sonic and friends that the games can't?

Nah, that's crazy talk. Gotta make money

[Monkey Destruction Switch]

Has it ever occurred to him that sometimes introducing (a) new character(s) makes a story work better, or be easier to write? In fact, absolutely prohibiting oneself from ever introducing any characters would likely make one's job harder rather than easier.

[horridus]

13 minutes ago, Monkey Destruction Switch said:

Has it ever occurred to him that sometimes introducing (a) new character(s) makes a story work better, or be easier to write? In fact, absolutely prohibiting oneself from ever introducing any characters would likely make one's job harder rather than easier.

Once upon a time it did, when he glutted up the book with thousands upon thousands of characters, all the while presuming they would not be his. He has even rather loudly justified himself for doing that and defended the worth of those characters, even if only to vindicate the fact that he was never really interested in writing a 'Sonic' book. Evidently whatever passion for creation he had in those days has evaporated by this point. He can only see things through the lens of profit gain, and anything beyond that point has become alien to him, much the way that any artistic passion or impulse is alien to the corporate mindset. It would be tragic, if it weren't so dammingly hypocritical, and if he wasn't such an obstinate, egomaniacal jerkweed. 

[DoubleXXCross]

Do you think he's including any of the game creators in this—you know, the ones he never researched for Sonic Live and wrote as two white guys—or are we picking and choosing from comic creators only?

[Razule]

3 minutes ago, DoubleXXCross said:

Do you think he's including any of the game creators in this—you know, the ones he never researched for Sonic Live and wrote as two white guys—or are we picking and choosing from comic creators only?

The comics are all he cares about, so.. comic creators. I was thinking he might have been talking about himself.

[CleverSonicUsername]

I like how he worded that to make it seem like he's talking about anybody other than himself.

[horridus]

10 minutes ago, DoubleXXCross said:

Do you think he's including any of the game creators in this—you know, the ones he never researched for Sonic Live and wrote as two white guys—or are we picking and choosing from comic creators only?

Oh, he definitely only means comic exclusive people- they're the only ones he thinks matters, in as much as anyone who isn't him 'matters' when it comes to Sonic. And it's rather funny that he's choosing NOW to act concerned given that his first reaction to news of the cancellation was to berate said creators for not having a 'backup plan' to fall back on. 

[CleverSonicUsername]

 

Yeah guys the Sonic comic is a thing of the past, Ken is totes above it. I mean, heh, they didn't even PAY enough!

[horridus]

 

I'd believe him a bit more if he didn't constantly try to remind people of his time on the comic and the fact that he always trumps his own importance at the expense of everyone else who worked there. To say nothing of his continued desperation to sell LSC as a legitimate continuation of his work for that series.

Though I think we've reached the point where we've veered outside the boundaries of what's meant to be discussed here, so what's say we wait until something pertinent comes up before we start offering the usual color commentary amidst the despair of knowing this is a real person who makes these tweets and NOT a joke account by someone trying to parody the sort of man Penders is?

[CleverSonicUsername]

39 minutes ago, horridus said:

Though I think we've reached the point where we've veered outside the boundaries of what's meant to be discussed here, so what's say we wait until something pertinent comes up before we start offering the usual color commentary amidst the despair of knowing this is a real person who makes these tweets and NOT a joke account by someone trying to parody the sort of man Penders is?

 

I agree, but it's also reminded me of something I thought about the last time I got too inundated with his shenanigans, and that's the probability of even having a real discussion about him as his relevancy continues to evaporate. He's no longer wrapped up in legal proceedings against Archie or SEGA, IDW now has the license leaving little else for him to do than moan about his lack of involvement, and his comic has been in development hell for so long there's a very real possibility of it never seeing the light of day. The most we seem to get anymore outside of hot twitter takes is the occasional piece of promotional artwork, and the commentary on that typically amounts to "oh god, oh no, oh god." His focus on greed and penchant for frittering away his time on Twitter I think all but assures his days of producing anything of constructive conversation are done.

This is by no means an attempt to justify color commentary about his tweets. It's just an observation on what it even means to treat Penders as a current real time topic in the community.

[Dr. Detective]

You guys are right about color commentary about his tweets and all but it is admittedly really entertaining following this dude's Twitter.

I can not wait for the IDW comics to start. Penders is going to go full Pen-Derp when it happens and I can not wait.

 

[Razule]

It's funny, but if he isn't connected to Sonic in any way anymore.. then the topic is essentially dedicated to taking shots at the man.

[horridus]

1 hour ago, CleverSonicUsername said:

 

I agree, but it's also reminded me of something I thought about the last time I got too inundated with his shenanigans, and that's the probability of even having a real discussion about him as his relevancy continues to evaporate. He's no longer wrapped up in legal proceedings against Archie or SEGA, IDW now has the license leaving little else for him to do than moan about his lack of involvement, and his comic has been in development hell for so long there's a very real possibility of it never seeing the light of day. The most we seem to get anymore outside of hot twitter takes is the occasional piece of promotional artwork, and the commentary on that typically amounts to "oh god, oh no, oh god." His focus on greed and penchant for frittering away his time on Twitter I think all but assures his days of producing anything of constructive conversation are done.

This is by no means an attempt to justify color commentary about his tweets. It's just an observation on what it even means to treat Penders as a current real time topic in the community.

No worries, it's something I've considered myself given that, as you've observed, it's become increasingly unlikely he's ever going to release this- ESPECIALLY since it's become clear his main focus at the moment is releasing the App and the prequel stories on it first and THEN dedicating time to the main graphic novel, because evidently 'establishing the infrastructure for release will make working on it easier' or some other nonsense. And in fairness, his career at Archie DOES connect with the current frame of discussion given that its the reason for every last debacle that happened, we just need to be a bit careful given the razor thin line this thread walks on. At this rate though, we probably will run out of material to really talk about within a year or so, but then, who knows. 

46 minutes ago, Dr. Detective Mike said:

You guys are right about color commentary about his tweets and all but it is admittedly really entertaining following this dude's Twitter.

I can not wait for the IDW comics to start. Penders is going to go full Pen-Derp when it happens and I can not wait.

 

Knowing him, there will probably be a number of passive aggressive potshots at IDW with increasing frequency, including insinuations that they are shady/crooked or are in some kind of legal wrong. One thing that is certain is that as IDW gets rolling, he WILL start to escalate his behavior. 

7 minutes ago, Razule said:

It's funny, but if he isn't connected to Sonic in any way anymore.. then the topic is essentially dedicated to taking shots at the man.

Oh, don't be fooled- he IS connected to Sonic, because no matter what he actually says, he hasn't really left it behind at all. His current work is blatantly derivative and in his own mind a legitimate continuation of the stories that began in the pages of Sonic, he (foolishly) gets invited to things like Sonic Revolution, and he cannot help but yap about Sonic andh is place in it. He's connected, because he insists on still being connected. 

[Tenko]

It makes me wonder what he will have to sell at the conventions he frequents. He has said he's sold out of a good number of issues previously and that others are low in stock. Archie isn't printing anymore and it will start to get harder to find them to on sell as he does. Putting his signature all over issues he had nothing to do with and all.

What's he going to have beside his Lara-Su stuff? IDW issues? Comics he had absolutely zero influence in? He's going to have to put the pedal to the metal if he wants to have enough material, and collectable items to sell from now on.

[King Scoopa Koopa]

 

3 hours ago, Tenko said:

It makes me wonder what he will have to sell at the conventions he frequents. He has said he's sold out of a good number of issues previously and that others are low in stock. Archie isn't printing anymore and it will start to get harder to find them to on sell as he does. Putting his signature all over issues he had nothing to do with and all.

What's he going to have beside his Lara-Su stuff? IDW issues? Comics he had absolutely zero influence in? He's going to have to put the pedal to the metal if he wants to have enough material, and collectable items to sell from now on.

He would sell the IDW comics (autographed!!), wouldn't he?

[Tenko]

Geez..he can't help himself can he. In a debate about his post that creation is only "worth it" with some form of remuneration at the end vs my rebuttal that there are plenty of creators that create without reward and even ones that while they do get monetary gain, earn it enjoying, even loving the task at hand, that the money or job was in essence a bonus. The money wasn't the main goal.

Every counterpoint, if you can call them that, has reverted to irrelevant nonsense about the lawsuit, his work on the Sonic comics or that apparently I'm wanting something for nothing and he has to put food on the table. Even tho those topics never came up on my side beyond using Ian, Christian and Simon as points of reference as people who love the work and didn't start out doing it for the money but the love of the things they were creating, people he would at least know of rather than using names he may not know.

To him, Lara-Su is, he hopes, an eventual profit. If his tweet is to be believed he's only creating it for the money at the end of the tunnel, otherwise it's not worth it. It's pointless to create without it. To me that screams that Lara-Su will be rather soulless, as things made purely for profit generally are. It's upsetting that he sees creation this way now, he used to say he loved the characters, the stories, that he enjoyed creating. But now, if the money isn't there, it's not worth it.

Yes, he's done stupid, nay terrible things to some people, to the Sonic franchise, to his fans even, but seeing that post...hes not even a real creator anymore. It may not have been our cup of tea, but Lara-Su would have, may still make some of his few fans happy, but he's not really creating this new direction with care or love now, his excitement and creationism for the product is all for the money it could bring. That's just really sad, that as low as he may have gotten to some of us, he's now added sellout to the list of adjectives used to describe him and his work ethic on Lara-Su. It's weird that after all that's happened it actually makes me sad to hear that. 

Edit : So it seems he's now saying that he was only referring to creators working for big business. He did mention IDW etc in the original post but the way it was said came across, to me anyway, that creative's shouldn't bother without reward being offered, otherwise why bother. I did say if it was only big business he meant then I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, not that I expect the same for his misunderstanding that I was arguing against creators in business not getting their fair share, which I wasnt. Could have been cleared up a lot sooner with normal talking rather than him jumping on the defensive with his usual skirting on rude comments. While I don't agree that all creators should get continuing payments for their contributions when working on licenced properties they don't own, I do believe that they should all have fair pay just like every other job. 

[horridus]

1 hour ago, Tenko said:

Geez..he can't help himself can he. In a debate about his post that creation is only "worth it" with some form of remuneration at the end vs my rebuttal that there are plenty of creators that create without reward and even ones that while they do get monetary gain, earn it enjoying, even loving the task at hand, that the money or job was in essence a bonus. The money wasn't the main goal.

Every counterpoint, if you can call them that, has reverted to irrelevant nonsense about the lawsuit, his work on the Sonic comics or that apparently I'm wanting something for nothing and he has to put food on the table. Even tho those topics never came up on my side beyond using Ian, Christian and Simon as points of reference as people who love the work and didn't start out doing it for the money but the love of the things they were creating, people he would at least know of rather than using names he may not know.

To him, Lara-Su is, he hopes, an eventual profit. If his tweet is to be believed he's only creating it for the money at the end of the tunnel, otherwise it's not worth it. It's pointless to create without it. To me that screams that Lara-Su will be rather soulless, as things made purely for profit generally are. It's upsetting that he sees creation this way now, he used to say he loved the characters, the stories, that he enjoyed creating. But now, if the money isn't there, it's not worth it.

Yes, he's done stupid, nay terrible things to some people, to the Sonic franchise, to his fans even, but seeing that post...hes not even a real creator anymore. It may not have been our cup of tea, but Lara-Su would have, may still make some of his few fans happy, but he's not really creating this new direction with care or love now, his excitement and creationism for the product is all for the money it could bring. That's just really sad, that as low as he may have gotten to some of us, he's now added sellout to the list of adjectives used to describe him and his work ethic on Lara-Su. It's weird that after all that's happened it actually makes me sad to hear that. 

 

Penders has always approached being a creative with an overly clinical mindset. He literally views the characters as set-pieces whose soul function is to drive the story to the conclusion he wants it to, regardless of how little sense any of it makes. His work is LITTERED with stories where things only add up because of authorial fiat, rather than because of anything progressing in a natural, believable fashion. The fact that he is now in a position where his characters are literal commodities only brings the truth of his character to shine, and nothing you say is going to divert him from that.

And the reason it seems so sad is because it just verifies that everything that happened to the fandom because of him, as well as the complete obliteration of his reputation within this fandom, was done all for nothing. If he'd made his damned series,. then at least his efforts would have seemed to have been done in the name of a goal. At this point though? It's all a waste. All that drama, torture, the Reboot and everything that occurred thanks to him was done in the name of a big fat zero. Lara-Su Chronicles was never going to be good. Penders' already lackluster skills as a writer and artist deteriorated greatly since the time he left Archie, and as the years have gone by he's only shown himself to be getting worse. Whatever grandiose fantasies he had, it's been proven he can't make them a reality, and it looks like he's not really interested. It's all a waste. His work, his career, the lawsuit, this project... all for nothing.