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

[horridus]

6 hours ago, babsiwuff said:

Why is she wiping the lenses of her glasses while crying?  I swear this guy's art makes no sense.

I would imagine its MEANT to be her wiping at the tears leaking past the edge of the lenses, but thanks to the way this is drawn it looks like she is in fact wiping at the glasses. Why he couldn't just have her remove the glasses while attending to her tears, I cannot guess.

[Promethean0416]

2 hours ago, horridus said:

I would imagine its MEANT to be her wiping at the tears leaking past the edge of the lenses, but thanks to the way this is drawn it looks like she is in fact wiping at the glasses. Why he couldn't just have her remove the glasses while attending to her tears, I cannot guess.

If that's the case, maybe there needs to be built-in wipers for that visor, but I digress...

Anyway, I just read up on something regarding printing companies and them taking deadlines very seriously. If one were to miss a deadline (or two), wouldn't it either mean a further delay in processing or fully cancelling the job/work order in general?

Reason I am bringing this up is that Penders has missed the deadline quite a few times already, and on one of those instances, he had to rework some of the pages from the initial sent product at the printing company's request. What are the chances that the company he used cut him off after he failed to meet the initial deadline (especially if he signed some sort of contract/agreement with them) and he's just stalling until he finds a new one that will make those 2000 books?

Now, on the other side, this company he made the agreement with seems small time, so maybe they may be easier on him depending on how they run things, but I would be sure that they would have people working the machines and their time (and possibly money) would be wasted if deadlines weren't met in time for this product.

Edited March 22 by Promethean0416

[King Scoopa Koopa]

It's almost like looking at AI art, except I don't think that it is, because I don't think there's enough out there that looks this bad like this for it to scrape.

And near as we can tell, Penders hasn't made enough material himself to feed the beast.

Oh, and of course, I think he's been doing this stuff long before AI-generated imagery as we know it today.

Huh. I guess in his own way, he was ahead of the curve the entire time! Heck, with the popularity of AI art, he may have an audience for this thing yet! (At least, until they find out it isn't.)

Edited March 22 by King Scoopa Koopa

[Rabid-Coot]

Between the photo backgrounds and the Anthony Mackie incident I just assume all the characters are photo draw overs.

[Promethean0416]

Well, after five delays, he seems to have finally done it aside from doing minor touch-ups. (Though why is that warranted if he claims its done? Am I missing something, doesn't done mean done?)

From the "Last Call" update:

Quote

The book is at the printers. The SPECIAL THANKS pages are now locked. At the moment, I’m doing some minor touch-ups on a couple of pages at the moment, but essentially the book is complete and currently being prepared for press.

Guess we will see what happens next...

Edited March 26 by Promethean0416

[Leebo4]

2 hours ago, Promethean0416 said:

Well, after five delays, he seems to have finally done it aside from doing minor touch-ups. (Though why is that warranted if he claims its done? Am I missing something, doesn't done mean done?)

From the "Last Call" update:

Guess we will see what happens next...

Was a reply to a comment I posted so we now have this update

[Mobius_Historian]

You know, on a meta-level, you got to appreciate the humor and irony of this whole situation; Thanks to the lawsuit, this guy took 90% of Knuckles's family and friends and entire race, and left him with a long-dead chief (Pachamamac), ghost girl (Tikal), warrior princess and her tribe (Princess Alucion and the forbidden Zone echidna clan) evil pale arch-nemisis ( Dr. Finitiveus/Zachary), and his crotchety old Scottish grandpa (Athiar) who lives Knuckle's basement apartment (hidden Palace Zone)

Edited March 26 by Mobius_Historian

[SatAMhog]

Wait, did Ken ACTUALLY finish this thing? Or least get Vol.1 or what not done?

[Rabid-Coot]

1 hour ago, SatAMhog said:

Wait, did Ken ACTUALLY finish this thing? Or least get Vol.1 or what not done?

He got a collection of old Archie material with a few TLSC preview pages done and that last we heard is simultaniously at the printers and still being tweaked so it can't quite definitvly be said that something is done yet.

[captobvious42]

On 3/30/2024 at 4:40 AM, Rabid-Coot said:

He got a collection of old Archie material with a few TLSC preview pages done and that last we heard is simultaniously at the printers and still being tweaked so it can't quite definitvly be said that something is done yet.

So he has basically nothing except lawsuit fodder; while Sega's washed their hands of most of the Archie characters, Knuckles (and Sonic) are still unambiguously theirs, so him using them in his "prequel" without changing them would definitely give them reason to come after him...

...Unless, as much as we'd like them to go after him, they're going to ignore him to avoid Streisanding him. Which would actually be a smart move on their part.

[Lorekitten]

3 minutes ago, captobvious42 said:

So he has basically nothing except lawsuit fodder; while Sega's washed their hands of most of the Archie characters, Knuckles (and Sonic) are still unambiguously theirs, so him using them in his "prequel" without changing them would definitely give them reason to come after him...

...Unless, as much as we'd like them to go after him, they're going to ignore him to avoid Streisanding him. Which would actually be a smart move on their part.

Well, given that he's trying to go 'more mature' for TLSC, I don't think Sega will consider that an option because he's actively damaging their all-ages brand.

Granted, that largely assumes that he actually does anything with TLSC after this, given it's taken him a decade just to get his bootleg to print...

[captobvious42]

4 minutes ago, Lorekitten said:

Well, given that he's trying to go 'more mature' for TLSC, I don't think Sega will consider that an option because he's actively damaging their all-ages brand.

Granted, that largely assumes that he actually does anything with TLSC after this, given it's taken him a decade just to get his bootleg to print...

I'm wagering he doesn't sell more than maybe the 200 to 300 out of the 1000-2000 he's planning on producing with the only people buying being his hard-core and/or his ironic fans. The rest are probably going to sit in a warehouse until their discovered twenty or so years in the future and THEN they'll be popular... for all the wrong reasons.

Sega launching a lawsuit would just give him more attention and likely increase the numbers sold, which is why I'm saying its possible they might ignore him. But ultimately its up to them; if anything, it comes down to how much he actually sells.

[Lorekitten]

8 minutes ago, captobvious42 said:

I'm wagering he doesn't sell more than maybe the 200 to 300 out of the 1000-2000 he's planning on producing with the only people buying being his hard-core and/or his ironic fans. The rest are probably going to sit in a warehouse until their discovered twenty or so years in the future and THEN they'll be popular... for all the wrong reasons.

Sega launching a lawsuit would just give him more attention and likely increase the numbers sold, which is why I'm saying its possible they might ignore him. But ultimately its up to them; if anything, it comes down to how much he actually sells.

That makes sense. Quite frankly, I'm surprised anyone is buying them at all, except as a curiosity to see just how badly he bungles things up.

[captobvious42]

8 minutes ago, Lorekitten said:

That makes sense. Quite frankly, I'm surprised anyone is buying them at all, except as a curiosity to see just how badly he bungles things up.

I was under the impression he still has some really hardcore fans, though I feel that number drops the longer he slacks off and rants on Twitter. 

[King Scoopa Koopa]

Theoretically, SEGA could file something that prevents further sale and sees the unsold stock destroyed if they win.

[horridus]

5 hours ago, captobvious42 said:

I was under the impression he still has some really hardcore fans, though I feel that number drops the longer he slacks off and rants on Twitter. 

He does indeed. Trouble is, Ken believes (or has proclaimed to believe) that his fanbase is much, much more expansive than it is, and likewise operates under the assumption that its a fanbase for him rather than Sonic. Whatever remnant of diehards he has left? They're definitely not gonna be enough to sell all 2000 of those books, especially given that he only met his pre-sale goal after repeatedly delaying it.

[Promethean0416]

1 hour ago, horridus said:

He does indeed. Trouble is, Ken believes (or has proclaimed to believe) that his fanbase is much, much more expansive than it is, and likewise operates under the assumption that its a fanbase for him rather than Sonic. Whatever remnant of diehards he has left? They're definitely not gonna be enough to sell all 2000 of those books, especially given that he only met his pre-sale goal after repeatedly delaying it.

Did he? Going off one of the previous updates by my last count, he only sold 177 books, with his goal being 200. Now, I could be wrong, he could have updated Xitter or IG and "proclaimed" he made his goal and then some, but I digress...

[horridus]

1 hour ago, Promethean0416 said:

Did he? Going off one of the previous updates by my last count, he only sold 177 books, with his goal being 200. Now, I could be wrong, he could have updated Xitter or IG and "proclaimed" he made his goal and then some, but I digress...

I confess, it's been so long I misremembered. Last time I was here I remember seeing chatter he finally reached it, but clearly I remember incorrectly. Which just makes the repeat delays even worse, especially given how long it has been since the original deadline.

Edited April 1 by horridus

[SenEDDtor Missile]

I just came back temporarily-ish.

Is this saga STILL GOING?

[Promethean0416]

34 minutes ago, SenEDDtor Missile said:

I just came back temporarily-ish.

Is this saga STILL GOING?

Yep. Right now, he is currently selling Mobius: 25 Years Later Remastered aka The Lara-Su Chronicles: Beginnings with the physical product itself being in stock around the June-July timeframe.

However, depending on certain circumstances, Sega may or may not intervene at some point before or when his product comes in...

[SenEDDtor Missile]

Good grief, it's been over TEN YEARS since this whole forum page, the whole chronicling of this whole thing started.

[Promethean0416]

Well, after roughly three weeks of eerie silence since his last update, we have this news:

https://kenpenders.com/tom-petty-got-it-right/

Quote

The waiting is definitely the hardest part now that the book is completed and I’ve just finished my initial review of the proof pages. Only a couple of minor of corrections need to be made and reviewed for approval, and then the presses begin to roll. We’re on track for the books to ship sometime around early June with arrival on my end by June 30, give or take a day or so and baring any bridge collapsing.

So...mark the calendars again, I suppose? And barely enough time before he supposed appearance in this year's Comic Con provided a certain company doesn't take action prior to or when he receives said product...

Quote

Along with the people who already pre-ordered BEGINNINGS, anyone who pre-orders will be included in the SPECIAL THANKS pages of the print edition of THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES: SHATTERED TOMORROWS, which is at least a year off in the future. All updates concerning this project will be posted here.

A year away, huh? So if all goes well, it will be roughly 14 years since his initial announcement that he will release something of substance that is not a reprint...

Quote

I’ll begin taking pre-orders for KEN PENDERS’ THE KNUCKLES FILES OMNIBUS VOL. 1 sometime in the fall, collecting every story featuring Knuckles I worked on up to KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA issue 16. Everyone who pre-orders BEGINNINGS will also be included in the SPECIAL THANKS pages as well, acknowledging I couldn’t have gotten this far without the support of everyone who aided the cause. I’ll have more details once I actually start assembling the book.

Still wondering if he got a certain video game company and publisher's permission for this...

Quote

Regarding the app, that may or may not be ready by time the San Diego Comic-Con occurs, as I took a number of short cuts getting the book done at the expense of the app...

Wonder what he meant by this? Admittance that he is pushing out a product that most of the work was already done for him?

Edited April 11 by Promethean0416

[captobvious42]

Quote

I’ll begin taking pre-orders for KEN PENDERS’ THE KNUCKLES FILES OMNIBUS VOL. 1 sometime in the fall, collecting every story featuring Knuckles I worked on up to KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA issue 16. Everyone who pre-orders BEGINNINGS will also be included in the SPECIAL THANKS pages as well, acknowledging I couldn’t have gotten this far without the support of everyone who aided the cause. I’ll have more details once I actually start assembling the book.

Wow... Anyone else feel like he's practically claiming Knuckles for himself here? I mean, its not really a surprise, but its pretty... ballsy.

No surprise he's delaying it again, though.

[Promethean0416]

2 hours ago, captobvious42 said:

Wow... Anyone else feel like he's practically claiming Knuckles for himself here? I mean, its not really a surprise, but its pretty... ballsy.

No surprise he's delaying it again, though.

Well, he did tweet this a while back, so:

Anyway, that aside, this comment made me scoff a bit due to obvious reasons:

Quote

Absolutely. Once I promise something, I deliver. This applies only to orders received prior to Wednesday, July 24, 2024, which is the start of the San Diego Comic-Con. Those attending Comic-Con still need to pre-order the book even if they plan on picking up the book at the show as I have only a limited amount of space at the show not to mention space in my vehicle for everything I’m bringing to the show. I’m still 13 orders shy of 200 for those who also want to claim the last of the Lara-Su prints promised as part of the promotion for the first 200 orders.

So yep, didn't make his initial goal after all with 187 sold, but nudging those goalposts again in an attempt to make it look good, but I digress...

[Lorekitten]

This guy is just BEGGING for the copyright hounds to come after him.

Seriously, how does a guy this utterly detached from reality even function as a human being? This is a sincere question.

Edited April 11 by Lorekitten