Archie Comics "Mobius: 25 Years Later" Archie Reprints to Be Published as "The Lara-Su Chronicles: Beginnings"

[GX -The Spindash-]

While many Archie Sonic fans have wanted further collections and reprints, this likely isn't the format they were hoping for. Having taken pre-orders since late December, former Archie Sonic writer and artist Ken Penders has revealed the cover proof for his upcoming hardcover reprint of Archie Sonic's "25 Years Later" saga.

Cover proofs featured in original blog post.

The saga, originally printed as a secondary story across 2003 and 2004, focuses on the interpersonal and political relationships of Knuckles, his partner Julie-Su and his future daughter Lara-Su in a post-Eggman world. In the original run of the comic, time altering events ultimately wrote this version of the future out of existence, and a different future was explored after Penders' departure in 2006. However, Penders states that this collection changes the final page of the arc, which will now link the story to his other Lara-Su Chronicles projects.

Penders remains a controversial figure in the fanbase for many reasons, with one major point of friction being what he claims to own following prior lawsuits. While rulings have made clear that Penders owns (or partially owns) a number of characters he created while working for Archie Comics, what isn't quite as clear is if he owns the right to reprint comics that feature SEGA owned characters and contain work by other Archie Sonic creators. Perhaps the strongest example is the panel featured on the back cover, originating from Issue 144, in which Penders is only credited as writer, with penciling, inking, and coloring attributed to Steven Butler, Jim Amash, and Jason Jensen respectively.

Penders anticipates the book to be available at Comic-Con in July, with earlier shipping to pre-orders.

Original Post Content:

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[Lorekitten]

It's official, people. Count down the days until this guy gets the pants sued off him.

[DaBigJ]

That's gotta be illegal

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Part of me says “About damn time”; the other part is waiting to see what happens next…

[Endoian]

Well we're talking about a guy who has no respect for people who die and makes crappy art, it doesn't surprise me at all.

[Indigo Rush]

Half-expecting the final additional pages to be drawn in crayon

[The Tenth Doctor]

No credit to the other artists on the cover eh Ken? Even though you wailed at Aarchie to put your name first on the archives? Man, what a hypocrite. Not surprised.

[Salamander]

Not unless Ken's got the license from SEGA and other rights holders to reprint them, they're not.  Which sounds especially unlikely given that such a printing essentially confirms that his "original characters" are indeed the same characters from SEGA and Archie's properties.

[Zaysho]

I can't even be mad anymore; every time he updates about this project I laugh. Like, man, you can't be revising history to claim TLSC exists as its own universe (while making bizarre claims about Sega/Archie/IDW) and not even bother to make edits to the artwork (or at least the lettering, like come on) to move it away from the Sonic book.

[Knight Terror]

Where does this man get his funding!?

[Ryannumber1gamer]

I mentioned it in the topic, but I think it’s incredible how Penders is so inept, he has failed something as utterly basic as a back blurb.

A back blurb is meant to just be a quick summary of the book’s premise. It’s trailer, so to speak. It’s there that if you’re in a bookstore, browsing through the comics, you can just pick a book up, read the blurb and go “huh, that sounds interesting. I’m gonna buy it!”.

Let’s take for example, one of the back blurbs from a Sonic book. Here’s Archives Volume 5: 

Quote

Sonic the Hedgehog is the longest running video game comic EVER and for good reason! The classic issues have become valued collectors items, so the Archives series was introduced for new fans and veterans alike! Discover, or relive the classic adventures of your favourite family friendly heroes in these gorgeous digitally restored reprints! For your expanding collection, we present Sonic the Hedgehog #17-20! 

This volume is full of big moments for the Sonic series! If you thought Evil Sonic was the only double out there, think again! Get your fill of thousands of Sonics as they face off against the extra evil of Robo Robotnik in his debut! Watch as the comic takes its first steps into the dramatic as Sally says goodbye to her ailing mentor. But stay for the hilarity of the enormous clanking King Gong! And what’s this? Sonic and Sally are getting married? Sonic’s a ghost? All the answers are here, and ONLY here!

Now obviously this is more difficult because this was during the comedic era of the book, but even still. The first paragraph entices by talking about the history, milestones, and selling point of the Archives series, while the second paragraph is focused entirely on the book’s contents, trying to entice people to want to read it, talking about how it’s the stepping stone to the tone shift, discussing some big whacky things like the multiple Sonics, the fake wedding, etc. They try to make it all exciting to grab a new reader.

Compare it to Penders’ blurb where he just sits and does a gigantic and frankly sad rant about his stupid grief with Archie for the umpteenth time as if anyone gives a shit. Instead of explaining what the story is about and trying to grab any new readers via a exciting description, he instead opts to make it all about him yet again for the umpteenth time. If anyone picked this book up in a book store and read the back blurb, would they really be remotely interested to touch it if they saw some no name writer from a old Sonic series having a impromptu whining session about Archie Comics? Especially if they flipped it open and saw such exciting scenes like Julie Su and Sally lounging by a pool, Julie Su cooking dinner and talking to Lien-Da, or a random sleepover? They’d be thinking “Nah mate, Archie had good reason to pull the plug”.

Incredibly stupid move on his part. Well, y’know, not counting the fact that this is pretty illegal, which is an even stupider move.

[StreetSonic2022]

*Awaiting for the train wreck to happen real soon*

[CalmCha0s]

Edited January 29 by CalmCha0s

[ChaosCTRL]

Wait, he’s just straight up reprinting the 25 years later comics? Knuckles is even on the cover (I THINK it’s Knuckles???). There’s no way in hell he thinks this is legal, right?

[Ryannumber1gamer]

45 minutes ago, ChaosCTRL said:

Wait, he’s just straight up reprinting the 25 years later comics? Knuckles is even on the cover (I THINK it’s Knuckles???). There’s no way in hell he thinks this is legal, right?

No, I don’t believe so. In short, there’s a copyright deadlock. Penders owns his characters and stories, but does not own the Sonic characters, license, artwork, or anything that isn’t his writing, basically.

SEGA and Archie can’t reprint due to what he owns. The opposite is true. But Penders is just trying his luck anyways, erroneously believing all he has to do is send a check to SEGA after the fact and that will clear him.

[SomeOtherStranger]

The only way I can see this working is if he replaces everything that wasn't created by him.

I mean, he owns the writing, right? So maybe all he has to do is replace all the artwork that wasn't made made by him.

And of course he'd have to replace Knuckles with... whatever derivative version he came up with.

There's no way he'd be so foolish as to straight-up reprint these issues, right?

[Ryannumber1gamer]

1 minute ago, SomeOtherStranger said:

The only way I can see this working is if he replaces everything that wasn't created by him.

I mean, he owns the writing, right? So maybe all he has to do is replace all the artwork that wasn't made made by him.

And of course he'd have to replace Knuckles with... whatever derivative version he came up with.

There's no way he'd be so foolish as to straight-up reprint these issues, right?

He’s already shared previews that show the exact same art, characters, and even name.

To put it bluntly, for now, and any further things you can’t believe, it is best to assume yes, he is that foolish.

[GX -The Spindash-]

5 hours ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Compare it to Penders’ blurb where he just sits and does a gigantic and frankly sad rant about his stupid grief with Archie for the umpteenth time as if anyone gives a shit

For what it's worth, the book's release itself, and his subsequent threats of releasing... whatever the hell Lara-Su Chronicles is supposed to be, is *also* in itself a sad rant about stupid grief with Archie. It's the perfect metaphor.

[Trevor Culleton]

That son of a jerk Ken Penders, I hope somehow that Sonic and Sega would give him a taste of his own medicine in bring sued and set lawsuits against. But here's the difference, Sonic and Sega would be reasonable of it.

Edited February 1 by Trevor Culleton

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

You know what? Screw it, and wish me luck…

I’m gonna buy it and spare everyone else the $35 to see what it’s like. Won’t be the worst investment I made.

I’m NOT going to pre-order it, however. Someone let me know when he has it ready for order.

Edited January 29 by CrownSlayer’s Shadow

[Arcade Racer CC14]

Gotta love how Penders always makes such a big deal of being an independent comic artist/writer with complete ownership of his work when Steven Butler and crew likely aren't going to see a dime out of his reprint of material they worked on. Real creator friendly.

[Lorekitten]

5 minutes ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

You know what? Screw it, and wish me luck…

I’m gonna buy it and spare everyone else the $35 to see what it’s like. Won’t be the worst investment I made.

I’m NOT going to pre-order it, however. Someone let me know when he has it ready for order.

Bold of you to presume that it ever will be, given that it's a big fat lawsuit waiting to happen and it's inevitable that Sega and/or Archie will hit him with a C&D for stepping on their toes.

Honestly, if this even lasts long enough to make it onto the physical market, then I'll be surprised. Except not as surprised as I would be if it was done by anyone else but Ken Penders, because Ken Penders has a lot more nerve than he has tact and it's not a good combination.

[Promethean0416]

Considering that 80-90% of the work is already done for him, this is an attempt at a cash grab, though as already stated, this is definitely suspicious and judging from his previous statements on "willing to pay the necessary fees to SEGA" and the fact that any relationship he had with the company has been broken since the Chronicles lawsuit, I don't see how he could have gotten permission to do this, but to reiterate a saying from before: let the chips fall where they may.

Anyway, I posted these on the KP topic before, but here is a comparison of two panels from the original 25YL and 'Beginnings":

Original:

Beginnings:

Nice mouth, Sonic.

[Rabid-Coot]

So its futher along than ever but still getting delays.

Print run of 2000 with special thanks for the first 200 orders still being advertised as available suggests the interest is low.

1800+ books to store sounds like a fun time.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

27 minutes ago, Lorekitten said:

Bold of you to presume that it ever will be, given that it's a big fat lawsuit waiting to happen and it's inevitable that Sega and/or Archie will hit him with a C&D for stepping on their toes.

Honestly, if this even lasts long enough to make it onto the physical market, then I'll be surprised. Except not as surprised as I would be if it was done by anyone else but Ken Penders, because Ken Penders has a lot more nerve than he has tact and it's not a good combination.

Sounds good—I get to keep my money in the meantime then!

I’m mostly waiting to see how far this would go if he has the balls to do this now. It’s been a decade as it is.