Megathread Archie Sonic Main Discussion

[Arcade Racer CC14]

I'm confused as to what this discussion is about.

Ken Penders is sueing Archie/SEGA for the characters that debuted in his stories so he can feature them in his own comic series. We're discussing his "redesign" of Lara-Su which is essentially "ORIGINAL THE CHARACTER. DO NOT STEAL." because she still clearly looks like a Sonic character and Penders thinks he can get away with it.

Edited December 4, 2011 by Christmascontrol14

[Big Boss (legendsneverdie)]

Ken Penders is sueing Archie/SEGA for the characters that debuted in his stories so he can feature them in his own comic series. We're discussing his "redesign" of Lara-Su which is essentially "ORIGINAL THE CHARACTER. DO NOT STEAL." because she still clearly looks like a Sonic character and Penders thinks he can get away with it.

Wow, what an asshole.

Here's BobR's post attempting to defend Penders.

Everyone is making an assumption that is totally erroneous in that it's possible to own the style of the characters. Art style can not be owned, copyrighted, trademarked, or protected in any way. You can copyright an image. You can trademark a character. But there is no way to do that with a style. If you wanted to go out and paint pictures in the style of Norman Rockwell or Picasso, you're more than welcome to do so (and many people have.) Just don't try to pass it off as a Norman Rockwell or Picasso -- that's fraud.

Edited December 4, 2011 by Wearied Snowflakes

[Adamis]

Moving on to Rouge, that is a nice comparison and I understand where you are coming from, but there is no Uekawa echidna design with that body-type. For her body to be infringing on Sega trademarked echidna designs, she would have to have the same body-type as Tikal at least. However, even if you look at Tikal, her body-type is very similar to Knuckles, just with slightly wider hips. Lara-Su's arms, legs, hands and feet have more-human-like muscle structure and proportions compared to the Sega standard of round, tube-like arms/legs and large, round hands/feet. Next, Sega-standard Uekawa Sonic characters stand at maximum around 2.5 heads tall. Lara-Su can easily be seen as 3 heads tall, making her height proportions significantly different enough.

TOTALLY DIFFERENT STYLE

Guys, I'll draw Sonic with one extra quill and add three muscles and ta-daaaa! New comic project !!

[-Mark-]

Also, regarding Ken's 'original' Lara-Su design, does anyone else think the sunglasses look like they were cheaply shopped in at the last second?

[Badnik Zero]

What I don't understand is if Ken has this unhealthy obsession with his unfinished stories, why in the freakin' hell did he leave Archie five years ago like, "See you guys! New horizons!" with his stupid moustache. He wasn't fired. He left.

[turbojet]

Good riddance.

[AuroraRedwinters]

So I am torn.... I have these fan characters and I don't know what to call them. For the one on the right, I was thinking either Cinos or Rainbow the Hedgehog. On the left, Gradient or Canckles the Echidna. They battle Yolkman and have a two-tailed fox friend named Kilo. I will be opening donations shortly for their feature film and will include such riveting dialogue such as: "BORN JUNE 6, 2006, EXACTLY TWELVE THOUSAND TEN YEARS, 11 MONTHS, 2 WEEKS, 9 HOURS, 47 MINUTES AND 13.7 SECONDS AGO."

[Space☆Tomoki]

*image*

So I am torn.... I have these fan characters and I don't know what to call them. For the one on the right, I was thinking either Cinos or Rainbow the Hedgehog. On the left, Gradient or Canckles the Echidna. They battle Yolkman and have a two-tailed fox friend named Kilo. I will be opening donations shortly for their feature film and will include such riveting dialogue such as: "BORN JUNE 6, 2006, EXACTLY TWELVE THOUSAND TEN YEARS, 11 MONTHS, 2 WEEKS, 9 HOURS, 47 MINUTES AND 13.7 SECONDS AGO."

How about Quicky the Porcupine and Fisticuffs the thingymajig?

[Spooky Mulder]

Hahahaha! I've avoided commenting on this story for a while because I'm really not sure what to make of it all, but I can't resist any longer.

What is Penders thinking? I mean, he must be completely crazy, but also...what a douchebag!

What kind of self-absorbed maniac with a creepy mustache would go around stealing Sonic's friends to fuel his own wacked out creations and fulfill his own apparent delusions of grandeur?

[Soniman]

I think im bold enough to say that I can draw better than Ken. Seriously, his drawings are pretty ugly imo.

[Space☆Tomoki]

I think im bold enough to say that I can draw better than Ken. Seriously, his drawings are pretty ugly imo.

I have to agree. I can't stand his drawings... they're so... ugh...

[SBR2]

Oh dear God Penders are you serious this is ridiculus.

Welp I'm just gonna sit back and watch him get his Ass handed to him.

[Aquaslash]

And BobR(Penders right hand man)answers back.

Wow. I hope he gets his money back from wherever he got his degree, cause he got scammed, big time

[Badnik Mechanic]

Wow, there must have been one hell of a nerve struck if forums are now being called out by name by the higher ups on Kens forum and if the staff are threattening to take action against people who are criticising it.

Do I suspect that even the supporters of it don't really have much confidence in it, because thats what it sounds like.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/sin_and_repent/barf.png

Is this the Sonic & Knuckles: Lego shoe edition?

[Yong]

Wow, there must have been one hell of a nerve struck if forums are now being called out by name by the higher ups on Kens forum and if the staff are threattening to take action against people who are criticising it.

Do I suspect that even the supporters of it don't really have much confidence in it, because thats what it sounds like.

Ken just be suing everybody!

[Your Vest Friend]

Ken Penders vs The World!

[SBR2]

Here's a thought. What ever happened to "The Lost One's" I mean if he want's to screw some thing up why not his own IP's which he ca actually put some kind of claim on.

[Mangoaxe5]

Here's a thought. What ever happened to "The Lost One's" I mean if he want's to screw some thing up why not his own IP's which he ca actually put some kind of claim on.

The Lost Ones got canned after the very first issue. Sonic & Knuckles is what he's best known for so that's why he's doing this.

[Legendary Emerald]

Gonna be completely honest... I loved Ken's work on the Knuckles series of comics. If there is any possibility of it continuing, even under a disguise, then I'm all for it. Fuck the law. Why the hell should I support huge machines like Archie, SEGA, and Bioware instead of the little guy who thinks he had something good and wants to continue it?

That said, despite the fact that Bioware did blatantly take his ideas for their clusterfuck of a game, he's going to lose that case. Ideas like that are far too general to claim ownership of. I get the feeling Ken's lawyer(s) are egging him on as hard as they possibly can to stir as much shit as possible, just wanting to get more money from the guy. But regardless of whatever force is working upon him to take on all these big dogs at once, you cannot get around the fact that he has bitten off more than he could ever hope to chew.

I wish Ken luck, and hope that he doesn't self-destruct before making his dreams come true.

[Flyboy Fox]

"Fuck the law"? Dangerous thinking, man. It opens the floodgates for anyone to take and use licensed characters and ideas for their own personal profit, and for plagurism, rip-offs and theft to run rampant. However you may feel about Ken as a person, he can't be allowed to do this. He had his "something good" while he was with Archie. He chose to walk out on it, and it is no longer his. He is free to come up with a new and original idea, but he can't run away and start a Sonic spin-off without permission and expect for it to work out in his favour. He is painfully naive if he honestly believes he has a hope in hell of pulling it off, and the people supporting him and egging him on are only contributing to his delusion and a harder fall.

[Soniman]

I dont give a shit if Ken's old stories were good or not, that's not the point here. It's what he doing NOW that make me want to vomit. He remind me of the infamous Chris Chan, blatantly copying and the design style of something that already exisit (or in Chris' case TWO design styles) and then go on to claim it as his.

He need to realize that if it weren't for Sega, none of his precious recolors or stories wouldn't even exist. He needs to take a step back (several steps back) and realize that hes making a complete ass of himself.

Edited December 5, 2011 by Sonimas032

[Gatestormer]

Gonna be completely honest... I loved Ken's work on the Knuckles series of comics. If there is any possibility of it continuing, even under a disguise, then I'm all for it. Fuck the law. Why the hell should I support huge machines like Archie, SEGA, and Bioware instead of the little guy who thinks he had something good and wants to continue it?

Firstly, what he had that was something good was never by law his property anyway, he was creating stories owned by SEGA using SEGA characters in SEGA's universe. It all falls under the umbrella of SEGA, Sonic and Archie, not Ken Penders,

Secondly. if he wants to continue it, why the hell did he leave in the first place?

Thirdly, if he's got a scrap of talent in him, he can make more stories.

And Lastly, why should you support those huge machines? Well simply because they're the ones who created this universe we all love so much in the first place (well SEGA anyway, again, connect all the dots in this and it goes back to them)

Edited December 5, 2011 by ENVY

[Indigo Rush]

Ken Penders has released a trailer of his new upcoming series:

Firstly, what he had that was something good was never by law his property anyway, he was creating stories owned by SEGA using SEGA characters in SEGA's universe. It all falls under the umbrella of SEGA, Sonic and Archie, not Ken Penders,

Secondly. if he wants to continue it, why the hell did he leave in the first place?

Thirdly, if he's got a scrap of talent in him, he can make more stories.

And Lastly, why should you support those huge machines? Well simply because they're the ones who created this universe we all love so much in the first place (well SEGA anyway, again, connect all the dots in this and it goes back to them)

Also, pretty much this. I find the analogy of the "innocent man" vs "the big machine" to be incredibly... well, incorrect. I don't care what world you live in, but you can't take an officially licensed series (who's character's are loved and payed attention to by millions), put a dirty wig on it, give it breasts and call it your own.

If Ken Penders is able to get away with this, then "Shimmy Shanks the Artificial Hedgehog Jr and Muckles" is a shoe-in for a feature film trilogy.

[AuroraRedwinters]

If Ken Penders is able to get away with this, then "Shimmy Shanks the Artificial Hedgehog Jr and Muckles" is a shoe-in for a feature film trilogy.

Dude, don't steal my idea for my characters Cinos and Cankles. You just changed the names and probably the colors too. Now I will sue you!

If Ken is really gung-ho about his characters and ideas, he could probably get away with it if he made changes. For example, instead of Lara-Su.... call her Lauren or Lauren Susan and make all the characters humanoid. It could be set in an alternate or futuristic Earth where one family is in charged of guarding what keeps the planet "alive". (Sort sort of power source that is hidden to everyone except these guardians) Her father is getting older and she is ready to take over since her 18th birthday is coming up. Typically your 18th birthday indicates the right of passage and assuming the duties, but her dad is hesitant to do so for a reason unbeknowst to us at the beginning. Then some threat emerges and cue the dramatic epic music.There can even be a Brotherhood of Old Farts if he wants.

It's basically the same story but w/o echidnas. If people liked the story Ken told in the comics, then they should have no problem getting interested in this since it's basically the same damn thing but different enough.

Edited December 5, 2011 by AuroraRedwinters

[KingMan]

"Meet the future guardian....Once dad decides she's ready."

Good gravy, does this sound like something out of a poor quality blockbuster summer feature. Either that or one of those "SyFy Original Movies."