Most, if any, readers of this thread will probably not understand what is meant in the image, but what happened is that Ken Penders, a former artist for the Archie Sonic comic series, decided that the characters that he created for the comic series were his and his alone, so, after a complex series of events, he, in a nutshell, stole the characters that he created for the Archie series from the story of the series.

 

Either way, none of the three parties that are involved in the fiasco (Sega, Archie and Ken Penders) can draw echidnas properly.

If Ken Penders loves his Laru-Sa so much why doesn't her marry her?

 

Edit: Seriously though, Ken PendersXLara-Su art NOW

Edited October 7, 201312 yr by Phantom R

If Ken Penders loves his Laru-Sa so much why doesn't her marry her?

Do you seriously not think that you would be scarred for life if you saw artwork of that?

Technically though, Archie can still use his characters. Ken himself said that they could still use them if they wanted and whether they did or not was their choice alone. So the real question is, why haven't they done anything with them yet? If they've basically gotten the go-ahead from the guy who started this whole Big Lipped Alligator Moment of a lawsuit, then why haven't they done anything? Maybe SEGA just randomly jumps in before they make a decision and says "NO COOKIES FOR YOU!!", forces them not to use them, and then leaves without any explanation. If SEGA is good at anything, it's jumping in on something at the last second, making questionable decisions, and making things much more complicated than they need to be.

Technically though, Archie can still use his characters. Ken himself said that they could still use them if they wanted and whether they did or not was their choice alone. So the real question is, why haven't they done anything with them yet? If they've basically gotten the go-ahead from the guy who started this whole Big Lipped Alligator Moment of a lawsuit, then why haven't they done anything? Maybe SEGA just randomly jumps in before they make a decision and says "NO COOKIES FOR YOU!!", forces them not to use them, and then leaves without any explanation. If SEGA is good at anything, it's jumping in on something at the last second, making questionable decisions, and making things much more complicated than they need to be.

What I heard was that the series has been "re-booted", and most of the echidnas have not been featured in the Archie comics for a while now. Is that not true?

What is wrong with Sega controlling Archie? Without Sega, the Archie series would not exist, and yet the Archie series (as well as Ken Penders) treats Sega as if it has nothing to do with the situation.

What I heard was that the series has been "re-booted", and most of the echidnas have not been featured in the Archie comics for a while now. Is that not true?

What is wrong with Sega controlling Archie? Without Sega, the Archie series would not exist, and yet the Archie series (as well as Ken Penders) treats Sega as if it has nothing to do with the situation.

 

Yes the series has been "re-booted"...well, more like "re-re-booted"...okay more like "re-re-re-re-booted"...only the events from before still happened in some way or form. It's a long story. Let's just say that Eggman found a way to rewrite the universe on more than one occasion and on both of those occasions it required un-rewriting the universe, which really just leaves a slightly altered version of the world in its wake. This time, however, it seems to be a much more definite re-boot...only Sonic and some of his friends still hold memories of what happened in their "previous" world. That's about the point where the comics are at now, and I honestly hope it ends in a satisfying way, whatever that may mean for me.

 

As for the echidnas, they were "dealt with" about one arch before the arch that lead to the 2nd big re-boot that lead to the recently finished Sonic/Mega Man Crossover Event. Basically, due to the whole complications involving the echidna characters, Archie found a way to write them out of the series without necessarily killing them or wiping them out. Thrash the Devil-dog, a character introduced in a Knuckles arch about 2-3 years or so back, has a vendetta against the echidna race and has basically "borrowed" a warp ring from Knuckle's arch nemesis Dr. Finitevus (also an echidna, also mysteriously missing in action...) and used it to trap (well, convinced is more like it) them in a parallel zone separate from theirs. With no way to get them back (for the moment anyway), Sonic and Knuckles are very upset about this, and vow to get them back...somehow.

 

Anyway, that was in the "old" universe. Now, thanks to the events of the Crossover event, Sonic has a "new" universe with slightly altered character designs for the non-game characters and all of those game adaptations that happened "in another time, in another place..." may have actually happened in this universe, which would mean that game stories actually furthered the plot of the universe, which is cool I guess. The history, people, and settings of this new universe are mostly the same as those of the old one, only some details were slightly changed (King Acorn and Sally have been redesigned to look more "SEGA-y", Eggman from the past resembles his Genesis appearance rather than his SatAM appearance, etc.). Aside from character designs and game story arcs having already happened (2006's place in this universe is now even more unclear than ever), nothing is really that different so far. Tails Doll was still attacking the castle when Sonic returned, Sally is aboard the Death Egg II, and Ixis Naugus was still king (but not anymore, thanks to yet another sudden mental breakdown from his past messed up life). As for the last few people Sonic was with before the Crossover, Tails found Sonic when he returned but both had different memories of their world (until Nicole helped them understand what was going on), Amy, along with Cream, got stuck in Blaze's dimension with Blaze and Marine after the Crossover ended (only Blaze seems to have kept most of her memories of the Crossover), and Silver apparently hasn't been seen since the events of Sonic Colors (which apparently happened already).

 

With a new universe may mean certain retcons on old retcons, meaning that Eggman may have always been Eggman and not Julian Kintobor or Metal Robotnik, and the echidnas' fates may have changed. Whether that means we will see them again or not is uncertain, considering how Knuckles' race in the games isn't exactly around any more either. But the point is that with a new universe that is still in some way dependent on the events of the past universe, anything is possible, so characters we missed may be around again (or never existed to begin with...)

 

 

It's not that I have a problem with SEGA controlling Archie (really all they control are the Sonic comics), it's just that I have a problem with them not stepping in to help Archie in the first place at the beginning of this whole fiasco, THEN just as Archie and Penders were about to reach settlement, SEGA comes out of nowhere and jumps in at the last second to say "Ha, NO. YOU are going to do this OUR way, and listen to OUR terms. Right Archie?", unnecessarily extending and complicating the already convoluted lawsuit for about another couple of months. SEGA should be involved with Archie, otherwise the comics wouldn't exist at all. But they shouldn't go and complicate things the way they do. It's also because of SEGA that the universe got this whole re-re-re-re-boot to begin with, because they told Archie that they couldn't use the SatAM based characters unless they matched the style of the game characters. It was a move that a lot of fans found completely unnecessary and I sort of agree with them...sort of. I mean they did seem a bit out of place compared to the other characters, but I got used to that. Now Antoine is going to go around wearing almost nothing (just like every other guy in this comic apparently...), Rotor's appearance almost seems a bit...frog-like (but maybe that's just the artist rendition I saw first, I hope it looks a lot more natural), and Sally has pants...pants! This actually doesn't bug me as much, but it sure got the rest of the fan base in an uproar. I mean you have a character wear nothing but boots and an open vest for about 20 years, and then you put pants on her and everybody freaks out. Nostalgia sure can insight the strangest reactions from some people.

 

Anyway, the changes are going to take some getting used to, but I think I'll get used to them. I mean Rotor may or may not look strange, but at least his back will be fine and back in action. Antoine may not be wearing his uniform, but at least he's not in a comma anymore. Bunnie's back and she has new parts (but I really wanted to know the full nature of her disappearance in the last couple of issues). Nicole has a nice design (but what about my Shard/Nicole!?). And Sally may be wearing just as many clothes as the next SEGA girl, but at least she's not a robot anymore! My only qualm about this is that it kind of feels like a cheap way to cop out of the story-arcs that they had been building up to so much in the old universe. Like what's going to happen to Snively? What was Bunnie up to this whole time? Where are Thrash and Finitevus? Will we see Julie-Su again? Will Geoffrey ever be free of Naugus!? And a bunch of other stuff worth asking! But whatever, one way or another, this current arc is likely to bring some kind of explanation as to what happened and how things are going to go from now on. It will be a strange ride, but I'm looking forward to it. I only hope that SEGA, Penders, or any other former writer out there wont jump in to complicate things further.

Yes the series has been "re-booted"...well, more like "re-re-booted"...okay more like "re-re-re-re-booted"...only the events from before still happened in some way or form. It's a long story. Let's just say that Eggman found a way to rewrite the universe on more than one occasion and on both of those occasions it required un-rewriting the universe, which really just leaves a slightly altered version of the world in its wake. This time, however, it seems to be a much more definite re-boot...only Sonic and some of his friends still hold memories of what happened in their "previous" world. That's about the point where the comics are at now, and I honestly hope it ends in a satisfying way, whatever that may mean for me.

 

As for the echidnas, they were "dealt with" about one arch before the arch that lead to the 2nd big re-boot that lead to the recently finished Sonic/Mega Man Crossover Event. Basically, due to the whole complications involving the echidna characters, Archie found a way to write them out of the series without necessarily killing them or wiping them out. Thrash the Devil-dog, a character introduced in a Knuckles arch about 2-3 years or so back, has a vendetta against the echidna race and has basically "borrowed" a warp ring from Knuckle's arch nemesis Dr. Finitevus (also an echidna, also mysteriously missing in action...) and used it to trap (well, convinced is more like it) them in a parallel zone separate from theirs. With no way to get them back (for the moment anyway), Sonic and Knuckles are very upset about this, and vow to get them back...somehow.

 

Anyway, that was in the "old" universe. Now, thanks to the events of the Crossover event, Sonic has a "new" universe with slightly altered character designs for the non-game characters and all of those game adaptations that happened "in another time, in another place..." may have actually happened in this universe, which would mean that game stories actually furthered the plot of the universe, which is cool I guess. The history, people, and settings of this new universe are mostly the same as those of the old one, only some details were slightly changed (King Acorn and Sally have been redesigned to look more "SEGA-y", Eggman from the past resembles his Genesis appearance rather than his SatAM appearance, etc.). Aside from character designs and game story arcs having already happened (2006's place in this universe is now even more unclear than ever), nothing is really that different so far. Tails Doll was still attacking the castle when Sonic returned, Sally is aboard the Death Egg II, and Ixis Naugus was still king (but not anymore, thanks to yet another sudden mental breakdown from his past messed up life). As for the last few people Sonic was with before the Crossover, Tails found Sonic when he returned but both had different memories of their world (until Nicole helped them understand what was going on), Amy, along with Cream, got stuck in Blaze's dimension with Blaze and Marine after the Crossover ended (only Blaze seems to have kept most of her memories of the Crossover), and Silver apparently hasn't been seen since the events of Sonic Colors (which apparently happened already).

 

With a new universe may mean certain retcons on old retcons, meaning that Eggman may have always been Eggman and not Julian Kintobor or Metal Robotnik, and the echidnas' fates may have changed. Whether that means we will see them again or not is uncertain, considering how Knuckles' race in the games isn't exactly around any more either. But the point is that with a new universe that is still in some way dependent on the events of the past universe, anything is possible, so characters we missed may be around again (or never existed to begin with...)

 

 

It's not that I have a problem with SEGA controlling Archie (really all they control are the Sonic comics), it's just that I have a problem with them not stepping in to help Archie in the first place at the beginning of this whole fiasco, THEN just as Archie and Penders were about to reach settlement, SEGA comes out of nowhere and jumps in at the last second to say "Ha, NO. YOU are going to do this OUR way, and listen to OUR terms. Right Archie?", unnecessarily extending and complicating the already convoluted lawsuit for about another couple of months. SEGA should be involved with Archie, otherwise the comics wouldn't exist at all. But they shouldn't go and complicate things the way they do. It's also because of SEGA that the universe got this whole re-re-re-re-boot to begin with, because they told Archie that they couldn't use the SatAM based characters unless they matched the style of the game characters. It was a move that a lot of fans found completely unnecessary and I sort of agree with them...sort of. I mean they did seem a bit out of place compared to the other characters, but I got used to that. Now Antoine is going to go around wearing almost nothing (just like every other guy in this comic apparently...), Rotor's appearance almost seems a bit...frog-like (but maybe that's just the artist rendition I saw first, I hope it looks a lot more natural), and Sally has pants...pants! This actually doesn't bug me as much, but it sure got the rest of the fan base in an uproar. I mean you have a character wear nothing but boots and an open vest for about 20 years, and then you put pants on her and everybody freaks out. Nostalgia sure can insight the strangest reactions from some people.

 

Anyway, the changes are going to take some getting used to, but I think I'll get used to them. I mean Rotor may or may not look strange, but at least his back will be fine and back in action. Antoine may not be wearing his uniform, but at least he's not in a comma anymore. Bunnie's back and she has new parts (but I really wanted to know the full nature of her disappearance in the last couple of issues). Nicole has a nice design (but what about my Shard/Nicole!?). And Sally may be wearing just as many clothes as the next SEGA girl, but at least she's not a robot anymore! My only qualm about this is that it kind of feels like a cheap way to cop out of the story-arcs that they had been building up to so much in the old universe. Like what's going to happen to Snively? What was Bunnie up to this whole time? Where are Thrash and Finitevus? Will we see Julie-Su again? Will Geoffrey ever be free of Naugus!? And a bunch of other stuff worth asking! But whatever, one way or another, this current arc is likely to bring some kind of explanation as to what happened and how things are going to go from now on. It will be a strange ride, but I'm looking forward to it. I only hope that SEGA, Penders, or any other former writer out there wont jump in to complicate things further.

I am sorry if I upset you in saying this, but as interesting as all of that sounded (I am not being sarcastic), I have never paid much attention to the Archie Sonic comic series. I would probably read the comics if I had easier access to them; the last place anywhere near where I live that I know was selling them closed down months ago, and despite recent efforts, my search to find copies of the series elsewhere has been fruitless. However, I have recently ordered both the Archie Sonic encyclopaedia and volume one of the Knuckles the Echidna Archives online, so that might help me to become more interested in the series.

 

It is good to hear that the Archie comic series is going more in accordance to the game series, and that the art is increasing in quality. The majority of what I have seen of the comic series has artwork that is fairly poor, so if there has been a noticeable improvement in the art, that is a good sign to me. The fact that some characters have been given a more Japanese-created look is a good thing; going by what I have seen of the comic characters, many of the original comic characters are either too similar to the Japanese-created characters that they are based on (most notably the echidnas), or are not creative enough when it comes to comparing them to their real-world counterparts. The only original comic characters that I think are creatively well-designed are Mina and Ash mongoose.

I am sorry if I upset you in saying this, but as interesting as all of that sounded (I am not being sarcastic), I have never paid much attention to the Archie Sonic comic series. I would probably read the comics if I had easier access to them; the last place anywhere near where I live that I know was selling them closed down months ago, and despite recent efforts, my search to find copies of the series elsewhere has been fruitless. However, I have recently ordered both the Archie Sonic encyclopaedia and volume one of the Knuckles the Echidna Archives online, so that might help me to become more interested in the series.

 

It is good to hear that the Archie comic series is going more in accordance to the game series, and that the art is increasing in quality. The majority of what I have seen of the comic series has artwork that is fairly poor, so if there has been a noticeable improvement in the art, that is a good sign to me. The fact that some characters have been given a more Japanese-created look is a good thing; going by what I have seen of the comic characters, many of the original comic characters are either too similar to the Japanese-created characters that they are based on (most notably the echidnas), or are not creative enough when it comes to comparing them to their real-world counterparts. The only original comic characters that I think are creatively well-designed are Mina and Ash mongoose.

 

It's no surprise to me. The comic has been around for 20 years, but even then it's still hard to get into. The only way I was able to keep up was by watching videos of the comics on youtube, before Sonic Comics World was banned. I used that to get caught up with the Genesis arc, the one that celebrated Sonic's 20th Anniversary. Since then I've been getting all of the current issues.

 

Since then, it was interesting to see how the comic has changed over the years, and definitely a change for the better. The comic's early days were OK, but they seemed a tad bit too goofy for me, but at least it was more serious than Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog...only not as serious as SatAM, which oddly may have been a good thing. Anyway, for about the first half of the series' lifetime, the art quality has been on and off. I think my favorite artist out of that era was Spaz since he tended to do the art for the milestone issues and big arcs, which sort of helped set the standard for the rest of the series, since it was in those issues that the comics began to resemble what they typically are now. Otherwise, the regular artists didn't really impress me that much, it was just that same old typical Archie cartoony style that felt quirky and a little bit awkward. It wasn't until the the new millennium that the series really got to pick up in terms of both story and art. My favorite artist of this era was probably still Spaz, since his style really showed that edgy era of the Dreamcast. By this point they were getting more good artists, though the occasional oddball sneaked in every now and then to make things awkward. But to me it was by the time that Tracey Yardley! got on board when the series really stuck to the way they are now a days. His art style is by far my most favorite out of the entire series, it was the one that stuck closest to the original Japanese design, which was great since by that point there was no more drawn Sonic art for the games, only CG renders. Since then many many other great artists have signed on with the series who offer their own styles that luckily don't deviate too far from the Yardley! standard. I think Ben Bates and Jamal Peppers are my other favorites from this current era, since they all do a good job keeping Sonic and all the other characters looking the way a Sonic character ought to look.