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[Lord Malachite]

I think at one point in the comic she was officially half & half both of those. Which conflicts with how the comic has otherwise depicted the offspring of cross-species parents but eh, that's what happened.

True and the design of Sally' s mother came purely from Archie. As I recall from the "Blast To The Past" episodes of SatAM, it was implied that her mother was dead before the Kingdom fell in the coup. It is odd that the cross-species thing was changed there, but it may have just been awareness of what a fan favorite Sally was because she was a strong female role model from a time in our culture we we were only just beginning to see the roles of women in the medium evolve.

 

[dafodeu]

Great news. Can't wait to see what IDW does with the franchise. Amazing things happening for Sonic as of late. Hope Sega keeps it up.

 

[MAtgS]

They're totally gonna shiptease SonicxRainbow Dash in the inevitable crossover, aren't they?

 

[AlexFlame116]

They're totally gonna shiptease SonicxRainbow Dash in the inevitable crossover, aren't they?

Argh those painful memories of the fandom are coming back!!!

 

[Sciz]

To be honest the Unleashed arc is kind of perfect, I wonder what Flynn could even do to top it. Besides making something that doesn't take 4 years or so to conclude, heh.

If I had my druthers I'd just go straight up Dragon Ball with it and focus on Sonic globetrotting with a supporting cast that rotates in and out. Keep the length of the longest major plot down to about a year.

It's kind of fascinating to me how Sally's design rather screams chipmunk despite the fact It's been confirmed several times she's a squirrel. Furry design, I suppose.

Her redesign as of the reboot went for 100% chipmunk specifically to resolve the confusion.

 

[Lord Malachite]

Her redesign as of the reboot went for 100% chipmunk specifically to resolve the confusion.

You see? This is what I get for losing touch with the comic before the reboot! Whether IDW decides to pickup where Archie ended or start fresh, I rather hope they hold onto the stronger supporting cast. Back when the Sonic games were the fun and simplistic Genesis / Mega Drive affairs, the SatAM cast breathed some real life into the IP by promoting a team ethos and a world where actions had consequences. It's a shame it didn't stick around long enough to have a game that would have promoted swapping out characters (different skillsets for different situations) and a simplistic RPG leveling system for the different characters that could've altered the flow of the story and game based on how the group would take on different objectives. Not that I still wouldn't want classic era Sonic gameplay--a theoretical SatAM game could've been its own thing separate from the mainline series.

 

[Boss Doggie]

IDW seems to be getting lots of license work.

 

[Blueblur1]

I hope this is decent.

 

[Strimei]

Penders respond if you're ok

Ken Penders‏ @KenPenders 2h2 hours ago

Before I get asked this a zillion times, neither @SEGA or @IDWPublishing can use any stories, characters &/or concepts of pre-2005 creators.

I'm quite sure a reasonable licensing deal for all can be worked out, but @IDWPublishing getting free use? No way.

I'm sure IDW and Sega will be beating down his door to get at those sweet, sweet echidna rights and the rest.

 

[AlexFlame116]

I'm sure IDW and Sega will be beating down his door to get at those sweet, sweet echidna rights and the rest.

What a grade-A jerk.

 

[MAtgS]

What a grade-A jerk.

Dude got a SatAM continuation film written by the show's head writer canned because of his dumb ego getting involved.

 

[Berordn]

It's amazing to me how much love they've been getting these last couple of days when I've frequently seen them dumped upon by Sonic fans for decades now.

The last reboot turned them into generally likable characters with inoffensive backstories and they weren't trying to outshine the game characters, so it was a change for the better.

 

[RecRoulette]

That was quick.

 

[Tyraniboah]

oh yeah IDW goodness

Is that from Rulers of Earth? Thinking hard about starting it. I may get back into Sonic comics after this announcement

 

[G0523]

Penders respond if you're ok

Ken Penders‏ @KenPenders 2h2 hours ago

Before I get asked this a zillion times, neither @SEGA or @IDWPublishing can use any stories, characters &/or concepts of pre-2005 creators.

I'm quite sure a reasonable licensing deal for all can be worked out, but @IDWPublishing getting free use? No way.

I'm sure IDW and Sega will be beating down his door to get at those sweet, sweet echidna rights and the rest.

Da fuck? No one is asking him for anything.

Oh yeah, hey, remember that one character from 2002 that we can't use anymore? Come the fuck on.

 

[Danthrax]

I'm sure IDW and Sega will be beating down his door to get at those sweet, sweet echidna rights and the rest.

I imagine no one in the industry will want to have anything to do with him ever again. IDW is well aware of his antics with Archie, I'm sure.

 

[Village]

To be honest the Unleashed arc is kind of perfect, I wonder what Flynn could even do to top it. Besides making something that doesn't take 4 years or so to conclude, heh.

I thought that shit was terrible. But hey different strokes

I really thought it was an on point display of Ian's flaws as a writer, and how flawed a concept was about adapting unleahsed a game who's good parts ... I would argue can't be communicated via a comic book. But I'm glad some people got enjoyment out of it, from my understanding a lot of folks felt like it got long in the tooth year or a few months in, by the time it reached conclusion I would imagine a lot of factors caused the rush ending. Regardless Glad someone liked it

 

[IrishNinja]

dunno who Ian Flynn is but yes

 

[Boss Doggie]

Da fuck? No one is asking him for anything.

Oh yeah, hey, remember that one character from 2002 that we can't use anymore? Come the fuck on.

I think the only remarkable character that came from his time is Scourge.

 

[Village]

dunno who Ian Flynn is but yes

He's a guy who writes comics who's really good at writing character interactions, while his set ups or world over arching plots... aren't the best. He's brought out the best in almost every single character for sonic he's written. He has a love for the series, and a love for his craft.

There's a thing with shadow, amy and knuckles that literally shows despite all the bad shit the comic has spewed from its maw, there is value in it.

 

[Candescence]

Pretty much what I hoped for. IDW seems to know what they're doing, and Sonic comics have been pretty profitable even at the worst of times, so this is a good opportunity for them.

I'm sure IDW and Sega will be beating down his door to get at those sweet, sweet echidna rights and the rest.

Seriously, if IDW really wanted to, they could just redo the Echidna stuff but better.

Dude got a SatAM continuation film written by the show's head writer canned because of his dumb ego getting involved.

Oh, Christ, I forgot this was a thing. Apparently said head writer and Penders were in talks with either a studio or SEGA (can't remember wish) and the lady who was their main point of contact was friendly and things were going well... Until said writer got an angry phone call out of the blue calling off the entire thing before hanging up - apparently Penders did something that really pissed off the people they were negotiating with. I wish I knew where the link to that whole story was.

 

[Village]

Seriously, if IDW really wanted to, they could just redo the Echidna stuff but better.

.

I don't think they can, sega is really strict now on " knuckles is last one, shut up", they are less restrictive on using black arm stuff so... you might get some that if you want that

 

[Candescence]

I think the only remarkable character that came from his time is Scourge.

And even then, like Deadpool, it took a much better writer to develop him into a way better character. It's still baffling that Scourge is now basically out of bounds despite him quite literally being an evil alternate universe version of Sonic. Surely any challenge by Penders wouldn't hold up in court in that case.

I don't think they can, sega is really strict now on " knuckles is last one, shut up", they are less restrictive on using black arm stuff so... you might get some that if you want that

Didn't Flynn already introduce another Echidna post-reboot?

 

[Sciz]

And even then, like Deadpool, it took a much better writer to develop him into a way better character. It's still baffling that Scourge is now basically out of bounds despite him quite literally being an evil alternate universe version of Sonic. Surely any challenge by Penders wouldn't hold up in court in that case.

He doesn't have a legit claim on the general concept of "evil, parallel universe Sonic", but he's also litigious enough that nobody's going to touch that with a ten foot pole because it isn't worth the trouble.

Didn't Flynn already introduce another Echidna post-reboot?

Nope. Tikal was hanging around as a ghost, but no new ones. Unless I'm really forgetting someone, anyway.

 

[plank]

Not really keeping up with this but, did Archie lose the licensing or something?

 

[Candescence]

Nope. Tikal was hanging around as a ghost, but no new ones. Unless I'm really forgetting someone, anyway.

I swear Flynn introduced a new Echidna named Kneecaps that Penders absolutely flipped his shit over because, well, his name wasn't akin to the same naming scheme from the pre-reboot Echidnas. Or was that another Echidna from the past?

 

[Sandfox]

Not really keeping up with this but, did Archie lose the licensing or something?

Essentially Archie dropped the ball and Sega found a new publisher.

 

[nephilimdj]

Sega USA: We get a chance to start over, Mania and now comic
Sonic Team: What you talking about, we just created Infinite, hes faster then sonic and evil
Sega USA: Fuck

 

[plank]

Essentially Archie dropped the ball and Sega found a new publisher.

Can I get a link to this story. Seriously curious about this one.

 

[Village]

I swear Flynn introduced a new Echidna named Kneecaps that Penders absolutely flipped his shit over because, well, his name wasn't akin to the same naming scheme from the pre-reboot Echidnas. Or was that another Echidna from the past?

No knew echidina's

There was a guy ... the troll dude, whatever the fuck his name is, disguised himself as one. Knuckles trusted him, got betrayed. Knuckles and Shadow had a whole like shared moment about it because knuckles wants to trust the guy and shadow saw through him from like moment one but said " fuck it do what you want "

 

[Sciz]

I swear Flynn introduced a new Echidna named Kneecaps that Penders absolutely flipped his shit over because, well, his name wasn't akin to the same naming scheme from the pre-reboot Echidnas. Or was that another Echidna from the past?

Kneecaps dates to before Ian's time. The only echidna thing I specifically remember Penders losing it over was killing Locke.

 

[Maedhros]

I just want Satam characters and Mobius to stick around. Sonic Overdrive style was great for a short story, but adapting games with the REALLY SMALL cast from Sonic will make it grow dull...

Anyway, waiting for solicits...

 

[Boss Doggie]

And even then, like Deadpool, it took a much better writer to develop him into a way better character. It's still baffling that Scourge is now basically out of bounds despite him quite literally being an evil alternate universe version of Sonic. Surely any challenge by Penders wouldn't hold up in court in that case.

huh wow

you're right, the comparison is apt

 

[Spirit Icana]

Okay, I've been living under a rock.

There was a Sonic comic series running recently that brought back the Freedom Fighters from SatAM?

WHAAAAAAAAAAATT!!!

I used to love the cartoon series. Was my favorite Sonic universe. I gotta look this up!

 

[Harpoon]

Probably an unpopular opinion, but after 10 years of Flynn on the Archie comic... I think I would prefer to see more fresh blood writing-wise. Definitely bring back artists like Hesse and Yardley, though.

 

[Candescence]

No knew echidina's

There was a guy ... the troll dude, whatever the fuck his name is, disguised himself as one. Knuckles trusted him, got betrayed. Knuckles and Shadow had a whole like shared moment about it because knuckles wants to trust the guy and shadow saw through him from like moment one but said " fuck it do what you want "

Kneecaps dates to before Ian's time. The only echidna thing I specifically remember Penders losing it over was killing Locke.

Huh, weird. Nevermind, then.

Okay, I've been living under a rock.

There was a Sonic comic series running recently that brought back the Freedom Fighters from SatAM?

WHAAAAAAAAAAATT!!!

I used to love the cartoon series. Was my favorite Sonic universe. I gotta look this up!

You sure have, the comic has been running for roughly 25 years - longest running western licensed comic. It basically started as a more comical adaptation of the SatAM cartoon and, well, 'evolved' from there.

 

[megaStryke]

Okay, I've been living under a rock.

There was a Sonic comic series running recently that brought back the Freedom Fighters from SatAM?

WHAAAAAAAAAAATT!!!

I used to love the cartoon series. Was my favorite Sonic universe. I gotta look this up!

WHOA! You didn't know about the Sonic comic at all!? You got some catching up to do!

 

[Sandfox]

I don't think Archie ever gave people refunds for their subs, so I wonder what's going happen there.

Can I get a link to this story. Seriously curious about this one.

Basically there's been a bunch of issues over the past few years like the Penders lawsuit. There's not one specific story on it and a lot of the stuff we're hearing is unsourced.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

Hire the people who made the UK Sonic Comic back in the day. That shit was way better than anything that has come since.

.

 

[Candescence]

Also, I know everyone's had their fill of terrible Penders stuff in the last thread, but I'm also reminded that he did terrible Digimon cover art back when, well, dubbing companies basically did their own thing (such as, well, editing three entirely different OVAs into a single goddamn movie).

Seriously, the guy seems to be at his best when he doesn't have access to bloody photoshop.

 

[Quadraphonic]

Essentially Archie dropped the ball and Sega found a new publisher.

Don't paint them in that bad of a light.

Sega was slowly increasing the cost of license while the sales of the comic were dwindling.

Plus, Ken Penders has been dragging out a scary ass lawsuit that threatened to completely upend the ENTIRE comic industry if it ruled in his favor as it went into uncharted territory. (Does he get rights to characters he made for a licensed IP?)

It's just not worth it for Archie who doesn't have the funds to do this all.

 

[TreIII]

Great news. Between TMNT and Transformers, IDW has been the main comic book publisher getting my money anyway.

One more won't hurt, if it's good.

 

[Fancyarcher]

Saw this coming. IDW has become to go to comic company for licensed properties.

HIRE
IAN
FLYNN

also keep the Freedom Fighters around in some capacity

^ This.

 

[Candescence]

Don't paint them in that bad of a light.

Sega was slowly increasing the cost of license while the sales of the comic were dwindling.

Plus, Ken Penders has been dragging out a scary ass lawsuit that threatened to completely upend the ENTIRE comic industry if it ruled in his favor as it went into uncharted territory. (Does he get rights to characters he made for a licensed IP?)

It's just not worth it for Archie who doesn't have the funds to do this all.

Let's not give Archie too much credit - if they actually had the documentation they said they did rather than incompetently losing it (seriously, the fact that nobody thought to back up certain important documents such as fucking contracts or at least keep them somewhere where they were less likely to be destroyed for whatever reason was stupid as hell), the whole case wouldn't have been an issue. In the years before Flynn came on, Archie simply really didn't care what the comic was doing (granted, neither did SEGA, but still), which let Penders practically do what he wanted right up until the new editorial staff at the time did what their predecessors didn't (aka actually do their jobs), and SEGA started putting more input into the comic as well (which caused Penders to leave since he didn't like working under proper oversight). The lack of proper oversight for years came back to bite everyone in the ass.

Archie's stewardship of the license was questionable even at the best of times, I think.

 

[NastyBook]

IDW? Get the Transformers treatment with dope storylines?

 

[Lord Malachite]

Don't paint them in that bad of a light.

Sega was slowly increasing the cost of license while the sales of the comic were dwindling.

Plus, Ken Penders has been dragging out a scary ass lawsuit that threatened to completely upend the ENTIRE comic industry if it ruled in his favor as it went into uncharted territory. (Does he get rights to characters he made for a licensed IP?)

It's just not worth it for Archie who doesn't have the funds to do this all.

Sega has been increasing the cost of the license to Archie for years, it's no wonder Archie wanted out. No matter how well Sonic sells, it's better for them to focus on the characters and IP they entirely own, it's just good business. For Archie, Sonic is a holdover from their 90s experiments with branching out, the one that actually really paid off in the long run.

As for the lawsuit by Ken Penders, I'm no legal expert, but wouldn't the determination of whether or not he owns the characters he created fall under the particulars of his contract? Forgive me because it's been like a decade or more since I really followed the book, but didn't Ken create just about every character from the Knuckles branch of the comic except for Knuckles and the Chaotix? And if that's true, and it's not clear in the contract that either Ken, Archie, or Sega retains ownership of those characters, then as I have understood cases like this in the past, I think it comes down to either Sega or Archie "defending" their (unspoken?) rights to the characters by making use of them. If they haven't been, or worse, they were letting Ken use the characters he created for the Sonic books in his own works, unmolested, then that might end up going in Penders favor. And that right there could've been a big factor in Archie bailing out.

Again, I'm not a legal expert, so if anyone here is and my interpretation is wrong, I will be happy to stand corrected.

 

[TreIII]

IDW? Get the Transformers treatment with dope storylines?

Who knows?

Hasbro, now-a-days, has been a bit more hands-off with the IDW run, which has been a good thing.

I can't see Sega allowing the same for Sonic, in light of all the bullshit that happened under Penders. And that's the main thing I could see being the only rub.

 

[Sciz]

As for the lawsuit by Ken Penders, I'm no legal expert, but wouldn't the determination of whether or not he owns the characters he created fall under the particulars of his contract?

Ordinarily, but what it boiled down to was that Archie couldn't produce any convincing evidence that a work for hire contract ever existed in the first place, at which point US copyright law sides with the creator.

 

[Lagamorph]

Hire the people who made the UK Sonic Comic back in the day. That shit was way better than anything that has come since.

I'd love for them to hire Nigel Kitching, his artwork was glorious, better than anything that was ever in the Archie comics.

 

[Mr Swine]

While I'm happy that Sonic will get a new comic, my main problem is that everything that Archie built up is now dead. We will never ever see the third Sonic and Mega Man cross over arch