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Archie Sonic Comic Megathread

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by Dark Sonic, Jan 27, 2011.

  1. MegaDash

    MegaDash

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    Why is the water beneath him glowing green?
     
  2. Greg the Cat

    Greg the Cat

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    A Zone Unknown of Title
    Comics from the Mind of Yours Truly, A little workshop of animation, Sonic FreeRunner
    Maybe you might want to read the story. Elder gods and a boundless fortune are involved.
     
  3. Overlord

    Overlord

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    Debatable. Might work for America maybe, but Archie isn't sold in Europe - how do you explain the franchise's success over here? (OK, we had a Sonic comic, but that was (a) UK only and (b) cancelled just after SA1 came out, so that's a decade now without it as a potential "booster".)
     
  4. Dark Sonic

    Dark Sonic

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    Personally I really do not like that drawing. It does convey creepy that's true, but more in the way that like a pedophile is creepy
     
  5. Greg the Cat

    Greg the Cat

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    A Zone Unknown of Title
    Comics from the Mind of Yours Truly, A little workshop of animation, Sonic FreeRunner
    This is from the same book, but spoils the outcome of the story.
    [​IMG]

    Seriously, just read it.
     
  6. Mr. Pictures

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    What? Last time I checked Flynn crams dialogue balloons into almost every panel. Especially when it comes to exposition. There's just as much dialogue as before if not more. In some ways I think it's because Flynn worries kids won't get everything that happens so he has the characters explain everything with dialogue up front, instead of trying other methods to convey a situation.

    To be honest, I don't expect much from Flynn. Maybe it's not his fault, but at most we can see homages to past continuity or game references that will make fanboys and fangirls squeal.
     
  7. Dark Sonic

    Dark Sonic

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    Well I mean you have to appreciate Flynn for at least one thing

    [​IMG]

    His depiction of insane Robotnik was possibly the best thing ever
     
  8. Erinaceus

    Erinaceus

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    No, you misunderstand. I'm saying the reason why Sonic has been successful as a comic book is because it's published by Archie, and having Archie as the book's publisher features those two advantages that the other comic book publishers don't have... I wasn't commenting on the success of the franchise as a whole.

    I should've clarified that in my original post, though. Sorry. I've edited that. "I've always held that Archie's the reason why Sonic's been so successfu as a comic book series..."

    But if you want to get into the role that Archie plays in the greater picture of the Sonic franchise... Then I'd say their influence is actually pretty negligible. I'd say merchandise like Sonic toys, fan websites like this one, and cartoons such as Sonic X serve as a greater sales "booster" for Sega than Archie.
     
  9. Mr. Pictures

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    That's just it. He loves referencing stuff. Not that there's anything totally wrong with it, but I'm not fond of his own stuff, not a lot of it anyway.
     
  10. Overlord

    Overlord

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    Ahhh, now that's fair enough. My bad, completely misread your post. =P
     
  11. Lobotomy

    Lobotomy

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    Actually:
    [​IMG]

    This did. He's currently part of a major plot.
     
  12. The KKM

    The KKM

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    Greg, I love Don Rosa, but he'd never work with Sonic. As in, his style is TOO detailed and, for the lack of a better word, "wooden", to work on a certoony speedster. It works for Donald and friends because he's playing by the Carl Barks rule- in which the ducks are much more realistic than normal cartoon characters in an almost Howard the Duck way.

    If you want Disney artists on Sonic, here's a couple that could work:

    Floyd Gottfredson:

    [​IMG]

    Romano Scarpa:

    [​IMG]

    Giorgio Cavazzano:

    [​IMG]

    Jonathan Gray:... waaaait a second

    [​IMG]
     
  13. Dark Sonic

    Dark Sonic

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    Now I like those drawings a lot more. And I was refering more to the artistic direction in the last one, plot really had nothing to do with it.
     
  14. E-122-Psi

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    That's partly why I don't like the comics, especially Ian's stuff, I'm not that big on heavy lampshading and exposition. Granted the AoSth references were at least a LITTLE more subtle and funny but Ian likes to constantly put in references to older stuff or fourth wall-ish references to character oddities ('hey isn't Shadow angsty, hey, isn't Antoine non-cowardly nowadays'), just seems kinda corny.

    Perhaps one of his worst tendacies is to constantly reference Sally's past infamous stories such as the slap and have Sally act all remorseful about it. All these random expostional moments seem to suggest Ian is REALLY insistant fans forgive Sal. I'm all for fixing her but there must be a less forced and cheap way of doing it.

    Not that this was particularly better early on. One of the worst handled examples was perhaps in the Metal Sonic story where they basically refer to Metal's past bouts. Not only does the conversation seem kinda forced and clunky and merely for the sake of explaining past stories to newbies but the overall tone made Sonic sound like a Dirty Coward basically saying 'hey it was Knuckles that destroyed you last time, GO KILL HIM!'
     
  15. Mr. Pictures

    Mr. Pictures

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    Here's the thing: I don't think Ian knows how to establish characters, situations, past events, etc. beyond dialogue. Not that it's any excuse, but surely being a writer means you know how to do things with more than just words. I read the comic every now and then and keep noticing a bunch of cheap tricks that he uses almost religiously. Ian's not the first writer on the comic where I get the feeling he's not exactly on your side when you read one of his stories. There's something kind of snooty when characters constantly announce stuff and you get the feeling the writer thinks readers might be too dumb to get what's going on beyond his words, even if those readers might be kids. I also consider how the artists have to draw poses according to his dialogue, which I imagine must be difficult. Sometimes there are panels where there doesn't seem to be too much going on beyond the characters delivering even more dialogue.

    I agree, the referencing can be somewhat overbearing. I sometimes wonder if he knows any popular culture before the eighties.

    I don't mean to put the guy down, but some of this stuff is so painfully obvious, I have to wonder why more readers haven't noticed and they continue to give it praise like the comic has gone through some kind of renaissance. As long as the fans can continue to quote stuff from the comic I guess they're happy with it.
     
  16. TheKazeblade

    TheKazeblade

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    That was issue #86 which was actually the issue that started me on Sonic. He doesn't tell Metal to go after Knuckles he says something to the effect of (and this may not be exactly right) "But wasn't it my friend Knuckles that beat you last time? You after him too?"

    It sounds more like he's concerned with Knuckles than trying to save his own skin.
     
  17. E-122-Psi

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    Yeah, I know the majority of writers suffer a similar problem, in fact it's something that kinda comes with comic format, maybe why I prefer animation much more. Half the cast seems kinda dull because they are trying to establish character solely through dialogue. Actually some of the games suffered a similar problem, in the cases of both the more modern examples at least have more whimsical and expressive cosmetics to make the characters seem more vibrant. Heck, Night of the Werehog shows how much personality can be made without uttering a single word.

    I get that wasn't what they meant but the dialogue was kinda awkwardly done so made it sound more like he was trying to place things on Knuckles.
     
  18. JaxTH

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    Jack shit.
    ^

    This probably needs to be worded a bit differently to fit the context but it's still what I want to say.

    EDIT: I also hate the way Metal Sonic is handled. It's always a different one and they get killed off shortly after.
     
  19. E-122-Psi

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    The writers don't seem to get that trying to MAKE everyone love Sally constantly is what is evolving her into the Wesley. Hell, Ian previously wrote a blog on how it is impossible not to like her. All the while however the manner they 'rescue' her involves cheap exposition and lampshading and her current personality doesn't seem all that vibrant and likeable. I always found Archie Sal rather dull in comparison to SatAm Sal (though even that version fell to writer favoritism).

    Sally all to often ends up a writer's 'pet' and their blatant favoritism they vent through their stories makes her grating. A shame the more writers like her the more readers hate her.
     
  20. JaxTH

    JaxTH

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    Jack shit.
    And SEGA just wouldn't let Ken kill her...