...You weren't there, man... you weren't there... That's what it's supposed to be, isn't it? Piles and piles of clutter. Don't hate the man for drawing it like it is. =P
Well there's your problem, you started off on a bad note. Issues 1-50, and anything from when Ian Flynn started is good (165/175ish). In regard to not showing the full comic online, there are two main purposes of Free Comic Book Day: 1) Catch people up for those who have missed some issues. 2) Get new people into the comic/interest people in a new series. Typically, it's a mix of the two (such as the Sonic comic does), so it would make sense not to show the whole thing online.
I almost wound up getting 2 of the free Sonic comics at 4th World Comics the other day, but I picked up the last ones and a little kid wanted them so I gave 'em up and just bought the Kick-Ass graphic novel. Funny thing though, when the mom of the child spotted the comics I picked up, she exclaimed "Hey look, S-O-N-I-C. Sonic! From Mario!", I was waiting for the nerd-rage in one of the costumers there to explode, but no one really seemed to care or notice. I found it funny though.
First off, I was there. Maybe not right when the issues came out, but I've downloaded and later deleted the comics after I had read them. I saw the art in the issues during the early and mid 100s. Is this supposed to be convincing? Also, that's a terrible excuse. "Don't hate him for drawing it like it is! It's supposed to look unreadable and amateurish!" Even junk heaps can be beautifully composed, but they weren't here. That wasn't even the main problem. The problem was how the panels were arranged on the page.
Actually, it's supposed to be a joke... I'm not following what your problem with that is, so I'm having a difficult time thinking up an argument for or against it. But then, I'm no art critic, so why bother? I enjoyed the issue, and that's really all I care about. If you thought I was seriously trying to shoot your impressions down, well, I wasn't. And I would have thought the little "=P" thing next to that second quip might have been a pretty obvious clue even if the cliche "you weren't there, man" bit wasn't. =/
I remember giving up around issue #70 or so (The one where Sonic gets his "long quill" look), not because of the writing but because of the awful, awful art. There was a time there in the early 120s where they let J.Axer direct the art on a few issues and I bought those, but other than that I haven't consistently followed this comic in ages. I don't exactly get the hype about Flynn and Yardley, they seem like two people that got lost on the way to the Bongo Comics office. If Archie is trying to turn Sonic the Hedgehog into a rival for Simpsons Comics at the local grocery, they've done their job.
Let me see if I'm reading this straight. "I haven't followed the comic in years. For some reason, I don't have enough information on Flynn and Yardley, but their names are silly."
So, I got this a couple of days after Free Comic Book Day. Good comic (better than most of their works), but what's more interesting is how I got it since they took them all off the shelves right after FCBD. My art teacher knows the artist Steven Butler and went to see him over the past weekend and got it from him because he wanted me to get something not-so-common. Not having enough time to get Butler's autograph or a sketch he did, he ended up getting this comic to him instead since it was only released for one day and was rather uncommon in printed form. I was really that close to actually getting a professional sketch of Sonic to put on my wall. -_-
Maybe he's refering more to both the writer and artist's 'zanier' manner of handling the stories, which some consider a good or bad thing depending on who you ask (some like the more serious handling and atmosphere of the original comics, while fans who have been brought up on the games and cartoons tend to prefer the lighter 'cartoon animal' setup that seems more authentic to the franchise). Also while some find Flynn and Yardley an improvement in both writing and art respectively, they do gain critisms. Some think Flynn has a 'fan-fic' method of handling things and neglects certain continuity points to make things how he desires (eg. neglecting Sally's development to make her more like her SatAm form). Yardley is also critisised for his 'zany' art taking away from the emotion or poignancy of certain scenes. Personally I think both do a better job, but not really enough for me to think the comics are brilliant. I adore Yardley's style for example, but I hate his redesigns, because while he is authentic to Uekawa's style, he also abides to the similar 'clone' base designs that the latter does, eg. making SatAm/Archie exclusives like Sally and Bunnie into generic Tails/Cream types. Ian does better at writing the characters, but it's an iffy balance and only a few get real spotlight while others are as bland as ever. His fourth wall jabs at the franchise and cast also are funny at times but after a while they get a bit corny.
I'm not agreeing or disagreeing, it just confused me because UptoCamp specifically stated they haven't followed the comic in years. If so, how do they have the information needed to judge the current team? All this you stated to me, shows you have had some contact with it- even if you don't avidly read every month, you have a good notion of their work.
Few people care to acknowledge that the Archie Sonic comics are an official fan-fic, as written by whoever is author at the time.
He was a fanfic writer before, so no surprises there. Does he even have any degree in writing or did he jump from the bowels of amateurism to profissionalism with a snap of fingers?
There's something ironic about you criticizing his writing and having a couple of mistakes in your attack. I think he got the job because he proved he was a good writer, because he garnered enough interest from fellow fans, and because he was ready to handle the series differently than his predecessors. Personally, I think he's great. If you've only got an issue with the fact that he used to write fanfiction, well, take a look around you buddy, you're pretty deep in a fandom already.
