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THE KEN PENDERS CHRONICLES: a man you Ken DePenders on

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by The KKM, Jul 7, 2010.

  1. Overlord

    Overlord

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    My favourite thing in that tweet chain is Penders asking "BUT WHAT ABOUT WHEN YOU'RE NEARING RETIREMENT"

    Um, do some fucking work at that point in time, Penders? I don't get paid for the server installation I did five years previously, there's no reason you should be being paid for work you did years ago either.
     
  2. TheSillyMoose

    TheSillyMoose

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    I once had a conversation with Penders. It was about two years ago, on a Twitter I no longer use. He had released an image of his "new" character Praetorian, Julie-Su's father, which, I'm sure you all know, is just Knuckles from the 25 Years Later comic series. I was really confused at the time of why he would use this character, so I Tweeted him. This is our conversation verbatim:

    Me: I like your comics, and I understand this is your Knuckles design, but it's still Knuckles. SEGA still owns that character.

    Penders: I understand where you're coming from, but I respectfully disagree with your comments for a number of reasons.
    For starters, Knuckles is not a father nor is his a cyborg, and that's only part of the surface.

    Me: Well yeah, but, that new character looks an awful lot like Knuckles with a beard. I know it's your design from 25YL, but still.
    Might SEGA and Archie get upset?

    Penders: That's the least of my concerns at this time.
    I would remiss if it weren't for the kind words, which are appreciated.

    So, he was pretty respectful about me asking about this, but it still goes to show how he feels about this whole situation, in that he truly believe that the echidnas of the Sonic series are his design, even when they're just redesigns of preexisting characters. I did mean it when I said I liked his comics. They were a large part of my childhood. But this cavalier behavior or what characters he thinks he owns is quite ridiculous, and it bothers me how much he's screwed with the Sonic series as a whole. Knuckles has always been my favorite character, and the fact that we might not get any more backstory from him is upsetting (although, who knows, we still have to see why Chaos is in Forces).
     
  3. Sir_mihael

    Sir_mihael

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    I can't wait for him to one day publish this comic (HAH! okay, hypothetically in another timeline where he's actually productive), only for SEGA to bring in their own legal team in and say "Yeah, no. This is just Knuckles. You can't use this design for profit. Change it or we'll shake you down for change."

    I mean, in all honesty, what the hell does he think is going to happen? Some lawyer at SEGA to go "Well, y'know, now I've really got to KNOW this character, he does seem quite different from Knuckles, and I'm sure in time the general public will-"? Seriously. The delusion is real and I wonder if at this point he knows, and he's just trying to keep from backing down on his side of the fence?


    Also, wow. A wild Penders defender appears at the botton of the replies
    Does this person think Penders never got paid, like, ever?
     
  4. The Claw

    The Claw

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    So, setting aside his personal and professional collapse for a moment...
    What issues of the Sonic comic are most representative of Penders work? Back when they were made, I too liked the Knuckles stories (as I've said before). Though I had no idea or interest in anything behind the scenes.
     
  5. TheSillyMoose

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    I would say the mellowdrama of his comics. Sure, the Sonic series is no stranger to drama, even outside the comics, but the scenarios in his comics got absolutely insane.
     
  6. Shaddy the guy

    Shaddy the guy

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    If Penders actually cared so much about getting the big narrative he wanted to done, he could have made it into something cool, y'know? Like, make it a community project, get in touch with the fanbase, make it something clearly defined and different from the main series now that you've left. I don't personally care for Sonic the Comic at all, but seeing the amount of love and creativity that's gone into StC Online, and the fact that they've produced 52 issues since they started is impressive, even heartwarming. Just the same, I don't really like anything Penders has produced, but it's evident that he could have achieved the same if he actually went the lengths to reach out to others, be a bit flexible creatively, and not be such an asswipe in general. He could have done even more potentially, since I think the Archie series is better-known in general. But it's clear to me now that he's doing this out of nothing but spite and greed. He just wants money, and isn't creative enough to do something new, or hell, have the insanely outlandish idea of improving, to get it.
     
  7. Overlord

    Overlord

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    He's basically been shitting himself ever since IDW got announced and he realised his reprints were never going to happen. The thought of Penders actually having to do some work is somewhat terrifying to him, hence why he's been throwing a paddy over everything.
     
  8. trakker

    trakker

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    I dunno, they'd put out resumes and look for work with non-Sonic related properties?
     
  9. The Claw

    The Claw

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    Well I'd just like to judge for myself, by reading his Sonic comics in their original context. With my perception influenced as little as possible by the real-world drama they later resulted in.
     
  10. Dark Sonic

    Dark Sonic

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    The big three are probably anything with Evil Sonic in them up until issue 160 (I love how Flynn almost immediately changed Evil Sonic into Scourge, might have been done in the 1st or 2nd issue he wrote), the End Game saga (#46 - #50), and Sonic Live! But the entire Knuckles subseries is his brain child.

    I found this list though of all the issues/stories Penders wrote for the Sonic series though (spoilered because it's a long list). So if you're curious about how he writes, here you go. If you're curious about his other contributions to the series though (which is a lot actually, he was on board from issue 11 to issue 159 and dabbled in pretty much everything at one point or another), here's the whole page

    #11: Full Issue - Co-writer with Mike Kanterovich
    #13: "This Island Hedgehog" - Co-writer with Mike Kanterovich
    #14: "Do-It-Yourself Sonic" and "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!" - Co-writer with Mike Kanterovich
    #15: "What's the Big Idea?" - Co-writer with Mike Kanterovich
    #16 - #19: Full Issues - Co-writer with Mike Kanterovich
    #20: "Deadliest of the Species - Prologue" - Co-writer with Mike Kanterovich
    #21: Full Issue
    #22: "The Return"
    #24: Full Issue - Co-writer with Mike Kanterovich
    #27: Full Issue
    #28: "Saturday Night's Alright for a Fight!"
    #31: "A Robot Rides the Rails"; "Lost...and Found!" - Co-writer with Mike Kanterovich
    #32: "Prisoners!" - Co-writer with Mike Kanterovich
    #33: "Sonic Shot"; "The Big Picture" - Co-writer with Mike Kanterovich
    #34: "A Sense Of History - Part One" - Co-writer with Mike Kanterovich
    #35: "A Sense Of History - Part Two"
    #36: "Heart of Darkness"; "A Sense Of History - Part Three" - co-writer with Mike Kanterovich
    #38: "Bedtime Tails" - Co-writer with Mike Kanterovich
    #41: Full Issue
    #42: "Knuckles' Quest!" - Co-writer with Kent Taylor
    #43 - #44: Full Issues
    #45: "Knuckles' Quest 3: Land of Dark, a Knight Of Virtue!" - Co-writer with Kent Taylor
    #46: Full Issue - Co-writer with Kent Taylor
    #47: Full Issue
    #48: Full Issue - Co-writer with Kent Taylor
    #49: Full Issue - Co-writer with Mike Gallagher
    #50: Full Issue - Plotter, script Writer for Pages 1-3 and 22-27, Co-scripted with Mike Gallagher, Karl Bollers, and Kent Taylor
    #53: "Unfinished Business"
    #58: Full Issue; "Friendly Rogues & Foul Villains"" - Co-writer with Clayton Emery
    #59 - #65: "Tales of the Freedom Fighters" Series ("The People's Princess", "The Ultimatum", "On His Majesty's Secret Service" Parts 1-4, and "The Library")
    #67 - #69: "Tales of the Freedom Fighters" Series (Wolf Pack)
    #71 - #74, #76 - #79: "Tales of the Great War" Series (Page 1 in #74 written by Karl Bollers)
    #79: "The Chaos Factor"
    #80: "Land Fall" and '"Swallowing Trouble"
    #81: "All You Need Is A Bit Of Chaos"
    #82: "Door to the Past" and '"Double-Crossed Circuits"
    #84: Full Issue
    #88: "Picking Up The Pieces"
    #89: "A Matter of Self Interest"
    #90: "Between a Rock and a Hard Place"
    #91: "Hired Guns"
    #92: "Premonition"
    #93: "Bagging the Big One"
    #94: "The Best Laid Plans..."
    #95: "When Destiny Calls"
    #96: "The Chosen One"
    #97: "To the Brink"
    #98: "As the Shadow Awakes!"
    #99: "What Comes Around Goes Around"
    #100: "Welcome to the Dark Side"
    #101: "Reboot"
    #102: "Life's Realities"
    #106 - #109: "Reunification"
    #114 - #118: "Ultimate Power"
    #120: "Those Were the Days"
    #121 - #124: "Afterlife"
    #122: "When there was Only One Guardian"
    #131 - #144: "Mobius: 25 Years Later"
    #145: "Shadows of Hope" and "Harbinger"
    #146 - #149: "The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown"
    #148: "Destiny's Child"
    #150: "From Hero to Zero in No Time at All"
    #151: "Chaos Emeralds are Forever"
    #152: Full Issue
    #154: "More than Meets the Eye"
    #155 - #156: "Line of Succession"
    #157: Full Issue
    #158: "System Reconfiguration"
    #159: Full Issue
     
  11. The Claw

    The Claw

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    THANK YOU! That fits my memory perfectly.
    Having discovered the comic soon after his arrival, and dropped it before he left, is rather bittersweet. Everything I ever knew about Sonic in comics tossed to the shredder. (can't resist, I like 1987 TMNT)
     
  12. Dark Sonic

    Dark Sonic

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    Had Archie decide to totally reboot the series as soon as Flynn came on board, I don't think I'd of missed Penders' stuff. I only missed his stuff because Flynn came in, fixed all the years worth of nonsense, made the lore make more sense (like he combined the seemingly endless amount of Chaos Emeralds that originally existed into the proper 7), and made all of Penders' stuff likable. I hated the series of Echidnas at first because they all seemed so out of place, and hell, they still were even with Flynn at the helm, but they grew on me after a while.

    But instead Flynn got to run with it for about 90 issues and then this happened:

    [​IMG]

    And now Flynn gets to come up with another new Sonic world. How lovely :v:

    Oh hey here's this wonderful thing. Bless Tyson Hesse:

    [​IMG]
     
  13. The Claw

    The Claw

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    I suppose I may been unfairly judging Flynn all this time, never really given him a chance. More likely it's encroachment of Sega's rules imposed by Sonic Adventure that pushed me away.
     
  14. Sir_mihael

    Sir_mihael

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    Exactly. What is Penders trying to even say here? 'Included' in what? Was IDW meant to feel sorry for every previous Sonic Archie member and hire them all as well? Has Penders actually ASKED any of the 'other Sonic creators' he's referring to here? I just love how he's trying to make it sound like everyone else is as much of a fruitcase as he is.
     
  15. Overlord

    Overlord

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    What I'd like to know is if Penders asked IDW if he could be involved. I would LOVE to be a fly on the wall in that conversation.
     
  16. Sir_mihael

    Sir_mihael

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    SORRY KEN...
    [​IMG]
     
  17. Dark Sonic

    Dark Sonic

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    But IDW, you need me. No one knows Knuckles like I do, and I got a litany of new characters to join the ride, like Hans-Da and Lara-solo (ORIGINALCHARACTERDONUTSTEAL). All you need to do is sign over the rights of Sonic to me (you can do that right) and give me 200% of the profits.

    It's only fair guys come on.
     
  18. Pengi

    Pengi

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    Penders is a clown, but it's not fair to dismiss the concept of reprint royalties for comic creators.
     
  19. Laughingcow

    Laughingcow

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    Not on a licensed gig, nope. That's also on the misconception that a comic will be reprinted perpetually when, shocker, they don't.
    Especially a niche licensed comic that can be killed at any time.

    Had he done something completely original (like say the guys who made Tank Girl) the story would be far different.
     
  20. I just wish Karl Bollers was okay with Finitevus being used.