COMING SOON IN 2012

[Tylinos]

http://www.tssznews.com/2012/03/30/report-entire-qa-department-at-sega-of-america-cut/

Comments on this, Ken?

...What does this have to do with Ken? This isn't even as big of a deal as Sega retiring from the console business, and that didn't affect the comic in the slightest.

[Ken Penders]

Comments on this, Ken?

At this time, I'm not commenting on any aspect of my legal cases against anyone for a variety of reasons. This should only be interpreted in a positive light as far as I'm concerned. I've spent a lot of time addressing matters that required my attention that I now am able to focus my attention on the creative side.

Look for updates that include the release of the redesign of yet another of my well-known cast of characters, some details of the actual storyline featured in the first volume of THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES, and a sneak peak at a few other items related to the project.

Oh, yeah, work on THE REPUBLIC and THE LOST ONES still progresses, which I hope to report more details soon.

With regards to the Sega situation, I've actually lived through similar times when they've gone through corporate upheaval, so I have a different POV than most fans reading the news. It's definitely not fun for anyone involved in that situation, and uncertainty will probably be the norm at the company for the foreseeable future.

[BobR]

http://www.tssznews.com/2012/03/30/report-entire-qa-department-at-sega-of-america-cut/

Comments on this, Ken?

Ken probably won't comment on this for notable reasons. But from my perspective as an outsider on the fringe, I don't find it as something unexpected (and that doesn't mean I'd expect it, either.) To understand my answer, you'd have had to follow the relationship between SEGA Japan and SEGA America for a number of years, as Ken and I have. Let's just say there is no love lost between the two entities.

As an example to what I mean, look at the Sonic anniversary events sponsored by SEGA Japan recently held. They were all over Europe, yet practically none in the US. Can you say, "nose thumbing?" I knew you could.

[BobR]

Ken probably won't comment on this for notable reasons.

Okay, my mistake.

[jameygamer]

Ken probably won't comment on this for notable reasons.

Okay, my mistake.

I also hear Hirokazu Yasuhara, AKA Carol Yas, is now at Nintendo of America.

Okay, if I were Sega, I would give SOME sort of consideration to SOA, especially with Yas at NOA. Making a corporate alliance with NOA would get Yas back into the Sonic fold, I think, and that would please a lot of fans.

Also, screw Iizuka's comment about a Mario and Sonic crossover game apart from another Olympic game not being possible. If Nintendo and Sega can reconcile the differences in the play systems of the two franchises and make a good adventure game out of it, a bazillion gamers across the globe would shit their pants at it.

And finally, judging by the comments you and Ken had about strained relations between SOJ and SOA, you guys do not approve of how SOJ treats SOA. It seems to me at least that Sega doesn't remember that Sonic's biggest turf in the console wars when it came to sales WAS in the United States. I don't know why, but if Ken ended up at SOA, he would want to change that. I'm not going to take a stance on the lawsuit right now, since Ken has gotten more mudpies from fans about that than Michael Eisner got for how he managed Disney in his last few years there, but if he wanted to get more communication between SOJ and SOA, I'm behind him on that.

[BobR]

[it appears] you guys do not approve of how SOJ treats SOA.

You would be correct on that. And I think you hit the nail on the head...it's because SOA is such a large market that SOJ keeps them under their thumb. People forget that SEGA was an American company: The roots of SEGA started as a company named Standard Games, formed by a fellow named Marty Bromley. Their main claim was working on coin-operated machines, mostly slot machines, for military bases in Hawaii (this was prior to slot machines being declared illegal in 1952.) When the slots were outlawed, Marty was able to purchase large quantities of the machines he used to service as surplus and transported them to Japan, where their popularity grew. He renamed his company Service Games, as most of the machines were from "military service" at numerous bases. Enter David Rosen, who saw great opportunity in importing arcade-style games into Japan. Eventually, the two cross paths, and merged to form the company SEGA, a contraction of the original SErvice GAmes name. Hayao Nakayama, the name most people associate with SEGA today, joined the company on the 70's when SEGA bought his distribution company to aid in deploying their arcade games.

Why the history lesson? My impression as to why SOJ keeps SOA on such a short leash is that they're afraid the company will return to its homeland. That SOA would grow so big, that it would become SEGA's main driving force, and thus return their corporate office to the US, where it originally started. In other words, SOJ sees SOA as a competitor, something they don't see in SOE. So SOE gets more leeway, while SOA gets shorted.

[Ken Penders]

I've been getting a lot of e-mails asking what's next after I had stated there's more to come. As it is, I've been sneaking previews of the story of THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES to a select few to see if I've been accomplishing what I set out to do. All I'll say is that I'm encouraged that new readers will not feel left out and longtime readers will see a lot of questions answered.

As for more character designs, they're coming, but the project had to take a back seat while I took care of business on other fronts, such as the forthcoming release of THE REPUBLIC film project I've been working on.

The one new item to look forward to is a sneak peak at the Director's Cut of the very first solo-Knuckles story I wrote and illustrated titled "Fire Drill". This will be the first of several stories I both wrote and illustrated and will be making available to readers available everywhere for free via a specially-designed app. The idea is to help establish the relevant chronology to get readers of THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES up to speed on previous events.

As an added bonus, I'll also be making available the stories I did for the SONIC LIVE! and BRAVE NEW WORLD specials available for free as well. There's some Director's Cut material that never saw the light of day back then that will now when this is released.

The biggest extra will be the release of the unpublished KNUCKLES: TWENTY YEARS LATER material, which set the stage for the MOBIUS: 25 YEARS LATER, which finally sees resolution with THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES. Showing the evolution will allow readers to see how this storyline was always part of the plan.

So stay tuned as new material is definitely on its way.

[PaulAgnew]

A Ken Penders App? With free stories? Now I'd buy THAT for a dollar!*

It's a funny coincidence (though nonetheless much enjoyed) you posted today, as I had spent a few hours musing over asking something up there in the 'Ask Ken' thread, but wasn't too sure if it could be answered. It's not Sonic-related (or at least not the main thrust), but it could be a rather touchy subject.

Moving on, it's fantastic to finally see questions answered. If this includes dealing with that "J@n!-C@" nonsense the current creative team made once and for all, count me in.

*Yes, that was another 'RoboCop' reference. Couldn't resist. Though if there was a price, I'd gladly pay more than a dollar.

[Mavrickindigo]

Hold the phone...

How the heck is Ken supposed to release SONIC LIVE for free?

There isn't an original character in that story except for his kids and the guys who "developed sonic"

[Antarctic Deity]

I don't think I've ever seen anyone say "I want more Sonic Live". You'd think that'd be something to bury forever in shame.

[Ken Penders]

@Mavrickindigo:

How the heck is Ken supposed to release SONIC LIVE for free?

Considering I have all the original art to the cover and complete story due to the fact I wrote, illustrated and photographed everything, it's pretty easy, especially since I own the rights to all this work. (NOTE: This does not imply I own the Sonic, Sally or Robotnik characters.)

As for who it's popular with, that was one of the first issues I ever sold out of due to the fact whenever kids would come to my table, that would be the issue they gravitated towards the most. Besides, with the new edition, not only do you get the original ending, you get to see the original ending that was originally submitted. The only thing I wish is that I had a time machine so I could go back and do the original ending as it was supposed to be, which included the use of a lot more photography. Still, what I have will prove intriguing enough for longtime readers in particular and Sega fans in general.

Likewise, all the stories I plan on releasing are made possible due to the fact I have the original art to the complete stories.

[Darkfox]

So it's ok to reprint stories that have Sonic in them for free as long as you have the original art?

[Tylinos]

Putting aside the Archie ownership debate for the moment since everyone repeating the same things over and over won't be generating new discussion:

Even assuming Ken did have full ownership over the stories, the legality of this is still really questionable. Since it's free (Which at least isn't outright legal self-destruction by charging money for material using characters such as Sonic and Knuckles), it could at best be considered fan art or fan fiction. However, given that it was at one time published as a Sega-licensed product for payment, posting it up for free even if you own the story could potentially fall under piracy even in spite of first publication rights, as you'd have mutually recieved the ability to have use licensed characters for pay in it. Now, I'll readily admit I don't have any examples of cases where someone later posted for free what was once pay-only material for another company involving a licensed work, but it would seem...silly that it would be allowed, since then there'd be nothing stopping the writer/artist from having posted it immediately after the for-pay version of the story came out save for the possibility of getting fired. However, there've been stranger laws out there.

Still, there's the whole thing where even fan fiction and fan art are technically copyright infringement to begin with. Check out the doctrines of fair use legality for fan fiction in US law ; This doesn't fall under any of them, meaning they can't be used by Ken legally. (A major factor being that it breaks into the market value of the works, given that they had been pay-only when published under Sega's allowance.) So even in the best case scenario, Sega could still successfully sue for copyright infringement on it. Most times companies willingly let fan fiction and fan art slide. This is a case where Sega most likely wouldnt.

[Ken Penders]

@Tylinos:

Archie currently is reprinting stories and art they don't own in print and digital formats, which both they and Sega are profiting from, while none of the creators WHO ACTUALLY OWN THE STORIES AND ART have yet to receive even a dime. Before you start questioning whether or not what I'm doing is legal, the fact is I ACTUALLY OWN THE STORIES AND ART THAT I'M OFFERING FOR FREE and that is my right to offer up my material in a manner that benefits me in help getting THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES out to a wider market. This is a strategy very similar to what Marvel, DC and - yes - even Archie are doing with their digital offerings, namely they offer up free samples of complete books to reel in the reader.

Considering the stories I'm offering up are already considered canon by Sonic fandom, they in no way, shape or form can ever be classified as works of fan fiction. I'm also quite certain once readers actually get the chance to read THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES, they won't be calling it fan fiction either.

[Tylinos]

...Did you even read my post? I started off saying that this post would be putting aside the whole story ownership question and going in for the sake of argument assuming that you did indeed hold said story copyrights. So why did you devote about half of the post to arguing that? I even said in my post that I wasn't going to go into that because it would just be the same arguments both sides have given over and over again when that isn't what's trying to be discussed right now. (And, as I feared, that first half was those same arguments.) Also, I do understand why you're doing this, Sonic Live! aside, so you don't really need to argue to me that.

And then there's the last paragraph. If the ignoring of what I said at the start of my post had me confused, this had me baffled. Not to sound insulting here, but are you missing the point on purpose? It's like you glanced, saw the word fan fiction, and didn't read the rest. Please, re-read my post. When I said fan fiction, I was saying that it falls at best case for you under the legal bearing of fan fiction by definition, in that they'd be published stories about pre-existing copyrighted materials. (I.E. Sonic the Hedgehog and such) And to clarify, since you seem to have thought I was including the Lara-Su Chronicles, I mean this regarding the legal status of the stories written for the comic, such as Sonic Live! and Fire Drill. I was not saying the reprinted stories wouldn't be considered officially part of the Archie Sonic canon; They already are.

Short version: Read my post again; I'm discussing the free reprints, not the Chronicles, and saying that the best legal outlook on the reprints would be that they'd be held legally as fan fiction rather than outright infringement, and that under the factors of considering a work of fan fiction fair use, your free reprints still wouldn't fly.

[Antarctic Deity]

In case you haven't noticed, that is a recurring thing. The "not actually reading posts, just responding with CREATOR RIGHTS" bit.

[Lammy]

Since when are the fans counting the Sonic Live story canon ?

The first story in this issue has been largely criticized as one of the worst stories in the entire run of the Sonic the Hedgehog series.
Sonic Live was not only listed as the number one book web critic Linkara would rather not review, he ended up making this issue the focus of his 100th episode of the series Atop The Fourth Wall.
Given the contents and the outrageous storyline, the first story in this issue is not considered to be canon by this site's canon policy.

[Luger]

Since when are the fans counting the Sonic Live story canon ?

Given the contents and the outrageous storyline, the first story in this issue is not considered to be canon by this site's canon policy.

Arg, that statement in the background info section about not being canon, which I put in there (back in 2009), should probably be removed. From a technical standpoint the story is as canon as any of the outrageous stories printed in the earlier StH comics. It's actually more canon than some of the stories printed in the original Sonic miniseries, which have been directly contradicted or retconned by later stories, whereas nothing (to my knowledge) has outright contradicted or retconned what took place in the first story of the Sonic Live special. While I haven't read the story myself, I have heard it was one of the worst stories in the Archie Sonic series (hence my original "non-canon" statement on ME). That being said, I do remember wanting the issue a LOT when I first saw it advertised as a kid. It's clearly a story indended for a child audience, not the die-hard fans who take the comic super-seriously.

A free release of Sonic Live would be nice, considering buying a copy of the issue on eBay would run a person $6.00 before shipping. Regardless of the quality of the story, as a completionist it would be nice to have a copy of it.

[Mavrickindigo]

Sonic Live is pretty canon. It shows the origin of the doom robot that Locke saw in his vision and the back-up story, which has been reprinted, is not only canon, but connected to the main story (the substitute FFs go to Robotropolis to help rescue everyone from the events of the main story.)

Of course, it doesn't stop it from being absolutely horrible. No offense, but no one wants to read about your kids.

[PaulAgnew]

No offense, but no one wants to read about your son and niece.

If something exists, there will be interest.

[Julie-Su Fan]

No offense, but no one wants to read about your son and niece.

If something exists, there will be interest.

Just not necessarily positive interest. Not that I have any right to judge Sonic Live! myself, having never actually gotten the chance to read it, but what I've seen is far from positive.

Of course, that's not to say there wasn't anybody in the world who liked it...I just haven't met anyone yet.

[Mavrickindigo]

No offense, but no one wants to read about your son and niece.

If something exists, there will be interest.

Interest to see if its as bad as everyone says it is.

If you want guilty pleasure, why not upload the introduction of Dr. Droid to the app? Hey Ken, you own that story cause you wrote it right? Shouldn't be a problem uploading that for free? Who cares if it has all those image characters I'm sure they won't mind, just like how SEGA won't mind that you're uploading a comic with their characters without their permission.

[PaulAgnew]

Hey Ken, you own that story cause you wrote it right? Shouldn't be a problem uploading that for free?

Last time I checked, Jim Valentino pencilled that particular tale (though Ken was on ink duties). If it's the good Doctor you're craving, provided we go by Ken's public notes from circa 2000, a healthy dose of Droid should be administered in Knuckles: 20 Years Later.

[Mavrickindigo]

Hey Ken, you own that story cause you wrote it right? Shouldn't be a problem uploading that for free?

Last time I checked, Jim Valentino pencilled that particular tale (though Ken was on ink duties). If it's the good Doctor you're craving, provided we go by Ken's public notes from circa 2000, a healthy dose of Droid should be administered in Knuckles: 20 Years Later.

I was being sarcastic. Though I am morbidly curious what the heck Ken was planning with all that clusters of "wtf" that storyline was.

Anyway, A moment of Archie sonic is ripping apart Ken's promo art again. It's funny

[Mavrickindigo]

Mr. penders, you need to stop and think about what you're doing. People are getting Jobs for showing other people why your art sucks

http://noseshark.deviantart.com/journal ... -302559211