We KNOW the comics are dead, but why doesn't Archie say

>>93778251
Could be that but it also could be in part of not wanting to deal with the fan backlash. But honestly at this point, everyone has accepted that the comic is dead and I don't think many with be bashing Archies' email.

Normally when they cancel a book they swap out subscriptions with another, related ongoing title. Except at this point Archie is literally only putting out one book a month.

Maybe they're stalling so they can launch something and boost sub numbers by giving them the Sonic readers.

>>93779314
This. When Life With Archie died, they swapped my subscription to Archie Double Digest.

because they are dead

>>93778251
They're still talking. Which is to say, yes it's definitely not coming back, but they technically haven't quit trying to keep it yet.

>>93778251

Last rumor I heard was that it might be coming back with the release of mania. No idea though.

>>93778251
I don't read the comics much, but can someone tell me what happened that would lead to the comics being "dead" ?

>>93783469
Ken "The Sex Offender" Penders

>>93778251
I assume they still are trying to work something out, but I think the big thing is the lawsuit SEGA and Archie are in with Fulop.

>>93782600
No chance. They will want to resolicit everything and it's too late to do that for August.

>>93783469
Archie pulled subscriptions off their site in January and have been quiet about it for months. They only recently began saying SEGA and them are talking, but it seems to haven't gone anywhere yet. All the creative staff is in the dark too, so they have no clue if they still have a job or not.

Ken Penders caused a huge legal issue a few years ago that lead to a reboot and strained the relationship a bit with Archie and SEGA. One of his buddies, another former Archie Sonic staff, is suing Archie and SEGA over copyright and it's possible SEGA is done with Archie over it. There's also rumor of SEGA wanting to refocus the Sonic brand/franchise and it's possible the comics could be cut due to it.

It's all speculation, though. We have no clue of the reasons nor if or when this will be resolved.

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>>93783469
One of the old Writers and artist of the sonic comic, Ken Penders, sued Archie over copyright of some of the characters he created for the comic. Archie somehow lost that trial. Wanna know what he plans to do with the characters he now got back the rights to?

>>93779314
this. when mega man ended i was moved over to sonic universe

>>93783587
the lawsuit ended a while ago. they're likely in talks about what parts of the sonic property they are allowed to use. the reboot had picked stuff from allll sonic games and cartoons and maybe sega wants to negotiate something? i dunno. it's definitely not canned yet though as if it was, we would've known and subscribers would have gotten a letter and switched over to new archie or something. also

>All the creative staff is in the dark too
yeah but that's because literally everyone working on the archie action comics is a freelancer. matt herms didn't even know the final issue of mega man was the final one. they don't get told anything, and archie isn't legally forced to tell them either

>>93784628
>the lawsuit ended a while ago.
The lawsuit with Narrative Ark (Fulop) is still going. SEGA is still trying to have it thrown out.

>>93784653
wait seriously? i could've sword i read something about it being over. damn, then i guess that's what's to blame for the unexpected hiatus

>>93783661
How horrifying.

>>93784679
Yup, it's still ongoing.

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>>93783661
That is fucking painful to look at

>>93783514
>>93783587
>>93783661
>Penders won despite those monstrosities looking similar to Knuckles.

What the fuck

>>93784948
are any of the sonic comics good havent read them

>>93784948
They settled. Archie's lawyers sucked (and were fired), SEGA pushed for Archie to get it over with, and Penders squeaked away with essentially winning in many people's minds.

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>>93784929
I will never read that shit. At least with Chris-chan I can enjoy his comic and follow his progression into a perfect male/woman hybrid.

>>93784985
Some were good like the Sonic Vs Tails arc.

Silver is a guilty pleasure of mine, anyone got any links to his specific comics?

Their stocks are going to plummet when they announce it and they're coming right off of a high from the success of Riverdale and their Marvel digest announcements, so they're trying to position so they can make out with the maximum amount of money.

>>93785988
Sonic doesn't mean that much to Archie.

>>93783514

Penders needs to suffer

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>>93783514
Ken "The Sex Offender" Penders confirmed.

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>>93783514
>>93783661
>>93788124
Why not settle for the WINNING team, familia?
You cannot force yourself to cling to LOSERS.

>>93783661

And he thinks people will buy that.

>>93786857
He already is. He has maybe a handful of actual fans, and no actual comics company is going to hire someone so lawsuit-happy.

He's basically in the same predicament Dobson is in now.

>>93789083
Both dobson and penders believe they have a place in the industry.

At this point, most of the Archie Comics are at cancelation levels. Even Waid's book is on borrowed time. Give it till the end if the year and they'll only be publishing reprints in the digests and that's it. It's that bad. The Riverdale cash isn't enough.

>>93789449

Good.

>>93789449
honestly at this point i'm expecting marvel to buy them out. that partnership for the digests can't be for no reason

>>93789764
Imagine if Marvel did that before Sonic is completely out of their hands.

No way Penders and all those other ex-writers could go up against Marvel's lawyers.

>>93789922

More like Disney's. It'd be a curbstomp.

>>93789922
>Disney owns Marvel
>Penders up against Disney lawyers
>Penders gets FUCKED HARD

>>93789922
They would hopefully try for our entertainment.

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>People are enjoying something related to Sonic? This must not be!

Thanks for giving me another 20 years to hate you fuckers all over again.

>>93790068

This isn't their fault.

>>93785022
That fucking murderous piece of scum.

I really hooe tyson get to sneak the last issue of megadrive like he said.

Its not fair for the consumer to pay for the assholishness of other asshole.

>>93789640
Shut up Boco

>>93790142

Yes sir...

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>>93790068
>I don't play the games

>>93790232
Unless you attended E3, you haven't played Mania either.

>>93790068
It's almost exclusively Archie's fault for not taking better care of their paperwork which left them wide open to Penders and Friends' lawsuits.

Sega, for once, dindu nuffin. As hard as that is to believe.

>>93790333
You don't have to play Mania to know it's what fans have wanted since...2008. Plus, if you've played the Taxman ports of the Genesis games, you more or less got a taste of what's to come. You can shit SEGA all you want, but this entire matter is on Archie's hands.

>>93790436
Fair enough. Mania is mostly what Genesis fans have wanted forever. Add that in with SEGA giving fans a more serious story again with Forces which is what Adventure fans have been wanting for years too, they are starting to give the fans what they want.

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>>93783514
>>93783587
>>93783661
A rundown of the Saga of Ken Penders...

>>93790093
>>93790389
No, it totally is. SEGA never had the comic's back, they treated it like an embarrassment. First signs of trouble, they shitcan the whole thing, because fuck the fans, right?

Tell the truth, I wouldn't want the comic to return. If you see the rundown of rules that SEGA has for Sonic comics... It's hard to write anything remotely interesting with it.

Some of them are like
>No romance. Sonic must remain single and Amy likes only him and can never date
>Sonic Can't lose even remotely
>You can't mention characters and things like "Mobius"
>Sonic can't cry (Guess where that is coming from)
>You can't change SEGA characters's design, no extra clothes, no equipment and no alteration of the design
>No mentions of characters like Eggman Nega
>No "out-of character" moments
>SEGA characters can't die. Even as a fake-out

And many more. I mean, if you have all those rules and many more over your head. It's kinda irritating to write a script.

>>93792757
>SEGA characters can't die. Even as a fake-out
They had a fake-out Death for Team Dark during Worlds Collide (the second crossover I think).

>>93792988
To be fair, that was probably an exception since they were aware from the outset that the events of Worlds Unite would be reversed at the end just like Worlds Collide before it was.

>>93791447
It wasn't bringing in the numbers they wanted and wasn't popular at all so they really didn't need to care for it.

>>93791447
>>93793888
not really. they saw it as an easy ad for the sonic brand and since it was making them a little extra money, they kept it. it was never an embarrassment and it was selling pretty well

>>93790436
>You don't have to play Mania to know it's what fans have wanted since...2008

More like 1995.

And if it will not have a Saturn release then I will not bother playing it.

>>93792757
>Sonic can't cry (Guess where that is coming from)

uh, from where?

>>93794109
That infamous book cover of him crying on the ground at the news that Sally was engaged.

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>>93794109
Supposedly the cover to issue 155 was the reason Sega finally took notice of how out of hand the comic had been getting during the early to mid 00's. Because Sonic crying on the front cover sure as fuck wasn't good for their mascot's public image.

Incidentally, Penders was fired four issues later.

>>93794277
>Penders was fired four issues later.
What was he actually fired for?

>>93783661
>sued Archie

Archie sued him.
Granted, they had to because he announced an intent to monetize content from Archie's collaboration with Sega, but he didn't sue them.

He sued Sega and fucking EA

>>93783661
I have no words, i simply have not.

>>93794277
How many fucking times does this myth have to be debunked?

Ken didn't decide on the cover and the story was created as part of Pellerito's move to reset the status quo. The mandate was never that Sonic can't cry, it's that he can't sob deeply as it would go against character to have him in crestfallen hysterics. According to everyone involved, Ken left of his own volition, most likely because Pellerito was forcing him to rewrite MXYL.

>>93794071
Not to play devil's advcoate, but Knuckles Chaotix was literally Sonic 4. Problem is they released it on the 32X. If it went to the Saturn, or Genesis it would have been much bigger and possibly set a standard for future titles. SEGA could have kept the Genesis running for a few more years. Chaotix felt like a natural progression from S3&K.

>>93794277
lmao, why would sonic cry in a corner for any reason ever.

>>93795436
Because muh Sally

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>>93783469

>>93796709
Whoops, didn't read the thread

>>93794428
he quit
Supposedly gave some kind of "or else I walk" ultimatum thinking he was invaluable to the company, but they ended up showing him the door.

>>93792757

>no sonic/sally drama

just cancel it then because if this is true I will drop it hard

>>93792757
First, they said that Sonic can lost a battle, but he should always win in the end. And in all honesty, none of those things are important for the comic. Romance in the comic was almost always fucking awful, and the Amy/Sonic relatioship in the comic being just cute moments was far more preferable to the shit drama that happened in the preboot. Not to mention, Sonic doesn't need to be in a relationship.

what the fuck do yall niggas even see in sonic that makes you want to read a comic about it

>>93797332
Eggman.

>>93797332
fast

>>93791447
>First signs
Go read the first 150 issues of the comic. That is what happened when Sega let them have free regein. Only thing they enforced in that period were adaptions and banning of Sonic Universe crossovers.

>>93797332
Really like Shadow's characterization

>>93797332
Eggman, the OCs, Amy & Fast

>>93783661
>>93788411
It will be hilarious when Ken releases this shit, and has the pants sued off of him by Sega.

>>93783661
I would be shocked if Archie's lawyer ever finds work again. How in the fuck did they manage to lose a case to that?

>>93792757
What exactly is Sega's problem with Neggman? I've heard similar things happening before, but Sonic Rush was fairly well received from what I understand. Out of all the shit they pumped out, why is THAT what they choose to ignore?

>>93797332
The way the usually flat character archetypes were handled later in the comic's run could be clever and funny from time to time; I recall an entire page dedicated to Shadow and Rouge talking over paperwork, hilarious on a conceptual level alone, but those two also had really solid writing put into their characters

>>93797332
Fast

>>93791447
>first signs of trouble
>The entire darkages of the comic
>Penders lawsuit
>Archie losing money
>the second lawsuit
>first signs of trouble

get over yourself. The comic has been on a very rocky road for a very long time.

Assuming Sega doesn't just say "fuck it" and drops comics altogether, who should get the license?

>>93783661
Penders truly is an older version of Chris-Chan who somehow inveigled his way into a marriage and working as a professional artist, isn't he?

>>93786857
He has to live out his life on this earth as Ken Penders, that's probably sufficient.

>>93789449
That's a real shame, I remember they were doing pretty well this time last year.

>>93789083
I know the Penders story, but who is what happened with Dobson?

>>93796751
Please tell me the rest of the staff hated Penders as much as we do, if not more.

>>93798433
Nothing. Another man who happened to be named Andrew Dobson was arrested for child porn.

>>93794909
Facts are never going to supplant memes, anon.

>>93798104
They lost the paperwork that said his characters belonged to Archie when he left. It was a complete fuckup on their part.

>>93798104
The contracts Penders signed with Archie were lost in a flood. Its still absolute incompetence to lose the characters based on something so frivolous, but that's the root cause.

As shitty as this comic often was, it bums me out to know that there will probably never be an archives/omnibus release of the whole series.

>>93798795
Flood, fire, or careless intern with a shredder. All three are possible.