Artcow Ken Penders - Former Archie Sonic Comic Writer/Artist

Animaniacs reboot, where you can tell the people behind it had a huge dislike for the franchise or its brand of humor.
Julia was the lone beacon of light in that reboot.

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The issue with Animaniacs (aside from the writing just not being funny), the creators were kinda very hostile to fans simply asking if the rest of cast was gonna show (like seriously 2 eps were just TTG levels of "fuck u critics" vibes) and fact they felt need to get waaay mo political than needed (you had an ep about protesting, an ep about gun control, one ep with them just shitting on Russia, and course ya obligatory Orange Man stuff), so no shocker they lasted only...mm..2-3 Seasons and then got canned, to the point nobody even mentions this show in passing.

TinyToons...was weird, like it wasnt mean spirited, they had the whole cast and it kept the slapstick nature, but some character changes felt..well odd to say the least like Buster and Babs now being siblings for some reason.


I guess its this strange of love for the series you experienced as a kid, so course when you have that level of attachement, ya kinda hope the sequel or reboot will be done in the same spirit so your kid or younger audience can experiencr it and you can watch it with 'em? Its a weird thing and I kinda get it, but as I said this shit is lighting in bottle and you really neee to have people who have much freedom and love for the franchise, which in any industry is a huge rarity.
I’ll say this. Given Trump is back in office would they revive the cartoon again to make even more shitty jokes?
 
I’ll say this. Given Trump is back in office would they revive the cartoon again to make even more shitty jokes?
Eh, I doubt it. Since the previous 3 season tanked so hard, I doubt Disney will wanna blow cash in another revival even. Like, aside from the boring Trump jokes, a lot of the humor in the reboot was just..weird...Like, okay heres an example: theres a moment where they wanna make fun of Big Bang Theory (Im serious), but instead of being jokes, it felt like one of the writers personal Twitter rant on why they hate BigBang theory.
 
Eh, I doubt it. Since the previous 3 season tanked so hard, I doubt Disney will wanna blow cash in another revival even. Like, aside from the boring Trump jokes, a lot of the humor in the reboot was just..weird...Like, okay heres an example: theres a moment where they wanna make fun of Big Bang Theory (Im serious), but instead of being jokes, it felt like one of the writers personal Twitter rant on why they hate BigBang theory.
Its time has come and gone. I remember reading a review of the Rocky and Bullwinkle movie which pointed this out too: the characters worked because you didn’t have to suffer through them constantly. They’d pop in, deliver a joke, and then vanish. It's like trying to turn a 30-second TikTok meme into a full-length film.
 
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Julia was the lone beacon of light in that reboot.

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Gonna go out on a limb and say so was the jurassic park esq preview that was also the first episodes intro.


That intro was probably the closest the reboot ever got to genuinely feeling like something out of the original animaniacs. A shame it's wasted the momment the actual show got started and it became everything tired cat said it was.

You guys wanna move this conversation to the western animation thread?
 
I mean, we can also bring up the Nazi echidnas and Nazi dingos he made. Those were a thing, with him having a hardon for the former.
Oh yeah the i think (never really read that much of Archie Comics so using my memory of reading stuff about it in various places over time) Iron Legion?
 
Oh yeah the i think (never really read that much of Archie Comics so using my memory of reading stuff about it in various places over time) Iron Legion?
Dark Legion, they were like echidna Nazis who were obsessed with shoving enough cybernetics into themselves, that would make Maelstrom from Cyberpunk blush.
I still don't get the critique on this "poem". Being offended by this makes you more ridiculous than Penders.
The problem being, he took an actual WW2 poem and "changed it" by shoving Mobians into it. It's less offensive, but is kinda cringe in a way.
 
Dark Legion, they were like echidna Nazis who were obsessed with shoving enough cybernetics into themselves, that would make Maelstrom from Cyberpunk blush.
There's also the part where underneath all the robes and crap they were basically echidna Borgs, since Penders also wrote Star Trek comics and put a lot of his ideas from that into Archie Sonic.
 
There's also the part where underneath all the robes and crap they were basically echidna Borgs, since Penders also wrote Star Trek comics and put a lot of his ideas from that into Archie Sonic.
Ye and I think somewhere down the line they dropped the Borg thing and instead made it how they had parts of them replaced with cybernetics, thus making them seem like Tech Priests or something.
 
Dark Legion, they were like echidna Nazis who were obsessed with shoving enough cybernetics into themselves, that would make Maelstrom from Cyberpunk blush.

The problem being, he took an actual WW2 poem and "changed it" by shoving Mobians into it. It's less offensive, but is kinda cringe in a way.
Don't get me wrong, it's incredibly cringe, but I just get annoyed by the pearl clutching, especially on kiwi farms. It's funnier to just laugh at the retard. He produces so much great material every day, yet the same three old things always get brought up.

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First we got absolutely amazing concept art
Screenshot 2025-02-23 102230.pngGkU4G-yaQAA7xyP.jpg(The tweet is in response to this.)
And probably one of his Top 10 insane tweets of all time. A true work of art! He seems to be on a roll lately.

(Sorry for not archiving, apparently I'm to stupid to archive twitter)
 
Dark Legion, they were like echidna Nazis who were obsessed with shoving enough cybernetics into themselves
I can barely remember what that dark legion was trying to do. If I’m being generous, it seemed like a power struggle between Knuckles' family and these other fools fighting over control of Angel Island. The dark legion, predictably, lost and then they had this idea to keep one of their own alive with cybernetics. All that time just waiting for another shot at taking over. The whole thing mimicking the rivalry between General Zod and Jor-El.

Then, they threw in this Mammoth Mogul character, who was basically just a knockoff of Kingpin, trying to muscle in on Angel Island.

If you were a fan of those cheesy Saturday morning cartoons, like Darkwing Duck, which played around with comic book cliches, you might give this a pass. But here's the issue with Darkwing Duck: at least it knew what it was doing. It was all comedy, all tongue-in-cheek, and it didn’t try to be anything more than that. Now, with Ken Penders, there’s this weird, constant confusion about whether he's genuinely attempting a parody of DC Comics, or if he's just stealing their ideas and trying to pull one over on a much younger crowd.
 
I can barely remember what that dark legion was trying to do. If I’m being generous, it seemed like a power struggle between Knuckles' family and these other fools fighting over control of Angel Island. The dark legion, predictably, lost and then they had this idea to keep one of their own alive with cybernetics. All that time just waiting for another shot at taking over. The whole thing mimicking the rivalry between General Zod and Jor-El
Basically to make their looong and convoluted story short: They wanted to bring back their dead God, because they believed the Echidnas were a superior race and should rule over all. They kinda tried using Knuckles for it at first and later on became Eggmans lackeys (after he went insane, they became "sane" again)
Then, they threw in this Mammoth Mogul character, who was basically just a knockoff of Kingpin, trying to muscle in on Angel Island.
Funny thing, Mogul was more like Vandal Savage, due to him being this immortal being.
 
I can barely remember what that dark legion was trying to do. If I’m being generous, it seemed like a power struggle between Knuckles' family and these other fools fighting over control of Angel Island. The dark legion, predictably, lost and then they had this idea to keep one of their own alive with cybernetics. All that time just waiting for another shot at taking over. The whole thing mimicking the rivalry between General Zod and Jor-El.

Then, they threw in this Mammoth Mogul character, who was basically just a knockoff of Kingpin, trying to muscle in on Angel Island.

If you were a fan of those cheesy Saturday morning cartoons, like Darkwing Duck, which played around with comic book cliches, you might give this a pass. But here's the issue with Darkwing Duck: at least it knew what it was doing. It was all comedy, all tongue-in-cheek, and it didn’t try to be anything more than that. Now, with Ken Penders, there’s this weird, constant confusion about whether he's genuinely attempting a parody of DC Comics, or if he's just stealing their ideas and trying to pull one over on a much younger crowd.
>Mammoth Mogul
Now that reminded me of when this happened
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And this isn't the most ridiculous thing with Tails in those comics, remember how in the early comics Tails falls in love with one of Robotnik's robots and then the real Fiona (I think that was her name) shows up in the comics but Tails still has that feeling but now puts it on her but she doesn't return the feeling and instead dates Sonic? And how that's partially why he joined the rebellion side against the Acorn Royal family? (Penders sure wrote a lot of melodrama)

I still don't get the critique on this "poem". Being offended by this makes you more ridiculous than Penders.
I'm not actually offended, more pointing out he also had moments that were not exactly the best idea either. As pointed out he basically had multiple groups in the Archie Sonic comics that were pretty much closecto being the equivalent of Nazis so again not offended just pointing out Ken has made made decisions that necessarily look the best either
 
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>Mammoth Mogul
Now that reminded me of when that time this happened
23.jpg
And this isn't the most ridiculous thing with Tails in those comics, remember how in the early comics Tails falls in love with one of Robotnik's robots and then the real Fiona (I think that was her name) shows up in the comics but Tails still has that feeling but now puts it on her but she doesn't return the feeling and instead dates Sonic? And how that's partially why he joined the rebellion side against the Acorn Royal family? (Penders sure wrote a lot of melodrama)
Oh sweet waffles with biscuits, do I remember how they milked this whole "Tails is the chosen one" storyline for as long as possible. And yes, you're correct with Fiona; that character alone was a big tangled web of "the fuck", like..okay first she has feelings for Tails, then switches to Sonic (hello 4th fuckin' love triangle, thanks Ken) and later she just joins the badguys side for no apparent reason. Like, seriously they NEVER explained why she turned evil and joined Scourge. Later they tried to give an implication she might leave him and start a new life..buuut that plotthread never went anywhere.
 
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