Artcow Ken Penders - Former Archie Sonic Comic Writer/Artist

[PsychoNerd054]

Flynn had to come in and try to work with that shit. He had to try and reboot the series without any of Penders works, whicch wasn't easy, and the comic failed for several reasons, including the reboot..

After Pender's involvement and the lawsuits, it was already pretty much doomed from the start, because of how complicated the story became.

 

[The Big Dude in the Derby]

After Pender's involvement and the lawsuits, it was already pretty much doomed from the start, because of how complicated the story became.

The story's complexity is what kept people reading..it's what kept it as the longest-running comic book based on a video game ever. The expanded universe of characters, the complex stories...and the fact that, every once in a while, they took breaks from the "SRS BZNS" side of things and did whimsical side-stories and one-offs to keep things from being stale...I don't remember which Super Special it was, but there was one that parodied Sailor Moon...it was cringe, but it was a refreshing break from all the more dramatic stuff they were doing.

 

[Dumbchan]

Yeah as complex as it was, there was so many plot holes in it that it made it so difficult to keep up after so many issues. I kinda got the jist of the concept of the lore they were going for, for a good solid maybe 60 issues, and it went out in left field pretty much after the whole "go to space" era started.

I don't remember which Super Special it was, but there was one that parodied Sailor Moon...it was cringe, but it was a refreshing break from all the more dramatic stuff they were doing.

I really hated that issue. I always found their Super Specials absolutely weird unless they actually do follow story, which very few did.

 

[The Big Dude in the Derby]

Yeah as complex as it was, there was so many plot holes in it that it made it so difficult to keep up after so many issues. I kinda got the jist of the concept of the lore they were going for, for a good solid maybe 60 issues, and it went out in left field pretty much after the whole "go to space" era started.




I really hated that issue. I always found their Super Specials absolutely weird unless they actually do follow story, which very few did.

I enjoyed Mecha Madness...and the weird one-off with Image Comics was amusing..Spawn shoes up, is like "hi..." and then he's gone again, like WTF? XD

 

[Someone in a Tree]

The story's complexity is what kept people reading..it's what kept it as the longest-running comic book based on a video game ever.

I believe it might have been the longest running licensed title by the time it ended.

 

[KingofNothing]

Mods cleaned up a bit too much, when they booted the sperg so I'm reposting this:

As far as I know these are Ben Hurst's actual words on the matter. I've highlighted the part specifically related to Penders in blue in the first quote, but it's an interesting read if you want to see how horrible the show management was.

http://www.saturdaymorningsonic.com/features/ben_hurst/?full=1 https://archive.fo/u3q8N

From the alt.fan.sonic-hedgehog newsgroup (2005):

Hello fans of SatAm,

Sonic Underground was a sad, sad story. With the opportunity looming large for the third season of SatAm, DIC made a creative decision to trash that continuity and strike out in a new direction. The reason: because they could add songs with the whole Sonic, Sonia and Manic thing and collect extra residuals from ASCAP/BMI (the group that pays song royalties - DIC makes deals with songwriters to split or sign over the rights to their compositions - exactly the same way that they force the writers and story editors to sign over all rights to their stories.)

All residual payments for cartoons go to DIC - even the royalties set aside for creative people in Europe (based on blank videotape and audio cassette sales). There have been legal battles about that (through the Writer's Guild), but the only reputable animation producer in America (to my knowledge) to hand those monies over to the writers - was Warner Brothers. I've actually received royalty checks from the European release of episodes that Pat Allee and I wrote for "Tiny Toons."

Here's how Sonic Underground happened. After SatAm was canned because of a change in leadership at ABC and low ratings caused by multiple pre-emptions caused by sporting events and finally - being placed up against the red-hot "Power Rangers," (now there's some genius programming strategy) - a new version of Sonic was created: Sonic Underground.

Did they ask me or Pat or Len Janson to develop the series? No. In fact, I never heard of the series before a DIC story editor called and asked me and Pat to come to a cattle call for Sonic Underground. I refused (we don't do cattle calls - which, for those of you unfamiliar with the term - is where they bring in about 20 writers to learn about a series and pitch written premises (for free) in hopes of snagging an episode or two). The story editor got us there by guaranteeing us at least a few episodes. So, off we went to a conference room at DIC.

We got there and yep, twenty writers. They showed an episode of SatAm (first season) to "illustrate the background" of the characters. It wasn't one of mine or Pat's - it was one of the other episodes. After they described the marvelous new direction (Siblings, Music, Missing Mother, Stupid New Characters) they ended the meeting. We were taken into another room with the story editor who told us he wanted us to write the pilot episode. We did. SEGA read the script, then the story editor was fired and we were hired. They also hired another team of story editors - who survived through about 8 episodes before they left. We also got a few fledgling writers shoved down our throat by the producer (results: I had to rewrite their damned unusable scripts from page one - they still got paid for the script - I got nada)

We tried our best to get some lore going, but DIC was racing through the series at 2 episodes a week - an insane pace and one calculated to maximize their profits. We managed to get a three-part origin story through, but with the limited time, we were unable to tie everything together. The only bright spot was that we assigned 6 scripts to Len Janson, who wrote some damn nice stuff.

So that's the saga of SU. As I rewatch some of the episodes, I'm surprised it's as good as it is. I'm fully aware it doesn't match up to SatAm and I would give my eye teeth to be hired to do the SatAm third season. But the only way for that to happen would be for some visionary exec at DIC to realize they're sitting on a gold mine.

I did consult with DIC to see if there was a way to generate some enthusiasm for a feature film to be the "Third Season" of SatAm. I was given the name of a SEGA executive and had a most pleasant conversation. She had to go to a meeting, but said she would like to talk to me more about the idea.

The next day, I got a call from Ken Penders, who had been alerted by his contact in their office that I was interested in getting a Sonic movie going. I generously offered to include him in the effort and told him my strategy. Get SEGA to become invested in the idea by hiring us to interview their creative game designers, execs, etc and see if we could develop a story line that would fulfill the third season - and simultaneously give them creative ideas to develop new games. A win-win, situation.

Then, I called SEGA back, but I was shocked when the exec "lit" into me, telling me, "People pay US to develop Sonic product, we don't pay them!" Then she hung up on me. Obviously, Penders had related my strategy to them in a less-than-flattering way. Thanks for the knife, Ken.

So, I gave up. Later, I was informed by friendly fans that Penders had written in his message board or some such place that "Ben Hurst doesn't know how movies are made in Hollywood." (Hey Ken, read "Adventures in Screenwriting" by William Goldman and get some humility) Then he dropped hints that HE would be the writer for a big Sonic Feature Film. That was three years ago.

So, if you're reading between the lines, you can see I don't hold out much hope for seeing the third season of Satam - or being the one who does it if it happens. And that makes me sad. Because if it were to happen, those 13 episodes would sizzle.

But this I've learned: Never leave a series on a cliffhanger unless you have a contract for the next year. And be more careful in my choice of people to confide in.

May this find you all in good health and spirits - and who knows? Miracles could still happen with Satam. But I think the odds of hitting the California Lotto are slightly better.

Best to all,

Ben Hurst

From the alt.fan.sonic-hedgehog newsgroup (2005):

Just for the record: Ken [Penders of Archie comics] has often said (paraphrasing here) that "Ben Hurst says the torch has been passed to me for Sonic the Hedgehog" - usually expressed in a way to make it appear that I passed the torch to him. Not true. I was just trying to be nice. What I said was that since the comic was ongoing and the animated series was over, the torch had been passed [by default] to him. I was just trying to prevent a flurry of inquiries from fans pitting his opinion against mine on how the Sonic Universe should be sculpted after SatAm ended. The way he has expressed it in the past seems to convey the impression that he has my approval of his work. He doesn't. I've not read a single comic.

Best to all,

Ben Hurst

After Pender's involvement and the lawsuits, it was already pretty much doomed from the start, because of how complicated the story became.

I''d say it was more Ian having to make slightly less complicated stories by quietly dropping some of Penders characters to being forced to drop an outright nuke on the whole thing is what doomed them. It was doing fine in sales and there were quite a few people who stopped reading because it wasn't the world they knew anymore. Fuck, Endangered Species was so bad, you could literally see the last minute edits they had to do because of the lawsuit.

 

[MerriedxReldnahc]

carcinogenic pancreas

Well I've just found my new death metal band name!

 

[SteelPlatedHeart]

Yeah as complex as it was, there was so many plot holes in it that it made it so difficult to keep up after so many issues. I kinda got the jist of the concept of the lore they were going for, for a good solid maybe 60 issues, and it went out in left field pretty much after the whole "go to space" era started.




I really hated that issue. I always found their Super Specials absolutely weird unless they actually do follow story, which very few did.

I believe story-wise it was to both specify Sonic as Sonic-Prime in the multiverse as well as his future importance in saving said multiverse.

 

[Damn Near]

Maybe a little late here (just getting caught up on this guy), but he's like a seamless combination of CWC and Dobson. Truly breathtaking.

 

[Mr. 0]

I believe story-wise it was to both specify Sonic as Sonic-Prime in the multiverse as well as his future importance in saving said multiverse.

well he failed
twice

Maybe a little late here (just getting caught up on this guy), but he's like a seamless combination of CWC and Dobson. Truly breathtaking.

CWC has actually gotten his Sonic fancomic out and is generally more well-liked than Ken Penders (because he's dumb as shit and fun to watch when he chimps out). CWC is a well-received final version while Ken is a crappy prototype that got lucky.

 

[Meowthkip]

Did people ever get legit angry at Penders? I never read the Sonic comics: they were before my time. However, I fucking love seeing this idiot fall into blunder after blunder and all by his own doing. It’s beautiful! Why get so mad? Lol

David Gonterman did in the late 90's. He wrote an entire comic about how how pissed he was that Penders had killed off Sally Acorn.

 

[Dumbchan]

David Gonterman did in the late 90's. He wrote an entire comic about how how pissed he was that Penders had killed off Sally Acorn.

Was this part of the sonic comics? I have vague memories of the 90s since I was a kid.

 

[GentlemanFaggot]

Was this part of the sonic comics? I have vague memories of the 90s since I was a kid.

There was a fake-out cliffhanger of her getting killed off in one of the Penders issues. Despite the fact that it was pretty obvious the writers were just doing it for shock value and sure enough, she was fine in the next issue, Gonterman made a comic sperging about it.

http://commuterbarnacle.com/gonterman/sally1.html

 

[Dumbchan]

There was a fake-out cliffhanger of her getting killed off in one of the Penders issues. Despite the fact that it was pretty obvious the writers were just doing it for shock value and sure enough, she was fine in the next issue, Gonterman made a comic sperging about it.

Oh man.

I did read the comic of her falling off the cliff. It was like a 4 or 5 issue special if I remember. I enjoyed it a lot. Sonic got arrested as he was accused of pushing her off a cliff or something, from Penders' stupid OC Geoff.

This here though is pretty funny.

 

[GentlemanFaggot]

Oh man.

I did read the comic of her falling off the cliff. It was like a 4 or 5 issue special if I remember. I enjoyed it a lot. Sonic got arrested as he was accused of pushing her off a cliff or something, from Penders' stupid OC Geoff.

This here though is pretty funny.

Wow, not only did Geoff beat Sonic to Sally's virginity (Thanks Penders...we needed to know that.), he also pinned her murder on him!

If I recall, the plot twist was stupid. Apparently the character who did it was a good guy, but she was tricked into wearing some goggles that made Sally look like Robotnick or something.

It's almost like this comic was written for retarded children or something...

 

[Dumbchan]

Definitely looks like Penders was trying to rewrite the story so that Geoff was more of a main character, and make Sonic some sort of villain. If he had his way, he would've made this entire story only involving his plot and his plot alone.

 

[The Big Dude in the Derby]

There was a fake-out cliffhanger of her getting killed off in one of the Penders issues. Despite the fact that it was pretty obvious the writers were just doing it for shock value and sure enough, she was fine in the next issue, Gonterman made a comic sperging about it.

http://commuterbarnacle.com/gonterman/sally1.html

Penders has clarified that, at the time, he and the team were under the impression that the comic was going to end at issue 50. So they were going to do some last-minute tragic heroism on Sally's part. What they didn't realize was that the sales numbers would end up catapulting the series forward and that SEGA renewed their license agreement for another year in the midst of writing the last two issues...so they hastily put together a plot twist that would bring back Sally Acorn (Along with the outpouring of fan-demand that Sally live, as well as demands from Sega to keep her alive in the series). He might not have liked Sally, personally, but his love for his fans and respect for them ultimately caused him to cave to that demand. Flynn, however, didn't much care for fan demand, which is why he was on his way to killing Antoine by leaving him in a permanent coma. He even admitted that he was going to kill off the coyote for "Poignancy" despite the fact both Sega and fans didn't want Antoine to die.

Wow, not only did Geoff beat Sonic to Sally's virginity (Thanks Penders...we needed to know that.), he also pinned her murder on him!

If I recall, the plot twist was stupid. Apparently the character who did it was a good guy, but she was tricked into wearing some goggles that made Sally look like Robotnick or something.

It's almost like this comic was written for exceptional children or something...

What happened was that Drago, a member of the Wolf Pack, betrayed them to Robotnik. He'd been in cahoots with ol' 'Buttnik since the start, and he used Hershey to get closer to the core team of Freedom Fighters. Drago gave Hershey a costume of Sonic, saying that it would confuse Robotnik into thinking Sonic was on the opposite end of the city...The costume had special lenses designed by Robotnik with computer graphics chips in it that would make the wearer see Snively instead of anyone else...So Hershey thought she was offing Snively when she cut the rope, disguised as Sonic, that would have killed Sally if not for the fan-demand and Sega renewing the licencing contract with Archie, as their contract was on a year-to-year basis and had to be renewed each year, and they didn't know if Archie would renew the series for another year.

She eventually beat the ever-living shit out of Drago, and helped send him to The Devil's Gulag, but her role ended up being greatly diminished afterward, and we saw less and less of her as the series continued.

Oh man.

I did read the comic of her falling off the cliff. It was like a 4 or 5 issue special if I remember. I enjoyed it a lot. Sonic got arrested as he was accused of pushing her off a cliff or something, from Penders' stupid OC Geoff.

This here though is pretty funny.

what actually happened was Hershey Cat was disguised as Sonic with a costume given to her by her then-fiance Drago Wolf, who'd been using her to get close to the core team. The costume was designed by Robotnik with special lenses that would make the wearer see Snively instead of who they were actually looking at. So while Sally was climbing a rope on to a tower in Robotropolis to get into position for her part of the plan, hershey, Disguised as Sonic (It was explained by Drago that it would confuse Robotnik into thinking Sonic was on the opposite side of the city), saw what she thought wa sSnively climbing the rope, and cut it, unknowingly sending Sally to her death, Which, if Sega hadn't renewed the contract in the middle of writing the final 2 issues, and if fans hadn't demand she survive, would have been her death, so they had to hastily re-write the last 2 issues to have had Doctor Quack place her in stasis, as she wasn't dead, but in a coma. And, true to fairy-tale fashion, a kiss revived her. Sappy, and silly, but Ken wanted to give the fans, and Sega, what they wanted, which was to keep Sally alive.

 

[Dumbchan]

Okay well details were fuzzy I'll admit. I was trying to find the comic to help with my sources but alas.


Sally is a favorite, so of course no one would want her demise.

 

[NARPASSWORD]

Sally is a favorite among autistic yiffers, so of course no one would want her demise.

FTFY

 

[Super Color Up]

Penders has clarified that, at the time, he and the team were under the impression that the comic was going to end at issue 50. So they were going to do some last-minute tragic heroism on Sally's part. What they didn't realize was that the sales numbers would end up catapulting the series forward and that SEGA renewed their license agreement for another year in the midst of writing the last two issues...so they hastily put together a plot twist that would bring back Sally Acorn (Along with the outpouring of fan-demand that Sally live, as well as demands from Sega to keep her alive in the series). He might not have liked Sally, personally, but his love for his fans and respect for them ultimately caused him to cave to that demand. Flynn, however, didn't much care for fan demand, which is why he was on his way to killing Antoine by leaving him in a permanent coma. He even admitted that he was going to kill off the coyote for "Poignancy" despite the fact both Sega and fans didn't want Antoine to die.


What happened was that Drago, a member of the Wolf Pack, betrayed them to Robotnik. He'd been in cahoots with ol' 'Buttnik since the start, and he used Hershey to get closer to the core team of Freedom Fighters. Drago gave Hershey a costume of Sonic, saying that it would confuse Robotnik into thinking Sonic was on the opposite end of the city...The costume had special lenses designed by Robotnik with computer graphics chips in it that would make the wearer see Snively instead of anyone else...So Hershey thought she was offing Snively when she cut the rope, disguised as Sonic, that would have killed Sally if not for the fan-demand and Sega renewing the licencing contract with Archie, as their contract was on a year-to-year basis and had to be renewed each year, and they didn't know if Archie would renew the series for another year.

She eventually beat the ever-living shit out of Drago, and helped send him to The Devil's Gulag, but her role ended up being greatly diminished afterward, and we saw less and less of her as the series continued.


what actually happened was Hershey Cat was disguised as Sonic with a costume given to her by her then-fiance Drago Wolf, who'd been using her to get close to the core team. The costume was designed by Robotnik with special lenses that would make the wearer see Snively instead of who they were actually looking at. So while Sally was climbing a rope on to a tower in Robotropolis to get into position for her part of the plan, hershey, Disguised as Sonic (It was explained by Drago that it would confuse Robotnik into thinking Sonic was on the opposite side of the city), saw what she thought wa sSnively climbing the rope, and cut it, unknowingly sending Sally to her death, Which, if Sega hadn't renewed the contract in the middle of writing the final 2 issues, and if fans hadn't demand she survive, would have been her death, so they had to hastily re-write the last 2 issues to have had Doctor Quack place her in stasis, as she wasn't dead, but in a coma. And, true to fairy-tale fashion, a kiss revived her. Sappy, and silly, but Ken wanted to give the fans, and Sega, what they wanted, which was to keep Sally alive.

It was also because Sally's spinoff series didn't sell well. So Penders was under the impression that she not only "cramped sonics style" but that no one wanted her around.
Keep in mind, this was during the 90's, when comics were primarily aimed at young boys, and would a boy whos into comics wanna read a comic about some furry princess who's cover title has fancy pink and gold cursive letters in her name? Jesus, I can't believe this man wrote for 160 issues.

a large part of that was also because his editor was like "psh whatever bro".