🎨 Artcow Ken Penders - Former Archie Sonic Comic Writer/Artist

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I liked the Ken Penders stuff because I thought the echidna designs were cool AF when I was 12. Like the mechanical dreadlock look is sick!
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And even when he didn't have specific characters in the comic, his wide range of echidna designs really inspired me as a fanartist.
There were so many colors, so many dreadlock designs!
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I specifically remember the pink one, because I liked the tied look.
And you just didn't have that kind of design for the hedgehogs, or any species that was important. There weren't a lot of wild hair styles, no cool tied spines, anything, but then you get a character like Lien-Da:
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You've got a shitload of customization options. The wraps, the mechanical parts, the hair, it's so fucking cool!

And as stupid, and meme-y as this is, it's still showcasing a lot of fan character designs that young Sonic fans could draw from.
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and he owns them all.

I think some of his hate also comes from the fact that there's now 0 chance of ever seeing characters like Bunnie, Sally, or Nicole in official media. Like how the IDW comic characters appeared in stuff like the mobile runner game, and merch.
Honestly Ian Flynn is his own can of worms due to his own controversies online. Not as bad as Ken Penders but he is much younger so he has his own problems which includes fetishes and torture porn of Sally for some weird reason
 
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Ken insulting the dead take 9062!
 
Honestly Ian Flynn is his own can of worms due to his own controversies online. Not as bad as Ken Penders but he is much younger so he has his own problems which includes fetishes and torture porn of Sally for some weird reason
I don't know much about Flynn outside of he now writes the comics, the games and the cartoons. which for brand synergy is probably for the best there's a guy with a part in all of it.

I actually yesterday found scans online of the series and looked at his first 5/6 issues to see if I had ever read it at all, (I did I quit reading it not long after though) and it was cracking me up at how indecipherable it is to what sonic is now.

you have evil sonic and rouge fucking with locke, shadow is working for eggman but still comes over for sonic's birthday, sonic is dating fiona fox, mammoth mogul and nagus show up and there's like a war being fought over the crown and sword of acorns, eggman murders his terminator daughter, a magic horse guy shows up and sacrifices himself, tails wizard granddad or something shows up. I was laughing my ass off trying to remember who and what the fuck any of this meant 20 years since the last time I saw it. It made me wish I still had those issues to hand to some other random adult I know and ask them to read it and ask them what they could make of it.
 
I don't know much about Flynn outside of he now writes the comics, the games and the cartoons. which for brand synergy is probably for the best there's a guy with a part in all of it.
He's the best damn writer the series has ever had, so I really don't give a fuck about whatever personal shit or online drama. On the topic of Flynn, I think one of the key reasons Penders is so hated is because he ruined the end of Archie Sonic for everyone. Flynn managed to turn into into an actually decent book after a few years of world building house cleaning. But here comes Ken with his lawsuit and the comic just unceremoniously ends in the middle of the most ambitious storyline the book has ever had. Plot threads unresolved, well loved characters lost forever, and decades of world building gone. For better or worse. Personally I think the IDW comic is a massive improvement in most ways, but still. What could have been.
 
He's the best damn writer the series has ever had, so I really don't give a fuck about whatever personal shit or online drama. On the topic of Flynn, I think one of the key reasons Penders is so hated is because he ruined the end of Archie Sonic for everyone. Flynn managed to turn into into an actually decent book after a few years of world building house cleaning. But here comes Ken with his lawsuit and the comic just unceremoniously ends in the middle of the most ambitious storyline the book has ever had. Plot threads unresolved, well loved characters lost forever, and decades of world building gone. For better or worse. Personally I think the IDW comic is a massive improvement in most ways, but still. What could have been.
yeah I personally couldn't be bothered about the personal life about a dude working on Sonic. unless you're a fat old robotnik shaped retard like ken, you're probably just an autistic weirdo. and I couldn't IMAGINE having to deal with the fucking Sonic fanbase on a day to day level on social media. I'd fucking kill myself. I have read a little bit of his later Archie stuff too. both right before and after the reboot. my little sister was buying it and I would flip through it if I saw it laying around. my best friend's kid I've went through some early archie shit with him, and he gets the IDW books when the collections come out and what little I have seen of it through that it seems pretty good. and frontiers was a little annoying with all the constant "HEY SONIC REMEMBER THAT TIME *insert game here*" but I get why it was like that, and was happy they at least tried to pay lip service to all the other shit before it. although I'd have to assume by default Flynn's stuff is probably consistently pretty good because he's been doing sonic for 20 fuckin years now.

it sucks archie's continuity is dead and buried but I'd imagine just reading sonic all the way through probably isn't really that jarring because the same dude crossed over from the last incarnation to the current. characterization wise for the main game cast, I mean. of course the setting is radically different and the cast we are following is totally different outside of Sonic, Tails and Knux but I assume just the way the SEGA characters who remained are written it probably flows just fine. and the actual intended audience for the book, kids like my nephew, they don't give a fuck. especially with how multiverse shit is so mainstream now it's not hard for him to look at the archie stuff, the movie, the IDW book, games, or even sonic x or the ova and be like well they're all a little different but sonic is still sonic kicking robotnik's ass and knuckles is still knuckles. hell, I prefered AoStH over SatAM as a kid because Scratch and Grounder and Robotnik were hilarious to me, but I didn't give a fuck I just liked all the sonic shit they could put in front of me.
 
What are the chances of him actually getting around to reprinting Archie Sonic it vs him just talking about it and not actually doing anything, given that it took Penders the better part of a decade to put his money where his mouth is with just the one issue? And even then the bulk of that was Archie reprint, with very little original material.

Also, was it ever determined why he was so hung up on the Sonic thing to begin with that he tried to steal the comic instead of, y'know, just moving on or doing stuff over elsewhere?
It's legal. He owns the copyrights to the stories and any use of copyrighted characters from Sega would fall under fair use. Think CDI Zelda.
 
It's legal. He owns the copyrights to the stories and any use of copyrighted characters from Sega would fall under fair use. Think CDI Zelda.
How is it fair use to sell your work with other peoples work in it? This isn't a fan project (which they could still go after) he's selling books. The CDI games exist because they licensed the rights to use them (and they wouldn't be able to reissue them today without Nintendo's permission) but that has nothing to do with fair use at all. You can also license out your stuff for a limited time (see the dozens of games like MK9 that had to be removed from sale when the license for the guest character ran out). I can't imagine any scenario where Sega would have licensed their characters to him.

You don't see any ex-DC writers slapping Batman panels into their new series
 
How is it fair use to sell your work with other peoples work in it? This isn't a fan project (which they could still go after) he's selling books. The CDI games exist because they licensed the rights to use them (and they wouldn't be able to reissue them today without Nintendo's permission) but that has nothing to do with fair use at all. You can also license out your stuff for a limited time (see the dozens of games like MK9 that had to be removed from sale when the license for the guest character ran out). I can't imagine any scenario where Sega would have licensed their characters to him.

You don't see any ex-DC writers slapping Batman panels into their new series
Read the Kurama poster replying to Ken. He has it mostly right.
 
How is it fair use to sell your work with other peoples work in it? This isn't a fan project (which they could still go after) he's selling books. The CDI games exist because they licensed the rights to use them (and they wouldn't be able to reissue them today without Nintendo's permission) but that has nothing to do with fair use at all. You can also license out your stuff for a limited time (see the dozens of games like MK9 that had to be removed from sale when the license for the guest character ran out). I can't imagine any scenario where Sega would have licensed their characters to him.

You don't see any ex-DC writers slapping Batman panels into their new series
DC doesn't lose contracts that specifically state that people can't do that. he totally can it's legal. he just can't sell it with Sonic and Knuckles on the cover and probably has to retitle it. now, he probably shouldn't be able to because I could almost guarantee that contract probably did exist and did say he can't do that, but it didn't in court. I explained it earlier Elliot Maggin wrote Superman books in the 80s that he legally owns the stories inside. he had Penders draw covers for them sometime in the last decade and he could reprint them as long as he didn't sell them as "SUPERMAN" he owns the interior story completely. it's got superman, lex luthor, superwoman, some random dc aliens in it. he can't reprint it as a branded Superman thing because DC owns that. but he owns the specific stories inside and doesn't have to alter them in any way. he just can't throw the logo on it. as long as ken pays the artists and inkers and letterers and shit he's good.

it's like Thunderball in the 80s. dude had the rights specifically to thunderball. he didn't own James Bond. didn't work with MGM on it. he couldn't use a lot of iconic bond stuff, like the barrel opening/theme music because that's all MGM stuff but he could make a James Bond movie because he owned that specific story. got Connery back and everything. didn't have to change his name or anything. made more money than most other bond movies of the 80s.
 
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I liked the Ken Penders stuff because I thought the echidna designs were cool AF when I was 12. Like the mechanical dreadlock look is sick!
View attachment 6161650
And even when he didn't have specific characters in the comic, his wide range of echidna designs really inspired me as a fanartist.
There were so many colors, so many dreadlock designs!
View attachment 6161648
I specifically remember the pink one, because I liked the tied look.
And you just didn't have that kind of design for the hedgehogs, or any species that was important. There weren't a lot of wild hair styles, no cool tied spines, anything, but then you get a character like Lien-Da:
View attachment 6161651
You've got a shitload of customization options. The wraps, the mechanical parts, the hair, it's so fucking cool!

And as stupid, and meme-y as this is, it's still showcasing a lot of fan character designs that young Sonic fans could draw from.
View attachment 6161652

and he owns them all.

I think some of his hate also comes from the fact that there's now 0 chance of ever seeing characters like Bunnie, Sally, or Nicole in official media. Like how the IDW comic characters appeared in stuff like the mobile runner game, and merch.
It's funny you mentioned these comics while I was rummaging through my Archie Sonic collection. I had similar thoughts regarding Ken's characters- especially the Echidnas, when I was growing up.

However, it doesn't negate the fact he literally tweeted about Sally's virginity for some odd reason. Like, I don't think anyone needed to know your oc banged the Princess.
 
However, it doesn't negate the fact he literally tweeted about Sally's virginity for some odd reason. Like, I don't think anyone needed to know your oc banged the Princess.
he straight up had evil sonic fuck bunnie in the woods after mina and amy both told him to fuck off. I've been laughing about that since I was a kid. what an insane plot point. the funniest part is she thinks it's normal sonic who comes back and they literally never clear it up. he's like huh bunnie's being weird as fuck and keeps kissing me. oh well. and then he basically just ignores her. it's hilarious. we're led to believe that bunnie thinks she fucked sonic randomly who then just ignores her after and sonic has no idea why she's acting like his girlfriend. then evil sonic sees rouge and moves on to fuck her instead which I assume he did because she was just hanging out with him for the next few issues.
 
he straight up had evil sonic fuck bunnie in the woods after mina and amy both told him to fuck off. I've been laughing about that since I was a kid. what an insane plot point. the funniest part is she thinks it's normal sonic who comes back and they literally never clear it up. he's like huh bunnie's being weird as fuck and keeps kissing me. oh well. and then he basically just ignores her. it's hilarious. we're led to believe that bunnie thinks she fucked sonic randomly who then just ignores her after and sonic has no idea why she's acting like his girlfriend. then evil sonic sees rouge and moves on to fuck her instead which I assume he did because she was just hanging out with him for the next few issues.
The funny thing is Ken pays people shit money just to find comics on some sites instead of some copies he claims he had. Like paying Alex 100 dollars to scan comics from Sonic magazines. It is very suspicious if said man claims he wants to bring new titles to the fanbase. And for some unknown reason, he is editing some panels for the comics because I guess he is a perfectionist I guess. The thing is he is an artist himself. Just a pretty bad one and has been known to trace art from other series and comics so it's not like he needs a team of artists to help him. He just does it all himself and it shows with bare-breast milk arc…. 😭
 
The funny thing is Ken pays people shit money just to find comics on some sites instead of some copies he claims he had. Like paying Alex 100 dollars to scan comics from Sonic magazines. It is very suspicious if said man claims he wants to bring new titles to the fanbase. And for some unknown reason, he is editing some panels for the comics because I guess he is a perfectionist I guess. The thing is he is an artist himself. Just a pretty bad one and has been known to trace art from other series and comics so it's not like he needs a team of artists to help him. He just does it all himself and it shows with bare-breast milk arc…. 😭
This is the odd part, even if he doesn't have the comics on hand, why ask other people to find 'em? You can easily find Archie comics online or even on torrent sites by this point.
 
This is the odd part, even if he doesn't have the comics on hand, why ask other people to find 'em? You can easily find Archie comics online or even on torrent sites by this point.
not to powerlevel too much but I know vaguely of a guy who has as a hobby the last few years since he knew that stuff was unlikely to get a reprint, been working on digital restorations of all of that material. the sonic comic was something that he shared with a dead family member so he's got a lot of emotional attachment to it and wanted to reprint his own like extremely high quality reprints of it.

from seeing some of the stuff that goes into that you'd be surprised at how much actual work goes into it. what's humorous to me is when Ken's reprints come out, they'll probably be fine to buy for your kid or whatever or just to have to read but the level of effort in it compared to this random dude's will be insane night and day. what he needs is someone like that to handle the whole project. however, that guy would tell him to fuck himself because (rightfully so) he'd want to get paid for his work even though he's doing it for free for himself anyways. because book design is actual work. having that material presented in a commercial worthy quality, is actual fucking work. ken won't do that. I'm sure the files he got from this guy for his reprint are better quality than your average comic site would have, I'm sure that autistic fuck probably scanned it himself for him or something. but you have to do more than just scanning it. and nobody worth their salt in that department would ever do it for a free copy of the book and a obligatory $100.

not to mention the guy I know had the experience from hell just trying to get a single commision from Ken to throw in the back of his personal copy of the volumes he's going to print because it reminds him of his childhood and passed on family, he'd probably rather strangle Penders than deal with him directly. but my point is, Ken will get scans from one of his 4 actual fans, for payment give them enough for a case of beer and forget about it and then proclaim it's the literal best that material could ever look and he will be demonstrably wrong and have went about it the laziest possible way.

now if I was going to do that for me, I'd just get the shittiest quality scans that are readable and print them as cheap as possible just to have them. but for a commercial product you have to do more than that.
 
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