I bring good news--and of course--BAD news.
Bad:
Ken Penders just lost his job for Sonic. I'm very serious.
Good:
Ian Flynn is the new MAIN, HEAD WRITER for SONIC. W00T! -Cheers- XD
Quoted from www.kenpenders.com:
"THE TIMES, THEY ARE A'CHANGIN'
When I initiated this format, I had seriously intended to submit my blog entries on a much more regular basis than I was able to. What I discovered was that 2005 was such a year in transition for me that it became extremely difficult to do so for a number of reasons. Chief among them was that time had become my most precious commodity as priorities kept changing -- practically on a daily basis.
It wasn't until this month that I finally learned to embrace the future and let go of the past; which isn't easy for someone my age with responsibilities. If I was twenty years younger, this would have been a no-brainer. But in an age-conscious society such as the one we live in, making a career change like the one I'm about to do is a huge leap of faith.
For the longest time, I believed I was living on borrowed time working in the comics industry. In an era where there is so much competition for a person's attention and money, comics have been a niche market, considered at best the research and development stage for a character and/or concept before it goes on to another medium, be it film, TV, or video game. Furthermore, I was an anomaly in the industry. The number of creators who can probably match my longevity with a book these days most likely all work for Archie. I can't think of a single writer or artist at Marvel or DC who has been associated with a particular book or character on a regular basis the past twelve years. Creators I can recall associated with a book as long as I are Roy Thomas on Conan and Chris Claremont on X-Men. Even Stan Lee and Jack Kirby didn't collaborate on THE FANTASTIC FOUR as long as I've been on SONIC; and they wrote and illustrated the first 102 issues without a break!
So while everyone asks me about breaking into the biz, the topics that go largely unaddressed are just as important. They're the future of comics as well as job security in the industry.
Addressing the future of comics, I believe there will be a comics industry in one form or another for the foreseeable future. I just don't believe ten years down the road it will be the same as it is today. Economics alone demand a change at some point. Take the 32-page format that most comics are printed in today. It's a dinosaur by every measurement imaginable whose very existence is subsidized by its advertising. As for the writers and artists, they will be considered even more expendable by the companies whose priorities are the characters, not the creatives.
Which brings us to job security. Unless you're the publisher or someone extremely well connected within the industry - and there are less of those types than you would imagine - there really isn't any security. At Marvel or DC, when a book's sales go down, an editor may be replaced. But just as often it's the writer and artists who are replaced -- and not because they did a bad job. More often than not, the announcement of a new creative team is seen as an occasion to encourage the audience that something new is happening and that they'll be missing out if they don't check into it. The thing of it is, more often than not, it's only for the short run. I'm sure the current sales of BATMAN these days don't match up with those of the recent Jim Lee run (which is now ancient history by today's standards.)
I've been working in the comics industry for almost twenty years, going back to my first assignment for DC Comics. Back in 1986 I worked for their WHO'S WHO IN STAR TREK mini-series; and, I can state from first-hand experience and the testimony of others that as hard as it is to break in, it's even harder to make a career of it -- unless you're adaptable. You can go from assignment to assignment and then, one morning, wake up wondering why there's no work.
That's partly why I became a writer, in response to having to wait for other writers' scripts that I was assigned to illustrate. I figured if I got into the game at the initial stage of creation, I could generate my own assignments. In the case of SONIC, it also offered me a chance to jump onto a book that was looking for one thing (writers) instead of the other (artists). You do what you have to, y'know?
What I didn't count on was ever staying as long as I did on the series. I figured I'd do a few issues and move on to something else at Marvel and DC. After all, working on SONIC back then was an issue-by-issue proposition. Even the publishers had no clue at all how long the book would last, hedging their bets by offering only six-issue subscriptions instead of the twelve-issue subs they offered on all their other titles. And when the original SONIC animated series were cancelled, even my then-editor Scott Fulop was pessimistic of the book itself lasting much longer. The history of similarly licensed-titles in the comics industry did not bode well for Sonic. It was at that point that I wrote up an outline of stories designed to take the series to issue 50. The culmination of which was the final epic battle between Sonic and his arch-nemesis Dr. Robotnik. All the while I knew there were no guarantees we would even make it to the 50th issue.
The only time I had any sense of stability was probably when I wrote the first twenty-five or so issues of Knuckles. When artist Manny Galan moved on to Nickelodeon, things seemed to fall apart. The book, as you know, was cancelled rather abruptly with issue 32.
After that, it became one long roller coaster ride, never knowing how long it would last. Finally, this past October, editor Mike Pellerito told me he wanted to make a change. The MOBIUS: 25 YEARS LATER 2-parter I had recently turned in would be the last story I would write for Archie Sonic in the foreseeable future. He did, however, allow me the chance to continue working on the book in an artistic capacity. I accepted those assignments at first. Then, while working on an assignment, I discovered that there were more pressing family matters as well as other opportunities elsewhere that I couldn't afford to turn down any longer.
So, the current Sonic-Shadow story line seeing print in issues #157 through #159 will be my last regular Sonic story in the series. The upcoming M:25YL 2-parter is my swan song from the book altogether. It's now up to new scribe Ian Flynn and others to carry the ball from here on out.
At this point, I want to thank editors Paul Castiglia, Scott Fulop, Justin Gabrie, and Mike Pellerito, along with editor-in-chief Victor Gorelick, and publishers Michael Silberkleit and Richard Goldwater for the opportunity to work on the series all these many years. And I must mention my appreciation for being part of a series that has meant so much to so many people all that time. My wish is that it continues to do so for many years to come.
As for me, I'm gearing up the work on some projects long in gestation. Their announcements will appear at the proper time on this website. I'll still be appearing at the San Diego Comic Con in 2006 for those still wondering, though I'll most likely be promoting my new projects instead of Sonic like I've done these past several years. I'll also continue to post responses on my message board and answer e-mail. So while I may no longer be associated with the Sonic comic book, I won't be disappearing from the scene any time soon.
After a few days of holiday relaxation, I'll be back posting here as well. Happy New Year!"
I'll miss him. Every one of his stories was excellent to me.
#157-#159 will be his last mainstory arc, and M25YL will be his last backstory.
By the way, he had some unique ideas in the making. One of which was a new method of Roboticization, using NANITES.
He didn't spill much, but I thought I'd let you know.
Bygones, Ken Penders. We'll miss you.
Energy "Ethan" Emerald
Edit: I just emailed him about something. I'll let you know some more info later when he replies to my email.
I'm not sure how I feel about this. I do hope he'll keep us posted regarding his future projects.
I haven't agreed with him on every issue, in fact we have some very different points of view on certain issues,but I do wish him well in the future.
i'll admit i was a little harsh on him for Sonic #150, but it's kind of sad to see him go, i am glad that he has some projects in store to keep him busy.
When I first read this I didn't believe it! I can't say how upsetting this is to me! I really liked his work for the most part. Heck I thought 150 was the worst one he ever wrote! I hope luck goes his way in the future!
If Ian Flynn is numero uno then I may have to start buying this comic again.
Will there be any other writers around, or just Ian?
Tania Del Rio will be writing a few upcoming stories, including a Sonic Rush "adaptation." She has magnificent work.
Seconded, EE. 151's "Stargazing" was, in my opinion, the book's best story of 2005, hands down.
I didn't really like the Princess Sally story Tania Del Rio did. The art was too much into "furry" territory, and it remains to be seen if she can do action stories starring Sonic.
I don't think the comic needs multiple writers. I wish they'd just hand it all over to Ian.
Although much of Pender's recent works have been disagreeable to me, I wish him the best on whatever he does. As for Ian Potto, I wish him luck as well as the other writers.
~Neo
Absolute best of luck to Penders; I really think that he had some great ideas, but his implementation was just a little off. I have faith in Potto and del Rio, though. We could certainly be in much worse hands.
And show of hands, who thinks that Drazen's gonna start reviewing comics again the minute he hears this news?
I wouldn't be shocked. 
Actually, I liked M25YL <ducks>...Good luck to Ken in the future!...and also to Potto and del Rio!
I'm not a fan of Del Rio's either. Too "furry". I'm gonna miss Ken. I can't belive that after 12 years of writing the book, they would just let him go like that. That's just not right. That's the life of a freelancer I guess.
oo! potto is the main writer now?
*victory dance!*
Wow. It's hard to believe that I've been reading Ken's stories since 1994. He's had his fair share of lame stories, of course (M:25YL, 150), but over the years he's also had some great ones (the Knuckles series, End Game). He was one of my favorites as far as dialouge goes. I'll definitely miss him. Thanks for the great stories over the years, Mr. Penders.
Man, we've lost two long-time writers in such a short time. But I still really look forward to Ian's debut in a couple of months, as well as future stuff he has planned for the book.
I've in fact really loathed Ken Penders for the past 3 years for writing such lame excuses for Sonic/Knuckles stories. Yet, I can't forget that he also in fact is one of my biggest inspirations to my life and art with his Knuckles series. There are mixed feeling, but I feel like the guy just needed to be let go. His works suffered greatly I think from probably being bitter from the cancelation. I often thought in fact that Ken was buying time with the dopplegangers and that story never happened type senarios just until his Knuckles stories came back. Of course it never happened. That's why I'm going to go pay respects at Comic-Con this year. I'm not going to be afraid to tell him how much I hated the past few years either. However, I do plan on attempting to cosplay as Enerjak. Whether Ken loves it or I rub his skin the wrong way is all up to him. I'm still very bitter about the fact that we were promised to see him again around issue #100 in a chat room. That and how Kragok and Tobor died without him facing off against Morritori as a final battle.
I'm excited on what Ian has in store for us!!! ^______^ *dances*
The thing about Ken was that he was far better at writing Knuckles stories than he ever was writing Sonic stories. But after Knuckles was cancelled, Ken's work went into a decline not because he became unable to write, but because he was given less space to work with and he was reduced to a backup story in the Sonic book. This also hurt Karl, of course, lowring his page count. Then, after TiS, when the Knuckles storyline was effectively ended, Ken began writing M25yL, which, in my opinion, suffered mainly form the fact that it took so long to tell because of space limitations. Then, he wrote the stories for Sonic, which as I said he was never that good with.
So, cut the man some slack. His main problem as a writer was his insistence on sticking with his initial story plans even after circumstances changed to make them impractical.
I think "dopplegangers" and "characters you think are the real ones who come from another zone" is a really lame excuse for story ideas. Not Real Tails, Anti-Antione, and the original Lara-Su as examples. I really liked Antione before the surprise that it wasn't really him. Same goes for Lara-Su. You just don't create characters people love and then take it back by saying it's not really them. (And if you look in the past it was based off of the Tobor and Morritori switch, but it was successful because it just flowed way better and was more believable. I actually liked this one.) 9___9 Not only did people not like it, but he knew that they didn't like it. Yet, he did it numerous times. That's what irks me about Ken.
All right! Now we get stories that don't portray Sonic as a lovesick puppy!
And less dumb crap about Tommy Turtle the robot thing!
I'm interested to see where this new blood takes us.
And I wanna write for Archie! Except that I doubt other people would want to read action movies.
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Ian Flynn is the new MAIN, HEAD WRITER for SONIC.
BOOYA! 
you know, im happy to see mike take initiative. can we get a round of congratulations for mike's taking action?
i've been out of the sonic loop since the last Dub story, not re-upping my subscription and picking up issues weeks late at the local borders, and i didnt catch this announcement until it popped up today on Newsarama. Ken Penders was for a long time my favorite thing about this comic. Karl Bollers, for all he did at the end, wrote terribly dreadful stories in the nineties and early hundreds, meanwhile, ken provided a linear, connected story in his Green KNuckles saga. it didnt go over very well with the fans maybe, but it had purpose, it was heading towards something, and it outshined the sonic stories until the last few months of the knuckles backups. my dissilusionment of ken penders came at M:25YL, and even then i held out that he might return to proficiency when he got back behind Sonic, but unfortunately Sonic #150 wiped me of hope for his stories.
ken penders is a fabulous writer, but after so many years of writing the same characters, any writer will do as ken has done, creat shells of stories, actions on the outside, with no meat in the middle. chris claremont doesnt have anything to say with the x-men anymore, and ken doesnt have anything to say again about Sonic. this isnt about his writing ability, hes just done it for so long hes got nothing new to give.
congratulations for mike seeing that, and doing something about it. i worried that just as Marvel keeps Claremont around because hes Always Been There, Archie would do the same with Ken. when someones around that long, its strange to think of getting rid of him. but this comic needs revitilization badly. new writers, Tania and Ian, are required to move Sonic furher into the mainstream and keep ikts energy alive. we're now entering the time when fans who grew up with the comic are at its helm and that should bode well.
dan drazen, now that kens gone you might rethink youre no more sonic rule. see whats coiming next. it could be big.
------------------------------------------the-Krayon
I tried to talk Drazen into coming back. He said it's very possible. I can tell he wants to. 
And why not? After all, circumstances drastically changed just weeks after Dan called it quits. I'm sure some people will accuse Dan of crying wolf, but... well, that's simply not the case.
Anyway, if Dan's not into writing reviews anymore, that's his decision. But I do hope that he'll continue reading and discussing the book with us here and elsewhere.
Settle down ladies, Ian's only one person. Don't over hype anything.
... Asa I can't believe I'm saying this. 
You guys really think its right to be popping bubbly over Ken leaving? Thats what I'm seeing in a few posts up there. I mean I didn't like the stuff I heard about either but geez, this is the kind of thing I'd expect if I resigned as mod.
Some of this archie fandom really is a buncha ingrates, oy. For not liking furries ya'll sure do ACT like them. Ripping apart people trying to entertain you. Sheesh.
~Rico
Wait, we don't like furries now?
I mean, we don't necessarily out-and-out PROMOTE them beyond Sega's bunch, but still...
Eh best of luck to him though he really had hit his mark with those Knuckles stories. Too bad he wasn't able to continue them...boy Dub left the comic, boy am I out of the loop.
That's kind of a shame. As alot of people have said he's spun his fair share of losers, but he's also shocked me with some of his winners. Pretty much all of the Knuckles series was GOLD and he created some of my favorite characters in the continuity.
I am with Rico that people are a liiiittle too happy about this, and being a tad hard on Ken.
In retrospect, most of Ken's failings as a writer for the comic resulted from the cancellation of Knuckes and SSS. All of a sudden, the entire continuity of Archie-StH went from thirty books a year (four of which were 48-pagers) to a mere thirteen, space which Ken and Karl had to share, screwing up Ken's grand plans (and probably Karl's as well).
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I didn't really like the Princess Sally story Tania Del Rio did. The art was too much into "furry" territory, and it remains to be seen if she can do action stories starring Sonic.
VCP: to criticize the art of the Sonic comic for being too furry is like criticizing the Pope for being Catholic. These are talking aminuls, remember? Then again, I tend to come down hard on artists like Jim Valentino when they try to give the characters human proportions.
As for del Rio writing for Sonic, aside from the departure of Ken and Karl necessitating a transfusion of new blood, Tania had to prove herself with a non-canonical (from Sega's POV, anyway) story. I'm pretty sure she passed the audition and will be submitting Sonic stories now.
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I tried to talk Drazen into coming back. He said it's very possible. I can tell he wants to.
Like a lot of you on this board, I have mixed emotions about all this: anticipation that an actual fan will be writing the stories (albeit with Sega looking over his shoulder), depression that we lost a writer of whatever caliber, hope that we won't be subjected to any more of the plot excesses that made Ken's late work so easy to dis. I think I still need some away-time, so I may hold off until S159 to do an overview of the "System" arc. But I've got other writing I need to do as well as the Sonic stuff; I'd like to get back into fanfic myself, if only to get the Archie taste out of my mouth. Will post the odd dispatch and am still available to answer direct e-mails.
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VCP: to criticize the art of the Sonic comic for being too furry is like criticizing the Pope for being Catholic. These are talking aminuls, remember?
Do I really have to further explain what I meant when I said I found her art to be "too much into "furry" territory"?
I was clearing distinguishing "furry" as a specific type of cartoon animal drawing style, very different from other methods and not very well suited to Sonic the Hedgehog.
Sonic is a talking cartoon animal, but he and the other characters in his world have a very well defined look and design style to them.
I would not define it as furry, nor would I with Mickey Mouse, Snoopy or The Lion King. Maybe you would, but I thought my point was clear either way and there wouldn't be need to get into pedantics.
Google image search "furry art" if you want to get an idea of the kind of art I was talking about when I said "furry".
And before I'm misconstrued, let me reiterate; I did not say that Tania's art was furry art, just that I personally felt it to be a bit too close to being furry art for Sonic the Hedgehog.
Tania's art was nice, but, like many other artists on Sonic comics, I feel that she didn't quite hit a mark that works well with Sonic, at least in that story. And frankly it's not a new problem for the comic.
... Because it's not a problem at all.
Search google for spreadsheet and I bet you get something beside excel documents.
~Rico
*beats Rico for destroying the innocence of young ones everywhere*
Wow I didnt notice he been around for 12 years.Well it was gonna happen sooner or later. While I did enjoy his Knuckles stories and some of his early work lately his work has been crappy.Anyway good luck Ken in what ever you do next.
I'd tell you to beat VCP but I'd just be doing him a favor.
~Rico
google searches...<shudders>...Man, my inner child died because of curiosity...Here's something for you youngsters...Look up goa...Wait, why would I want to bring this upon anyone else? Freshman year of college has basically ruined me...a tip to all: Don't leave your computer on while you are away from it...My roommates have changed my desktop background so many times...funny but gross...
Next time I'll say "try walking across a busy highway at noon". See if I can lighten the number of users we have.
~Rico
Sorry this is so big, I don't have time to cut and hack it...I did the "bad word" remove quickly in Paint...
Rico, like the last one?
It's beautiful. But I'm failing to make the connection to the topic.
~Rico
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I'd tell you to beat VCP but I'd just be doing him a favor.
Piss off, Rico.
The last panel...hit by car...
okay, loosely tied to your post...
Quote:
Piss off, Rico.
Bashing.
I'm sure in the UK it means something nice. I mean, relieving oneself has go to be one of the most satisfying feelings there can be!
That's it. He's telling Rick to feel good about himself. Yay! Group hug!
Now. o_o
positive? it sounds like bashing to me.
Rico made a stab at VCP, so VCP retailated...end of story...ditto on what tornadot said
So that's where they got the idea for Foghorn Leghorn.
So just why did Dub quit?
Well, than they're both at fault than aren't they?
on a different topic, i haven't heard much about Dub lately, but if he quit on his own than i'd say that he would be trying to spend time with his new
(not technically new) family.
