20 replies to this topic

[Vampfox]

Oh god oh god!

I can't believe that I'm seeing an OJ joke on the cover of a Sonic comic, plus that shark character is really really fucking ugly.

Source: https://twitter.com/...675565201027072

[furrykef]

*headdesk*

EDIT: No, a headdesk isn't enough for this. This makes me angry.

Remember that Sally's death in #47 was originally going to be for real. And this was the send-off she was going to get? Really, Ken? Really?

[RedAuthar]

It's in very bad taste. Character deaths in comics have to be taken seriously or it feels fake. It also alienates fans of said character.

Sure most comic fans don't take character deaths seriously, but dang it, how can we if the writer doesn't?

[Prince ByTor]

Definitely one of Ken Penders' lowest points right up there with the legal shenanigans that just screwed it up; I'm glad the editor stepped in to end that crap and to keep Sally alive. I know hindsight is 20/20, but if it was left to him and Bollers the comic would've been canceled before it made its 100th issue or at least the fan outcry would've forced them to fix it; the editor was right. At least back then the comic wasn't nearly 100% based on the games like they are now.

[Captain Sorzo]

And my respect for the man just decreased even further. That's impressive.

[Lynchenberg]

Ken Penders drew a lot better then.

[LogiTeeka]

Good grief. As if Penders couldn't get any lower than this.

There are so many things wrong with this cover:

* It treats the death of Sally as if it weren't anything traumatic. A major character whom many grew up with gets axed off and he makes a joke about it.

* It resorts to making a joke about a then-current, real-life murder case. And in a kid's comic, of all things!

* Also, is that shark lawyer (referencing Johnny Cochran) purposely colored black? Oh boy...

[Lynchenberg]

* It resorts to making a joke about a then-current, real-life murder case. And in a kid's comic, of all things!

 

If it treated it seriously, perhaps a current events nod could have worked. Alan Moore said in a documentary that when writing Swamp Thing (which he intended for children, yes indeedy, I hope to God Marvelman/Miracleman was not for kids though,) he liked to talk about current events and social struggles to get young people thinking. He felt raising social-awareness was one of he duties of children's writers. They'd do issues talking about Nuclear Power and Moore said he was pleased when kids would write in to challenge his point of view, because it got them thinking. I'm not saying that Ken intended that, this is just a bad joke and it's a good thing it didn't make the cover. But if done right, I don't think this is a bad thing.

[LogiTeeka]

If it treated it seriously, perhaps a current events nod could have worked. Alan Moore said in a documentary that when writing Swamp Thing (which he intended for children, yes indeedy, I hope to God Marvelman/Miracleman was not for kids though,) he liked to talk about current events and social struggles to get young people thinking. He felt raising social-awareness was one of he duties of children's writers. They'd do issues talking about Nuclear Power and Moore said he was pleased when kids would write in to challenge his point of view, because it got them thinking. I'm not saying that Ken intended that, this is just a bad joke and it's a good thing it didn't make the cover. But if done right, I don't think this is a bad thing.

At least with Moore, he treated it seriously. Penders, on the other hand, intended to make a rather insensitive joke about it.

Wouldn't be the last time he would do something like that. Remember his recolor poem based on a famous speech addressing the Holocaust?

[Lynchenberg]

 

At least with Moore, he treated it seriously. Penders, on the other hand, intended to make a rather insensitive joke about it.

Wouldn't be the last time he would do something like that. Remember his recolor poem based on a famous speech addressing the Holocaust?

 

 

Can't say that I do! I'd like to see it though, what issue was it? Scans would be great too.

 

Also, it should be noted that doing your own spin on famous speeches or even other works isn't always a no-no if you bring something new to the table. Let's go back to Moore for a second. Rorschach's journal entry on the first page of Watchmen is very clearly a mixture of Travis Bickle's "Thank God for the rain" monologue in Taxi Driver, and the letters the Son of Sam killer wrote to the police...and it's also one of the best examples of the narrative caption box in comics.

[LogiTeeka]

Can't say that I do! I'd like to see it though, what issue was it? Scans would be great too.

Also, it should be noted that doing your own spin on famous speeches or even other works isn't always a no-no if you bring something new to the table. Let's go back to Moore for a second. Rorschach's speech on the first page of Watchmen is very clearly a mixture of Travis Bickle's "Thank God for the rain" monologue in Taxi Driver, and the letters the Son of Sam killer wrote to the police...and it's also one of the best examples of the narrative caption box in comics.

http://so-many-monst...ffended-by-this

At least Moore knew the point he was trying to make and was being creative with it.

Penders, on the other hand, referenced it because it existed and didn't consider the implications. He was also incredibly lazy with it as well; removing the names in the speech and replacing them with Sonic characters or characters he created.

[Lynchenberg]

I agree, you need to take stuff in and make it your own, and that's what separates an Alan Moore from a Ken Penders. And that's why Moore is still doing great comics like League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Neonomicon and Penders is....not. Although one could claim those are sort of plagiarized too. They're based on the entire fictional canon in the case of LoEG and directly on Lovecraft's work in the case of Neonomicon and the upcoming Providence series. Even his return to monthly comics, Crossed, is a remix (a term plagiarized from the video below,) of Garth Ennis's series, which itself is derived from 28 Days Later's concept of a "rage" virus. That in turn goes back to The Crazies by George A Romero, which is based on Romero's own Night of the Living Dead,  a film inspired by The Last Man on Earth, which is based on I Am Legend by RIchard Matheson.

 

On the subject of plagiarism though, I think this is kind of awesome of Shia...he's gained my respect as a performance artist.

 

[Robthe1st]

My reaction: 

 

[Lynchenberg]

People who need another reason to bash on Penders, he's replaced Joel Schumacher as history's greatest monster.

[ILOVEVHS]

Looks like something Tommy Wiseau would've wrote.

[Uncle Ben]

The editor that pulled the plug on this cover better have gotten a promotion...

[Robthe1st]

Looks like something Tommy Wiseau would've wrote.

 

It sure does! LOL

[furrykef]

People who need another reason to bash on Penders, he's replaced Joel Schumacher as history's greatest monster.

I will say that my feelings about this cover do not have much to do with Penders, though they certainly don't help raise my opinion of him. I've always felt very strongly about Endgame and I suppose some of those feelings are still there.

[Lynchenberg]

What did you think of End Game Techy? I actually wasn't a huge fan, post-issue 50 to about 100 are where it's at for me.

[furrykef]

Tech Guy's my title, not my name But anyway...

I actually didn't read Endgame until a few years after it had happened, and I already knew the basic story behind it (both the plot and the behind-the-scenes stuff). I've always been a huge Sally fan and I was (and somewhat still am) horrified by the thought that they really were going to kill Sally off for real. So that's one thing I've never liked about it. Another thing is the way it was hastily tossed together. I mean, Sonic #48 (or was it #49?) opens up with Sonic throwing some dirt he found in his shoe and using it as a bridge to run across. I mean, what? Then there's the way Sonic #50 was butchered so badly they had to do it over again as a 48-page special like it should have been in the first place. Not to mention having so many artists involved only hurt the story. And the ending, the moment the whole arc built up to, felt pretty cheap.

So, yeah, not a lot of good feelings about it.