Shadow

 

I often wonder what a SatAM comic would be like if it was picked up by a more professional comic company, like UDON.

If they were given the license to publish comics for the Sonic franchise, it'll most likely be based after the actual games themselves instead of SatAM.

 

Doing one of the games, SatAM,and Underground simultaneously as different books would be great.

Archie knows how to play the game. Put shitty sega art on the covers, keep as many SEGA characters around as possible, and they'll gobble up whatever shit story is thrown at them. Fans are rather stupid like that. Especially if they think its going to be about some new game. And that is what the comic has always been about from the beginning. Pimp out the next game SEGA is doing, and whatever they do after doesn't matter to them. Even the writers have been guilty of being dogs of SEGA. One point Ian wrote out a story of the SatAM Robotnik returning because he thought having two Robotnik's would confuse fans(despite the encyclopedia's printed at the time). Because that sure was a problem in Sonic Generations! Now they are trying to disguise the SatAM characters as Deviantart recolors to force them to exist with the game cast.

If I was in charge of things I'd show some piss and vinegar the comic has lacked for a great long time. Eggman was once Robo Robotnik who had conquered his own Mobius. Good, make him go back there and have an entire world for an empire and make strikes from afar through dimensional gates. Have an enemy who actually controls the world than a few shitty camps scattered about. Pull Eggman back from the spotlight, give him more mystery, and make him closer to the old Robotnik than some fucking manchild. Sure some people would bitch for it, but it would shake up the status quo. Get rid of Station Square, or just move it to another dimension. It doesn't belong on Mobius, and just make the Sonic cast visit earth world through ring portals to keep them in the loop. Orbot and Cubot need to fucking die. We already had Scratch and Grounder, we don't need these imposters.

You need to remember that games have to embellish for the sake of their own media. Look at Galen Marek in the story Force Unleashed the novelization and then the game which has to have a lot of elements of challange, power-ups, and so on for it to be considered a entertaining game . For example if you had a Satam game, you would see them mowing down more baddies than in the 28 min show. I agree that there is a true lack of tension in the new Sonic games and the franchise. But I still find this a false dillema, I think all the elements could be combined if they were put in the hands of a wise team of writers that could balance it all out. For example, Amy in WfM works. All you need is some smart retooling. Let's stop try to drawing lines in the sand, and work with what we have.

You are still thinking of how the games work, and not how it would translate into a show. Look at how mediocre Sonic X was. The characters were so bland and OP'd they had to make Chris Thorndyke to throw a bone for the plot. When it wasn't doing adaptions of the games it was so sluggish and cheap in the plot. It's alot like if you had the Batman comics be all gothic and dark as they usually are, but then Superman and the Justice League move to Gotham City on a permanent basis. The tension for Batman would be lost, and while some would like it, it wouldn't be as good.

That source... 

 

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

But unless Eggman himself becomes superhuman, the balance is still off. They did give him a slight edge at one point with the robotisizing powers and mechanical body. When he was Robo Robotnik he was nigh-unstoppable in a fight. That is what they should have stayed with. Even if they make the SatAM cast all super powered it still takes away alot of dramatic effect. In cape comics its usually super powered characters fighting others who can match their strength in some way. Good for games, but not a long drawn out comic where their primary enemy is a fat scientist who can barely defend himself with his machines. The shift in tone is obvious the more they focus on exemplifying the SEGA cast. Remember when Amy took out an entire army by herself? That was such bullshit, but if it can be done in the games it can be done in the comic.

The only way around this is if they got really dark and made Eggman start using chemical weapons and biological agents against them, but they're not going to do that in a childrens comic. At least it showed early in the comics and in the show that the only heavy hitter character they had was Bunnie, and even she was far from invincible.

Your overlooking the difference between them is night and day. Even the looks of the tone of their looks are different. The characters in SatAM were a minority of leftover civilians who fought with tactics, and Metal Gear type strategies. Everyone in the games however are goddamn superheroes. Even Cream can smash apart robots with her fucking ears. How can these two types co-exist when they make everyone from SatAM look relatively useless in comparison. These are game characters who were made to compete with Sonic. Nobody from SatAM ever could or even tried. This is why I have always been against the use of these game characters for stories. They are too overpowered, and their freakish abilities overshadows all the shit those like Sally have gone through. When Amy can just swing her hammer and mow down an army, where Sally has to sneak around them shows a prime example of why these two characters cant co-exist.

 

This is a fact some of you might not know. Ken Penders is responsible for a SatAM tv movie not being made.

Back in the mid 90's, Ben Hurst approached Sega of America with a script treatment to wrap up the show and transition into the current games. They liked it, and said they would arrange a meeting. However, Ben had asked Ken to come aboard as a partner in it. Ken immediately went behind his back and smeared Hurst's name to Sega, which afterwards they never wanted to have anything to do with the show or him ever again.

Heard this before.  Unfortunately I haven't seen any proof so I really can't condemn Penders for it.  Do I believe he did it?  With every fiber of my being, but without proof unfortunately, innocent til proven guilty. 

 

This was confirmed by Ben Hurst when he was still around. Do some digging through some of his notes floating around and you'll fine the proof.

But this just goes to show that Ken Penders has destroyed all forms of SatAM ever continuing. Let's face it....the comic was never SatAM. And it certainly wasn't when he wrote the characters. He killed the dream for all of us in his ambition and pride to control something that never belonged to him in the first place. Hard to say this but the comic really should have died with Worlds Collide. It would have been nice to see fan works pick up and offer superior ideas, rather than this bastardization of SEGA throwing out the leftover remnants of what started as a comic based off a good cartoon we all liked.

More of this.

Theirs a skeleton living inside of you.

I really do think Ken Penders is mentally retarded.