Wentos

Is it a bannable offense to say a moderator is butthurt?

They're hateful hardcore fans with ridiculously exaggerated opinions. Just because they use the official Sega forums to voice their nutjobbery doesn't make it nutjobbery.

I know who Dan Drazen is, but that's only because I'm somewhat familiar with the Sonic community. Outside of our little internet enclave, I guarantee you no one knows who he is.

And he isn't loved. A lot of people think he's an idiot.

IT'S NOT POPULAR. It's just some shitty fanfic. You're living in a dream world.

Meh. I guess. It's still weird hearing someone talk about the halcyon days of the comic when they weren't even around for them.

To be fair, after Endgame just about everybody got their parents back (Sonic, Sally, Antoine, even Tails eventually). Not to mention that the monarchy has been maintained, even after Robotnik's return. There just isn't enough tragedy in the comic to justify the level of melodrama you want. None of the characters have it that bad.

Admittedly I don't troll the seedier Sonic forums, though I have heard that the posters at Sonic Retro are especially salty. I was just talking from personal experience. You can't judge an entire fanbase just by the fringe internet kooks.

In that sense I suppose the Sonic comic is an aberration. But I think you're giving neckbeards too much credit. Kids are just as responsible for the continued success of the comic, if not more so.

So getting interviewed on a couple websites is some sort of mandate from the Sonic community at large? What a ridiculous notion! If you weren't an uber-hardcore Sonic nerd you wouldn't even know Other-M existed.

Again, why are you acting like Ian has perverted something you've held dear for years, when you yourself admit that you've only be a fan of the comic for a year and a half? Your disdain for Ian and inexplicable devotion to the old guard just makes you come off as a massive poser.

Well, at least you admit you're in the minority.

There's a distinct correlation between Sonic being written too "seriously" and the writing coming off as amateurish and embarrassing. It's not just in the games; just look at the comic itself from about issue 125 onward.

Especially issue 134 and onward. Ugh.

That's awesome. What part of, "I'm not interested in these nerdy non-celebrities and their grimdark fanwank" are you not getting?

Pointless arguments are what make the internet great!

Actually, Ian has been foreshadowing the Battlebird Armada pretty much since his run started. We know already that both Bean and Predator Hawk are Armada deserters. It remains to be seen whether Mobian birds are somehow born into this strange fraternity, or they're conscripted once they're found by the Armada. In any case, Ian is also incorporating the Babylon Rogues into the Armada's roots, which ought to be interesting. Between that and the Battle Lord making comments about their past, we may actually see the "descended from space genies" origin incorporated into ArchieSonic canon.

I personally would find that hilarious, but I can see how the more dour fans might not be so amused.

The Bumbleking Forums are nice enough, but they're too civil. I like to argue, and this is a great place to do it. If you don't want me here, just don't respond to my posts.

BTW, I'd gladly talk about any aspect of the comic if it came up in conversation, but all anyone does is use this forum to bitch about Ian. So guess what I spend my time talking about?

So pretty much exactly what I said? The comic's early canon isn't nearly as hazy as you make it out to be. The only reason you don't want it to be set in stone is because the characters don't act at all like their SatAM counterparts. "I don't like it" does not mean "It is not canon". For instance, I consider issue 134 to be the worst point in the comic's history, but I don't pretend it didn't happen. I can't just pick and choose what is canon based on my preferences.

So the era in which Robotnik was replaced with Eggman, Sonic's design was revamped, and the Freedom Fighters went to high school for whatever reason, is the same in tone as SatAM? You and I have vastly different views on what constitutes SatAM.

Or maybe you're talking about Endgame all by itself. In which case the comic had the tone of SatAM... for four issues. Damn. The comic burnt itself out really quick, didn't it?

Every SegaSonic fan I know loves SatAM. I don't see how they're mutually exclusive.

SatAM had a lot of humor too. Or maybe you missed the parts where Sonic taunted Swatbots, called Robotnik "Buttnik", and ripped on Antoine at pretty much every opportunity? SatAM really wasn't as serious as you seem to think it was.

Wow, Ian was a popular fanfic writer? I totally give a shit!

Honestly, who cares? What you do as an amateur and what you do as a paid professional have nothing to do with each other. In Japan, many manga artists get their start drawing hentai. That doesn't mean that their professional work features pornography, it's just something they worked on to get their foot in the door.

Fanfiction? A hit? HA! No one gives a shit about fanfiction. It's almost always melodramatic garbage that has nothing to do with the original source material in terms of tone and content. Fanfiction is called fanfiction for a reason. It's made by fans, not professionals.

I'm sure your internet hangouts have dozens of people that want super-serious Sonic stories. But they do not represent the majority. They are a very loud minority, nothing more.

Sonic hasn't lasted 300 issues. It's barely over 200. But to answer your question:

Archie
Uncle Scrooge
Walt Disney's Comics & Stories
Donald Duck and Friends

There are many more that have lasted over 200 issues.

You just got into the comic recently? Then why are you pining for the "good old days" like you've been reading since the beginning? I've been reading since issue 5 back in 1993. I have way more nerd cred than you.

You're smalltime kid.

Meaning that the silly stories were canon and non-canon at the same time? How convenient.

The Sonic comic often broke the fourth wall for the sake of a laugh in the old days. But who knows, maybe Sally still watches soap operas? Weirder things have happened.

As far as Sonic and Sally meeting after the coup, that happened in issue #0 of the limited miniseries, long before any kind of continuous narrative was conceived.

Like I said before, the book never took on the SatAM tone completely. Or did you completely ignore that page I posted from issue 45?

...what? No they don't.

...again, what? You're just pulling stuff out of your ass now.

Could your definition be any more nebulous? This doesn't mean anything either. This is you drawing imaginary lines in the sand.

The SatAM cast are there because Ian has much more creative freedom with them than he does with the SegaSonic characters. He could never let Sonic get married (short of an Elseworlds story), or die, or really change in any meaningful way. Remember, Sega considers the comic as free advertising first and foremost. If the game characters were to stray too far from their image from the games, the comic wouldn't serve that capacity anymore. As a result, Ian is severely limited in what he can do with the game characters. In contrast, he can do anything he wants with the non-game characters, since Sega doesn't care about them. They are a huge part of what makes the Archie comic so dynamic. If Ian was only limited to game characters, nothing of consequence would ever happen.

And like I said before, Ian keeps the SatAM cast around because he enjoyed SatAM, and wants to respect its fans and its legacy. Naturally there are loudmouths like yourself that will never be satisfied, but most Sonic fans are happy that the Freedom Fighters are still alive and relevant in the comic.

I never read Other-M. I suspect it was lousy, considering Ian spent years revising his pitch before Archie finally accepted him as head writer.

After the clusterfuck that was Next-Gen Sonic, there was a HUGE amount of backlash against overly dramatic Sonic stories. Most fans are ready for something with a little levity. When Sonic gets too serious, it ceases to be drama and becomes self-parody.