House42

The only way it could grate with a fan, that I can think of, is that it is basically making Sally another SEGA copy/paste. The clothes are a mandate of sorts on all female SegaSonic chars, and Sally broke the mold. This redesign could make her just like Rouge/Amy/etc. in theory... Then again, there are still several "nude" ArchieSonic chars who haven't been axed yet. Like I said, just a theory. I personally think the redesign is badass.

Even though I wuv Fiona deep down and think she is a REALLY misunderstood character, I have to vote for her, because of the whole Issue #172 "Second Slap heard around Mobius" thing. What can I say?

So of course we all know that the Ken Penders' "Disputed Characters" were removed recently in the comic and now their return seems to be up in the air right now. We have been told that it was Archie who pulled them not Penders. So i was talking to a friend of mine last week about this and he brought up an interesting theory on WHY they did that.

He claims it wasn't "a move for good measure" as we have been told. Not even close. His theory is that Archie did that so the whole fan base would turn on Penders, more than they already have. He cites that they were losing the case against him so Archie thought that by removing the characters they would hope the fan base would turn on Penders even more so they can somehow gain the upper hand in this and hopefully win the case.

Now at first i thought he was a bit crazy but now after thinking about it for a few days he actually does have a point. I mean Penders never wanted his characters removed from the comics but wanted some compensation for their usage (honestly is that so hard to do Archie? Just appease the man so we can end this mess let him produce whatever crap he's making so it can fail like we know it probably will). But with the lawsuit going on some of the fan base was split down the center on both sides. So Archie hoping to draw more people onto their side they remove the characters so the fans would hate Penders and hopefully Penders would balk. It does sound legit if you think about it a bit.

They were removed to get us to hate Penders more so he would balk and it worked... partially (I'm trying to stay neutral in all of this because both sides have a case against one another) but it would make sense you know? So now we have more fuel against both sides in a way

I don't really think that's the case. It's likely that Archie's legal council advised them to stop using Penders' characters to insure that Archie doesn't add to potential fines they may get should the court rule in Penders' favor.

Until a settlement or court ruling has been finalized, Penders' characters won't be appearing until Archie is certain they can freely use them.

If it is, is that really surprising? Lawyers, blood-sucking parasites the lot of them...

Actually that makes a lot of sense. If Penders's case is all about them using "his" characters, if Archie stops using them at least temporarily, Penders has no reason to complain.

That puts the focus on the actual case and Penders can't make demands about the comic. It's actually a pretty clever move if it works. Also if Archie loses the case, they already got rid of the characters so no great loss.

I thought the usage of his characters was by-the-by. The main issue was that Archie were doing reprints of the old comics, and Ken wanted sit down and discuss his royalties civilly (which he is entitled to do, since he rightfully co-owns the characters with SEGA). Instead Archie set a lawsuit to get those rights and never pay Ken a penny. It didn't work. So it would have just been simpler to give the guy his money.

Heck, I've always supported Ken, through thick and thin. My loyalty did waver once I heard about the lawsuit and I began to doubt, but once I heard the truth, my support for the great guy was reignited.