THE LOST ONES and other News Posted by Ken Penders from ny-amherst3a-26.buf.adelphia.net on April 16, 2000 at 1 At the moment, I am currently existing in what is known as Limbo. THE LOST ONES #1 was sent to the printers over a month ago and should have been on the shelves of comic stores everywhere by the end of March at the latest. That did not happen for a variety of reasons, many of which I can't go into here at this time. I've been trying to resolve the matter with the publisher since then, but haven't gotten anywhere, again for a variety of reasons I can't go into at this time. At this point, if the book hasn't been given a "go" for the printers to proceed, I sincerely doubt very much the book is going to come out at this time. For one thing, if the book isn't released by the end of April, Diamond is no longer obligated to accept the copies they ordered on behalf of the retailers. Image is not going to print a book that could be fully returnable under the current circumstances. For now, until things get sorted out between Image and myself, the book is on indefinite hold. I'll continue to work on new material for the series and website, but it'll be the website where anything gets posted for the time being, while anything having to do with the printed book is another matter. I appreciate the support of everyone who's written me and ordered the book, and I hope that when this thing really comes to pass, I will have made the wait worthwhile. In the meantime, I'm continuing to work on Sonic and Knuckles stories for Archie. However, many of the problems affecting my efforts getting THE LOST ONES to the comic stores are the same ones affecting comic sales throughout, including SONIC and SONIC SUPER SPECIAL. Already, I'm receiving numerous letters from many readers reporting what a difficult time they're having getting hold of the latest issues. Even if their is still a strong fan base of support for SONIC (which there is), if readers can't get hold of copies to buy, it still amounts to the same thing towards the bottom line as if they lost interest altogether: less copies being sold. The publishers at Archie won't care WHY the book isn't selling. All they'll see is that the book isn't selling as well as it used to, and that'll be justification alone for them to cancel it. (The ironic part here is that even now the SONIC books still outsell the Archie line. Go figure.) I've hesitated mentioning any of this, because I don't want to be known as the boy who cried wolf here. I also don't want my message misunderstood. I am NOT saying Sonic is about to be cancelled, only that the POSSIBILITY exists if things don't pick up. If the problem is an industry-wide one as I suspect it truly is, there may not be much anyone of us can do anyway, but if you're up for fighting the good fight, you can start by letting your retailers know you want your Sonic comics. On another front, I've been given the go-ahead to begin writing a TOY STORY script for Disney Adventures. I'll have more details once I turn it in and find out if I'll alos be drawing it. (You have to be approved by Pixar Studios first.) As for the website, I plan to upload an unpublished Sonic story that's been sitting around in my files since early 1994. I hope to have it up sometime before next weekend, as well as some other surprises. (No, I haven't forgotten the Sneak peek to Knuckles: 20 years Later! :-) Stay tuned. --- Re: THE LOST ONES and other News Posted by True Red : In the meantime, I'm continuing to work on Sonic and Knuckles stories for Archie. However, many of the problems affecting my efforts getting THE LOST ONES to the comic stores are the same ones affecting comic sales throughout, including SONIC and SONIC SUPER SPECIAL. Meaning that if it's not a magazine or it's not Pokemon, the product will have a problem getting on the shelves now, unless it's been around a long time, like the X-MEN, or SUPERMAN. : Already, I'm receiving numerous letters from many readers reporting what a difficult time they're having getting hold of the latest issues. Even if their is still a strong fan base of support for SONIC (which there is), if readers can't get hold of copies to buy, it still amounts to the same thing towards the bottom line as if they lost interest altogether: less copies being sold. The publishers at Archie won't care WHY the book isn't selling. All they'll see is that the book isn't selling as well as it used to, and that'll be justification alone for them to cancel it. (The ironic part here is that even now the SONIC books still outsell the Archie line. Go figure.) That's not hard to figure. Who wants to read them? You what would help sales a lot. Finding a way to allow international subscriptions. There are tons of fans who are overseas and it's harder for them to get the comic than anyone else. : I've hesitated mentioning any of this, because I don't want to be known as the boy who cried wolf here. I also don't want my message misunderstood. I am NOT saying Sonic is about to be cancelled, only that the POSSIBILITY exists if things don't pick up. If the problem is an industry-wide one as I suspect it truly is, there may not be much anyone of us can do anyway, but if you're up for fighting the good fight, you can start by letting your retailers know you want your Sonic comics. Dr. R was right, this does sound similar to the message I read on my first day on the 'net back in June '99 if you replace "Sonic" with "Knuckles." : As for the website, I plan to upload an unpublished Sonic story that's been sitting around in my files since early 1994. I hope to have it up sometime before next weekend, as well as some other surprises. (No, I haven't forgotten the Sneak peek to Knuckles: 20 years Later! :-) **crosses fingers and hopes that previews will go up before the month's over** : Stay tuned. Of course I will. --- Hmm... Posted by Dr. Robotnik : In the meantime, I'm continuing to work on Sonic and Knuckles stories for Archie. However, many of the problems affecting my efforts getting THE LOST ONES to the comic stores are the same ones affecting comic sales throughout, including SONIC and SONIC SUPER SPECIAL. What problems are those? : Already, I'm receiving numerous letters from many readers reporting what a difficult time they're having getting hold of the latest issues. Even if their is still a strong fan base of support for SONIC (which there is), if readers can't get hold of copies to buy, it still amounts to the same thing towards the bottom line as if they lost interest altogether: less copies being sold. The publishers at Archie won't care WHY the book isn't selling. All they'll see is that the book isn't selling as well as it used to, and that'll be justification alone for them to cancel it. (The ironic part here is that even now the SONIC books still outsell the Archie line. Go figure.) I've hesitated mentioning any of this, because I don't want to be known as the boy who cried wolf here. I also don't want my message misunderstood. I am NOT saying Sonic is about to be cancelled, only that the POSSIBILITY exists if things don't pick up. If the problem is an industry-wide one as I suspect it truly is, there may not be much anyone of us can do anyway, but if you're up for fighting the good fight, you can start by letting your retailers know you want your Sonic comics. I replace the word "Sonic" with the word "Knuckles" and it sounds like a post you did around Knuckles issue #27, unfortunately. : On another front, I've been given the go-ahead to begin writing a TOY STORY script for Disney Adventures. I'll have more details once I turn it in and find out if I'll alos be drawing it. (You have to be approved by Pixar Studios first.) Hmmm... : As for the website, I plan to upload an unpublished Sonic story that's been sitting around in my files since early 1994. I hope to have it up sometime before next weekend, as well as some other surprises. Yay! --- Hrm.. Posted by Ruby Echidna Ouch, hope those problems with The Lost Ones clear up.. : In the meantime, I'm continuing to work on Sonic and Knuckles stories for Archie. However, many of the problems affecting my efforts getting THE LOST ONES to the comic stores are the same ones affecting comic sales throughout, including SONIC and SONIC SUPER SPECIAL. : Already, I'm receiving numerous letters from many readers reporting what a difficult time they're having getting hold of the latest issues. Even if their is still a strong fan base of support for SONIC (which there is), if readers can't get hold of copies to buy, it still amounts to the same thing towards the bottom line as if they lost interest altogether: less copies being sold. The publishers at Archie won't care WHY the book isn't selling. All they'll see is that the book isn't selling as well as it used to, and that'll be justification alone for them to cancel it. (The ironic part here is that even now the SONIC books still outsell the Archie line. Go figure.) Not as ironic as some would think I'd imagine. From what I've seen, comic book writers/artists are still human (although a certain online cult would have you believe Spaz is a higher being sent from above to spread tidings of great artwork), so sometimes they go with their first interests over its sales. For instance, many writers can get connected to a story while writing one much more popular than it, but they still continue to write upon it because -they- at least like it. : I've hesitated mentioning any of this, because I don't want to be known as the boy who cried wolf here. I also don't want my message misunderstood. I am NOT saying Sonic is about to be cancelled, only that the POSSIBILITY exists if things don't pick up. If the problem is an industry-wide one as I suspect it truly is, there may not be much anyone of us can do anyway, but if you're up for fighting the good fight, you can start by letting your retailers know you want your Sonic comics. Erf. I don't read the comics any more, myself.. but if it'd help sales, I might pick up an issue again from time to time. I know for a fact that as soon as Knuckles 20YL hits shelves I'll grab a copy. : As for the website, I plan to upload an unpublished Sonic story that's been sitting around in my files since early 1994. I hope to have it up sometime before next weekend, as well as some other surprises. (No, I haven't forgotten the Sneak peek to Knuckles: 20 years Later! :-) That could be interesting. Is this story drawn up, or just in a TXT file? If it has no artistic lending yet, it might be interesting to see what the many talented fans here can do with it. Just a thought, --- REMINDS me of the... ..club that Ken planned and told us a little bit about last year or so. : That could be interesting. Is this story drawn up, or just : in a TXT file? If it has no artistic lending yet, it might : be interesting to see what the many talented fans here can : do with it. Just a thought, Remember? Like, one of the ideas was to have works of fans printed somewhere... Artwork, stories, whatever. Well, I can't exactly remember what was said because it was a while ago. But it was something like that. Having fans illustrate scripts, and get some experience and stuff. It's a good idea. Ken, are you still going to plan on having this 'club'? Or is it dropped? I'm wondering what's your input on it now. Anything to say? --- It's In The Works Posted by Ken Penders : Ken, are you still going to plan on having this 'club'? Or is it dropped? I'm wondering what's your input on it now. Anything to say? Well, yes. I have plenty. First of all, it's taken so long because I needed to get THE LOST ONES up and running first, as well as obtain what I needed in order to do video on this website. The idea was -- and still is -- this: I don't have control over SONIC or anything related to it, so I couldn't do anything of substance using SONIC. Since THE LOST ONES is mine, however, I could provide a platform to get people involved who wanted to learn something. The fan art page would be a starting point, and things would develop from there. In the Video Den, there are plans to put instructional clips explaining how to create a comic, tips for drawing and so on. People who participated would be instructed to send their drawings in -- using e-mail or regular mail -- for me to critique and offer suggestions how they could improve their work. As an incentive to encourage development, if those participating reached a certain level, they would then be invited to participate in the creation of a comic book, which would actually be printed. (I haven't mentioned this before because I needed to publish THE LOST ONES first in order to have a means to do this.) At the moment, things are still very much in the embryonic stage, as I have to figure out a variety of factors before making a final announcement. Because this may result in some expenses on my part, I would have to charge a small but reasonable fee, something like $2 to $5 per month, or a $10 to $20 annual fee, in order to cover the costs. (On the other hand, if I can generate enough revenue through the store page alone, I may not have to do this.) Any comments regarding anything I've said are welcome. ----- I have a clear idea of what's going on. Posted by Eldrin@AMACA. It's not JUST Sonic & it's going on in the UK too. There are various leading reasons why the comic industry is slowly failing. (Luck be with you, Axer.) One of the lead reasons is rather obvious if you look around. 1)My Freashman year, I would see students traditionally reading comics durring class. Nowadays, I see people carring Manga around, girls hidding their Gundam Wing Yaoi Doujinshi. Sure, they're $16 a pop, but Mixx Entertainment isn't complaining about THE#IR sales. Neither are ADV & Viz. Kids nowadays are more interested in Anime than ever. They don't even know what a comic, let alone a book is. The sad fact is, that even though Sonic & Knuckles ARE Japanese, they're just not Japanese enough. (By the way, Digimon is now more popular than Pokemon in most West states.) One truth is, if Archie actually advertised for their comics on TV, or anywhere prob'ly, sales would increace dramatically. Many people stopped reading it in it's BEFORE END GAME stage & don't know how advanced it is now. Many don't even know it exists. But since we're all loyal Sonic fans, we'll raise hell if our favorite comic ever gets washed down the drain, so, here's to all who wish it well, & all the rest can go to Hell. ^_^ ------ ------ Question for Ken Penders concerning Sonic comic situation. Posted by Ultra Hedgehog If the Sonic comic does have to be canceled, is there any chance that we'll make it to the 100th issue before it has to be cancled? We're so close to it and it would be terrible if we got this close and it was cancled just before issue#100. I would really like to see the comic go this far since i've been collecting it since it first came out way back in 1993. And one more thing. If it's going to be cancled and it's, is there going to be a conclusion to the comic before it's cancled? Like maybe wrap it up in issue#100? That would be good. Well, that's all for now. --- Setting The Record Straight Posted by Ken Penders I wish people would pay attention. I did NOT say the book was going to be cancelled. I said there's a real danger if current market conditions continue to result in a collapsing of the industry.There's a big difference. I hesitated to even speak about the problem because I knew some people would misinterpret what I was saying, and begin bombarding Archie Comics with letters asking why the book was going to be cancelled. As a result, I received e-mail from one of the Archie publishers asking why I'm spreading around rumors, so in turn I had to explain to him what was happening. Because of this, I'm probably not going to say a thing about the status of the comic anymore. I don't want to be held responsible for declining sales if my news discourages readers from picking up the books. On the flip side, I don't expect to receive any credit for a bump in sales either. Whatever happens, happens, and that's all there is to it. ------ ------ Latest Update: THE LOST ONES is a GO! Posted by Ken Penders I just received word tonight from Image Comics that they're going to tell the printers to start running the presses. The book should be hitting the stores by May 3rd, so I'm asking everyone to please notify their comics retailers to be on the lookout! The book is definitely happening, and it will be released. At this point, issue #2 will be out sometime in June. For there to be an issue #3 and beyond, I need all the support I can get on these first two issues, so please spread the word. Thanks. MORE INFO TO FOLLOW. PLEASE STAY TUNED.