I'm Still Here Posted by Ken Penders on April 14, 2001 Now that tax season is over, I have a few minutes to spare, but not much as I finish up illustrating the KNUCKLES story for SONIC #99, finish the KNUCKLES scripts for SONIC #101 and 102, work on THE LOST ONES graphic novel, do some work around the house and let my family know I exist. There's other things on my agenda, but I can't talk about them here at the moment. As for my next online chat, it'll be held on Thursday, May 9, 2001, at 8:00PM Eastern Standard Time. What'll probably be different is I'll be asking you guys just as many questions if not more so than what I'll be asked. Now that I'm handling the editorial/letters/fan art pages to some degree, I'm also going to pulling some of the quotes that anyone posts to this board. If you wish to be quoted or have your questions answered in print, please post a name and address (whether it's your e-mail or offline address). Until we get the password system in place, this is the only way I can be sure who's who. I'm also going to be posting some new guidelines for submitting to the fan art page, including a contest where the readers get to decide who did the best fan art for the year. And since there's a contest, there's also a prize. I'm waiting for final approval before I let loose with the details. And since there's been some discussion about various topics, I thought I'd weigh in with my 2 cents worth: LOOSE CONTINUITY - This is a battle that will be continue to be fought until the end of time. While I believe in continuity for the overall sake of stability in a series, there are always going to be contradictions somewhere along the way for a variety of reasons. Lapses of memory, production deadlines and a variety of writers are but some of the reasons, but there are others as well. To use KNUCKLES as an example, while I may have planned out a 100 issues worth of stories in the generic sense, I by no means planned out each issue, or even anything past two or three issues from the current one I'd be working on at any given time. When working on a story, I always leave room for the unexpected. I may come up with something that wasn't so obvious when I first began planning the story, such as the KNUCKLES segment of SONIC #100. I kept wracking my brain trying to figure out what I needed to do to make that story just a bit more special to justify using 10 pages instead of 8. It wasn't until Justin was screaming that I absolutely, positively had to have the script in the next day that I had my answer, and ended up resolving one plot point left hanging since the KNUCKLES series was cancelled. In resolving that plot point, however, it opened the door to another, one I hadn't counted on, which in turn gave me the inspiration for the follow-up story. Another factor is page length. Even when I was working with 22 pages a month in the regular monthly KNUCKLES book, there were more times than not where I ran into problems fitting everything I wanted to into any given particular issue. After a while, I decided my priority should be telling the best story I could as opposed to worrying whether the continuity was air tight. My thinking since then been that any confusion or discrepency could be explained away later in one form or another. (And after the KNUCKLES story that occurs in SONIC #101 and #102, I'll have an easy explanation for ANY discrepancy.) SONIC #100 - Neuther Karl nor I are getting to do quite what we originally wanted or expected to with this issue for a number of reasons, most having to do with SONIC #98's adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2. That said, both of us are working hard to make certain the book is the best it can be under the conditions we have to work under. Part of the problem in doing a book like this is the very schizoid nature of the audience. We literally have readers who grew up with us, and for every one who wants to see the book grow with them, another reader wishes it were something close to what it use to be. Then we have the new readers who jump on, again with some staying, and others deciding we're not their beverage of choice. In point of fact, we still get letters asking when are we going to show more stories featuring the characters from Sonic Underground, as well as characters from the early games such as Ray the Squirrel. The reality for us is not so much the original fans, but how to attract new ones, the ones who haven't been exposed to Sonic until now, who have no clue about the SatAM series. Now that the Pokemon craze has subsided, we're trying to figure out where the audience is and what they're into. My guess is a lot of kids are into Harry Potter, but from what I hear from some retailer friends, while the books sell very well, the jury is still out where the various types of HP merchandise are concerned. Kids today are all over the board where their interests are. What's hot today is stone cold tomorrow. (My step-daughter used to be into Sailor Moon big time, now she could care less, having replaced her interest in that series by following the WB series Charmed.) I'm not sure what Karl has done, but I included a 2-page flashback to more or less bring new readers up to speed, something we're going to be very conscious of in the issues ahead. As for your feedback, both Justin and I are genuinely interested in hearing what you have to say. When putting together the latest letters page, I actually did use a posting that criticized us and responded to it with the sincerity it deserved. The only things I deliberately edited was the use of the word c**p, and the negative reference to Riverdale High, which I knew would automatically get the letter bounced by any higher-ups proofing the thing. Beyond that, I wanted to show that we were serious in presenting a diverse range of opinions. One last thing, I need some comments regarding SONIC #94, so please feel free to post what you liked and didn't like. Thanks. *************************************************** Ken S#94 - The Potto's Opinion Posted by Ian Potto You wanted some posted replies, so away we go! I wasn't too keen on the idea of the Acorns giving up on Robotropolis, and Dr. Robotnik's dialouge in front of Colin seemed OOC. Maybe it was an act. I dunno. Snively working with the Eggman to rub-out Colin later on was an interesting turning point. The earthquake on page eight was random, plain and simple. Despite what most of the fandom says, I don't find Bunnie's new look that offensive. It's definitely a change from the old Bunnie. I'll stay on the fence on that one. But Rotor's new threads on page 11? No. Nuh-uh. No way. Hope's run-in with the Robian on page 12 set up some neat stuff in later issues, but that's neither here nor there. And Bunnie's immediately loathing of Mina caught me off-guard. Bunnie was one of the most personable of the bunch. Now then, for the Knux story: Story: Flow - could be better. Concepts within - awesome. Art: Death to Ron Lim. ... Alright. He can live. But on a different book. The fact that the Albion Echidnas would kill off one of their own makes me wonder about their morals. Are they so high-and-mighty that they'd off a fellow echidna? Or was Enerjak's power really that great? (since they keep comparing Knux's mutation to Enerjak's power). The prospect of energy flow into the 'chidna wearing the Chaos Syphon Suit, while a goof on Lim's part, could provide for an interesting set of stories later down the road. It was also nice to see Charmy again, and to see Saphron in action. The flow of the story didn't really, well, flow for me. Whether it was the wording or Lim's doing, I can't rightfully say. But let's be spiteful and just pin it on Lim ;) That's the Potto's 2 cents. ------ Got a few questions..... Posted by Emerald~Echidna I realize, I think it was the very last chat, that we ran into some problems. I want to know what is and isn't allowed in the chat. Last time my guy and I got our heads bitten off by a some people who didn't like what we were doing. You know, roll playing. I realize I shouldn't spam, like saying stuff that is a waste of time to read. When we chatted, I guess I was just treating it like any other chat; Have fun and just yack away. Getting to talk to ya finally, Ken, is a really cool experience. So, is the family coming with you to San Diego this Summer? Can't wait to meetya. I'm bringing all my favorite comics for ya to autograph. Does it cost money for an autographed drawing? Do you know if any other members of the Archie staff will be there? I also would love to meet Pat Spazante... Well, all the questions I can think of..... thanks for your time, and I'll seeya later Bye Mr. Penders! ------- Questions on the plans Posted by Dr. Robotnik : Now that I'm handling the editorial/letters/fan art pages to some degree, I'm also going to pulling some of the quotes that anyone posts to this board. If you wish to be quoted or have your questions answered in print, please post a name and address (whether it's your e-mail or offline address). Until we get the password system in place, this is the only way I can be sure who's who. Okay, I'd love to take part in that, except I made it a personal policy to remain anonymous on the Internet except through e-mail. In something I would want quoted, how about if I make a note in the message and actually include my e-mail address in the post so you can contact me and get the information...or is that out of the question. : I'm also going to be posting some new guidelines for submitting to the fan art page, including a contest where the readers get to decide who did the best fan art for the year. And since there's a contest, there's also a prize. I'm waiting for final approval before I let loose with the details. Yeeehaaaw!! Whoa whoa...Prize suggestion comin on: The winner gets to pencil a short back up story special. Sounds good to me. I vote for one of the pics in Sonic #94 as the best of the year. I'll leave it at that. : LOOSE CONTINUITY - This is a battle that will be continue to be fought until the end of time. All I had a problem with was Ron Lim's art in the last couple of Knux backups. The chaos syphon looked odd and the bees didn't have wings. They could use some Red Bull. : The reality for us is not so much the original fans, but how to attract new ones, the ones who haven't been exposed to Sonic until now, who have no clue about the SatAM series. You could still have some SatAM elements in there. I think the problem is the character. I'd love to see what the official character bios say(are they top secret?), because I don't think the way the characters are being written for is quite right. I just can't see the Bunnie of the first 50 issues dressing like that. As for characters that haven't appeared in a while or not often, the only character I want to see return is Crabmeat...oh and Julian Robotnik. I still say he was thrown into the future by the UA and the comic hasn't come up to his time yet. Plus I want to see a story about Bark. : (My step-daughter used to be into Sailor Moon big time, now she could care less, having replaced her interest in that series by following the WB series Charmed.) Hmm...maybe the old Special format could be brought back. The Super Specials seemed too frequent and sometimes they seemed to be a place to clear out stories. What does this have to do with Sailor Moon? Well there are now(thanks to Dan Slott) Sonic versions of a few anime. There could be a crossover special with anime crossovers. I'd buy it because I want to complete my collection, but I'd want to buy it in there's a crossover of my favorite anime(everyone: Standing O). YES! I have one now! After giving the genre a hard time I found one I like. "Outlaw Star". : I'm not sure what Karl has done, but I included a 2-page flashback to more or less bring new readers up to speed, something we're going to be very conscious of in the issues ahead. Sometimes I see the new reader issues. Characters seem to mention other characters by name even though it's in an awkward place. : As for your feedback, both Justin and I are genuinely interested in hearing what you have to say. When putting together the latest letters page, I actually did use a posting that criticized us and responded to it with the sincerity it deserved. YES!!! That was another problem I had before. The letters page never accepted criticism since Scott Fulop ran Allesandro Sanasi's critical letter years ago. At least I don't remember any other critical letter. : One last thing, I need some comments regarding SONIC #94, so please feel free to post what you liked and didn't like. Thanks. Okay... here goes I thought the back story was interesting since I am trying to get around to writing a fan fic where the Ancient Walkers "die" but I think I'm doing it differently. Anyway, the story's good, liked seeing Merlin Prower and Athair again. Tails hair is a little too long but that's how it goes sometimes. Main story: I don't know about the Freedom Fighters going to high school. Seems to be an Archie Comics thing though. I also think that having the huge castle in Knothole defeats the purpose of having it be a secret Royal hiding place. I want to see Sonic and Sally get back together. Mina...I don't know...I think giving her super speed isn't quite right. Maybe if it is something that comes and goes. Like if she's in a dangerous situation, she becomes super like Sonic used to do in Fleetway's Sonic the Comic. Still can't tell what Geoffrey St. John is up to, but oh well. Like the new set up with the letters page, but please don't bring back Off-Panel. It's just...not...funny. Okay that's all. If you want to quote any part of that, I'm putting my e-mail address in the e-mail bar. ------ the chat Posted by Highliter I was wandering if anything was wrong with the chat room. Because I'd like to join in on this chat but right now it's not working. I tried to chat in one room, but could see no responces. --- Posted by BobR In Reply to: the chat Nothing wrong with the chat, Highliter. You were just in a room where everybody had left but didn't properly exit the room. When you leave a room, please use the proper exit button so that your name is removed from the room's inhabitant list. Web based systems have no way of knowing you're no longer there unless you tell them. ------ Posted by Slicer Slicer Presents: Translations of a Writer! : Now that tax season is over, I have a few minutes to spare, Now that I don't have anything else to do, I'm going to actually work on the Knuckles stuff now (what, you thought it was a priority?!), : but not much as I finish up illustrating the KNUCKLES story for SONIC #99, finish the KNUCKLES scripts for SONIC #101 and 102, bend over for the latest round of editorial edicts while trying to hack together a story, : work on THE LOST ONES graphic novel, do the writing/artistry I actually care about, : do some work around the house and let my family know I exist. I DO have a life you know and I'm not exactly devoted to Archie because they wouldn't know quality if it shot them in the face with a .45. There's other things on my agenda, but I can't talk about them here at the moment. Kids read this message board so I can't talk about my personal habits. : As for my next online chat, it'll be held on Thursday, May 9, 2001, at 8:00PM Eastern Standard Time. What'll probably be different is I'll be asking you guys just as many questions if not more so than what I'll be asked. I have no clue what to do with the story and I'm just going to hand Justin my script, saying "Hey, the readers want this stuff, go argue with them." : Now that I'm handling the editorial/letters/fan art pages to some degree, I'm also going to pulling some of the quotes that anyone posts to this board. Since no one else at Archie can be bothered with you plebes, I've got the reponsibility of dealing with your whining, go me. : If you wish to be quoted or have your questions answered in print, please post a name and address (whether it's your e-mail or offline address). Until we get the password system in place, this is the only way I can be sure who's who. The concept of people making Hotmail accounts to make their identities meaningless or, worse, using someone else's identity (Andrews University is a big place, how hard do you REALLY think it is to find/grab an account there? Not that Slicer actually is going to bother doing that..) is totally alien to me, so I'm going to use a meaningless identification system. Hey, who cares? My masters know even less about computers than I do. : I'm also going to be posting some new guidelines for submitting to the fan art page, including a contest where the readers get to decide who did the best fan art for the year. And since there's a contest, there's also a prize. Prove that you really are better than Ron Lim and I'll get someone to hire you.. : I'm waiting for final approval before I let loose with the details. My leash is too short. : And since there's been some discussion about various topics, I thought I'd weigh in with my 2 cents worth: I can't take on the air of Writer's Authority because I don't HAVE ANY, but I can try to at least calm the rabid hordes. : LOOSE CONTINUITY - This is a battle that will be continue to be fought until the end of time. Forget it, Dan- we can't be bothered to look things up. Not in the contract. : While I believe in continuity for the overall sake of stability in a series, there are always going to be contradictions somewhere along the way for a variety of reasons. *snicker* You guys REALLY thought we'd clean up our act?! : Lapses of memory, production deadlines and a variety of writers are but some of the reasons, but there are others as well. We forget everything, we do this crap (oh, whoops, I can't even SAY 'crap' here! Oops again!) at the last minute, the slaves we get to hack out this tripe for us can't be bothered to read back issues, and I can't mention the other reasons here or my ass^H^H^Hbutt is grass. : To use KNUCKLES as an example, while I may have planned out a 100 issues worth of stories in the generic sense, I by no means planned out each issue, or even anything past two or three issues from the current one I'd be working on at any given time. I have a grand vision of the story, even though it's totally useless as it quickly gets annihilated by deadline pressure, cancellations, and editorial edicts from my masters in both Archie and SEGA. : When working on a story, I always leave room for the unexpected. Such as my comic book being yanked out from under me like a cheap rug. : I may come up with something that wasn't so obvious when I first began planning the story, such as the KNUCKLES segment of SONIC #100. I kept wracking my brain trying to figure out what I needed to do to make that story just a bit more special to justify using 10 pages instead of 8. My kids were whining at me for more toys, and I get paid by quantity, not quality. : It wasn't until Justin was screaming that I absolutely, positively had to have the script in the next day that I had my answer, and ended up resolving one plot point left hanging since the KNUCKLES series was cancelled. My back is sore from that cat o' nine tails.. : In resolving that plot point, however, it opened the door to another, one I hadn't counted on, which in turn gave me the inspiration for the follow-up story. Hacking together a comic book issue-by-issue has given me the experience I need to contrive ways to piece together a semi-logical plot even with all the c**p (there, censored it, whew!) I deal with. : Another factor is page length. Even when I was working with 22 pages a month in the regular monthly KNUCKLES book, there were more times than not where I ran into problems fitting everything I wanted to into any given particular issue. I have delusions of grandeur and try to actually write comprehensively in the limited space/time I have. : After a while, I decided my priority should be telling the best story I could as opposed to worrying whether the continuity was air tight. Continuity and storytelling aren't all that related, sometimes we need to make sacrifices. It's not like anyone really CARES or anything. : My thinking since then been that any confusion or discrepency could be explained away later in one form or another. (And after the KNUCKLES story that occurs in SONIC #101 and #102, I'll have an easy explanation for ANY discrepancy.) Watch as I totally annihilate the entire loose continuity with one masterful stroke of total revisionism! 'Other dimensions' and cheap ways out, here I come!! : SONIC #100 - Neuther Karl nor I are getting to do quite what we originally wanted or expected to with this issue for a number of reasons, most having to do with SONIC #98's adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2. What, you actually expect us to use these months productively to revise the story in an effective way? Pfah! : That said, both of us are working hard to make certain the book is the best it can be under the conditions we have to work under. I am, anyway. Direct all your "this high school c**p (got it again!) sucks" comments to him, not me. : Part of the problem in doing a book like this is the very schizoid nature of the audience. I'm pretty sure the over-the-hill librarian is going to kill me before any of the rabid teenagers (who are loyal to the hedgehog because he and his orange friend provided them with most of their childhood's entertainment). Then again, maybe Isao-sama is going to return to the mortal plane long enough to execute Karl and me for what we've done to his company's mascots. : We literally have readers who grew up with us, and for every one who wants to see the book grow with them, another reader wishes it were something close to what it use to be. The concept of having content that appeals to both teenagers and younger children is totally foreign to me- even though SatAM used to do it, we can't actually make stories like that again, no way! : Then we have the new readers who jump on, again with some staying, and others deciding we're not their beverage of choice. They like Tails drawn WITH his tails, the picky bastards. : In point of fact, we still get letters asking when are we going to show more stories featuring the characters from Sonic Underground, as well as characters from the early games such as Ray the Squirrel. But we'd rather insert characters of our own than use existing ones; it's easier. : The reality for us is not so much the original fans, but how to attract new ones, the ones who haven't been exposed to Sonic until now, who have no clue about the SatAM series. We really think we can catch and hold new readers doing what we're doing. No really, we can! : Now that the Pokemon craze has subsided, we're trying to figure out where the audience is and what they're into. My guess is a lot of kids are into Harry Potter, but from what I hear from some retailer friends, while the books sell very well, the jury is still out where the various types of HP merchandise are concerned. Characters are NOTHING without marketing. Say it! CHARACTERS ARE NOTHING WITHOUT MARKETING!! Say it NOW!! *Slicer is about to say it, but doesn't for fear of his own characters reaching through the fourth wall and eviscerating him* : Kids today are all over the board where their interests are. What's hot today is stone cold tomorrow. (My step-daughter used to be into Sailor Moon big time, now she could care less, having replaced her interest in that series by following the WB series Charmed.) Our fatalism extends into our beliefs with regard to consumers. It's not possible to hold people's interest, so we won't try. : I'm not sure what Karl has done, but I included a 2-page flashback to more or less bring new readers up to speed, something we're going to be very conscious of in the issues ahead. We're getting desperate and this is our equivalent of a Hail Mary pass with a minute left in the game, even though we're 36 points behind. : As for your feedback, both Justin and I are genuinely interested in hearing what you have to say. As for your (ha, ha) feedback, both Justin (WAAAAHAHAHAHA) and I are genuinely (snicker) interested in hearing what (chortle) you have to say. : When putting together the latest letters page, I actually did use a posting that criticized us and responded to it with the sincerity it deserved. We threw a piece of bread to the mob. : The only things I deliberately edited was the use of the word c**p, and the negative reference to Riverdale High, which I knew would automatically get the letter bounced by any higher-ups proofing the thing. Beyond that, I wanted to show that we were serious in presenting a diverse range of opinions. You can have your negative opinions if you want, it's just that we reserve the right to completely ignore you. Any serious criticism that we can't explain away will be 'misplaced' in short order. : One last thing, I need some comments regarding SONIC #94, so please feel free to post what you liked and didn't like. Thanks. Yes, I know, as the rest of you do, that Sonic needs high school like he does total roboticization- but I can't actually say that for fear of being canned. Patience Meter: *********||****************************** ------ Whoa! Someone has WAAAAAAAAAY too much time on their hands... Posted by Ken Penders ... but I still thought your post was quite funny. Very insightful, too. :-) ------ Correction on Chat Date!! Posted by BobR Make that Thursday, May 10th...I think Ken was looking at next years calendar when he said the 9th. I know he does mean Thursday, since we discussed the date on the phone. :) ------ Opinions from the Rogue... Posted by Rogue : Now that tax season is over, I have a few minutes to spare, but not much as I finish up illustrating the KNUCKLES story for SONIC #99, finish the KNUCKLES scripts for SONIC #101 and 102, work on THE LOST ONES graphic novel, do some work around the house and let my family know I exist. There's other things on my agenda, but I can't talk about them here at the moment. I actually had to pay taxes this year for my college fund. Signed the forms and everything. Seventh-grader paying taxes... ::shudder:: : As for my next online chat, it'll be held on Thursday, May 9, 2001, at 8:00PM Eastern Standard Time. What'll probably be different is I'll be asking you guys just as many questions if not more so than what I'll be asked. Yay rah. Here's a suggestion: Get a code of ethics up for your chats. I wasn't able to make the 2/27 chat, but from what I heard of it, it was pretty bad. : Now that I'm handling the editorial/letters/fan art pages to some degree, I'm also going to pulling some of the quotes that anyone posts to this board. If you wish to be quoted or have your questions answered in print, please post a name and address (whether it's your e-mail or offline address). Until we get the password system in place, this is the only way I can be sure who's who. Okay. Address will be at the bottom of the page. : I'm also going to be posting some new guidelines for submitting to the fan art page, including a contest where the readers get to decide who did the best fan art for the year. And since there's a contest, there's also a prize. I'm waiting for final approval before I let loose with the details. Cool. ^_^ : And since there's been some discussion about various topics, I thought I'd weigh in with my 2 cents worth: : LOOSE CONTINUITY - This is a battle that will be continue to be fought until the end of time. While I believe in continuity for the overall sake of stability in a series, there are always going to be contradictions somewhere along the way for a variety of reasons. Lapses of memory, production deadlines and a variety of writers are but some of the reasons, but there are others as well. To use KNUCKLES as an example, while I may have planned out a 100 issues worth of stories in the generic sense, I by no means planned out each issue, or even anything past two or three issues from the current one I'd be working on at any given time. Blah. I never could stand loose continuity even when I didn't know what it was called. : When working on a story, I always leave room for the unexpected. I may come up with something that wasn't so obvious when I first began planning the story, such as the KNUCKLES segment of SONIC #100. I kept wracking my brain trying to figure out what I needed to do to make that story just a bit more special to justify using 10 pages instead of 8. It wasn't until Justin was screaming that I absolutely, positively had to have the script in the next day that I had my answer, and ended up resolving one plot point left hanging since the KNUCKLES series was cancelled. In resolving that plot point, however, it opened the door to another, one I hadn't counted on, which in turn gave me the inspiration for the follow-up story. Busy, busy, aren't we Ken? : Another factor is page length. Even when I was working with 22 pages a month in the regular monthly KNUCKLES book, there were more times than not where I ran into problems fitting everything I wanted to into any given particular issue. After a while, I decided my priority should be telling the best story I could as opposed to worrying whether the continuity was air tight. My thinking since then been that any confusion or discrepency could be explained away later in one form or another. (And after the KNUCKLES story that occurs in SONIC #101 and #102, I'll have an easy explanation for ANY discrepancy.) You did a dang good job of it when the Knuckles series was still in print. : SONIC #100 - Neuther Karl nor I are getting to do quite what we originally wanted or expected to with this issue for a number of reasons, most having to do with SONIC #98's adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2. That said, both of us are working hard to make certain the book is the best it can be under the conditions we have to work under. I'm surprised the book is as okay as it is with all the editorial edicts and stuff you guys have to work with up there in NY. : Part of the problem in doing a book like this is the very schizoid nature of the audience. We literally have readers who grew up with us, and for every one who wants to see the book grow with them, another reader wishes it were something close to what it use to be. Then we have the new readers who jump on, again with some staying, and others deciding we're not their beverage of choice. In point of fact, we still get letters asking when are we going to show more stories featuring the characters from Sonic Underground, as well as characters from the early games such as Ray the Squirrel. Yep, that's us. Schizoid. Of course, I can't really call myself "schizoid" when I'm only thirteen. (As opposed to Mr. Drazen, who's older than my dad. Isn't that a scary thought?) : The reality for us is not so much the original fans, but how to attract new ones, the ones who haven't been exposed to Sonic until now, who have no clue about the SatAM series. Now that the Pokemon craze has subsided, we're trying to figure out where the audience is and what they're into. My guess is a lot of kids are into Harry Potter, but from what I hear from some retailer friends, while the books sell very well, the jury is still out where the various types of HP merchandise are concerned. Kids today are all over the board where their interests are. What's hot today is stone cold tomorrow. (My step-daughter used to be into Sailor Moon big time, now she could care less, having replaced her interest in that series by following the WB series Charmed.) You want "all over the board", look at my brother and me. We're obsessed with everything from Sonic to Harry Potter to Redwall to Dragonball Z. On the point of the SatAM series, you still have young fans who can remember some of SatAM. My ten-year-brother still has fond memories of SatAM, as do I. : I'm not sure what Karl has done, but I included a 2-page flashback to more or less bring new readers up to speed, something we're going to be very conscious of in the issues ahead. Flashbacks can be helpful or hurtful to the story, depending on how they are worded, drawn, and placed. Since I only started collecting the comics with issue #50 of Sonic, #57 was very helpful to me in bringing me up to speed of the early days of the comic. For other people who've been with the comic from the very beginning, that issue could have been anything from a refreshing look back at the beginning to a boring issue crammed with nothing but flashbacks. : As for your feedback, both Justin and I are genuinely interested in hearing what you have to say. When putting together the latest letters page, I actually did use a posting that criticized us and responded to it with the sincerity it deserved. The only things I deliberately edited was the use of the word c**p, and the negative reference to Riverdale High, which I knew would automatically get the letter bounced by any higher-ups proofing the thing. Beyond that, I wanted to show that we were serious in presenting a diverse range of opinions. That's nice. I just hope the board doesn't become so huge and popular that it destroys the kinda "community" we have here. : One last thing, I need some comments regarding SONIC #94, so please feel free to post what you liked and didn't like. Thanks. : *************************************************** Ken My comments on #94? Okay, here ya go: 1) This has been yelled about already, but what's been done to Knothole kinda destroys the whole "secret location" idea. I mean, come on, what's a big honkin' castle doing smack dad in the middle of a so-called "secret village"? 2) The first-person thing just didn't work for me. 3) I like the way Hope's character is being developed. When she ran into the Robian on page 12 was a nice little plot touch. I wouldn't mind (heck, I'd like it) if she joined the crew in Knothole. 4) Tails seems really out of character (OOC) on page 7. HIs comments were totally... well... not like him. 5) The earthquake thing kinda bothered me. It was just so totally random. 6) I don't really mind Bunnie's new mode of dress, unlike most other people. Although she'd probably get detention if she wore that to any public school in this dimension. 7) On the back-up story: Spaz better be schooling Ron Lim overtime. He has gotten better from what I saw in S95, but he still needs a little work. Um, that's about it! ~Rogue (Who still has math and social studies homework and it's now 9:55. Hoo boy.) Kendal227@aol.com ------ Re: Opinions from the Rogue... Posted by True Red : Yep, that's us. Schizoid. Of course, I can't really call myself "schizoid" when I'm only thirteen. (As opposed to Mr. Drazen, who's older than my dad. Isn't that a scary thought?) He meant "schizoid" as in diverse with 50 gazillion different opinions. ^^ : Flashbacks can be helpful or hurtful to the story, depending on how they are worded, drawn, and placed. Since I only started collecting the comics with issue #50 of Sonic, #57 was very helpful to me in bringing me up to speed of the early days of the comic. For other people who've been with the comic from the very beginning, that issue could have been anything from a refreshing look back at the beginning to a boring issue crammed with nothing but flashbacks. Yup, those were the complaints, while I enjoyed it since I'd climbed on board at Sonic #37 and somethings just didn't jive until I read that issue. : 6) I don't really mind Bunnie's new mode of dress, unlike most other people. Although she'd probably get detention if she wore that to any public school in this dimension. Actually, in my old public school that kind of dress is pretty common when it gets warm in May & June (and if it's still warm in Sept). I liked it too mostly, but I felt she should've worn regular jeans instead of the jean shorts. ------