🎨 Artcow Ken Penders - Former Archie Sonic Comic Writer/Artist

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I can't tell what's even going on in that monstrosity he drew. Way too much random, poorly done shit going on and randomly slapped together. It's a clusterfuck of shit and even the ground looks like a giant, literal mount of shit.
 
FemaleGoodra said:
So Ken Penders has been posting some rough drafts for rejected covers from the Sonic series. Two of those caught in particular caught my eye:

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I've been following Penders' actions for a while now. I haven't really been following Sonic for years, and I never really read the comics, but the quality of his art, his gigantic ego, and his attempt at using a character he does not own the rights to have made him hard for me to ignore.
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I remember reading the issue that second one was meant to be for, and holy shit given the context that cover is just incredibly bad taste.
 
His art looks like H.R. Giger lost his shit and started painting fanart with watercolors and a dandelion.
 
Panzerkampfpony said:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B95glW8UeSnia2xuRWljQzFyTWc/edit

his pitch to Sega for a Sonic the Hedgehog film (sadly I think his surely hilarious animatic is gone forever), the highlight for me has got to be the picture of an American soldier in the Gulf war as proof of Sonic the Hedgehogs world wide appeal. This man truly is a Chris from another universe.
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Wow... Just... just wow.

If Chris knew how to make a powerpoint, that would be the powerpoint he would make. Still, no matter who is making the powerpoint, Sonic as a movie is a bad bad idea. At least today it is.

Once upon a time an American release Sonic Movie might have been a good idea. It had a chance with the SatAM cartoon, and for a glorious moment in the early 90s, Sonic the Hedgehog was not the stuff Lulz are made of (If you don't know what I'm talking about, see the Nostalgia Critic's review of it). But Sonic as a (good) franchise died in the late 90s, and people like Ken Penders put the nails in that coffin.

I find it most insulting that he's proposing the movie when it was his legal snafu that almost ended the comic and the American series in the first place. This man really does have no shame.
 
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Sage of the Desert said:
I find it most insulting that he's proposing the movie when it was his legal snafu that almost ended the comic and the American series in the first place. This man really does have no shame.
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Not defending Penders here, but it looks like Penders was looking at the movie deal when he was still working for Archie. In this post on his forum he states he started trying to get something going for a movie in 2003. Alternatively, when you click on the PowerPoint file Panzer linked, the file is called Sega060918.ppt. My guess is the PowerPoint was created or presented around 09/18/2006. Penders started causing shit around 2009.

On the topic of a Sonic movie though, I guess Sony Pictures is trying to put one out in the next few years. No word on story lines or anything yet, though.

Edit: archived thread on the Penders forum. Also, it concerns a Knuckles movie but I think Penders just wanted a Sonic movie with his name on it, period, and worked on the Sonic movie pitch when he couldn't get his Knuckles one to take off.
 
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http://www.tssznews.com/2015/11/12/...ction-against-archie-for-breach-of-agreement/

The Penderman is at it again.

Someone in the comment section of that article summed it up pretty well. This is almost certainly a scare tactic to get Archie to agree to an out of court settlement for a quick buck. Archie can't afford lawsuits regarding the Sonic comics. Not because of the legal fees but because they run the risk of SEGA pulling the licensing away if they think Archie is mishandling it. Ken knows this.

He's been announcing this shit over twitter for weeks now with no reason other than to draw attention to himself. When people push for specifics, he clams up. If Archie has actually done something wrong he could openly and freely publish those details and explain his case. Instead he claims it too sensitive for certain people involved (while still insisting on tweeting about this supposedly private issue).


From what we can tell, Ken has been on unemployment for several years now (he's certainly not working for any comic book publisher). This whole thing just smells like desperation for cash and the chance to still be "in" the industry.

I guess his game plan after the original lawsuit was for there to be some kind of outcry from Archie fans to bring his characters back. Then he could have leveraged some kind of licensing deal with Archie to let them use those characters at a price. Instead, Archie just gutted them from the comics and fans rejoiced that the tumor had finally been removed. Now Ken has ended up with the rights to a bunch of characters that nobody cares about.
 
Hmn. So, if the case is actually one of Penders playing chicken, isn't he risking killing the goose? I mean, if Sega bolts as a result of legal issues, it would mean that further Sonic lawsuits from Penderman would basically drown, wouldn’t it?
 
Ken Penders is like Chris Chan if he actually succeeded in the comic book industry.

With that said, I wonder if he'll pepper spray the poor bastard who picks up an issue of Kevin Keller and starts screaming "DON'T CALL ANYBODY" as he runs out the door.
 
Cackman said:
http://www.tssznews.com/2015/11/12/...ction-against-archie-for-breach-of-agreement/

The Penderman is at it again.

Someone in the comment section of that article summed it up pretty well. This is almost certainly a scare tactic to get Archie to agree to an out of court settlement for a quick buck. Archie can't afford lawsuits regarding the Sonic comics. Not because of the legal fees but because they run the risk of SEGA pulling the licensing away if they think Archie is mishandling it. Ken knows this.

He's been announcing this shit over twitter for weeks now with no reason other than to draw attention to himself. When people push for specifics, he clams up. If Archie has actually done something wrong he could openly and freely publish those details and explain his case. Instead he claims it too sensitive for certain people involved (while still insisting on tweeting about this supposedly private issue).


From what we can tell, Ken has been on unemployment for several years now (he's certainly not working for any comic book publisher). This whole thing just smells like desperation for cash and the chance to still be "in" the industry.

I guess his game plan after the original lawsuit was for there to be some kind of outcry from Archie fans to bring his characters back. Then he could have leveraged some kind of licensing deal with Archie to let them use those characters at a price. Instead, Archie just gutted them from the comics and fans rejoiced that the tumor had finally been removed. Now Ken has ended up with the rights to a bunch of characters that nobody cares about.
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Penders is a money-grabbing attention whore who's a terrible writer/artist as he is a terrible person. Does he really think this is going to go anywhere? Last I checked, he got all butmad because of his OC echidnas. I don't see why that needs to be given a lawsuit.
 
I remember reading more than one letter in the back of Sonic comics criticizing his artwork. They actually published fans shitting on him, in the comics themselves. I bet I could find it; I'll have to come back.
 
Warden said:
I remember reading more than one letter in the back of Sonic comics criticizing his artwork. They actually published fans shitting on him, in the comics themselves. I bet I could find it; I'll have to come back.
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I don't know what's funnier, that the fans vocally hated his artwork within the pages of the comic, or that Archie Comics clearly has no QC when it comes to those sort of things.
 
Segue said:
XkHGV8v.png


Look at that smile...reminds me of a certain someone.
​
Ken Penders is a freelance comic book artist who's infamous for having a very big ego, being a horrible artist, and somehow managing to fuck up Sonic the Hedgehog. Even the Sonic community hates him!

Unlike others, Penders has actually worked in the comic industry. He wrote and drew the Sonic the Hedgehog comic by Archie for a while and fucked it all up. He introduced numerous original creations in the storylines and made everything convoluted as hell. His influence on the comic was so bad it almost killed the Sonic comic entirely, his work being the lowest point in the comic's sale history.

After he left the comic he went into this debacle with Archie comics over his original characters in the comic, demanding he have a cut of all profits made from the comics. Archie comics didn't wanna deal with his shit, so they soft rebooted the storyline and removed any trace of Penders in it.

Nowadays he's trying to get his own comics starring his Sonic characters published. He also spends time moderating his own internet forum, mostly arguing with members who are obviously only there to piss him off.

Heres some examples of his brilliant work:

Storm_Pg1.jpg

digicov1l.jpg

TL-SC_Cover_Art_R1_Web.jpg

Lien-Da_Promo_1_Small.jpg
He's also got his own website which looks like a relic from the mid 90's.
http://www.kenpenders.com/

His Twitter is a trove of lulz from him.
https://twitter.com/kenpenders

Other stuff:
http://kenpenders.com/forums/index.php
http://thelara-suchronicles.com/
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His art looks like its from the early years of the internet! 1998-2003 judging from those animu eyes and his CGI making Reboot look good, despite these being from 2014.
 
Blueneonkid said:
His art looks like its from the early years of the internet! 1998-2003 judging from those animu eyes and his CGI making Reboot look good, despite these being from 2014.
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You have to wonder what Archie Comics was thinking hiring this guy, who if he hadn't been hired by them would have probably ended up just a really annoying, autistic fan weenie.
 
I actually think his art is very good for someone with his degree of experience. I know I would never be able to do that good.
 
I found it, I found it holy shit after 14 years. How cool! This is a letter published in the Sonic comic, criticizing Ken's art in the Sonic comic.

nSjIZYt.jpg

The entire page is *quite* autistic and worth a read if you want. The letter in question turns out to be kinder and more naive than I remember, although in the reply you see that some stuff was left out. I wonder what the whole version said.

Text:
"Moving along to the Knuckles segment, Mr. Penders does a decent job throughout the book. There is no particular rise or drop in quality. To be honest, I haven't been his biggest fan when it comes to Furry art. But he can draw humans far better than I, so I have no room to talk. Considering how he was first drawn, Mecha-Dimitri is on-model and with enough insane detail to satisfy me. The only qualms I really have are Green-Knuckles's bony knees, Tobor's eyes on page 8, and Kommissar's proportions on page 3. I don't know what bugs me about her on page 3, she just does. Regardless of those few points, the quality is consistent and it gets the story across."​

Let's look at those pictures~! These are characters I don't remember, so I had to do some googling.

mXuybBY.jpg
nE0osE3.jpg
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I noticed people making fun of Ken's OCs. I found this.
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Tiny story under the cut.
I remember that I hated, HATED when Ken did the comic art, though as a child I didn't yet understand why. Today (literally today) I realize it's because he draws in the Mariana Trench of uncanny valley -- I spent more time grossing out at the skin-wrapped horrors than I did reading, and honestly it's still the top experience that taught me how not to draw. It was the same embarrassed confusion as learning what a bad video game was for the first time. Ken's art introduced me to the fact that it's possible to hate something about Sonic...an introduction to critical thinking.

In short, Ken Penders was the gateway out of the Sonic fandom for me. Maybe I should thank him actually.
 
Warden said:
I found it, I found it holy shit after 14 years. How cool! This is a letter published in the Sonic comic, criticizing Ken's art in the Sonic comic.
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Since I can't rate something Autistic and Winner at the same time I stuck with Winner.
 
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