BlueBlur

The comic has a huge fan-base that Penders helped create. He introduced a wealth of characters into series that never existed before. From what I remember, it was Penders who went to the Comic Con for years promoting Sonic and Knuckles series, when Archie was no where to be seen. I don't see why Archie would re-release his work, without paying him. It's obvious Penders cares about all the characters. But at this point it's apparent that Archie could care less about them. If they did, they wouldn't drop them. They'd simply pay everyone responsible for the comic's success the royalties that they're due.

Thanks for welcoming me. I'm excited to be here. From what I read, Penders says he never signed a contract with Archie. His editors and several other writers from the time period confirmed that and stated they didn't have contacts either. Your question about why Penders waited years to demand royalties doesn't make sense go me. He didn't have reason to until recently, when Archie started releasing Sonic Archives featuring his work. From what I understand, the reason Penders filed for copyright protection was because Archie ignored his request for royalties, and when his characters were also used in the video game, again without royalties, it must have been the last straw. I think your argument about Penders is roughly the same one DC Comics first made about Jerry Seigel: "He signed a contract giving us the rights, so Superman is ours." But in this case, there was no contract. The fact there either was no contract, or it was "lost" gives this an entirely different dimension than the battle over Superman. What is similar is the fact DC didn't want to share the profits with Siegel, same as Archie is now fighting against Penders. Why shouldn't Archie fairly compensate its writers and illustrators for reprints of their original work? Why shouldn't they also be fairly compensated if those characters are later used in film or some other media? If Archie and Sega can gain financially from releasing the original comic, and also profit from their use in other venues, why shouldn't the writers and illustrators be fairly compensated too? Penders was responsible for the bulk of content that made the Knuckles series viable. The characters he made didn't exist in the video games. At the very least he should be recognized for fighting to sustain the comic series and by that same token, supporting the fans who love it, when no one else was paying attention. How many years was Penders out pushing the comic at the Comic Con, when Archie was no where to be found? You say Penders has spoken poorly of the comic and current staff. If true, that's regrettable. But I'd imagine this is all pretty frustrating so regrettable things have been spoken by all. I did read somewhere that at the San Diego Comic Con, Penders actually went up to Archie's current Sonic writer, Ian, to shake his hand in a friendly gesture. I just find it hard to believe that Penders is really the ogre some are making him out to be. What I am sure of is that there is more to this than meets the eye. I'm sure there are things happening behind the scenes we aren't aware of. The only thing I know for sure is that Archie has a history, going all the way back to Bob Montana and DeCarlo, of not playing fair with its creative staff. Judging from the mud-slinging that recently went on between its co-CEOs Archie isn't above that either. The "Ken Penders = all bad," "Archie = can do no wrong" scenario just doesn't add up to me.

Penders was already granted a copyright through the U.S. Copyright Office. Archie sued Penders over this, but the judge dismissed the case after Archie and Penders reached a settlement. I'm pretty sure that Penders had no choice but to copyright the characters to have any legal standing for royalties in a court of law. Penders posted this about Archie still being able to use the characters on Twitter. It looks like Archie would rather kill off the characters than pay royalties. http://www.twitter.com/KenPenders/status/359367593167032321

Sure they do. Penders stated as much on his forum and that's what was posted on Tssznews.

Archie could do the right thing and pay Penders for using his work. Archie seems to ave a dismal record when it ones to doing right by the people who work on their comics. They tried to steal Archie himself from his creator, Bob Montana, and the way they treated Dan DeCarlo was pathetic. Penders asked Archies for royalties for reprints of his early work. They said no, and rather than oy, they chose to remove the characters from the book, leaving him no choice but to copyright the characters. The way I see it, thank goodness someone is trying to preserve them.

I actually found a "save Juile-su" petition online urging Archie to keep using the characters. Here it is: https://www.change.org/petitions/archie-comics-publications-inc-sega-save-julie-su-demand-archie-comics-stop-removing-sonic-characters

I'm new to this forum but I don't get the Penders hatred either. it seems to me from what I've been reading online that all of the tug-of-war between Archie and Penders could have been resolved from day one if Archie simply agreed to pay royalties for the reissue of Penders's work when they released the Sonic Archives. Also Penders didn't sue Archie at all. They sued him, but the case has now been dismissed. Penders stated on his forum that he had nothing to do with Archie's decision to kill off characters. Archie could have continued to use the characters all along, but it seems they would rather remove the characters Penders created than pay royalties. I don't think it's unreasonable for Penders or any of the writers to get paid for reissues of the work. If Bioware approached him in the creation of the video game as has been stated, he deserves credit here as well. That certainly doesn't sound like a tantrum to me.