Home News Ken Penders Introduces New Julie-Su, Lara-Su GNs

Ken Penders Introduces New Julie-Su, Lara-Su GNs

Tristan Oliver
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On Wednesday evening, well ahead of a trial next month many fans of the Archie Sonic comics will be sure to watch closely, former Sonic comic writer Ken Penders introduced the new character design for Julie-Su.  The design is planned for use in upcoming Lara-Su branded graphic novels Penders intends to pursue.

“As a great fan of the work of Jack Kirby, I always loved the Fourth World approach he used to bring forth his New Gods concepts,” Penders said. “Just as Jack used the JIMMY OLSEN and SUPERMAN series as his starting point, so too am I using the stories I created for the Knuckles character as a springboard for what comes next.”

Penders says Julie-Su will be included along with the previously announced Lara-Su in upcoming graphic novels titled The Lara-Su Chronicles.

“Anyone familiar with the Knuckles material I created up to and including SONIC #124, along with any incarnation of the MOBIUS: 25 YEARS LATER material I also created, which is widely considered canon by the fans, will be well prepared for what comes next,” Penders continued.

Here’s the intriguing part: Julie-Su is not necessarily an old relic of the official Archie comics.  In fact, the character has been used as recently as issue 212 in the main comic, as well as issue 12 in Sonic Universe.

Obviously, with these plans in the mix, it is sure to make the ongoing legal dispute that much more important to resolve.  TSSZ will bring you developments from the Archie v. Penders trial in late January as we are able.  We’ll also bring you any relevant developments filed in preparation for the trial.

Tags Archie ComicsComicsKen PendersSEGASonic The Hedgehog (Series)TSSZ NewsYOU BETRAYED THE LAW!
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Tristan Oliver

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  4. God, I wish I could be at that trial with some popcorn so I can watch this train wreck unfold before my eyes.

  5. Though the design and pose aren’t as facepalm-worthy this time around, Ken’s coloring style (which hasn’t improved in almost 15 years) continues to irk me like always. It always has this unpolished, burn-and-dodge-tool-esque look to it and I can’t stand it. Eesh.

    That aside, yeah, it probably isn’t the best move to reveal the appearance of a character that is CURRENTLY APPEARING in a copyrighted work.

  6. Yep, not impressed with this or Ken’s claim that his work is more canon then the Archie material, which is definitely going to crash and burn in court.

  7. Offtopic but whatever there is no where else to post about it.
    Shark Week is in effect on Sonic Retro on the eve of Trainwreck announcement Episode 2, what this basically means is that anyone that dares shit over Dimp’s latest sweatshop effort will be banned so Sega will award Retro with some exclusive wallpaper.
    Retro’s content contentment to censorship and calling it’s userbase complete trash makes me pretty sad.

    Watch someone get banned for wondering why it isn’t using the fantastic Retro engine.

  8. >as a fan of Jack Kirby

    NO

    NO.

    YOU DON’T GET TO USE HIS NAME KEN. YOU LEAVE THAT POOR MAN OUT OF THIS.

    I WISH I COULD HATE YOU TO DEATH ARGHGHGJFSFKMSLN,m

  10. I really do wonder how he plans to pull this all off. Because not only will he have to fight against Archie but against Sega. As all the comics state quite clearly that “ALL related characters and indicia are registered trademarks of SEGA” and that the comics are “manufactured under license from SEGA”. Unless he had some kind of clause in his contract specifically stating that any characters he created while working for Archie were his property (which i doubt he did), then they all belong to Archie and by way of license and trademark SEGA themselves.

    His chances of winning this court battle are slim to none. And the fact that he is flying so pompously in the face of adversity by drawing up these designs for characters that are still being used by Archie/Sega and saying he is going to release GN’s without either parties consent makes me dislike the guy even more. If he was any kind of writer/artist he wouldn’t have to cling to material and story’s that no longer belong to him and go make up some new characters/world’s/stories of his own.

  15. Jee-zus jumped up…

    Ken really thinks he has a victory in hand with this? It’s sad to see it be like this. And his design… no. Just no. Big no. I don’t care if it’s supposed to be in the future or not, she looks horrible!

  19. Okay, this is just getting ridiculous. As someone said,above me said, the chances of him winning this court are slim to none, and I would lie to add “and Slim just left town.” Also, just how many people does he think will buy this even if he does win?

  25. *sees article*

    Oh, great, what is it this time. Sega & Archie, please shut this echidna guy up already.

    *sees picture*

    Blech. Sorry, Kenny, but I’ll be sticking to the far better Archie rendition of Julie-Su, thank you very much. I admit it’s decent and by no means terrible art, but something about this style really rubs me the wrong way.

  26. He currently sounds like a whiny fanboy who feels self-entitled. He seems to act as if his lawsuit is about to win and that he has the utmost respect of all Archie Sonic fans, which if the messages above are any indication, he doesn’t.

  27. … WHY? I love Julie-Su’s original incarnation in Archie, what’s with all the cybernetics and shit? I mean I get it because she’s originally a Dark Legionaire and this is the future and such… but hasn’t he ever heard of the old saying ‘less is more’?

    … and I still don’t like his drawing style…

  29. Yea don’t much feel the “star trek” look on Su here. Plus why is it copyrighted 1993? hell, thats before Knuckles himself was even out to the public let alone Ken making copies of him for Archie….just……ech.

  30. You know I had some problems with the art in STH #232 but Ben Bates’ Julie-Su was not one of them. He managed to make not look like Knuckles in a wig.

    Ken I know you hate the modern art (Or at least Tracy Yardley) but please look at this you don’t have to make a haracter look exactly like another.

    Also I can’t wait to see you get your butt handed to you in court good day.

  32. … Uhh, Penders does realize that despite moving the Fourth World material to its own comic, Kirby didn’t own the Fourth World stuff, right? DC did. They’ve been using it ever since. Darkseid alone is a lynchpin villain of the DC Universe.

  33. Is this guy utterly incapable of creating his own stuff, or what? It’s like if Yuji Naka’s company started making Speedy the Porcupine games.

  35. Why do I get a feeling that if Ken loses he’ll write an autobiography and sells the rights to Hollywood turn it into a supposed dramaand then try to sue the filmakers for vering off the truth.

    Also @ TLCSONIC I utterly understand the feeling there should be a live feed like THE SIMPSONS when sideshow bob and mayor Quimby run for Mayor and bob wins they show a shot of Quimby and insert flames around his face :P.

    P.s that drawing SEGA & ARCHIE & to an extent BIOWARE & EA must’ve printed that picture and nailed it to a door and throwin darts at it.

  36. I mean seriously

    Ken vs SEGA – ARCHIE – EA it’s like Homer Simpson & Lionel Huhtz vs Mr Burns and his 10 high priced lawyers (insert image of Burns pushing a button that opens a door and all 10 are sanding there lol)

  37. No Hollywood executive will pick up that story. It’s not notable enough. No one will care about it. Maybe it can sell as a book with a small print run, and maybe an independent film akin to Bottle Shock, but definitely not a Hollywood movie.

    (This is just an educated guess, but perhaps the 1993 in the copyright years refers to when Ken Penders started doing Sonic comics. If he feels this arrogant about owning the rights to the characters, I wouldn’t put it beyond him to try to extend the copyright years back as far as is feasible.)

  39. The irony is that Ian Flynn actually writes Julie-Su and Lara-Su with stronger and more consistent characterization than Penders even did…

  40. @Ophelia

    Ken Penders’ first issue at Archie has a cover date of June, 1994. While cover dates are usually a couple months ahead, it still wasn’t published until 1994. I guess he might have started working there in December of 1993…but that still has nothing to do with it. Ken Penders can not extend the copyright of a character before it was created. That is impossible. Throwing it up there shows that Ken doesn’t have the understanding about how copyright works the way he thinks he does. She did not show up until 1997.

    What questions are people even asking him about what would have happened? Ken Penders is a terrible storyteller. The only reason his early stuff was ok was simply because he was forced into a pace created by issue 50. Once that milestone passed, he could do whatever the hell he wanted. That is why we get issue after issue where nothing happened.

    @SSJSonic

    …not only does that comic have no place here, I think you misunderstand the purpose of “Shark Week.” It is to prevent people making post after post of one liners that add nothing to the discussion that is already going to be hard enough to moderate. It has nothing to do with Retro trying to silence criticism. One look at the thread, and I see plenty of people skeptic, if not outright bashing Sonic 4 Episode 2. If you go there and say that you don’t like it, just don’t say it in one sentence. Go on for a few sentences. Put some thought into it. I would think, at that point, the Retro people wouldn’t bat an eye.

  41. I already said this on the SEGA forums, but I may as well post it here since I’m still genuinely curious:

    Why is Penders so adamant about delving into the extended family and civilization of a side character? In my opinion, that was always the least interesting part of the comic for me. When I opened up the book as a kid, I always went straight for the Sonic stories because they had the most action and the coolest art (and also because it was most true to the series’ title). Though I loved playing as Knuckles and seeing his adventures in the games, I tended to skip over his backstories in the comics simply because I wasn’t interested in reading about his parents and grandparents and ancestors. I just loved seeing Sonic and Knuckles do cool stuff, as any kid would at the time.

    I know others will feel differently about this, but I’m just curious as to why he would want to write about such a specific niche of the comic that a lot of people probably had no interest in in the past.

  43. @Sonic101

    Actually, he wants to make graphic novels set around Lara-Su, the daughter of Julie and Knuck…er, “the Guardian”.

    …Bleh.

  44. What’s ironic is that Ian Flynn writes these characters better than Penders ever did.

  45. I really don’t care anymore but, can his art be anymore cheesy. Its just so….so visually unappealing. ”

    Juile-su AKA Guardian’s mate AKA badass AKA mother AKA mary-sue

  47. @Your Monotremes Do Not Interest Me: your link made me cry a little inside. :'(

    ….”there isn’t a line or a dead body she wouldn’t cross.” So I guess necrophilia isn’t out of the question.

  49. @ SEGAmew:
    Lol

    I’m not much of a Julie-Su fan (actually I hate her) but that photo just made her thousands of times BETTER!!!!!! Yay!!!!
    …
    ……..
    ……………………
    NO WAY.

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