Potential Archie Trouble: Indications of Sonic Comic Cancellation?
Yes, indeed, because of a misinterpretation, it looks like we may not know the fate of the comic until it’s too late. Here’s 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.
And if Penders sticks by his words, there could be some serious problems ahead. We have already heard of Fleetway canning new comics, and this would be icing on the cake. Stay with TSSZ for the absolute latest, as we certainly have you covered.
4.18: Ken Penders posted what could be an urgent reason for you to push your local retailer to get Sonic comics:
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.
Unfortunately, if you go back into our archives, this happened last year with the Knuckles comics, and now they are gone. Here is some reaction already from the KP MB.
Jedipuff: ..,and I’m talking about the state of Archie Sonic Comics here, If you ( as a whole, not you, though some would be led to believe that I personally started a cult against you. That’s only HALF true) would atleast let the public KNOW about Sonic Comics. The best that was done was those Franco American Spighette (sp) O’s with Sonic and the comeic offer on the back for Archie. I mean, after saying this repeatedly over and over again but getting no results, I LIVE ALMOST RIGHT NEXT TO ARCHIE HQ! And I wouldn’t have known it’s location had I not been a loyal fan of Sonic Comics, but you guys aren’t even a LANDMARK in Mamaroneck! The building itself looks like a vacant lot! I looked pretty silly the other day standing in front of the building taking pictures since even passerby can’t see that God Forsaken sticker of Archie on top of the door. i mean, no one else I know in Westchester county besides some old interns of yours who work at the Mamaroneck Walden Books know you exist in New York state ( I know that’s a stretch, but hey!) Even Dreamcast fans should know that there is an official Comic Adaptation made by Archie, but they don’t! Why not have it advertised on the Sonic Adventure Dreamcast Website?
That’s just my rant though.
Ruby Echidna: 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.
We’ll certainly keep you updated on this new situation. The Warning has been given. But will the event occur?