#Ian era of archie good

[spoiledskullz]

archie knuckles lore <3 microwaved knux, charmy's friend dying of lsd, his jesus arc and green knuckles my beloved

I used to think archie Knuckles lire was so cool and interesting and I look back on it now and am so .... repulsed LMAO

I still think enerjak is cool but both time Knuckles was enerjak he was written by Ian Flynn so of course it's not going going to be a shit show like the rest of knuckles' lore was 🤧🤧🤧🤧

[thankskenpenders]

Is there a certain point at which you think I could get off the pre-reboot Archie ride and skip to the reboot stuff? I'm reading from the start, but since I don't know when the "pretty good" stuff ends and gets into the Penders jank, I'm not sure where a good jumping off point is!

If you just want to read the post-reboot stuff, you can just do that and start with #252, since it's a whole different continuity with no connections to the earlier stuff.

If you want to read Ian's run from before the reboot, though, that's another story, since so much of it is him trying to make sense of odd dropped plot threads from the worst eras of the book. And also there's still some pretty good stuff scattered throughout the dark times. Like, Return to Angel Island is my favorite arc from before Ian's run, and that was coming out alongside M25YL. I guess if you just want a taste of the "classic" stuff and are willing to jump right into the continuity deep end after that, you could read up to #50 and then skip all the way to the start of Ian's run with #160.

[flightyalrighty]

whats your favorite arc from the archie comics? also what are your thoughts on the idw comics? i really liked the metal virus arc

It's pretty difficult to choose just one tbh! The very first Archie Sonic comic I read (that wasn't the Free Comic Book Day one of that era) was the Hedgehog Havoc arc where they introduced Silver, so I feel almost like I GOTTA say that one? But the one I always go back and re-read is the post-SGW Unleashed arc, specifically Control. I think that's when Tyson Hesse started working on Sonic professionally as a penciler, so there's a ton of super good art throughout that one. Plus I'm a sucker for the werehog.

If we're counting Sonic Universe, then I'm stuck between The Shadow Saga (the first Sonic Universe arc) and Shadow Fall, because both have some of the best Team Dark writing ever, like it's SO good, PLEASE read those two if you haven't.

But then there's also The Secret Freedom Fighters!!!! Shard's in there!!!! Shard!!!!! Shard my beloved!!!! My very favorite ever Archie character!!!!!!! And he's working with Silver!! And Elias Acorn I guess!! And Larry Lynx ? ? ? And Leeta and Lyco! Yay!!!

---

So anyway let's talk about IDW!

I also really liked the Metal Virus arc! I really like when IDW Sonic dabbles with horror (Like with Scrapnik Island too). I guess that's not surprising coming from me.

There are some artists that work on that series that I like more than others. Not gonna name names, but the inks are sometimes being done too thin, and it can really hurt the readability of the art against those bold colors when that happens. Otherwise! I think the art is some really top-notch gorgeous stuff. You can really tell that everyone on that team isn't just there for a paycheck. There's so much love put into this series, and every new issue makes me smile so so big.

I do think the world, as it is right now, is very tightly contained? It needs more years. Archie had a VERY long history and a TON of world-building that got added to it for 24 years.

IDW Sonic is 6 years old, a baby compared to Archie. On top of that, IDW is MUCH more heavily restricted partially because of Sega clamping down on its IP and the writers that work within it, and partially (related to the former point) because IDW Sonic is now canon to the games. They must stay within a certain Status Quo bubble now. Nothing can contradict the games.

It's sad, but it is what it is.

I'll always mourn Archie, but I'm happy with what we have now. It's fun! It's a fun series! The new characters are fantastic, and Surge is my favorite of them! She's so fucked up! I love fucked up characters!

Maybe someday we'll get another massive arc like with the Metal Virus, too. I can't read Ian Flynn's mind, or Evan Stanley's for that matter. I do think that whatever comes next for IDW Sonic, it'll probably be a hoot and a half.

[caffeine-clouds]

What Your Favourite Sonic Ship Says About You! (Part 1)

(Sonamy, Sonadow, Sonally) FULL DISCLAIMER: Shipping is a hot topic of debate, but this post is lighthearted fun! I'm a multi-shipper, I love most of these ships - and I can see why some people like the dynamics that I might not. This is not a bashing post, this is fun time. So, without further ado- Sonamy

You appreciate the simpler things in life. You decided to ship the protagonist with the main girl character just like 90% of all media writers, it's just what you're comfortable with. In terms of fanfiction tropes, do you happen to enjoy childhood sweethearts, meet-cutes, soulmates - that type of thing? I just had a feeling... Either way, you're just here for the cute vibes and the pining - and who can blame you? You probably really liked the fact that when you first came across the ship that it was the girl of the pair being the one so forward with her romantic feelings. But as time has gone on - you're either one of those people that really miss that side of Amy, or you're one of those that are so dang grateful they've toned her down. Either way, it's safe to say that this is one of the most vanilla of Sonic ships - and that's not an insult, vanilla is a good ice cream flavour. But no one is really going to fight you on your opinion other than the 5% of remaining toxic Sonally shippers, and those people that are somehow still living in the Sonic Heroes era. Sonadow

You saw that Sonic and Shadow's rivalry has been going on for far longer than 7 years, so it must be gay - and honestly, I can't fault your logic. You're a sucker for two disasters who can't express their feelings, and you have just determined that fighting is simply their love language. Even with Shadow's limited screen time in Prime, you suck every single dang crumb you're given like a vacuum. And by the way, you definitely have an Ao3 account - don't try and hide it. We already know you're a sucker for enemies/rivals to lovers... and I'd also wager you enjoy just-one-bed. Also you like that thing where characters constantly call each other by a nickname, and only end up calling them by their actual name during a confession scene or when one of the characters is seriously injured. I dunno, just had a hunch you'd like that sort of thing. You are debating between two sides of yourself - part of you wants Shadow's old characterization back where he was a more in-depth character and showed Sonic more respect, but part of you also loves how so damn obsessive Shadow is in modern games over Sonic and how much he wants to fight him - because that at least implies that Sonic is on Shadow's mind literally most of the time. But when all is said and done, this is vanilla when it comes to gay ships in the Sonic community. It's too damn easy, it's why it's the most popular Sonic ship on Tumblr. This ship was made for the LGBTQ+ community. Sonally

Opposites attract is your go-to, and it's been tried and tested - the formula works, I see it. You strike me as the person who really cares about canon material, and you tend to steer away from a lot of fanon. I also have a strong feeling you're a Sonic fan that's on the older side, back when SatAM and Archie were at their peak and considerably more popular. It's a ship with all the things you need to be happy - the characters have a deep, long-lasting bond, it's a sweet ship, and the two have constrasting personalities - so it doesn't get stale for you. You're probably into similar tropes as the Sonamy shippers - but you enjoy more drama and spice to your fanfics, and you won't shy away from angst - Archie loved its angst, I know you enjoyed that shit. You're either content with all the Sonally content you've gotten over the years, and will occassionally look at fanarts. Or you're one of those people who will not let the Archie comics go, you are still in denial - you are begging for Sally's return into the series and you're hoping now that Ian Flynn is writing for the games, that your dreams might just become a reality.

[d4rk-x-w0lf-17]

Hi! I just found out that Archie made Sonic comics?!?

There are so many titles, it's overwhelming, do you possibly know where should I start?

that's.......a hard question to answer. i honestly jumped in at issue 160 cuz that's around when ian flynn took over and i didn't wanna deal with the ken penders era 💀

i couldn't give a good answer

[emistations]

If we do them by tiers...

S - Eitaro Toyoda, Shiro Maekawa, and Kiyoko Yoshimura (writer of X & Unleashed): Wrote my favorite era of the franchise! Best stories & characterizations imo.

A - Tyson Hesse: just based off his Tailstube writing sometimes, he understands the characters & i'd love to see his take on everything!

As well as Daniel Barnes, writer of Scrapnik Land (really good story), and Iasmin Omar Ata (writer of Winter Jam)

B - Ian Flynn: He's decent Imo, I loved his archie run and he's the reason I GOT to like archie, but his idw/game run is just ok. He has ideas, but the execution is hit or miss.

C - Evan Stanley: Same as Ian but to a lesser degree, but also the fact that in her writing runs, characters seem to have flaws that contradict their actual personalities (ex: Sonic straining an ankle when he's known to fall from space multiple times unharmed). Sometimes it feels like her & Ian's writing is a little limited creatively as told in this post I liked.

D - Pontac & Graff - Who would've thought? I actually don't hate them as much as I thought! I'll admit, when writing light-hearted stories they excel, but when it comes to serious situation that lightheartedness BLEEDS into the serious stuff and it all falls flat. Their jokes are 90% miss and 10% hit. I admit to having laughed at some point. But, they caused a lot of character misconceptions & plotholes that the creative team has to fix now (when really they could've just made a soft reboot.)

And finally... Ken penders. Should be obvious why.

2. Yes! It would be, and that could make for an interesting plot! I'm not against the idea of Sonic representing freedom, but he also represents being selfishly free. He would always be there to stop Surge & she'd think he's a hypocrite for it, it'd make it hard for her to see things from Sonic's perspective, and Sonic wouldn't be able to just get through to her with just fists. It could make for an interesting plot to explore Surge's background BEYOND her & Kit's past with Starline. It could be the turning wheel to help Sonic adjust his approach, too.

@fazar234 I dunno why Tumblr doesn't let me normally answer your questions

[spiderman616]

considering how much you love archie sonic, i've always wondered about your thoughts on the elephant in the room that is ken penders' contributions? this is a good faith question, i genuinely like lien-da (am biased because gay) and some of the other details, but i specifically like that stuff because of what the ian flynn era did with them. what are your thoughts on his contributions to archie? seriously i wanna know, give me an essay if you feel like it

i do think ken penders gets a lot of hate. definitely isnt a great writer and has written a lot of weird things into archie. and his character writing frankly is not that good. but i still think he gets more hate than he deserves, since every sonic fan on the planet feels an obligation to shit on him. i dont know im not a big fan of some of his work but it feels a little spiteful at times! obviously ken has introduced many characters to the comic, the vast majority of which i really like. obviously bollers and flynn down the line use penders characters really well, but even in his own stories penders fleshes them out and makes them interesting. he does seem to be a genuinely good writer, but only when he cares about what hes writing and not constantly derailing to talk about some original lore or history. reading the knuckles series (and subsequent sonic backups) makes it clear he really does like writing knuckles, and a pretty good one too. its just that he also used it as a vehicle to push every concept hes ever had, even if it doesnt logically or thematically make sense or if its just in poor taste. penders's biggest writing flaw is trying to make everything really mature and emotional on a grand scale, but he doesn't seem to have the writing experience to do that. he basically wants to be the jack kirby of sonic comics (and i think has referred to himself as something similar) but he really isnt nearly as talented as kirby was. his best moments were undoubtedly on the knuckles book though. he did write knuckles and the chaotix well, but other stories on sonic just seemed like he didn't quite care. the backups he did during world tour are notable, but arent particularly good. i never really liked them. helped flesh out the world while sonic was gone which i appreciate, but they're pretty boring and the royal secret service plot is just leading up to a climax in knuckles anyways. keep bollers on sonic and penders on knuckles and things will sail smoothly, but after knuckles got cancelled i think thats when the two writers started butting heads more

[skautism]

i never played/watched sonic as a kid but i've decided it's time. do you have any recs on literally anything sonic related?

YES!!!!!

tv: SONIC X!!!!!!!!!!! the dub is a bit wonky with cut scenes and localization nonsense due to being 4kids but it’s fun, the sub is “better” but who give a shit. also sonic prime and sonic satam are rly good

games:

2d- sonic 2 is basically better sonic 1, sonic cd is a pain in the ASS if you want the good ending but is a rly fun and colorful game with some of the best music from the classic era, i haven’t played any of 3/knuckles or mania but they get praised a LOT!!!!! also sonic rush my beloved

3d- the adventure games! also i’ve heard p-06 is amazing if you want a functional version of sonic 06 but it’s not done yet and i’ve yet to play it lol. also sonic unleashed gets a lot of praise these days and im convinced half of it is people being nostalgic but i haven’t played it so i’ll keep my mouth shut

personal faves- i <3 sonic battle its a silly fighting game with a surprisingly great story for a gba game and has good character moments for shadow. i also love shadow 05 to bits and pieces i did not buy the thing with the manual and everything for nothing but its also a pain in the ass cuz of all the endings

comics: IDW is rly good, archie is. something alright. if u wanna check out archie i just jumped ahead to the ian flynn era which DOES lend to some confusion but it’s less of a Fucking Mess and has a massive improvement with the art being more consistently good. and scourge he’s a bastard and i’m obsessed with him

i think this might be entirely too much starting information oops. autism floodgates

tldr: sonic x good, sonic 2 fun, adventure games fun, sonic battle and shadow 05 favorites, idw good, archie long and confusing but worth it

[laughdamnyou]

I understand not liking something or that it is not to your taste. But I am tired of things that I like being shit on constantly. If you don't like it or prefer something else, don't keep bringing it up or getting rude at someone else for liking it. Of course, this post is about the whole IDW vs Archie, but I believe it can be applied to many things.

I grew up with Archie somewhat, but only a Readers Digest every 4-6 months because we rarely went out. I grew up with disjointed comics and honestly? bad art. I have some of Tracy Yardley's back before he really got into a groove and colourers didn't really seem to care so there were lots of off-model colouring. When we finally got internet at my age of 14/15, I was immediately drawn in by the UK's Sonic the Comic. It was odd, it was trippy, and overall very memorable and fun for me (even if unintentionally). Amy was my favorite character and I would draw and write her like STC's scrappy tomboy Amy (doesn't help that I was doing archery at the time so I latched onto a cool female archer character). However, there wasn't very much recognition for my favorite comic, so I made do with Archie.

When Archie Sonic was canceled, I was upset a bit, but I saw it coming (fuck Ken Penders). When IDW picked it up, the consistent art and bright colours lured me in as well as building off of what Forces should've been (which is to say "good"). I loved Tangle and Whisper and for a bit Whisper was my new fixation (Rouge will forever be my absolute favorite Sonic female). But I noticed a massive amount of hate. I knew this would happen because fandoms rarely let a cancellation slide, let alone a fandom like Sonic. Especially to be replaced by another series with no returning original cast.

However, I was hoping it would disappear over time and Archie Sonic is remembered as "fun, dramatic, and mostly well written." especially as it was the longest running video game based comic ever (that I know of). But it hasn't. IDW isn't perfect, Ian Flynn isn't perfect, Sega isn't perfect, nor is Sonic Team. The writing can be off, Flynn does have the odd urge to put random music lyrics into dialogue awkwardly, Shadow is...off putting for any fan to say the least, the pacing could be better, and the constant delays are incredibly annoying.

Criticism is one thing, but constant hate and shit stirring is another. Please stop and be kind to your fellow fans. There are plenty of Sonic media for anyone. Whether it be games; Classic era, Adventure era, "modern" era, etc. Shows; SATAM, AOSTH, Prime, Boom, Underground. Movies; Sonic Cinematic Universe, OVA. Or Comics; Archie, IDW, STC, manga, etc.

So please calm down and either enjoy or at least appreciate what we have or go back and reread what you already love. Or make your own. That is always an option. I do sometimes, I even created a "Reboot" universe of sorts with my sister (though i am too scared to share it)

[overnightshipping]

Been rereading the Ian Flynn era of Archie and man... I really really wish they had the Egg Armies or something comparable in the IDW comics. Both the Dark Egg Legions pre-reboot and Egg Armies post-reboot do so much for the setting it's not even funny. They make the world feel larger and they give a wider variety of antagonists to fight while still having Eggman as the primary bad guy. They make Eggman into a FASCINATING character with their interactions - the Game (his words) he plays with his subordinates is truly so so good. But most of all they make the world more nuanced with the enemies who are working for Eggman for reasons beyond being evil and wanting to take over the world. I feel like this last piece is the one that IDW misses the most - the compelling story of characters who work for Eggman out of feeling that it is the only way forward, characters who when possible will avoid conflict with the Freedom Fighters despite their allegiance because they don't want anyone to get hurt needlessly, characters who see Sonic in the wrong because they see submitting to Eggman as the only viable option... It's such good stuff.

[beevean]

I was actually talking about how the Sonic franchise in general has had so many adaptations with wildly different interpretations of just Sonic and Eggman alone, than whether their characterizations in the games themselves were consistent or not. Which is what I was trying to get at with Ian's whole inconsistency excuse, because IDW is still(I guess) supposed to be seperate from the games, and starting from scratch after Archie's cancellation. The dude and the other creative staff have some degree of control over this seperate canon. Just because he thinks Sega is being inconsistent in the games doesn't mean he can't at least try to maintain some of it within the continuity he is working on, or at least establish some basic rules for it and follow them. He talks like as if Sega is holding him at gunpoint to make the writing decisions he's been making recently.

But yeah. As far as the games themselves are concerned, Sonic not being a self-righteous douche, and Eggman being kind of an asshole, have been very consistence traits of their's throughout it's history, even during the so-called "Dark Age" and "Meta Era".

Good point. This is why I'm not bothered by the Boom versions of the characters: sure, Knuckles is dumb and illiterate, and Eggman is a softie with a crush on Sonic, but they also never pretended to be the original Knuckles and Eggman.

When Sonic X, arguably more faithful to the games, turns Amy into a yandere and Eggman into an anti-villain, we start to have more problems... but again, that is technically an adaptation. X!Eggman never became canon to the games anyway.

As for IDW... you know what he could have said? That. IDW Sonic is not quite the same as SEGA Sonic. It's an AU. It's his interpretation, much like Sonic X interpreted Sonic as a big introvert who spends most of his time napping and running. What, are the fans really going to question that? They'd just say that his version is better anyway :V but at least he'd be honest about it.

But of course, saying that he's following the SEGA standard elevates his writing much more :) this is the thing. He wants to parade his writing as being nearly official. He can't just admit that IDW Sonic is his interpretation of Sonic: no, that is canon Sonic, he's just that good and influential.

He talks like as if Sega is holding him at gunpoint to make the writing decisions he's been making recently.

He may hate the word "mandates", but he sure is happy to blame them for writing choices his fans don't like.

[nuttyrabbit]

Violence Ask, 8

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

Oh boy where do I BEGIN with this one. Fuck it, I'm making a list

"Sonic Unleashed is the best 3D Sonic game". No, it's like 1/3 of a great game and 2/3 a gigantic fucking slog, culminating in a horrible final level and a middling final boss. The best parts of the game are the visuals and music, which are fantastic. Story is insanely overrated, with Chip easily being the worst companion in the "Companion" era of 3D Sonic. Yes I AM putting him behind Elise

"Sonic is purely a Japanese/Western franchise so the other side is bad and shouldn't exist". Wrong, it's a mix of both and that's why it's good. Wholly rejecting either the Japanese or Western sides of Sonic is a dumb fuckin move. Like yeah both sides have done some dumb shit, but they've also brought a LOT of good to the table

"Everything before Ian Flynn came on Archie was bad": No. There's a few good to great stories in there, y'all just don't wanna hear it. Like there's a lot of garbage but the stretch from 124 to 133 is pretty solid stuff...and then it falls off a cliff for a bit

"Your Sonic OC has to follow specific guidelines": How and why the fuck do I still see this take? It's your OC, do what you want with it. Be as fuckin wild and crazy as you want

"Boom Amy is best Amy": No. I used to believe this before realizing that she's just Amy in name only. Post reboot Archie Amy and TMOSTH Amy are best Amys.

"There is no way to differentiate Rotor from Tails": The way to do this has always existed and been apparent, but nobody's been brave enough TO do it. The answer is making Rotor the Sonic equivalent of the TF2 Engineer and adding MORE DAKKA to fucking everything

"There should only be a single Sonic canon/product" (This is a take I've genuinely heard, it's insane): No. Just no. If anything, I'd argue that this franchise's sheer diversity in takes on the blue rat and his world is one of its strongest suits

Those are the big ones off the top of my head but y'all are free to send me more big fandom opinions and get my takes on em

[flightyalrighty]

hey just wanted to say the way you draw expressions on Sonic characters is absolutely immaculate, thank you. have a good day

I will have a good day, thank you ;_;

I grew up with Ian Flynn's run of Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog, so a lot about how I draw those characters is inspired by some of the artists from that era (Tracy Yardley, Diana Skelly, Tyson Hesse way late into the reboot era)!

I especially liked when these artists acknowledged that Mobians are animals and drew the mouths on them in such a way to accommodate for these characters having muzzles. I like when they're animal. Just a buncha lil creatures. :)

[sallyacornsmackdown]

LET'S GET A NICE ANON TO YOU. how long have you been a sally fan for?

Oh neat, let's ramble about that! My introduction to the Sonic series was actually the Fleetway Comics and soon after that I also saw SatAM on TV. Someone I knew recorded some of the episodes for me, so I mostly just watched the episodes we had on video over and over. It was mostly season 2 episodes like Dulcy, Cry of the Wolf, Drood Henge, Spyhog, Blast to the Past Part 1 (but not Part 2 - I didn't see that until years later) and of course The Doomsday Project I didn't have Internet as a kid, so I only really knew about the Archie Comics from going to a friend's house who did have Internet and reading about this other American comic where Sally was featured. Also, we'd read Sonic fan comics online that included her Years later, I got my own Internet and kept up with the Archie Comics through reviews and the odd page scan with no context. I eventually found a store in the UK that would order the Archie Comics for me and ironically, the first issue I was able to get was #160 (if you don't know why that issue is special, it's the first issue written by a certain Ian Flynn). I was like "Oh cool! That guy who wrote the fan comics I liked as a kid is now writing the actual comics!" I still loved Sally as a character, but I was less than keen on the "long-hair era" of her character, even when I did eventually read the older issues via the Sonic Archives years later. Which isn't to diss anyone who does like those, they're just not for me. But I felt the comics I was reading from #160 onwards brought her back to the character I enjoyed as a kid and I've loved every version of her ever since This is a sidenote, but I actually started shipping Sallicole during the Pre-SGW days when Nicole seemed fond of Sally after becoming more of a person, so when Post-SGW went all in with Sallicole, I was totally there for that. I do like SonSal as well tho - both are good

[themattress]

Assorted “Archie’s Sonic the Hedgehog” Opinions, Complaints, and Observations

(This post and this post serving as references.)

- The Classic Era remains the comic at its best. It knew exactly what it wanted to be at the start, a silly colorful kids’ book promoting SEGA’s mascot, but then decided it wanted to get more serious with a continuous narrative and character development, and for the most part (excluding the stuff Ken Penders did with Knuckles) it did it well. The first 15 issues are totally AoStH-style silly, the next 10 issues have a more dramatic SatAM-style undercurrent, the following 10 issues flip it so that the AoStH-style silliness is the undercurrent, and the last 15 issues are totally SaTAM-style drama, with the only weird instances of tonal off-ness being the more serious Princess Sally miniseries early in and the more goofy Sonic Blast special later on (and we do NOT talk about Sonic Live!, it isn’t canon so it may as well not exist.)

- Discounting the Knuckles series and many of the increasingly asinine Super Specials, I am also incredibly fond of the Adventuring Era, which was full of good writing, world-building and characterization for everyone not being written by Ken Penders, and was even able to pull off a Sonic Adventure adaptation that made sense in the context of the series and was better than it had any right being given the troubled circumstances behind its production. The comic series during the Classic and Adventuring Eras WAS Sonic for me throughout my childhood.

- But like many, the Declining Era is where the series lost me. I don’t blame Karl Bollers for this; a lot of his writing was still solid. But the editor for some reason or other decided to push the serious tone too far and add romantic furry teen drama to the equation for good measure. Worse still, after #105 Robotnik suffered from some massive villain decay and a general loss of direction. THE villain of the series began to feel like an afterthought, and it pissed me off. With that said, I’ve....kind of softened on the Declining Era in recent years. It’s still not good, there’s plenty wrong with it (especially the artwork), but compared to the era that followed it’s perfectly tolerable, and #125, with some re-working, would have made a decent series finale.

- Yes, the Miserable Era was the nadir of quality in the series and Ian Flynn being hired was a marked improvement. No, I do not agree he was the savior of the Sonic comics he’s been made out to be - not in the Renewal Era, not in the Burdened Era, not in the Reboot Era, and not even in the current IDW Comics. There’s just way too often where his stories are transparently advancing an Agenda(TM). And whether or not you agree with the Agenda(TM) being advanced is irrelevant, because after enough instances of it happening you just get sick of the characters and world of Sonic being manipulated for Agendas(TM). I feel like prime examples of this are the King Scourge arc and the Iron Dominion arc. Ian previously wrote some truly epic sequential story arcs that lasted anywhere from 2 to 5 issues, as is the norm for this series. And yet these two arcs lasted 9 issues and 12 issues respectively. Why? Because Flynn had an Agenda(TM) to push these edgy reinventions of old lame villains as major league threats in order to show just how talented a writer he really is. The co-running King Naugus and Mecha Sally arcs were a similar deal, as was the Zeti stuff in IDW. And it’s all just so tiresome, just as tiresome as anything Penders and Gabrie put the comic through.

- One thing I appreciate both the Archie comic series and SatAM show for is establishing a distinct world, supporting cast and mythology for Sonic long before the games got around to doing it. With that said, I liked Archie’s better since it had elements of the games and AoStH in addition to SatAM, and the stuff that was taken from SatAM was mostly executed better; the glaring exception being the characterizations of King Acorn and Sally post-Classic Era.

- Speaking of which, worst characters over the course of the series: King Maximillian Acorn, Geoffrey St. John, Drago the Wolf, Hershey the Cat, Tommy the Turtle, Colin Kintobor Sr., Evil Sonic / Scourge, Fiona the Fox, Monkey Khan, the entire Iron Dominion, Dr. Ian Droid, Locke and the Echidna Brotherhood, Dimitri and most of the Dark Legion, Monk, Hunter, Tails’ douchey parents, Zonic the Zone Cop, Mecha Robotnik, Thrash the Devil, and Lara-Su.

- In regards to shipping, the Sonic/Sally/Mina love triangle was stupid and should not have been a thing, and then after #134 Sonic and Sally should have remained broken up and Sonic shouldn’t have pursued any form of romance afterward. As for Knuckles, he should have had a period apart from Julie-Su where they both better figured themselves out without the other around, and then they could get back together (in a poly threesome with Rouge).

- The reboot was largely for the best; even without Ken Penders’ lawsuit bullshit there was so much baggage weighing the series down and it had drifted so far away from the rest of the franchise that a reboot honestly felt logical. Don’t think I’m absolving Penders though, as such a reboot absolutely should have happened on better terms than the forced way it did.

- I will always maintain that the place we ended the series at was, in fact, a good place to end the comic series. But sadly, it wasn’t a good place to end the reboot, which for all intents and purposes had only just begun and had so much more that could be done with it. I will always hold some resentment toward SEGA for not just allowing the reboot to continue under IDW, especially when Ian Flynn keeps trying to make the IDW series like the Archie series anyway.

- Favorite story arcs: Sally’s Crusade (#17-18, SP1), the Uncle Chuck arc (#30, #32, #34, #37-38), Mecha Madness (#39, SP6, #40), the Death Egg Saga (MS4), Endgame (#47-50/SS6)*, the Naugus Trilogy (#64-66), the Return of Robotnik (#72-76), Sonic Adventure (#79-85 + SS13), Sonic Adventure 2.5 (#124-125), Return to Angel Island (#138-141), Darkest Storm (#162-164), Order From Chaos (#168-169), Eggman Empire (#175-177), Enerjak Reborn (#180-184), Mogul Rising (#185-188), The Egg Phoenix Saga (#198-200), Genesis (#225-230), and much of the Shattered Earth Saga (#253-272 and #276-287).

*Almost solely for #50/SS6, although I enjoy aspects of #47 and #48 as well.

[spiderman616]

Indulging in ur request to discuss Archie: I thought Ian Flynn mostly just smoothed out bumps in the writing of the comic until he started being forced to make it closer to the games— he seemed like a huge Archie fan bc he would constantly slip in obscure shit from old issues or use old plot points, but he did like the games too so there was some shit used there which is fair. Although to be honest the show Archie was based on, SATAM, was more similar to the games than even the comics ended up being after it got past that initial period of newspaper strip continuity. Not trying to suck up to him bc there were plenty of past writers I really enjoyed as well, and I think Ian had some greenness to his writing at first that he’s kind of grown out of that went in directions that weren’t so great in Archie. I think back when I read Archie I liked it when Ian’s era came in mainly bc it started getting consistently better artists like Jon Gray and Tracy Yardley (ik you don’t like them but I liked the clean lines it was very easy to understand where the characters were placed and what the pose was… sometimes. There were absolutely weird ass expressions and fumbles lmao)

in regards to flynn's run its hard to say what elements were because of sega/sonic team's growing involvement in the story, the requests of the editor at the time (who wanted to reboot the continuity at issue 160 but was talked down by flynn) and flynn's own personal biases and choices. there's no doubt ian flynn was a big fan of archie, having sent several of his own scripts for stories to the comic before being hired, but he was also the first lead writer for archie sonic who was actually a fan of the sonic video games, and i don't think that didn't affect how he wrote the comic. little things like characterization tended towards the characters' game counterparts, and plot details like the seven chaos emeralds in the special zone may have utilized concepts from previous issues but were also tinted by flynn's enjoyment and knowledge of the game. any prior writer, if tasked with the same jobs flynn had, would have handled things differently. saying something is "similar to the games" when the only games you had to work off of were sonic 1 and 2 is also a little bit disingenuous, seeing as there really wasn't much readily available story material to work with. to archie's credit they did sneak in influences from the genesis games when they could, but the plot was still majorly based on satam. flynn isnt a bad writer by any means but i dontttt think he was all that. previous issues also had really good writing, its just that the last few issues before 160 had a lot of behind the scenes turmoil that made flynn's direction look better. you can't pin everything you like or dislike about the comic's story on one specific person, something people are quite fond of doing with both flynn and penders. saying the art only got good after 160 is also... not true lol. post-160 art was more on model to the mobian style maybe, but saying that is better just betrays your personal opinion rather than any objective quality difference