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By 1998, just a few years afterSonic the Hedgehogs debut, the blue blur was in trouble.
To many American children, Sonic and his friends now existed primarily as comic-book characters.
How did it get to this point?
The upheaval all comes back to one influential contributor by the name of Ken Penders.
But whenSatAMwas canceled after two seasons, Archies teamthought the comics days were numbered.
Except there was a problem: Sega wanted more.
Archies various writers were left scrambling for new ideas.
The Knuckles stories were just as weird as the mainlineSonicseries.
Remember: these comics were ostensibly aimed at preteen kids.
Some liked the mature themes, saying that the comics didnt talk down to kids.
Others were less impressed.
And in the broader fandom, manySonicfans simply couldnt reconcile the drastic differences between the comics and games.
There was one person in particular who wasnt pleased with Flynns work, though, and that was Penders.
Penders did more than simply declare the unapproved use of his characters non-canon, though.
He took legal action over it.
On November 23, 2010, Archiefiled a federal lawsuit against Penders, claiming he had breached his contract.
(Archie Comics declined to comment for this story.
As of press time, Penders had not responded to messages seeking comment.)
To complicate things further, Penders filed a separate lawsuit against Sega and video-game publisher Electronic Arts in 2011.
Penders argued that without his blessing, this homage was a form of copyright infringement.
Pendersclaimed the contract had never existed.
So are you saying prior counsel blew it?
the presiding judge asked Archie counsel Joshua Paul ina May 2013 court session.
His reply was unequivocal: Absolutely, your Honor.
New additions such as Cassia and Clove, two pronghorn sisters indebted to Dr. Robotnik, showed potential.
In 2015, the main title had become thelongest-running comicever made based on a preexisting intellectual property.
He had become an easy scapegoat over the years.
Even those who agreed that he had deserved royalties for his work often disagreed with his actions.
I also think that, by copywriting the characters he created, Penders effectively destroyed this comics legacy.
To them, the series had already died in 2006.
To them, this was a sign that Flynn was attempting to undermine the series.
(Not that Sally could ever date Sonic again anyway.
The hedgehogs love life was reportedly declared off limits after the reboot.)
For all the negativity, fans still show a lot of love for ArchiesSonic.
To this day, the characters live on in fan creations.
An unofficial continuation of the pre-reboot story, dubbedArchie Sonic Online,has seen several issues released.
It has also been widelyderided for its unorthodox new art style.
