In The Meantime . . .
I've been getting a lot of e-mails asking what's next after I had stated there's more to come. As it is, I've been sneaking previews of the story of THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES to a select few to see if I've been accomplishing what I set out to do. All I'll say is that I'm encouraged that new readers will not feel left out and longtime readers will see a lot of questions answered.
As for more character designs, they're coming, but the project had to take a back seat while I took care of business on other fronts, such as the forthcoming release of THE REPUBLIC film project I've been working on.
The one new item to look forward to is a sneak peak at the Director's Cut of the very first solo-Knuckles story I wrote and illustrated titled "Fire Drill". This will be the first of several stories I both wrote and illustrated and will be making available to readers available everywhere for free via a specially-designed app. The idea is to help establish the relevant chronology to get readers of THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES up to speed on previous events.
As an added bonus, I'll also be making available the stories I did for the SONIC LIVE! and BRAVE NEW WORLD specials available for free as well. There's some Director's Cut material that never saw the light of day back then that will now when this is released.
The biggest extra will be the release of the unpublished KNUCKLES: TWENTY YEARS LATER material, which set the stage for the MOBIUS: 25 YEARS LATER, which finally sees resolution with THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES. Showing the evolution will allow readers to see how this storyline was always part of the plan.
So stay tuned as new material is definitely on its way.
The NEW Dimitri As Seen In THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES
As reported elsewhere, I've been busy dealing with the lawsuit Archie Comics filed against me, which was expected to go to Court this past January 30, but was delayed for a variety of reasons. While to many it seems a whole not of nothing is going on, trust me when I say my experience during this process is anything but, forcing me to juggle my schedule to keep everything I need to on track, including work on the upcoming LARA-SU CHRONICLES.
After a longer then expected delay, I'm now finally ready to release the first visual of the very first antagonist - some would call him a villain - featured in the original KNUCKLES series which I initially co-wrote and illustrated, none other than the inspiration for the Dark Legion, Dimitri.
While Dimitri is yet another key player seen throughout THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES, his full history as well as the untold history of the Dark Legion itself will be explored in the fourth volume of the series THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES: THE DARK LEGION. This particular story will reveal the opposite POV of events that transpire in THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES: BROTHERHOOD OF THE GUARDIANS, that lead to the Civil War which plays out during the course of the entire storyline.
While new readers will be able to jump onboard without any previous knowledge of the characters or the set-up, the original stories featuring the characters seen throughout THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES will be made available in upcoming reprint collections for their added enjoyment. These reprint collections not only will feature the original stories in chronological order, but as an additional bonus to longtime readers will also restore original material that was cut out due to space limitations during their original publication.
In addition, to the best of my knowledge, unlike the current Archie Comics reprint editions of this material, creative artists - pencilers, inkers, letterers and colorists - who also contributed to these stories will receive royalties from the sales of these editions.
At this time, I'd like to say thanks to those of you expressing your support during this time.
Stay tuned for further details.
Lien-Da To Play A Major Role In THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES
This has been a story literally years in the making and was being plotted out even during the early days of the KNUCKLES series I was writing back in the day. It was always my intent to create an epic mythology that tracked the hero's complete life, including the history that preceded him as well as the legacy he left behind.
One of the main aspects that have come to define what we call heroes are their adversaries, and in the upcoming LARA-SU CHRONICLES, there are few that are more ruthless, treacherous or deadlier than Lien-Da of the Dark Legion.
She is a key player in the civil war that's been a long time coming between the factions of science and religion of her people, and she has no intention of coming out on the losing end. Among the Dark Legion itself, there is no one more feared within its ranks, not even her great ancestor, Dimitri.
THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES is currently being developed for release in two different versions. There's the 20th Century Version (traditional print graphic novel) and the 21st Century Version (digital release). What makes the digital release different from most digital downloads is that not only is the art being produced for multi-purpose use, to allow for the limited use of animation in non-iPad/iPhone formats (since they don't allow for the use of Flash technology), but I'm currently exploring adding features such as an audio track and bi-lingual word balloons, making the story immediately accessible to readers in either English or Spanish. If circumstances allow, we may add on additional language translations to allow for wider global accessibility.
Due to my proximity in the Hollywood area with access to a number of creative professionals, and my experience with film projects THE LOST ONES and THE REPUBLIC, there will be some surprises as to the vocal talents involved with the project.
I'll have further details of both the story and the release formats in future announcements.
THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES FIRST IN A SERIES OF GRAPHIC NOVELS
Over the years many of the characters, concepts and stories I created have proven extremely popular with fans of the comic series SONIC THE HEDGEHOG along with its spin-off title KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA as demonstrated recently by the reveal of the redesign of my character Lara-Su, which has sparked intense interest among the fans.
Now, unveiled here for the first time is the new look for another of my creations – one of my main characters, JULIE-SU.
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. 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.
At this time, I'm at work finishing up the audio tracks for THE REPUBLIC - starring Marc Singer and Sean Young - so it'll be ready for release early in 2012, as well as finishing up THE LOST ONES trailer presentation.
I am also at work on the first of a series of graphic novels that fall under the umbrella title of 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. As for the newbies interested in checking out THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES, you needn't worry about being left behind. All will be explained as the story progresses.
Stay tuned for further details of THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES and find out how the previously announced BROTHERHOOD OF THE GUARDIANS project fits into the plan. A lot of the questions fans have been asking will be answered along the way.
COMING SOON IN 2012
Ever since I registered my copyrights for all my stories, characters and concepts that had played a part in one of the most popular comic series ever published in the modern age, I've been planning how to answer numerous reader requests regarding how I eventually intended to continue those stories, resolving many if not all of the plot points that were left dangling due to unforeseen circumstances.
While my current legal situation with three well-known companies is still an ongoing matter, I've decided now is the time to finally launch the continuing saga of the Brotherhood of the Guardians and Dark Legion in graphic novel format, starting with the first image of one of the story's major characters, whom I first introduced to the world in the REUNIFICATION storyline several years ago.
Check back here in the coming weeks for further images and details of the greatest adventure ever experienced by the First Family of Echidnaopolis. If you thought things were wild before, just wait.
For your preview...
Ken Penders and Floating Island Productions present a preview of the upcoming new series, THE REPUBLIC. The show stars Marc Singer and Sean Young, screenplay by Clayton Emery, with original music by Andrew Spence, costumes by Mike Philpot, cinematography by Christian LePlus and directed by Ken Penders. Look for THE REPUBLIC to premiere online later this fall. Check out our Facebook page and YouTube channel for further details.
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