A New Era Begins

I know there’s a lot of people who would love to see the Archie Comics SONIC THE HEDGEHOG series restored to its former glory, but there’s way too much water under the bridge for that to ever happen. For one thing, fights would start over which version – Classic (me, Karl Bollers, Mike Gallagher) or New (Ian and anyone else). And that’s just the stories. I doubt we could get Patrick Spaziante to do the covers, let alone an occasional story, or get Art Mawhinney and Steven Butler to make a comeback. Nor do I think IDW will be giving up the license anytime soon or that SEGA would be easier to deal with.

Frankly, at my age, I can’t see me taking direction from anyone when it comes to writing and drawing my stories. That’s clearly a case of my way or the highway.

When people ask if I will ever go back to creating new Sonic and Knuckles stories, the honest answer is my heart wouldn’t be in it. Been there. Done that. The best anyone can hope for at this point is seeing me resolve the stories of the characters and mythology I created for my SONIC, KNUCKLES and MOBIUS: 25 YEARS LATER stories.

Which brings me to THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES.

It’s only recently it occurred to me that if anyone could identify with Sonic fans, it’s Classic STAR TREK fans.

I was a diehard STAR TREK fan from the day it premiered on September 8, 1966 until the last episode aired on June 3, 1969. After that broadcast, there was nothing. There was no internet to complain to whoever would listen what a great injustice had been done. All I had were the comics published by Western Publishing and the Bantam Books episode adaptations by sci-fi author James Blish. One had to hunt for the next issue or book because there was no set release schedule and distribution was not a sure thing. Comic shops were still years away from becoming a dependable source of comics and related paraphernalia.

While STAR TREK would be revived for a 22-episode animated series a few years later, Gene Roddenberry would follow up that effort by giving presentations at colleges and various conventions across America while producing made-for-TV sci-fi films (GENESIS II, THE QUESTOR TAPES, PLANET EARTH and SPECTRE). The books and comics would continue to be published intermittently, but it wasn’t until the fans took control and organized STAR TREK conventions that fans had some reason to hope for a revival.

Even with all that love and devotion displayed by the fans, Paramount only gave a cold shoulder to their efforts.

Until a small film called STAR WARS hit theaters.

It was like a light switch went on in the collective executive suites at the studio. Suddenly STAR TREK was fast-tracked from a TV series to a feature film. The biggest problem? Finding a story the Suits would approve to spend millions of dollars making a film of. When the film finally went into production, the production had been given a release date of December 7, 1979. They also didn’t have a complete script.

I couldn’t get in on opening night as all the tickets had been sold out at every theater within reasonable travel distance. So my friend Laura and I stood in line for hours at the Cinema 57 in downtown Boston in order to get in for the midnight show of STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE. The audience was wall-to-wall Trek fans. Not a seat was unsold. When the USS Enterprise finally appeared onscreen, the collective audience reaction was deafening. There were also plenty of tears. More than 10 years had passed since the series had been cancelled. The fans finally had their wish.

Afterwards, elation turned to mixed feelings. STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE remains my favorite of all the Trek films. Only THE WRATH OF KHAN comes close. But many Trek fans felt there should have been more character moments, or the story wasn’t quite there, or worse, was a more expensive version of one of the original episodes.

During the 10 years between the end of the original series and the release of the film, expectations had risen to such a level that there was no way the final results would satisfy everyone. So fans had to be content with what they had. Fortunately, STAR TREK would continue to grow and evolve from the success of that first film.

Which is where I find myself with THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES.

I had been struggling for a long time trying to figure out how to move forward. I started by writing a story in script form, but I wasn’t going to be bound by page count or company dictates. Since there was no chance of being able to use Sonic and/or Knuckles in any new material, anything I had developed for my proposed film project SONIC ARMAGEDDON went out the window. Whatever background I provided for the KNUCKLES series would have to be focused on a character other than Knuckles. Thus, the material developed for the future-based backup series MOBIUS: 25 YEARS LATER and the character of Lara-Su would have to be my vehicle for moving forward.

Even as I was writing the story, I was being overwhelmed at the thought of illustrating it, as the one thing I knew I didn’t want to do was depict the characters and settings in a style that would make everything look as if it were just another issue of SONIC or KNUCKLES.

So while I was writing SHATTERED TOMORROWS, I started writing THE STORM with different objectives in mind.

THE STORM would have a short page count, feature characters – Geoffrey St John, Ensign Brownie, Dr Zephur – that wouldn’t have a prominent role until later in the saga, and define relations between characters that hadn’t previously been depicted (Geoffrey St John & Director Remington). It would establish there are corners of the universe requiring exploration that add greater depth and texture to the main story. It would also enable me to experiment with my style depicting these characters.

I hadn’t intended to release anything until all the material for the initial release of THE LARA-SU APP had been nailed down, but once I was approached by a sales rep for a printer during the July 2023 San Diego Comic-Con, that set in motion a chain of events that would determine how feasible THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES really was.

Although not an easy task, creating THE LARA-SU APP initially involved my time writing and creating the material with my programmer Patrick providing the coding. As that effort developed and evolved, others were brought in for language translations, voice work, sound effects and music. I could work on my own schedule.

With a book, in order to make that prospect a reality, the scope and cost of the project had to be defined. In addition, any prices quoted had a shelf life of a few weeks, as the cost of materials could very likely increase if the trigger wasn’t pulled when required.

So once I had the cost of printing, shipping and distribution worked out, I had to decide on the number of copies printed as well as a cover price. I also had a deadline on putting down a deposit to cover the cost of paper required for the project. At that point, I gave myself an out. If I hadn’t generated x-amount of pre-orders before the deadline to commit, I’d pull the plug and refund everyone their money.

But the plug was never pulled. My faith in the readers had been validated. The people I met who weren’t Sonic fans genuinely liked the designs and what I had been doing with the app, while the Sonic fans who previously enjoyed my work wanted to see how the story continued.

It’s been more than ten years since Archie Comics and I came to a settlement as new material is about to be released. I’m sitting on the edge of my seat wondering what the reaction of the readers to THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES: BEGINNINGS will be. I know some will love it while others may feel it didn’t fulfill their expectations.

I had initially mapped out the life of Knuckles from birth until his death, with the implication that his heirs would carry on his legacy. That map has since been reworked and is now my northstar in depicting Lara-Su’s destiny.

I really look forward to reading what anyone has to say whether good, bad or indifferent, and I promise there will be much more to come as the story progresses. The 2-page sneak preview included after the opening chapter only hints at the events to come. It’s going to be quite a ride.

Thanks for taking the time and take care.