Moving Forward

There are millions of people currently alive who simply cannot imagine a time when neither Sonic the Hedgehog existed or a company named SEGA not even registering a blip on the map when it came to video games, but believe me, I was of that time, and even when I actually was offered the chance to submit stories for a licensed series published by Archie Comics based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video games, I could not begin to imagine the paths it would lead me down.

I thought I’d submit a few stories, establish a track record that I was reliable and my stories were marketable, and I’d be on my way to a better gig at either Marvel or DC Comics. But things didn’t go as planned for a variety of reasons. For one thing, the gig with Archie proved more reliable than anything I was offered at either company. More reliable, in fact, than any company I was submitting work to at the time.

Fast forward a decade later and my family and I have relocated to the west coast, the kids are going to college, and opportunities in animation beckon. One of those possibilities is a SONIC animated film. Unbeknownst to me, the next few years would be a period of great upheaval which pointed me in a direction thinking my involvement with Sonic the Hedgehog was over only to find the character would mark a major turning point in my life.

It’s now the present day. I’ve returned to the east coast for a comic convention while experiencing a greater demand for me to take on commission art assignments as well as selling my art at higher prices. Beyond that, people are coming up to me expressing greater appreciation for the work I and others have created for the Archie SONIC series. I feel like most of the grief I’ve experienced for the better part of the past ten years from a segment of the Sonic fandom as well as from a few creators who worked on Sonic following my run was more the result from several factors beyond my control, including some self-interest from certain creators.

At my age, I’ve gained a perspective I didn’t have even prior to the pandemic, and certainly not when I first started submitting stories.

To illustrate, when I began writing my Sonic stories, artists would either give pages away or sell them for a few dollars to allay convention expenses or buy a meal. Today those covers and pages would command prices similar to an average DC or Marvel page on a mid-tier selling book. This is not hyperbole. This is what I’m experiencing first hand selling my own pages.

Likewise, artists would charge $10 to $50 for a commission piece depicting Sonic. Now? I no longer have the time to commit to anything that pays less than $500. And that’s just for a pencil rendering.

Previously, SONIC was considered simply a kid’s book. And while a lot of people still think of Sonic as just a kid’s character, there are a lot of adults that know better. Just as SPIDER-MAN and BATMAN were considered kids comics when I was growing up that have evolved into something aimed more at the older crowd, so too is Sonic experiencing a similar evolution.

What has also caught my attention are the number of people seeking out the Archie SONIC material instead of the IDW incarnation. It’s not that people are saying bad things about the IDW stories and art, but rather, they want something deeper than stories aimed at supporting the latest release of a SONIC video game, resulting in many people seeking out stories that were created before a lot of people were born.

It’s not just the older crowd. I sell a lot of copies of SONIC ARCHIVES – in fact, I’m sold out of a number of volumes – to kids who don’t know the difference between Archie SONIC & IDW SONIC. After they read that copy of SONIC ARCHIVES their parents have just purchased for them, they want more.

It’s when young people ask me how to break into the comics industry or ask me to review their portfolios that it really makes me stop and take stock of how much has changed since I first broke into the comics industry.

How I broke in vs what it’s like to break in now is the difference between night and day. I can’t recommend sending in samples or contact editors by phone the way I did because companies these days aren’t interested and lack the time to check out anything arriving in the mail. Editors want to see portfolios online and will make contact only if they are interested.

Aspiring writers and artists are better off doing their own thing and building an audience in the process if they hope to stand a chance of being discovered. The flip side is if one is successful building an audience that actually supports them with real money, they’ll find greater satisfaction achieving success from something they themselves have created than pursuing a million-to-one shot working on a specific title or character currently being published.

Again, using SONIC as an example, IDW already has more than enough creators they can assign work to without bringing anyone new into the mix. Even if they did hand an assignment to a new writer or artist, that assignment would be nothing more than a portfolio piece. It certainly wouldn’t amount to a career or a full-time job working on IDW’s SONIC series.

There is no such thing as job security working in today’s comics industry, not that there was more even when I started, but the market is a lot more volatile. There are more one-shots and mini-series than regular monthly ongoing series to work on.

Other realities younger creators never consider: there is no steady paycheck. Sometimes there’s no money because the publisher has cash-flow issues. There’s also no health care. Or 401K plans. Forget pensions. As for royalties? What royalties? There would’ve been no legal battle between Archie and myself had they issued a monthly royalty check of $1.98 before the battle even began, and they couldn’t bring themselves to make even that tiniest of gestures. I’ve yet to hear any creator submitting work to IDW receiving any royalty check.

I certainly didn’t consider these things. Or if I did, the freedom of working for myself on my own schedule more often than not prevailed because it allowed me to work around family events and kids in school and other occurrences of daily life that is not possible with a 9-to-5 job.

Sitting on the Sonic panel at the Manheim Convention Center alongside my colleagues before an audience full of questions, it became clear there isn’t just one Sonic audience. Instead, there are several, each one as legitimate as the other.

Both SEGA and IDW can regard the IDW Sonic comic series as nothing more than just a commercial for the games, but that approach is only going to limit future growth of the comic series, as not all, or even a majority of Sonic fans, are into the games.

The films and the cartoons also have their audiences, and in many ways, the numbers following these are even greater because anything on TV and films has a greater audience penetration. That was true when I first began working on SONIC.

Meanwhile, the Archie SONIC series has not only not lost its hold on their audience, it continues to draw new members to it. As a result, more people are making contact with me for various reasons, mostly positive and constructive, which has led to acceptance of my creation THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES as a legitimate heir to my Archie SONIC stories. People were seeking me out at the convention specifically to obtain a copy of THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES: BEGINNINGS and didn’t blink at springing extra for the autograph.

Because of conventions and EBay, this past weekend pushed me into charging for my autograph for the first time. Sure, it was only $10 per autograph per piece, but this was something I had never done before at a convention.

One other change: I’m no longer tolerating the trolls. They’re immediately blocked on my social media accounts. Life is too short to even give them one iota of attention. The trolls are a major reason the people who would like to engage with Sonic fandom don’t, and it’s why I provide a safe space on my website for those that do. That’s why I’m no longer on Twitter. I can’t deal with trolls of any kind. Instead, I can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Threads and BlueSky in addition to my own personal domain here.

I’m still in the process of changing and adapting to the new world order, but I plan on being here for the duration. And if anyone has any questions, they can always email me. It may take some time, but I do respond to legitimate questions, criticisms and comments.

Thanks for taking the time. Take care.