I’m still at the drawing board working, but I thought I’d take a few minutes to report how everything is coming along. I feel more like a film director than a comic creator these days as I find myself making changes I hadn’t anticipated simply because I was thinking more like a comics creator than a film director.
Initially, I wrote the script with a specific structure in mind, figuring roughly a page of script with twelve to fourteen word balloons and/or captions translated to five or six panels of illustrations per page on average. That’s generally how I worked previously up to this point. That said, it became apparent while working on a specific sequence that here was my chance to work out a lot of different story points while tying them together into a more cohesive whole.
When I first wrote the M25YL chapters, I surmised the catalyst for the events set in motion was Sonic’s disruption of the space/time continuum at 3 key points: (1) the use of the Ultimate Annihilator in SONIC issue 50, (2) events in SONIC issue 125 that resulted in Knuckles return to Sonic’s reality and SONIC issue 144 depicting Sonic’s use of the tachyon chamber, which met with disastrous results. (To get the full effect of this sequence, you’ll have to check out the Lara-Su App.)
Had M25YL gone the distance in the pages of SONIC published by Archie Comics, Sonic would’ve eventually had a bittersweet ending on a very much changed planet Mobius. For the purposes of THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES, however, this is the last point anyone sees Sonic. Whether he is permanently gone or in another corner of a vast multiverse, that’s for each individual reader to decide.
In THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES, it is the above-depicted event as well as one other key inflection point that sets off a chain of events depicted in SHATTERED TOMORROWS and beyond. In fact, the other key inflection point initially sets off the changes, which results in a somewhat different cast of characters at the tachyon chamber.
My initial purpose for writing this chain of events was to establish what came before did happen but because of certain actions taken, irrevocable change is the result, and there’s no going back.
At this point, while THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES continues the stories of characters who have been around for a long time, people need to understand that neither Archie, IDW or SEGA were ever invested in any of the characters beyond the SEGA core list of characters. They are never going to show up in any Sonic film, game, comic or any other format people would like to see them in.
So rather than play with people’s feelings and give false hope, from this point forward THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES is its own stand-alone universe.
While working on the pages to complete the material for THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES: BEGINNINGS, it enabled me to find answers to questions now rather than down the road. I felt like the writers of the film CASABLANCA who were dealing with script issues throughout the filming, including not even having an ending to the story. But when they came to a certain point in the process, they realized they had the answers all along but just didn’t know it until the right moment.
It’s been like that with me on this project. What really struck home was the realization that the answers to the questions stayed true to the premise of all the characters. You’ll just have to follow along to find out what those answers were.
In the meantime, I also have to report once I have copies in hand THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES: BEGINNINGS will be shipping to (currently) 22 states in the continental US, 4 countries outside the US on 2 different continents. If your country is not listed on the checkout page, please drop a line to me so I can add it to the list. (Unfortunately, at this time, I am not able to ship to Russia, North Korea, Iran and a couple of other countries for reasons I need not go into here.)
I’m still working on the last pages so there’s still time to get those last orders in before I lock in the SPECIAL THANKS page for the book. (People will still be listed in the app once the book is sent to the printers.) Your support is needed and much appreciated. Thank you.
Thanks for the update Ken! I’ve got my preorder in for
BEGINNINGS and am very excited for its release! I’m currently rereading the Archie Sonic and Knuckles comics you created in preparation. Question: if the characters that were echidna are now an alien race called Echyd’nya, and no longer anthropomorphic animals, does the same go for Geoffrey St. John, and if so, what alien race does he belong to?
In Geoffrey’s Data File, which is included in THE LARA-SU CHRONICLES: BEGINNINGS, his species is listed as Mephitidae. If I recall correctly, I looked up what the scientific term for a skunk would be, and I thought that was a perfect way to classify what Geoffrey was in terms of the story and his relationship to others. In figuring out how to list the species, it also raised issues on whether or not interspecies relationships were possible. For the most part, the answer is no. The only way this is possible is the same method Mr Spock was conceived and grew as an embryo: he was a test tube baby. His human mother could not possibly carry Spock to term as his biology was alien to hers. Thus, Sonic and Sally are possible as a romantic relationship, but she could never carry his children without artificial means. This is the level of detail I’m constructing for the stories in order to maintain a consistent vision throughout.
Sega still owns the Sonic Sat AM Freedom Fighters (Sally, Bunnie, Antoine, Rotor), of course.
I’m very happy with The Lara-Su Chronicles being its own stand-alone universe. Your Knuckles comics stood perfectly on their own in their day, and TL-SC builds on that.
As always, it’s great to get more insight into your creative process! Wishing you all the best in these final two days before the deadline. You’re doing great work! As a years-long fan of your characters, I’m glad they’re in your hands. 🙂
TL-SC is such an exciting thing for me, as a fan of your old stories from back then. Not just because I’ll get to see a continuation of some of those characters, but because it was your writing that made me a fan.
Getting to read more stories from you is a really exciting prospect and I’m looking forward to it immensely.
Now I get what Felicia’s talking about the app now that you mentioned it Ken.
I’m not sure how to work the app thing but my mom bought the book so.
I like to hear how your creative process is coming along.
Epic! So excited to see your characters in action again!