If you’re a Sonic fan, or a filthy outsider who’s ever curiously peeked below the surface of the franchise’s iceberg, you’re probably quite familiar with the name Ken Penders. Aside from being a name you can have endless fun rearranging phonically (Pen Kenders, Penk Denders, and so on) this comic book artist has garnered himself a fair chunk of infamy over the years due to his legal entanglements with the boys in blue, SEGA. I won’t bore you with the details here, as there are countless Wikipedia articles and dedicated Tumblr blogs out in the vast seas of the internet that chronicle Penders’ battles far more intimately than I ever could, but in essence: formerly a member of the Archie Sonic comic team, he left in 2006 to pursue his own ventures. However, in 2010 he decided that several elements of the Sonic Archie-verse which were still in use at the time, for example Knuckles’ extended family and the lore surrounding the echidna tribes, belonged to him.
This, of course, contravenes a great deal of traditional copyright law, and overlooks the fact that many creative companies will include a contractual clause stating that whatever material you produce on the premises belongs to the organisation, but hey! Perhaps SEGA’s lawyers were asleep on that particular day; because Penders not only sued Archie, but he more-or-less won the damn thing.
Oh my God! They… didn’t kill Kenny
I say ‘more or less’ because while the judge technically dismissed the case, Archie threw up their hands, decided hanging onto these largely useless characters wasn’t important enough to risk a repeat, and pressed the nuke button on anything even remotely pertaining to Penders’ work. A ‘Super Genesis Wave’ struck the Archieverse, specifically deleted only the characters Penders took issue with (curious, that) and things started anew. Penders, however, has never really gone away from the Sonic fandom’s consciousness; not least because he took a second swing at the Sonic takedown attempt when DS RPG Sonic Chronicles hit shelves.
He claimed that the race of echidnas in that game was a copy of his own, and again, though he technically lost, SEGA have made a conscious effort to avoid referencing Chronicles since the lawsuit. Their approach to Penders seems to be a policy of appeasement (which of course has fantastic historical precedent of success), and to be fair, with how stripped-down they’ve made recent Sonic games in terms of storytelling and cast size, it seems to have worked. Penders hasn’t made a lot of noise of late, and has largely been cracking on with telling a series of spinoff tales using the echidna characters he now has free reign to utilise.
Until now. I guess it figures that, with Sonic being thrust into the public limelight more forcefully than in a long time thanks to the roaring success of his new movie, ol’ Ken would emerge once again. As TheGamer reports, he is preparing to launch a fresh round of legal action, against Paramount Pictures this time, over the way in which Knuckles and his tribe are presented in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Without getting too far into spoilers for those who somehow still haven’t seen the most popular film in the world at the moment, there is a scene where Tails explains to Sonic the nature of the Master Emerald, how it came to be used by the echidnas, and how this ties into Knuckles’ bloodline. Likewise, there is a moment where Knuckles and Sonic bond over experiences losing their parental figures, with us getting a brief glimpse into Knux’s childhood. It’s these two scenes which Penders alleges are in breach of his copyright.
Per the report, Ken “wants his attorneys to discuss the matter with Paramount producers, and hasn’t ruled out another lawsuit.” He specifically takes issue “with Knuckles having a father in the film’s version of his backstory,” and says “that this character is actually his – referring to Knuckles’ dad in the comics, Locke.” Again, this ignores the fact that several instances of Sonic media that predate Penders’ tenure have given Knuckles parents, including Sonic Underground‘s Sean Connery soundalike, but what do I know?
The other claim being made is that the film replicates “comic book character Enerjak, a demigod who possesses echidna, acting as their evil alter ego,” and who imbues the Master Emerald with the power to wipe out armies. This destruction is actually depicted in the film, but in the vaguest possible way, “which Penders believes is close enough.” Check out his Tweeting on the matter below:
While Paramount would represent a more imposing opponent than his previous targets, Penders nonetheless remains confident he could get some royalties. “If you think I’m worried about Paramount’s lawyers, you’re kidding yourself”, he says. “They have to go before the same Judge I do and they have to submit to the Discovery process, as do I. Bet I know where a lot more bodies are buried.” I suppose we’ll have to see, Ken.
Whatever happens, hopefully this potential legal case won’t be one that the judge has to Pender over for too long. Will Ken make it a hat trick? Do you think he has any basis for suing? Let us know!
Via, GameRant.
