>>23023
>issues... come from Sega... such as the pacing
Why would Sega care about the pacing? I could imagine them telling the writers of a licensed work to keep away from certain characters, concepts, and themes, which might result in a formulaic and shallow story, but I cannot imagine them demanding that this damn zombie arc be like 16 issues long. What would their motivation be?
I also don't think it's Sega doing the other things mentioned, since Flynn was doing a lot of things like this before, with the later Archie comics. He was still introducing tons of new OCs instead of focusing on the key characters and doing arcs that took way too damn long. Now, you can argue he introduced those OCs due to Sega telling him not to do certain things with certain established characters, but established characters were still used. Flynn just wasn't creative enough to use them in reasonable ways, so he resorted to telling OC stories, which is essentially the same problem Penders had, only Flynn is a lot more talented than Penders, so his stories are much more readable.
>Perhaps it was because of the status quo and after being familiar with those characters for so long it became easier to accept them having a bigger role.
Well sure, I'd actually like it if they continued to appear, but not as the main damn characters, because...
>One thing that peeves me about them is how they seem to have a stronger characterization than the main characters. It peeves me not because of them having a strong characterization, but because the same effort isn't being put into the rest of the cast as well.
This is precisely why I didn't like the Archie characters, the SatAM characters, and now the IDW characters. I'd actually appreciate the SatAM characters, since that show is a big part of Sonic's history, but they shouldn't be given the spotlight at the expense of the game characters. The comic OCs, however, I have less patience for, since they already had so many characters to work with, including the SatAM and AoStH characters, who the comics had since day one. But Archie overused them at the expense of the game characters, so now they're seemingly off limits, if not technically, then effectively, because a lot of people don't want to see them anymore since they were used so hard they were ruined. But instead of learning, Flynn just replaces the characters that get taken away with new OCs. When the Pendersing happened and a bunch of comic OCs were taken off the table, he immediately started introducing new ones, and now with the IDW series, clearly meant to be more like the games, so much so that even the Freedom Fighters aren't being used, he does the same thing again, and introduces so many OCs that the first two spinoff miniseries are both all about them.
There are literally dozens of game characters, plus a bunch more cartoon characters, that Sega has access to, and could be interesting if fleshed out in this world that is actually like the games. Not only would it be cool to see old game characters like Fang, Bean, Bark, Mighty, and Ray fleshed out in a story-heavy format without the retardation of the earlier Archie comics and the general Archie continuity, but if they were handled responsibly, it would be really cool to see The Freedom Fighters have their story altered just enough to make them fit into a more game like universe. Establish that The Kingdom of Acorn is just one more location on Earth, only they call Earth Mobius, and you can tie that in with some ancient prophecy they have or something, do a whole story about it, say it's called Mobius because they believe it's infinite, and therefore they never give up, even when Eggman actually conquered their kingdom either before Sonic 2 (16-bit) or after Sonic & Knuckles (or Sonic 4). So they have this indomitable spirit that makes them great Freedom Fighters, and that made Sonic respect them and help them free themselves from Eggman, and ever since, they've been friends who sometimes have adventures with Sonic. Strip down the concept to the core and keep what can still fit. Get rid of all the retarded comic original stuff and focus what was actually in the cartoon. It would work. But don't make them the main damn characters. Maybe do a single four issue arc about Sonic reuniting with them after a long time, and having a new adventure that ties back to stuff from the cartoon (stuff that actually fits in this world). Then have them show up when there's a big worldwide crisis like the recent arcs. But don't go too damn far with it. Don't give them their own miniseries. Though I admit they'd make more sense than Tangle & Whisper, or four OCs plus Zavok. You know who would make more sense? Tails, Knuckles, Chaotix, Team Dark, the Babylon Rogues, Blaze, Silver, Mighty & Ray, goddamn Maria and Elise. Literally anyone from the games.
>Still, it feels like a comic where only the game characters have prominent roles would be boring and dysfunctional as hell, and there have to be OCs to glue everything together and provide the necessary characterizations so that the characters can bounce off each other well, and that necessarily means some degree of prominence.
Except the game characters have had whole games where they do bounce off each other well. They were designed for that. They've also had comics where they bounce off each other well. The first crossover with Mega Man did a whole reboot just to get rid of everything that wasn't in the games, so the crossover could actually appeal to fans of the games, which is what should be the status quo. It was the best comic either series ever did. I'd say another good example is the Shadow Fall arc from Sonic Universe. It picks up on plot threads from the games, a new OC is introduced and is major, but he ties directly to elements from the games and feels like he'd fit logically in that world. Princess Sally makes a cameo, but none of the SatAM or Archie lore that doesn't fit in the games world is mentioned, and none of those characters are so important that they seem to take away from game characters. That's what they should be doing more of. And they're mostly doing a fair job now. They've at least made the world make more sense, but they really shouldn't be repeating old mistakes and making new OCs to steal the spotlight as much as they are.
>They may not have been featured in main games, but I'd still argue they keep some popularity.
That's my point. I was pointing out that since they are actually in the games, they are prominent. The games are the main part of the franchise, and if someone is a big enough fan to buy the comics, they're probably a big enough fan to be aware of most of the games, including old ones, since the games all tie together and are the same world, unlike all the cartoons and other comics. This is why game characters, including old ones, should be given priority.
>Never ever. You can't mix Classic characters and Modern characters in the (new) comic! But hey, those "mandates" from Sega are totally justified, and there are plenty of other good stories you can tell within them :^)
That's if there is a "mandate" like that. It's a big jump from mandates we know about, such as "Don't have a cover where Sonic is crying because a character that isn't in the games is cuckolding him with an OC skunk," to saying it's a mandate to not use characters that are in the games and have been used in the comics, even comics after the reboot that removed most of the OCs. The mandates we know about are totally reasonable, and I think a lot of Archiefags and other apologists blame stuff on Sega that likely has nothing to do with them.