>>219507
I would agree on the "set up" part, but basically it's about Uncle Chuck and Prof Pickle getting kidnapped and transported on a train and the FF trying to intercept them. So they're being "chased" down. I say world building because I don't think these characters in particular would both get kidnapped just for ransom or whatever. I think Eggman wants info.

>>219505
>the arc title...almost makes it look like a fanmade cover.
Ian's arc names have always been this bad.
The comic in general has had TERRIBLE names for story arcs and issues.

This isn't new.

>>219514
I feel like I'm missing something here. It's nothing all that notable, but how is it that bad? I mean what the hell is a good comic book title?

The step names in Treasure Team Tango were cute I thought, otherwise I don't really remember the titles.

>>219516
Ok I'm not saying it's bad. I'm just saying something seems off. The whole generic arc of Sonic running, Robotnik yelling, and all his friends behind him combined with that arc title almost makes it seem like it's the first issue of a new comic. Maybe since this is a soft reboot that's what he's going for. Who knows.

...

My God I love how Jampole draws EVERYTHING.

>>219506

I KNOW, RIGHT?

It's Sonic, totally Sonic. I am Sonicked UP!

>>219527
I thought he was terrible. Eggy had the same expression in every panel

>>219541
Apparently that was a rush job, though. I dunno, I'm optimistic. His work on Mega Man grew in leaps and bounds, so I'm thinking with some practice he could adapt to Sonic eventually.

>>219541
Jampole is really good at drawing machines (his Orbot and Cubot look great) and not so great at drawing fleshy things.
Wells is good at drawing fleshy things but not so great at robots (his Orbot and Cubot are a bit dreadful).

By their powers combined...

>Listening to prelaw students talking loud about licensing and copyright
>One mentions how a company licensed a cartoon character, added a hat to his likeness, then successfully sued another company with the character's license for selling merchandise using the likeness with the hat
>Hear that sort of thing happens a lot, with toy companies suing one another for licensed toys that look too similar

Ohhhhhhhhh...

>>219541
>Eggy had the same expression in every panel

Things were going his way, so he sported a creepy wide grin for most of the time, but come off it.

I've seen discussion recently centered about how the current satam cast are "too perfect" and that makes them bland.

Do you think that's the case?

What would you list as their current personality flaws?

>>219563
>What would you list as their current personality flaws?

Erm... Well they've barely appeared, but... does Sally not having her cheek fuzz count as a personality flaw?

I'm used to The King having enough flaws for a dozen people, but I guess now he's as good a leader as Lupe.

...I guess theoretically there might be a time when Rotor's "Slap more guns on there. No, BIGGER guns" approach might be bad?

>>219563
Antione's shifted from being too cowardly to being too vain, arrogant, and careless. Hopefully with hints of meekness.

Bunnie's way too dependent on what other people think and about being useful, so she's prone to doing more than she needs to and possibly overextending herself. Nu!Bunnie might have different flaws.

Rotor's basically a barely defined character in every continuity, but the new one's problem might be that he's too forward in his approach (like another anon said "WHY DON'T WE JUST MAKE A BIGGER GUN, SONIC, THAT WILL SOLVE ALL OUR PROBLEMS").

Sally's always been a very (mentally) fragile individual in some sense of the word. Most of the comic's run she's been tiptoeing the line between absurdly incredible selflessness and a full-on martyr complex. Doesn't help that the old Sally had daddy issues.

I'm anxious about the fact that the new crew seems like it might be a bit /too/ hotheaded, like they don't have enough diversity in their flaws. I really hope Antione keeps some of his skittishness, because otherwise we might have three characters on the team whose biggest flaws come down to "man he sure doesn't think things through does he".

Nicole barely has any flaws right now, so I'm hoping for a return to her sassy comments.

>>219577
At least if Bunnie, Rotor and Twan are all too forward and "hotheaded" that will make Sally's leadership skills much more important.

>>219577
For what it's worth, that's more or less how Antoine was originally, anyway. Well, in Archie, at least. Less cowardly, more arrogant.

>>219563
I think it's really stupid to make any sweeping statements OR judgements on the "current SatAM" cast when we haven't even seen them all, and what little we HAVE seen was just a basic re-introduction.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if Antoine is still a bit skittish, but I like the arrogance because at least now he actually has something to back it up with. Way back on the day he was mostly useless if not the source of a lot of problems, and the cowardly French stereotype was incredible lame and dated.

>>219565
>I'm used to The King having enough flaws for a dozen people, but I guess now he's as good a leader as Lupe.

In a surprise twist, Lupe now gains all Max's bad leadership skills.

I hope Antoine isn't skittish anymore. That part of his character are has already played out. He's gotten over being scared.

>>219615
He was still skittish as recently as two years ago.
There's a difference between "MON DIEU IT IS A SPIDER ZUT ALORS HONHONHONBAGUETTE" and getting a bit spooked.

>>219622
Right. If Antoine was just arrogant and confident because he's got the skill to back it up... he'd be Sonic.

>>219623
That's actually one of the things I'm a bit scared of; the possibility of the retooled Antione and Rotor's biggest faults being too similar to Sonic's major faults. The core cast is best when they play on each other's strengths and weaknesses, so it'd be a bit weird if nearly half of them had similar problems.

>>219632
Good thing you're the ONLY person who will ever think of such things.

>>219623
Not really?
Sonic is proud, but he isn't stare at yourself goo-goo eyes in the mirror vain.

I think being a scaredy cat is as essential to Ants character as being fat is to Rotor.

Without it, he's an arrogant, slightly snobbish guy with a gentile romantic heart at his core. Which doesn't seem very Sonic like to me ?

Is Eggman still a feminist?

Afterlife with Archie... just read the first two issues and WOW. I found myself holding my breath at points. That is just one RIDICULOUSLY good book.

>>219641
A scaredy cat?
Yeah.

Being a bit skittish and meek at times?
Nah. That's a big part of who he is. Regardless of how courageous he is, Antione is usually less outgoing than Sonic, a more reserved alternative. More cautious. Being more easily startled than the others is as much a part of his character as Rotor being smart. Completely discarding his roots in timidity is like making Sonic stop being a snarky jerk, or trying to say Sally isn't bossy.

And Antione is a better defined and more consistent character than Rotor overall, so it's not a great comparison to begin with.

>>219634
Sorry for expressing concern that the book could end up disjointed again in the wake of a major shake up. I assume it won't be like that, but I don't think it's unreasonable to be concerned that the core characters might not work as well off each other.

>>219653
I don't think I agree. I don't think characters should be caught in a rut with how they're expected to to be. Antoine should be allowed grow as a character out of being skittish.

Sort of like Daddy Issues with Sally. Some people would say it is a core facet of her character, since it's been with her since satam. But I have no problem with her outgrowing it as a character, I think it would be positive, and wouldn't make her too much like Amy or Blaze or other female characters, because she's more than one trait.

I suppose the aspect I find most necessary is the idea it's necessary to keep lingering figments. For what sake? Just to remind the reader that he used to be a cheese eating surrender moneky?

>>219658
The problem is that your comparison is horribly flawed.

Antione's easily startled nature is basically one of the essential building blocks in defining who he is on such a fundamental level that suddenly cutting it out of him is irresponsible. It's like ripping Sonic's sarcasm out of him in one fell swoop. There's nothing inherently wrong with that development, but just suddenly discarding a major element of who he is out of him for no logical reason isn't good writing. Even as recently as when we last saw him he had these traits, he was just also brave and able to prioritize his job.

Sally, on the other hand...well, the stuff with her dad hadn't really been apparent in her character for a good few years. Yeah, her dad was still a jerk, but it wasn't part of what defined her for some time now. When you have the kind of organic growth Sally's had and a status quo shakeup like King Acorn NOT being a huge jerk, then yeah, it makes sense to phase stuff like that out.

>Why should he keep that?
Because, as you said, a character is more than just one trait. Just because that trait is born out of a time when the character was portrayed as a huge jerk doesn't mean it should just be whisked away. It either needs to wither away due to organic growth or persist as a part of who the character is, evolving over time.

There's no sense in stripping character traits out because "I don't like that part". Characters have good and bad qualities when it comes to their personality. When you have a character as popular and well defined as Antione, selectively chucking old traits because "it's played out" is amateurish. The way to reshape characters with care and skill is to simply focus on the aspects you feel are important and develop them.

TL;DR - Antione isn't any worse of a character just because he's the most likely to squeal when a giant robot is chasing him. If anything it rounds out his character and gives more context. It shows you that he's more openly emotional (at least in some respects) than other people, and it even underlines the internal strength he possesses to remain courageous despite his fear. It also facilitates greater emotional response from the audience. Some people find it endearing, some people find it annoying, but regardless it summons a stronger response than if he was just the arrogant vain guy who loves his wife.

Super TL;DR - There's a difference between the visual (he's fat), personal (he's fearful), and mental (she's caught up on her dad's opinions) aspects of a character, and there's different contexts to consider for changing different aspects.

>>219665
I'm sorry I'm not convinced. I don't agree with your premises that being scared is a fundamental to his character as you believe it is.

I mean, for starters I don't think visual physical/mental attributes are less important than other traits. For instance it's more important to Sonic being Sonic that he is blue, has quills and red shoes than any personal attribute.

But more to the point every character has personality wise evolved over time naturally. Even Sonic I would say lost his snark for a few big games, but he didn't stop being sonic just because of it.

You've made the wrong conclusion in thinking because I don't want Ant to be skittish that I hate characters that show fear. That's not true, I find it can be very endearing for a lot for the reasons you stated. And without it there would not even be the foundation for character growth that makes Antoine's personal character arc so great in my opinion.

But clinging to the past to preserve traits that the characters have grown out of just for clinging to the past sake seems wrong and just arrests characters possible character growth potential.

>Even as recently as when we last saw him he had these traits

You mean in 254?... Not really? I didn't observe any fear/skittishness from Ant in that issue. And it was still a great issue and Ant was still his own character.

The last time I remember Ant truly being skittish was during the Tails Adventure arc.

>>219672
I know you guys are having a nice little tete-a-tete and all, but

>The last time I remember Ant truly being skittish was during the Tails Adventure arc.
>Antione appears all of four times in any notable fashion between then and now.
>One of those occasions was being a huge coward for Genesis.
>One was a callback to issue 40, another was his sacrifice, and the last one was him showing up again.

You may as well say "The last time I remember Sally being a leader was 225, haven't we moved on yet?" Can't point at the last instance of him being a coward being three years old when he's only been conscious once in nearly two years.

>>219680
Yes, well it's not something I would have brought up if I wasn't replying to this line

>Even as recently as when we last saw him he had these traits

Not that it feels nice to bring this back again and again, but have a post nicely compiling everything about the Penders case in a timeline.

http://theamazingsallyhogan.tumblr.com/post/68112487973/sonic-the-hedgehog-ken-penders-bioware-electronic

Worth the read to gain some perspective.

I've gotta say, I much much MUCH prefer Antoine when he's more prone to showing fear than the others.

Look, it's simple... what's more impressive, the guy that faces danger while feeling no fear, or a guy that faces danger despite the fact that he's breaking out in a cold sweat while his heart pounds 200 times per minute? Give me the Antoine that's way more liable to get scared than the others, but who charges into battle anyway.

New info from Ian (Topic contains spoilers for #255) :
http://bumbleking.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=371816

- Bunnie and Antoine have been married in both versions of the universe.
- Ahklut is no longer the Arctic Egg Boss, but he's been reassigned to another region of the world.
- A character working for Eggman in #255 who went unnamed (people have been nicknaming him Tassel Boy because of his tasseled shoulderpads) is not an Egg Boss, and remained nameless in the issue for a reason.

>>219692
I'm pretty sure that when he said "he's nameless for a reason" he meant "he's incidental, there's no reason to give him a name."

Also, Ahklut is probably the Oceanic Egg Boss now.

>>219693
>"I'm pretty sure that when he said "he's nameless for a reason" he meant "he's incidental, there's no reason to give him a name." "
Yeah, probably. Still, guy had a neat design, at least.

Hips.
Thighs.
Bazongers.

That is all.

>>219694
I'd like him to show up every once in a while as "that one guy". You know. That guy who shows up, that nobody really cares about or knows, that just keeps coming back even though nobody even knows his name.

Running gag characters are fun sometimes.

>>219695
You forgot Clamp-style.
I kinda like Gaylord's art, but he needs to fix his limbs. They're all over the place.

>>219692
So Tassel Boy is a character Ian can't use but wants to shove in there so he can introduce him when he's available?

>>219701
More likely what >>219693 said, that he's just a nameless mook who happened to get a few lines and a neat enough design for people to think he was important.

>>219701
>>219703

Tassel-Fett?

>Even when Bunnie is getting visions of her old life... no hat

This is the weirdest thing I've ever overreacted and called a mandate.

>>219708
To be fair she didn't have her hat in the original scenes either.

Autosage hit. New thread: >>219734