Sunday, January 23, 2022

What I think of a video by "thebig3box network" (otherwise known as "bugsy") called "How I feel about Archie Sonic haters"

To the guy known as bugsy, I apologize for not really being the first to comment on your video called "How I feel about Archie Sonic haters," so I'm going to kind of postpone the post that was going to point out stories that I like from the Archie Sonic comics and more.  To the guy known as bugsy, you did a good job; I've kind of been a little busy with playing some games, emailing my friend Emily ("CrystalMaiden 77"), and work, plus I'm working on doing a review of "Sonic Colors" versus its remaster for the Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.  Bugsy is right that the Archie Sonic comics before Ian Flynn weren't just Ken Penders's comics because other people like Angelo DeCesare, Karl Bollers, and Michael Gallagher wrote for the Archie Sonic comics as well!  I think that people just want to say "oh, Ken Penders wrote all the Archie Sonic comics before Ian Flynn did" because of how infamous Ken is and because fans of IDW want to praise Ian like he's completely incapable of doing no wrong!  Sure, I don't think Ken Penders is the best writer, BUT I don't think he's the worst writer, either, plus I think he, along with other writers like Angelo DeCesare, Karl Bollers, and Michael Gallagher have definitely had flaws in at least some of the stories they wrote.  

In case you're interested, you can see Archie Sonic comic reviews on YouTube from my friend "CrystalMaiden 77" from YouTube at the link https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHvkpKypKLU3SFHZGNG1KuJWH3Ut4Xv3l to find out what I mean.  "CrystalMaiden 77" is a great reviewer and she makes a LOT of good points in her reviews.  Like I said before, I do love Sonic games like the "Sonic Adventure" games, "Sonic Unleashed, "Sonic Generations," and "Sonic 3 and Knuckles," but to say that EVERY comic book and TV show has to be 100% like the Sonic games would be absolutely stupid.  That's why I don't consider it a crime for Sonic to have a girlfriend ("Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" and Archie Sonic comics showed that), for Amy to have a crush on someone other than Sonic (YES, a "Sonic Boom" episode called "Blue with Envy" had such a concept shown), or for Sonic to have siblings named Sonia and Manic and parents.  I think that uniqueness in Sonic media should be praised, NOT condemned, contrary to what game purists want you to think.

I think that Ken Penders had some very nice things in some of the stories he wrote, especially in some of the Knuckles comics because I loved Knuckles having parents named Locke and Lara-Le, plus it was nice for Knuckles to have a stepdad named Wyn and to have a girlfriend named Julie-Su:)  I think that some of the world-building under Ken Penders, Karl Bollers, and other writers before Ian Flynn is really taken for granted and severely under-appreciated!  And if people think that every story by Ken Penders was absolutely atrocious, I don't believe that at all because there were other writers BESIDES Ken Penders who not only made good stories but bad stories, too!  For instance, I hate the story arc from the Archie Sonic comics that consists of issue #39, "Mecha Madness," and issue #40 because it makes the story where Sonic was slapped by Sally in issue #134 look a MILLION times better by comparison!  Now, I won't disagree with anyone who says that the slap from Sally should not have been included in issue #134 because such people would be absolutely right, but to say that Sally's slap is the worst thing in all of media would be ABSOLUTELY IDIOTIC because there are MULTIPLE THINGS that can make Sally's slap look embarrassingly light by comparison!  

People can look at bad SpongeBob episodes, some Sonic games, and even other Archie Sonic comics to confirm that because for example, I hated how SpongeBob acted in "A Pal for Gary" and I hated Mr. Krabs's behavior in "One Coarse Meal!"  In fact, at least TWO other such horrible things happen in Archie Sonic issue #40, because in the "Mecha Madness" special after Sonic is turned back to normal by Nicole after he was roboticized into Mecha-Sonic by Robotnik in issue #39, Antoine and Sally have Sonic imprisoned, which was REALLY stupid and heartless of them!  Sally and Antoine should have REALIZED that if Sonic was imprisoned, Sally, Antoine, and the rest of the Freedom Fighters except for Sonic would be captured and roboticized because THAT'S EXACTLY PART OF WHAT HAPPENED IN ISSUE #38!!!  The only Freedom Fighter who didn't get captured in issue #38 was Sonic, and even BUNNIE got kidnapped!  I hated how Sally said that Sonic doesn't deserve special treatment in issue #40 because if anything, he's the one MOST DESERVING of special treatment because he's the best Freedom Fighter they had, and for Sally and Antoine to treat him like he's a criminal was ABSOLUTELY UNFORGIVABLE>:(  

I loved how Amy stood up for Sonic in issue #40 and I loved how Sonic appreciated Amy standing up for him with a happy smile instead of hating her for that exact reason.  And if people think Sally's slap to Sonic in issue #134 was bad, well, 1.  slaps happen a lot from girls in media, 2.  Sally apologized to Sonic for the slap in issue #187, and 3.  Bunnie was threatening to KILL SONIC THE HEDGEHOG IN ISSUE #40!!!  Sonic didn't deserve a death threat from Bunnie because while Bunnie WAS hurt by Sonic while Sonic was Mecha-Sonic in issue #39, Bunnie wasn't KILLED by Sonic when he was Mecha-Sonic plus Bunnie didn't receive any horrible diseases or any broken limbs!  I wouldn't have blamed Sonic if he wanted to leave the Freedom Fighters because of how horribly Sally, Antoine, and Bunnie treated him in "Mecha Madness" and issue #40, and Ken Penders didn't write those infuriating stories because MICHAEL GALLAGHER did!  If Sally wanted to punish Sonic, then that could work, but ONLY if Sonic could keep fighting Robotnik like he's SUPPOSED TO, and maybe Sonic could have been banned from eating chili dogs for 3 weeks or something like that but still be able to fight Robotnik!  

"Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" (and maybe even "Sonic Underground," too) had Sonic eat chili-dogs FAR TOO MUCH and in one of the Fleetway Sonic comics, he loved shakes, burgers, and hot dogs, plus in Archie Sonic comic #222, Sonic ate some bread!  So I don't see why Sonic couldn't have done something like eat French toast, pizza, or scrambled eggs; Rotor or Tails could have made an oven!  I can understand if people didn't like Sally slapping Sonic in issue #134, but I think the story itself was fine, plus I did like Sonic standing up for himself to Sally!  Of course, to say that the artwork in that story was good would be absolutely laughable because Sally looked HORRIBLY creepy sometimes when she was yelling at Sonic, plus sometimes, characters like Sally and her mom looked terrible because of their eyes not having any corneas!  Personally, I don't think Sonic and Sally being a couple was a good thing at all because I think that Sonic is more of a risk-taking adventurer while I consider Sally a cautious person who likes to rule, but it's fine if bugsy wants to ship those two. 

I don't think Sally is a bad character in the preboot Archie Sonic comics; in fact, she's one of my favorite characters because of how deeply characterized she is, and she's not really a "Mary Sue," contrary to what people may say because she makes a lot of mistakes.  I think Sonic is a fine character in the preboot Archie Sonic comics, but I think HE kind of deserved the title of "Gary Stu" or "Mary Sue" more than Sally did because Sally didn't have special powers like Sonic did like turning intangible or anything like that.  I don't think it was really bad of Sally to be worried about Sonic's safety in issue #134, however, because THAT was completely understandable considering the tragedies and heartbreak she's seen and put up with before issue #134.  Of course, I think that the slap should have been left out, and Sally and Sonic could have just had a non-violent conversation and there you go!

Now, I don't think that every Archie Sonic comic writer before Ian Flynn was a terrible writer; far from it, in fact:)  I loved how writers like Ken Penders and Karl Bollers liked to do world-building and make stories that aren't exactly like the stories in Sonic games because for example, I loved learning about Nate Morgan and the tragic backstory he had in issue #65, plus it was sad to see him sacrifice himself in issue #100!  And OK, sure, I DID complain about at least two stories from Michael Gallagher, but not every story he did was absolute trash, and I could say the exact same thing for some other writers like Michael Gallagher, Angelo DeCesare, Ken Penders and Karl Bollers!  And like my friend "CrystalMaiden 77," I would like Scourge to be redeemed, and in addition, I'd like FIONA to be redeemed, TOO because Fiona wasn't really an evil person before issue #172 of the Archie Sonic comics came up!  In fact, if ANYTHING, Fiona was anything BUT evil as shown in Knuckles comic #28, Sonic comic #146, and Sonic comic #152 because a person like Fiona who was worried for Nic the Weasel's safety in a flashback of Knuckles comic #28 doesn't really deserve to be considered an evil person!!!  

I can't really consider Fiona evil in Sonic comic #146 either because she was worried for Sonic's safety, plus I LOVED how furious she was at Snively in issue #152, which made sense considering that he was related to Robotnik and because Robotnik imprisoned her for a long time!!!  I think Fiona could have been a hero like she was in the "Other M" comics that Ian Flynn made because she had cyborg laser hands and she was a hero!  No, I don't think Fiona would have had to be a Knothole Freedom Fighter, but maybe she could have been a Freedom Fighter in the Dragon Kingdom or Downunda, and maybe Scourge could have joined her there!  Now, I DO think that Ian Flynn DID have some nice ideas like giving Scourge and Fiona neglectful parents and giving Scourge a new design, plus making the Iron Queen a technomage and giving the Iron Queen a new design and a back-story was definitely a nice touch as well.  But I'd say Ian Flynn's the worst writer of the entire Archie Sonic comics because he pretty much ruined everything that made that made it good and unique from the Sonic games because he had Knothole Village destroyed AND HE HATES CHARACTERS LIKE SALLY, BUNNIE, AND NICOLE!!!  

Characters like Sally, Bunnie, and Nicole don't deserve his hatred; I'd say characters like ASH AND HAMLIN are more deserving of hatred than those three because Hamlin was just a jerk from the first time we saw him in Princess Sally miniseries issue #1, plus Ash was an unlikable dirtbag in issue #134 and ESPECIALLY issues 153 and 154!  Geoffrey saved Hamlin's life, so any grudge Hamlin had against Geoffrey should vanish like a puff of smoke, and Ash isn't a great hero like Sonic, so he needs to KINDLY step back and let Sonic be Mina's darn bodyguard!  It's just so CONFUSINGLY STUPID that Ian Flynn DIDN'T even TRY to consider that maybe trying to make things exactly like the games ISN'T A NECESSITY, WHICH I think is a requirement!  Tradition can hold us back in all the wrong ways, and when it's not, we're getting STUPID things like the destruction of Knothole Village in issue #175, a stupid council of Acorns that tries to take away Sally's job of leading the Freedom Fighters in issue #197, and Ian Flynn having horrible things happen to Sally, Rotor, Bunnie, Antoine, and Nicole!  OK, sure, "Sonic Underground," "Sonic SatAm," "Sonic X," "Sonic Boom," and "AoStH" (the abbreviation of "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog") all had at least some problems, but I love how at least some of those shows tried to be original, especially the first two TV shows I mentioned.  

"Sonic Underground" is probably my most favorite Sonic TV show because of Sonic having siblings named Sonia and Manic, plus I do love Sonia as a character along with her friend Mindy that you'd get to see in this episode of "Sonic Underground" called "The Price of Freedom."  Here's something interesting:  "CrystalMaiden 77" didn't grow up watching "Sonic SatAm" or reading Archie Sonic comics; she spent at least some of her life with Sonic games, but even THEN, she was open-minded enough to see what other interpretations of media like the Archie Sonic comics, Fleetway Sonic comics, and "Sonic Underground" had to offer!  And I didn't really grow up watching "Sonic SatAm," either, but I DID watch "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog," "Sonic Underground," "Sonic X," and "Sonic Boom," and I was willing to give those things, along with Fleetway Sonic comics, Archie Sonic comics, and "Sonic SatAm" a fair shake.  I don't understand why people who love only the Sonic games and IDW aren't willing to give things like "AoStH," "Sonic Underground," and pre-Flynn Archie Sonic comics a fair shake because while there CAN be some idiotic ideas and flawed execution, there can be some good stories and some GREAT ideas as well!  For example, I don't think Sally should have been Sonic's girlfriend, but I do like the idea of Sonic having Mina and maybe some other girls to flirt with since "AoStH" and the Archie Sonic comics proved that about Sonic and Scourge!

Personally, I think MINA should have been Sonic's girlfriend instead of Sally, but I don't hate Sally at all from the preboot, and if anything, she doesn't really DESERVE hatred, though I can understand if people hated her for imprisoning Sonic in issues 40 and 156 and wasn't considerate to Fiona in issue #160, but what happened in issue #160 was Ian Flynn's fault!  I think that Sally PROBABLY, if she was REALLY in character in issue #160, would have actually thanked Fiona for what she did like a decent person, and even with the bad things Sally has done, she wasn't TRYING to get people to hate her, and she can actually be a nice person like issues 53, 57, 69, 123, 125, 134, and 187 show about her.  If people who are fans of Sonic games and IDW can't try to appreciate the unique stuff other media like the pre-Flynn Archie Sonic comics and "Sonic Underground" can bring to the table, maybe such people should realize that something like the pre-Flynn Archie Sonic comics and "Sonic Underground" probably won't be for them!  I just hope that they don't use that as a criticism against something like "Sonic Underground" or pre-Flynn Archie Sonic comics and the fans of those things because it really shouldn't be, plus I've never really had any serious problems with multiple versions of Sonic media.  To bugsy, I hope you enjoyed my post, and take care, good sir:)


Friday, January 7, 2022

 Why I don't think having Sonic stories that are different from Sonic stories in Sonic video games is a bad thing in TV shows and comics and why I think such things should be welcomed, NOT condemned:


Hey everyone, I'm Neil.  WHY do at least some fans of Ian Flynn HATE the Freedom Fighters, "Sonic Underground," and "Sonic SatAm?"  I don't see any valid reason to hate those characters and "Sonic SatAm" at all!  OK, sure, I don't agree with the guy known as "bugsy" who has a YouTube channel called "thebig3box network" that "Sonic SatAm" is the best Sonic show, but 1.  he has a right to his own opinions and 2.  "Sonic SatAm" has some things that I do like about it and Archie Sonic comics before Ian Flynn was a writer!!!  For one thing, I do like how well-drawn the environments are in "Sonic SatAm."  I probably don't mind the drawing style of "AoStH" (the abbreviation of "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog"), but I think "Sonic SatAm" looks like it has a higher budget put into it than "AoStH."

Also, I do appreciate that "Sonic SatAm," LIKE "Sonic Underground" and the pre-Flynn Archie Sonic comics, have characters that don't appear in the games.  One of those characters is Sally Acorn.  Personally, I like her WAY better in the Archie Sonic comics than in "Sonic SatAm" because I find her to just be WAY too mean to Sonic too frequently, and to people who will bring up that infamous slap of Sonic comic #134, zip it!  First off, Sally apologized for that slap in issue #187, and second, I'd consider what Sally did when she imprisoned Sonic around Archie Sonic issue #40 WAY WORSE than slapping Sonic and breaking his heart!  If you want to know why I think Sally is a cool character in the Archie Sonic comics, look at the link by my friend Emily (otherwise known as "CrystalMaiden 77" on YouTube) at the link https://crystalmaiden77.wordpress.com/2018/11/27/so-how-is-sally-acorn-a-mary-sue-again/.

My friend "CrystalMaiden 77" does A LOT of great reviews, and, like her, I don't see why Sally deserves a lot of hate (well, at least in the Archie Sonic comics before the reboot happened).  Like "CrystalMaiden 77" said in her EXCELLENT REVIEW of Archie Sonic comic #134 which is at the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvq90MTlIdo&list=PLHvkpKypKLU3SFHZGNG1KuJWH3Ut4Xv3l&index=208, girls do slaps in media a lot to guys, plus characters in media have done much worse things than Sally's slap.  And this not only applies to Sonic media but OUTSIDE OF IT, TOO!  Here, I'm going to provide a LIST of bad things that make Sally's slap LAUGHABLE by comparison:  

1.  Patrick getting SpongeBob stuck in a wringer in an infamous episode of "SpongeBob SquarePants" called "Stuck In The Wringer,"

2.  Patrick eating the backstage passes of SpongeBob and Squidward in an infamous episode of "SpongeBob SquarePants" called "Smoothe Jazz at Bikini Bottom,"

3.  Mr. Krabs wants Plankton to KILL HIMSELF in an infamous episode of "SpongeBob SquarePants" called "One Coarse Meal,"

4.  Bunnie wanting to KILL SONIC in Archie Sonic issue #40,

5.  Antoine wanting Sonic court-martialled and Antoine even antagonizing his friends in issue #40, 

6.  Amy wanting to beat Sonic up in games like "Sonic and the Black Knight," "Sonic Heroes," and "Sonic Rush,"

7.  SpongeBob and Patrick, in a BAD episode of SpongeBob SquarePants called "Good Neighbors," CONSTANTLY bother Squidward despite him telling them to leave him alone,

8.  SpongeBob steals a creature in a horrible SpongeBob episode called "A Pal for Gary" and he's HORRIBLE to Gary in the 2nd half of that episode,

9.  Patrick is a horrible pet-sitter to SpongeBob's snail Gary in a horrible SpongeBob episode called "Pet Sitter Pat" and he's even a smart-aleck to SpongeBob during one call, and

10.  In a SpongeBob episode called "Yours, Mine, and Mine," Patrick refuses to even share the toy that he and SpongeBob obtained!

I could go on, but I think you get the point!  Seriously, Sally's slap from issue #134 doesn't look that bad to me when compared to those examples, plus Ken Penders himself said that Jon Gray was responsible for Sally's slap to Sonic, not Karl Bollers, the writer of issue #134!  OK, sure, maybe you could argue that Patrick was just being stupid when he was eating the backstage passes in "Smoothe Jazz at Bikini Bottom," but I don't really care because I felt so AWFUL for Squidward:(  Sure, Squidward can at least sometimes be a jerk, but at least sometimes, you have to feel bad for him like in the episode called "Good Neighbors" where he just wants to relax in privacy and have a good Sunday to himself!

Maybe you could argue that Squidward was being a little bit of a jerk at the beginning of the episode called "Smoothe Jazz at Bikini Bottom," but still, I don't mind him having some peace from SpongeBob and Patrick!  Patrick eating Squidward's ticket was just not well-deserved at all and it pretty much came out of nowhere, and I could understand Squidward WANTING to keep that ticket away from SpongeBob because SpongeBob can be reckless!  But at least it was sweet of SpongeBob to let Squidward come along with him to the concert to get those backstage passes and those front row seats!  Sadly, that was about the ONLY good part of that episode because I felt SO BAD for Squidward.  In some SpongeBob episodes like "Naughty Nautical Neighbors," "Little Yellow Book," "Pizza Delivery" and "The Lost Mattress," Squidward DID deserve some karma because of the bad things he did, but he doesn't DESERVE karma for what he's doing in "Smoothe Jazz at Bikini Bottom!"

Now, if Squidward did something like punch SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs, THEN I can understand Squidward deserving horrible treatment in episodes like "Good Neighbors" and "Smoothe Jazz at Bikini Bottom," but Squidward didn't deserve what he got in those episodes!  I feel like Patrick and SpongeBob in those episodes were either just being idiots or jerks, and that's not what I consider good and self-aware writing!  Great writing would have those two realize in the "Good Neighbors" episode that Squidward really MEANT for those two to leave him alone!  And great writing in the "Smoothe Jazz at Bikini Bottom" episode would have had it so that Patrick wouldn't SHOW UP out of nowhere to eat Squidward's ticket!

Also, I felt SO SORRY for SpongeBob in the SpongeBob episode called "Stuck In The Wringer."  Maybe you could argue that again, Patrick was just being stupid in that episode, but I don't think Patrick was necessarily being stupid when he was gluing SpongeBob to the wringer; I felt like he was trying to TORTURE SpongeBob!  And SpongeBob wasn't WRONG to snap at Patrick, and those jerks at the carnival were being so horrible to SpongeBob that I just felt bad for SpongeBob😢.  Why couldn't SANDY have hung out with SpongeBob instead?!?  At least she wasn't always a mean-spirited idiot!

Alright, sorry for that diversion about SpongeBob, but I felt like I had to make some points about it.  I feel like some fans of Ian Flynn's writing of Sonic stories don't understand how important good writing is to make writing enjoyable because BAD WRITING CAN INFURIATE some people like me and other fans of anything like a comic book, a cartoon, or a TV show that ISN'T a cartoon!  I'm not saying that every writer of the Archie Sonic comics BEFORE Ian Flynn like Ken Penders and Karl Bollers had a perfect story, and sure, they did have some terrible stories, but at least sometimes, when such writers did good, they did REALLY GOOD.  I loved the world-building that Ken Penders did of Echidnapolis in the Knuckles comics, the world-building Karl Bollers did from Archie Sonic issues 126 to 129, and them creating unique characters like Sonic's parents, Knuckles's parents, Julie-Su, Nate Morgan, and Mina.  I know that some people think that characters like Sonic and Knuckles having parents are a bad thing, and while I can kind of understand where they're coming from, at least them having parents helps explain how they were born!

Even "SONIC UNDERGROUND" had Sonic with two siblings named Sonia and Manic along with a mother named Queen Aleena, plus one set of Sonic manga had him with a mother, so what's the excuse for Sonic not having parents in IDW?!?  It REALLY ANNOYS ME that at least SOME people still TOLERATE bad writing and NO CREATIVITY in this day and age; it's one of my BIGGEST pet peeves up there with bad game design!  Why do at least some Sonic fans who praise Ian Flynn like he's "above criticism" and "the perfect writer" think that people like me, bugsy, and "CrystalMaiden 77," people who love at least some of the Archie Sonic comics that weren't made by Ian Flynn, deserve hatred?  THAT, right there, IS ANOTHER one of my biggest pet peeves along with bad game design and people tolerating bad writing and wanting no creativity>:(  If I want to read a story that's EXACTLY like one from the games, I don't NEED an IDW story from Ian Flynn for that because I think that's just lazy and lacking creativity, and if I WANT TO see a game's story, I'll just play "Sonic Adventure" and "Sonic Adventure 2" for that!

At least at the time of their releases, "Sonic Adventure" and "Sonic Adventure 2" were actually TRYING to be creative in their stories!  If you can't be creative with your story as a writer, maybe you need to go back to the drawing board OR actually LISTEN to people who actually may KNOW how to write.  Also, I don't mind if there ARE some things from Sonic games included like Sonic being able to spin-dash and Tails being able to fly, but I want NEW environments with new names, plus I don't mind seeing some new characters.  The Archie Sonic comics before Ian Flynn and "Sonic Underground" did that, and EVEN "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" AND "Sonic X" at least KIND of did THAT, too!  Sure, Chris Thorndyke wasn't the most likable character in "Sonic X," but I don't think that he was the worst one; Amy Rose was FAR more deserving of hatred in "Sonic X" because of how mean she was to people like Sonic, Tails, Chris, and Chris's uncle Sam!

Besides, Chris APOLOGIZED to Sonic for kidnapping him just like Sally apologized for her slap to Sonic from issue #134 in issue #187!!!  Can't people put TWO AND TWO TOGETHER and GET OVER IT?!?  That's another one of my biggest pet peeves right there:  the unwillingness of some Sonic fans to forgive some characters of a mistake when they apologize for it!  OK, sure, Chris was WRONG to keep Sonic on Earth, but at least he apologized to Sonic for being selfish and he even broke down CRYING while doing so, so I kind of feel sorry for Chris.  Also, Mina apologized to Nicole in Archie Sonic issue #237, so I don't see why people are still angry at Mina>:(

I don't really think Sally deserves hatred, and neither do her Freedom Fighter friends that don't appear in Sonic games named Rotor, Antoine, Nicole, and Bunnie.  Well, OK, MAYBE Antoine deserves some hatred since he was a coward and antagonistic to Sonic around issue #40 and even antagonistic to his friends in that issue, but other than that, Antoine wasn't really a horribly unlikable jerk like Ash or Hamlin before issue #160!  Rotor wasn't really unlikable either; he was just a bland and geeky scientist who at least sometimes in the early Archie Sonic issues liked going on a see-saw or liked an ant farm!  Nicole didn't really deserve hatred, either; sure, she was kind of a "deus ex machina" machine for the plot, but she wasn't really an unlikable character, and I find a character like her wanting to live like a Mobian in issue #151 like Sonic and Sally to be intriguing and sympathetic:)  And yes, sure, I DID complain about Bunnie wanting to kill Sonic in issue #40, but she didn't actually kill Sonic, thank goodness, and other than that one time, Bunnie was a pretty sweet girl who was an awesome cyborg and pretty much the most competent Freedom Fighter next to Sonic himself.

I also pretty much love the designs of the Freedom Fighters except maybe Antoine.  Also, I don't think Tommy Turtle should have been killed off; that was just horribly mean-spirited of Ian Flynn to do because Tommy wasn't trying to hurt anybody before Ian Flynn showed up; he was just a harmless geek.  I think that pretty much the biggest problem with every Freedom Fighter I mentioned, with the exception of Sally, wasn't a very interesting character.  If Ian Flynn really IS the perfect writer that people say he is, then WHY did he have Knothole Village destroyed?!?  I actually kind of liked Knothole Village, and he could have made characters really interesting and fleshed them out, but he didn't!!!

And why did Ian Flynn have Sally be turned into a robot, Bunnie not be a cyborg, Rotor get his back hurt, Antoine put in a coma, and Nicole get exiled!  Oh wait, that's right...   because he hates the Freedom Fighters!!!  Sure, my friend Emily (otherwise known as "CrystalMaiden 77") didn't grow up watching "Sonic SatAm" or reading the Archie Sonic comics kind of like I did (I was probably 9 or 10 when I got my first Archie Sonic issue), but, like me, she didn't want bad things to happen to characters like Sally, Bunnie, Antoine, and Nicole!  If anyone deserved to be killed off or have really bad things happen to them, characters like Ash and Hamlin deserved it, not characters like Sally, Bunnie, and Nicole!  Why couldn't Ian Flynn have killed off Ash and Hamlin instead?!?

Ash and Hamlin were just very unlikable dirtbags!  Ash was just horrible to Sonic the Hedgehog in issues 153 and 154 of the Archie Sonic comics because while I can understand Ash being bitter about Sonic dumping Mina, that's a darn pathetic excuse to prevent Sonic from being a bodyguard to Mina when Ash has no special powers like Sonic!  Sonic can spin-dash, spin jump, and move at the speed of sound, and Ash can't do ANY of those things, so what was HIS excuse to lash out at Sonic?!?  OK, yes, I can understand Ash being upset at Sonic for dumping Mina because, unlike some people, I would ship Sonic with Mina instead of shipping Sonic with Sally or Amy, but even then, Ash should have realized that he needed only to stick to being a manager since he's not a hero like Sonic!  But what infuriated me is that Ash was chosen for a boyfriend by Mina over Sonic...   why?!?

I know that at least some people think romance shouldn't be allowed in Sonic comics, but "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" had some romance in that show and I don't think people really complained, so what's the excuse for people to complain about it in the Archie Sonic comics?!?  Also, other shows like "Danny Phantom" and "iCarly" had some romance, so I don't see why Sonic comics and Sonic cartoons can't have it.  No, I don't think Sonic and his friends need to get married, but I wouldn't mind if, for example, Sonic had Mina as a girlfriend, Amy had Mighty as a boyfriend, or if Knuckles had Julie-Su for a girlfriend.  It would help spice up the Sonic comics and other Sonic media to help make things interesting.

And NO, I don't think that romance has to be the main theme in Sonic, but I don't think that it should be considered the equivalent of a war crime to have Sonic shipped with Mina, have Sally date Monkey Khan, or have Knuckles shipped with Julie-Su!  I just don't want people who LOVE Ian Flynn's works on Sonic stories to use things like romance, parents of Sonic, and the Freedom Fighters as a criticism against the pre-Flynn Archie Sonic comics because it really isn't, and there ARE some people like me who love such things in a Sonic story!  I certainly didn't mind Sonic flirting in "AoStH" because I think that a cool person like Sonic would have multiple girls wanting to date him, and even a story in Sonic comic #111 kind of portrayed that well, too!  

I wish that Sonic could have done flirting in the Archie Sonic comics with at least a few pretty girls like he did in "AoStH" before he met up with Mina and I would have LOVED to see Mina and Sonic be a couple because they would have been perfect for each other:D  And yes, the writing can be kind of poor at least sometimes in the pre-Flynn Archie Sonic comics (issues 39, 40, and 129, I'm looking at you!), but it also kind of isn't!  I think that at least some of the stories are charming, entertaining, and have a good amount of heart, plus I love how deep of a character Sally is, and while characters like Mina, Nicole, and Bunnie could be fleshed out more, they're not horrible characters that deserve to die a horrible death.

Now, I do think that Ian Flynn can do some things right because at least he didn't make Amy a total jerk in IDW and some of the preboot Archie Sonic comics because me and Emily, like "bugsy," couldn't really stand Amy in "Sonic X," either, plus she, along with other characters like Tails and Cream, seemed to be horribly incompetent!  Also, in "Sonic X," Amy was horribly bossy, she was mean to some of her friends like Sonic, Cream, and Tails, plus I hated her stepping on Sam Speed's foot in the "A Date To Forget" episode of "Sonic X," and I think she was quite mean in "Sonic Boom," too!  I liked Amy in "Sonic Adventure" and "Sonic Adventure 2" better because if Amy WAS in love with Sonic in Sonic Adventure games 1 and 2, at least she wasn't being really mean to her friends, bossy, or abusive!  Amy was this person who helped convince people like E-102 Gamma and Shadow to be good people, though Amy should be lucky that she convinced Shadow to be good because if she didn't, she could have caused Shadow to just KILL everyone on Earth!  Anyway, I did like Amy in "Sonic Adventure" and "Sonic Adventure 2" because at least Amy's crush on Sonic wasn't the main focus of her character, plus in "Sonic Adventure 1," Amy even saved a helpless bird who was being chased by a robot.

I know that at least SOME people are angry at how Amy acted in the cut-scene involving her and Sonic while Sonic was in a prison cell, but she let Sonic out of his cell anyway even though Sonic said no to Amy's marriage proposal; sheesh, Sonic fans can be REALLY stupid sometimes and unlike "bugsy," I try to keep my distance from the Sonic fandom!  That's because I feel like the word "logic" is a foreign word to them, and I think Ian Flynn can do some things right sometimes because, for instance, I DID love that in Sonic comic #160, Sonic's evil twin, Scourge got a new design with his green skin, the scars on his chest, a leather jacket, and sunglasses.  Plus I did love that sometimes, Ian Flynn did make Amy's characterization in the Archie Sonic comics better than it was in "Sonic X" or even some of the Sonic games.  I REALLY couldn't stand how mean or abusive Amy was to people like Cream and Sonic in "Sonic X" and games like "Sonic Rush," "Sonic Heroes," and "Sonic and the Black Knight"; goodness, can't Amy have a CIVIL DISCUSSION with her friends and not beat up some of her friends at least ONCE in her life?!?  At least Archie Sonic comics kind of had her act like a compassionate and reasonable girl like she did in "Sonic Adventure" and "Sonic Adventure 2," plus from what I saw in IDW, Amy seemed like a likable character because at least she was showing compassion to her friends and not beating Sonic up!

THAT'S the kind of Amy I want to see, NOT a psychotic jerk who just acts bossy and abusive to people like Cream and Sonic!  I also loved that in one episode of "Sonic Boom" called "Blue with Envy," she had a crush on a green guy who was using a skateboard, and that person WASN'T Sonic.  Sure, the green guy was a robot who was working for Eggman, but I still loved the concept of Amy having a crush on a guy who wasn't Sonic!  So I don't see WHY Amy can't flirt with Mighty because I think that Mighty is kind of like Sonic and I think it'd be a nice change of pace, but I do want Amy's temper to at least be good around her friends because we don't need Amy getting mad at her friends for no good reason.  

I've already seen quite enough of bad characterization for Amy in Sonic games like "Sonic Rush" and "Sonic and the Black Knight," the "Sonic X" anime, and the "Sonic Boom" TV show; I want to see times when Amy can actually be nice and be like how she was in "Sonic Adventure 1."  I think that "Sonic X" and "Sonic Boom" kind of had some good ideas on how to expand Amy's characterizations because in "Sonic X," I loved Amy wanting to swim and cook, plus I loved Amy loving to cook and do other things like arts and crafts in "Sonic Boom."  Yes, there WERE some characters that were REALLY aggravating, but if you were to ask me who those aggravating characters were, they WEREN'T Sally, Antoine, Nicole, Bunnie, or Rotor!  And while I DID make complaints on Amy, she's not what I'd consider an absolutely horrible Sonic character because at least she CAN have good portrayals of her!  

Horrible Sonic characters in my opinion would be ones like Ash, Hamlin, and Eggman!  I've already made my case on why I hate Ash, so I'll explain why I hate Hamlin!  I can CERTAINLY understand why Hamlin would be ANGRY at Geoffrey St. John for tackling him in the Princess Sally mini-series, because let's face it, NOBODY would want to be tackled by an angry anthropomorphic skunk!  Of course, any grudge he had against Geoffrey should pretty much VANISH INSTANTLY since Geoffrey SAVED HIS LIFE in that same series of issues, but NO, instead, Hamlin acts like an ungrateful jerk about Geoffrey>:(  I wish that Hamlin got killed off as karma in Princess Sally mini-series issue #3 because we would have been WAY better off without him later on, and I'll explain why!!!

I can KIND OF understand Hamlin's paranoia of the Robians in Sonic Super Special #2 since the Robians had red eyes, but none of the Robians attacked with any weapons or tried to attack them or other characters like Sally and Rotor, so any paranoia that Hamlin HAS against Robians should VANISH like a puff of smoke!!!  That's not even getting into why I hate him in issues 197 and 224!  I hate Hamlin in issue #197 because HE acts like Sally's in the wrong for having the Freedom Fighters take action against Scourge and his Suppression Squad, and that's not only heartless but also IDIOTIC, and sure, I could understand Hamlin wanting to take down Eggman, but all Eggman did was send out TWO robots in issues 191 and 192!  Tails's evil twin named Miles from Anti-Mobius (I won't call it Moebius since it's pretty much Mobius but with an e added and it basically SOUNDS the same anyway) could have BLOWN up New Mobotropolis if the Freedom Fighters didn't try to stop Miles from doing so!  The Freedom Fighters were LUCKY that Miles had a conscience to NOT blow that city up because if the Freedom Fighters DIDN'T try to stop Miles, every citizen of New Mobotropolis could have ended up DEAD, and people like Hamlin and Rosemary should have realized that THAT'S what could have happened if they stopped Sally from leading the Freedom Fighters!

The idiotic council of Acorns should have NEVER been thought of as an idea in the first place, or if the council had to be formed, the council could have just let Sally DO HER DARN JOB of leading the Freedom Fighters like she has been doing ever since the start of the Archie Sonic comics!!!  Why did Hamlin have to treat Sally like she was a villain?!?  She's not a power-hungry villain who constantly makes terrible plans, and I hated Rosemary, Tails's mom, treating Sally horribly, too>:(  Also, in issue #224, I hate Hamlin for protesting against Sonic wanting to save the council from Ixis Naugus; who does Hamlin think he is?!?  Besides, Hamlin looked EAGER at first to try fighting Ixis Naugus in issue #224!

And as for WHY I hate Eggman, he's not a deep character, and he practically has no charm or likability whatsoever!  If you want to have a villain, fine, but at least make your villain competent, charming, and entertaining, and give him or her a good reason for why he or she is evil!  I don't really see ANY of that in Eggman!  He may be competent, sure, but he's not charming and entertaining!  

I just HATE how TOXIC the Sonic fan-base is because I think that it's EVEN WORSE than Mega Man's, Mario's, and even Fire Emblem's!  At least when people argue in the Mega Man, Mario, and Fire Emblem fandoms, it's only really about shippings, characters, and games, but in the Sonic fandom, people might as well be complaining about EVERYTHING!  No,"CrystalMaiden 77," me, and "bugsy" aren't the bad Sonic fans I'm talking about; I think they and I are cool, but it's people like the ones who praise Ian Flynn like he's "above criticism" who are some of the bad eggs!  That's especially true when they hate people like "CrystalMaiden 77," "bugsy," and me who love some of the Archie Sonic comics not made by Ian Flynn before he was a writer or something like "Sonic Underground!  "Bugsy," me, and "CrystalMaiden 77" aren't trying to start any civil wars in the Sonic fan-base; we really aren't trying to be mean bullies, but when people like Ian Flynn's fans who treat Ian Flynn like he's a hero who can do nothing wrong start attacking people like me, Emily, and "bugsy," we kind of have fight back!

It wouldn't be so bad if people who like Ian Flynn's writing work would at least TRY to understand and respect why people like me, "bugsy," and "CrystalMaiden 77" love something like "Sonic the Comic" or Archie Sonic comics made by a comic writer like Ken Penders or Karl Bollers!  I can understand if "bugsy" doesn't really like Ken Penders as a writer because yes, the idea of having Sally lose her virginity to Geoffrey St. John was inappropriate, but the story by Ken was never published and Archie Comics probably would have stopped Ken from writing the story.  Also, I, like "CrystalMaiden 77," think it was IDIOTIC for Ken Penders to have at least some echidnas think, "oh, we should have some echidnas GIVE UP technology" despite the fact that it wasn't the fault of technology that Dimitri became a villain, though I did like that Ken had this dingo named Harry say about technology, "either use it or don't use it...   period!"  Dimitri made the decision HIMSELF to be a villain; it wasn't the fault of technology that Dimitri became evil; that would be like blaming radios or vacuum cleaners for why Adolf Hitler was an evil tyrant, which is just IDIOTIC!  How can a vacuum cleaner or radio cause someone like Adolf Hitler to be a tyrant; ooh...   I'm really scared of radios and vacuum cleaners making me evil...   NOT!!!

If anyone doesn't really like Ken Penders as a writer, that's fine; I'm not trying to get people to agree with me.  What I DO want is to realize about me is, "Hey, Neil's saying some things that he wants me to notice and think about.  And maybe some of the things he's saying make a lot of sense."  I don't think that Ken Penders is the best writer of Sonic media at all, but I don't think he's the worst one of all time.  If anyone is the worst writer, I'd say Ian Flynn is, NOT Ken Penders!  I think that if Sally and Geoffrey were about the same age and if they just dated, I don't really think people would have complained about that idea if anyone losing virginity wasn't going to be mentioned at all.

Sure, we didn't need Knuckles's dad Locke subjecting Knuckles's egg to a radiation bath from the Master Emerald, Locke and Lara-Le having a terrible relationship, or Knuckles and Sally having bad fathers.  But at least Knuckles was a competent guardian, plus to say that divorce never happens among people in real life and that all kids always get along with their parents would be completely unrealistic.  I had an aunt and uncle who had suffered a divorce, but fortunately, they remarried, and the parents of one of my friends from when I was younger divorced.  And yes, while Ken Penders DID want Sally killed one time in the "Endgame" saga, at least he didn't try to have her killed later.  I'm sorry, but I just don't want Sonic media like "Sonic Prime" or any other future Sonic TV shows or comics to be exactly like the games!

Say whatever you want about writers like Ken Penders and Karl Bollers, but at least they were trying to be creative and trying to do world-building while not making stories exactly like the games, and even "Sonic Underground" did that!  Even "Sonic SatAm" at least had some creativity to it along with "Sonic X" and "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" because they had unique characters like Sally, Bunnie, Nicole, Lazaar, Chris Thorndyke, Helen, Cosmo, Roxie, Catty Carlisle, and Professor Caninestein!  And if fans of Ian Flynn want to call people like me a villain for wanting TV shows and comics to be different from the games unlike Ian Flynn, well, I don't know what to say.  I think that the pre-Flynn Archie Sonic comics were BETTER OFF for NOT making the "Sonic Adventure" adaptation exactly like the games, contrary to what those "game purists" want you to think because I want to TAKE A BREAK from Sonic games at least sometimes>:(  What's wrong with that?!?

In "Sonic Boom," sure, Sticks may not be the greatest character in Sonic history, she's not the worst character of all time like Ash and Hamlin are because some of her paranoia is justified.  Some of Sticks's paranoia is justified when it's about evil creatures coming to attack her if she removes something near a secret door in her burrow, when Eggman might be threatening a water supply, or when she's paranoid of Eggman turning her and her friends against one another with a machine, or even about Eggman making an evil plan.  Even "Sonic X" can have some great moments because I LOVED Sonic being caring enough to spend a day with Helen, Sonic not being mean to Chris during when Chris kidnapped him, and Amy having hobbies she liked in "Sonic X" like swimming and cooking!  "Sonic Boom" kind of had that too because I loved seeing Sonic and his friends hanging out together as friends along with Amy wanting to do things like painting, arts and crafts, and cooking, plus like I said earlier, I loved the idea of her having a crush on someone who wasn't Sonic!  Sure, I don't think every idea is a home run in "AoStH," "Sonic Underground," "Sonic Boom," "Sonic SatAm," "Sonic X," and the Archie Sonic comics, but I think that there can be good things that any of those series have to offer.

AND NO, I DON'T hate video games of Sonic the Hedgehog, just so we're all clear.  I LOVE a good game of Sonic the Hedgehog like "Sonic 1," "Sonic 2," and "Sonic 3 and Knuckles" from the Sega Genesis along with other games like "Sonic Unleashed," the Sonic Adventure games and the Nintendo GameCube version of "Sonic Heroes," and the Xbox 360 version of "Sonic Generations!"  HOWEVER, I DON'T think we need stories that are a direct rip-off of stories from those games because that just screams laziness to me.  Sonic fans like me and my friends Emily and "bugsy" deserve better than what we're getting from Sega and Ian Flynn, and if Sonic fans AREN'T asking for better, I think they NEED to!  Does anyone remember when people raked the first Sonic movie trailer over the coals for being an absolute pile of trash because of Sonic's horrible design in that trailer?!?

Sure, I won't call the Sonic movie the best movie ever, but at least you could say the movie was pleasant to look at since people were willing to speak up about how terrible Sonic looked in the first trailer.  Another case of how speaking up can make something better is that in the "Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy" compilation of games, people spoke up about how unfair the pill-shaped hit-boxes were, so the game was patched to make the hit-boxes more fair.  As far as I'm concerned, nobody like me, "CrystalMaiden 77," or "bugsy" deserves to be shamed for having higher standards for writing from Sonic media, plus we also shouldn't be afraid to speak out because things in Sonic media and Sonic games CAN and SHOULD be better.  We shouldn't settle for less because if we do, we're just going to keep getting lazier and more mediocre garbage.  

Anyway, I've made my stand, and I care about characters like Sally, Nicole, and Bunnie, plus I WANT good writing in Sonic stories along with stories that aren't exactly like ones from the Sonic games so that I can take a break from stories in Sonic games!  If you want to know why I think a lot of the Sonic stories Ian Flynn wrote are so bad, look at the links by my friend Emily.  They're linked here at 

1.  https://crystalmaiden77.wordpress.com/2019/04/14/all-my-problems-with-flynn/,

2.  https://crystalmaiden77.wordpress.com/2020/04/01/the-bad-writing-tropes-and-how-they-are-used-in-preboot-flynns-writing/, and

3.  https://crystalmaiden77.wordpress.com/2021/07/08/every-idiot-ball-in-the-archie-sonic-reboot/.

If you don't think Ian Flynn's writing is bad, that's fine, but at least TRY try to avoid being a hateful jerk to people like me, "bugsy," and "CrystalMaiden 77!"  "CrystalMaiden 77," "bugsy," and I don't need to be picked on by people who love Ian Flynn's work and who praise him like he's a hero who can do no wrong>:(  Next time, I'm going to be talking about some of my favorite Sonic stories from the Archie Sonic comics and more.  Until then, farewell:)