Re: Flynn. The most common criticisms I've seen of his writing as it pertains to the IDW comics are:
- Sonic's forgiving nature being flanderized to the point of foolishness when in the games he is a lot more punishing of foes and doesn't really go out of his way to try and sway them to his side.
- Overuse of references to songs from the games.
- Focus on canon foreigners over the game cast.
- His writing of Shadow, which some have argued isn't really as much Sega's fault as some have implied. It's not helped that even Flynn has stated that the mandates aren't as strict as people have been led to believe.
- Arcs that drag on for too long.
YMMV on the validity of these criticisms.
He references a lot more than just Songs in writing, it's not constant...but references can grate on some popple.
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On the other hand, focusing on Comic characters over game characters is less valid...since it probably comes from people who "only" played the games and are unaware how long the comics have been running.
You can criticize this, but it's not an actual problem with the comic.
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.@DevilSketch36: IMO, Ian and Sega's approaches are fundamentally different due to the nature of their media.
- Sega's approach changes depending on what the higher-ups think will sell, who's on the team this time around, and the systems they're working on (at least in theory; they've screwed that last part up time and time again).
- They have to deal with the actual gameplay, which results in the occasional Enjoy the Story, Skip the Game (Black Knight) or Play the Game, Skip the Story (Shadow, although in that case it's more "skip both").
- They have to appeal a very wide market, from kids to casuals to diehard fans to critics to people that maybe played once or twice back in the 90's to "content creators" that dunk on the series for the clicks, all around the world.
By contrast, Ian is an Ascended Fan with an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the franchise, has worked on a single "system" (serialized comic books), and has worked with the same crew for over 15 years. He knows what he likes and what his fans like, so he tries to play to those strengths.
- He doesn't have to take gameplay or system requirements into account, he can focus purely on plot and characterization.
- He loves continuity and references, and he prefers salvaging "bad" ideas to letting them die or keeping them around without changing them like Sega does.
- He works on a serialized comic, he can afford to take his time a bit.
- The comic fanbase is a small subset of the wider Sonic fanbase, most of whom are American or English. He has a specific niche he can focus on and appeal to.
Edited by Negacube on Nov 23rd 2022 at 10:14:50 AM
My biggest criticisms of Flynn, as a writer, tend to lie in his style: he loves to use a larger cast, to reference song lyrics and make nods to continuity. He is a nerd.
He originally also added fanfic traits in his earlier writing, but these sorts of dropped over the years. For example, he made fun of Amy being a psycho and had Sonic call Shadow "faker" as an affectionate nickname. These made sense in the fandom at the time, but over the years came more inspired by osmosis- The only fanon thing you could say he still uses is the Tails Doll being creepy, and even then he has nothing to work around that character that has no bio like most Eggman mech.
To win, you need to adapt, and to adapt, you need to be able to laugh away all the restraints. Everything holding you back.I enjoy the continuity references for the most part—some Waxing Lyrical stuff went into narm cause I 'heard' it as the songs—but I also get how newer fans could get lost or people who don't care about the references would be annoyed.
For Archie my biggest criticisms at the time were the endings to stories being kinda weak or rushed after a lot of buildup, particularly the 'Sonic is defeated' arc in 175 that was over by 177. IIRC that was partly due to a mandate, but it still felt really anticlimactic.
For IDW, I'd say while the endings to arcs have improved, the stories have the opposite problem of feeling too long since every year is a 'season' of the comic, which has the side effect of stuff feeling decompressed. Sonic's characterization did bother me a little with Surge, but I think that might be because we know the full extent of her Tragic Villain status while Sonic doesn't.
The Protomen enhanced my life.For what it’s worth, I feel like his writing for Shadow was pretty good back in the Archie days, so I do think it’s probably more the mandates’ fault.
Oh God! Natural light!![]()
What the game actually shows of this thing doesn't contradict anything in Unleashed's story.
Edited by randomness4 on Nov 23rd 2022 at 3:19:34 PM
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.Maybe the Chaos Emeralds originated on Sonic's world after all, and something (possibly even the Ancients themselves, though if that's true, they somehow managed to forget that Sonic's world existed and that the Emeralds weren't native to their own world) caused them to go off-world and end up in the Ancients' custody some time after the last Gaia cycle ended but well before The End showed up to destroy the Ancients' homeworld? If that's the case, then the Master Emerald wasn't just attracting the Chaos Emeralds, it was calling them back home (with the surviving Ancients along for the ride).
Edited by TrashJack on Nov 23rd 2022 at 3:21:41 PM
"Cynic, n. — A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be." - The Devil's DictionaryThe Egg Memos will "tell" you.
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.Essentially, Eggman theorizes that not all the Ancients died out, but that over time their species evolved into new beings only vaguely similar to what they used to be - resulting in Chaos. If Chaos is still canonically related to the Chao, that would mean that Chao are the modern form of the Ancient species, in the same way the chicken is the modern form of the T-Rex.
Edited by KnownUnknown on Nov 23rd 2022 at 1:04:28 AM
I thought the Koco became the Chao.
EDIT: Given Dark Gaia's whole deal i can see someone flinging the Chaos Emeralds off-planet in an attempt to neutralize him.
Edited by lalalei2001 on Nov 23rd 2022 at 4:13:18 AM
The Protomen enhanced my life.

My bad. I’m speaking of the Japanese game scripts. I know he’s cruel in various comics, thanks to being informed that earlier on here. :)
Shadow?