Now that tax season is over, I have a few minutes to spare, but not much as I finish up illustrating the KNUCKLES story for SONIC #99, finish the KNUCKLES scripts for SONIC #101 and 102, work on THE LOST ONES graphic novel, do some work around the house and let my family know I exist. There's other things on my agenda, but I can't talk about them here at the moment.

As for my next online chat, it'll be held on Thursday, May 9, 2001, at 8:00PM Eastern Standard Time. What'll probably be different is I'll be asking you guys just as many questions if not more so than what I'll be asked.

Now that I'm handling the editorial/letters/fan art pages to some degree, I'm also going to pulling some of the quotes that anyone posts to this board. If you wish to be quoted or have your questions answered in print, please post a name and address (whether it's your e-mail or offline address). Until we get the password system in place, this is the only way I can be sure who's who.

I'm also going to be posting some new guidelines for submitting to the fan art page, including a contest where the readers get to decide who did the best fan art for the year. And since there's a contest, there's also a prize. I'm waiting for final approval before I let loose with the details.

And since there's been some discussion about various topics, I thought I'd weigh in with my 2 cents worth:

LOOSE CONTINUITY - This is a battle that will be continue to be fought until the end of time. While I believe in continuity for the overall sake of stability in a series, there are always going to be contradictions somewhere along the way for a variety of reasons. Lapses of memory, production deadlines and a variety of writers are but some of the reasons, but there are others as well. To use KNUCKLES as an example, while I may have planned out a 100 issues worth of stories in the generic sense, I by no means planned out each issue, or even anything past two or three issues from the current one I'd be working on at any given time.

When working on a story, I always leave room for the unexpected. I may come up with something that wasn't so obvious when I first began planning the story, such as the KNUCKLES segment of SONIC #100. I kept wracking my brain trying to figure out what I needed to do to make that story just a bit more special to justify using 10 pages instead of 8. It wasn't until Justin was screaming that I absolutely, positively had to have the script in the next day that I had my answer, and ended up resolving one plot point left hanging since the KNUCKLES series was cancelled. In resolving that plot point, however, it opened the door to another, one I hadn't counted on, which in turn gave me the inspiration for the follow-up story.

Another factor is page length. Even when I was working with 22 pages a month in the regular monthly KNUCKLES book, there were more times than not where I ran into problems fitting everything I wanted to into any given particular issue. After a while, I decided my priority should be telling the best story I could as opposed to worrying whether the continuity was air tight. My thinking since then been that any confusion or discrepency could be explained away later in one form or another. (And after the KNUCKLES story that occurs in SONIC #101 and #102, I'll have an easy explanation for ANY discrepancy.)

SONIC #100 - Neuther Karl nor I are getting to do quite what we originally wanted or expected to with this issue for a number of reasons, most having to do with SONIC #98's adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2. That said, both of us are working hard to make certain the book is the best it can be under the conditions we have to work under.

Part of the problem in doing a book like this is the very schizoid nature of the audience. We literally have readers who grew up with us, and for every one who wants to see the book grow with them, another reader wishes it were something close to what it use to be. Then we have the new readers who jump on, again with some staying, and others deciding we're not their beverage of choice. In point of fact, we still get letters asking when are we going to show more stories featuring the characters from Sonic Underground, as well as characters from the early games such as Ray the Squirrel.

The reality for us is not so much the original fans, but how to attract new ones, the ones who haven't been exposed to Sonic until now, who have no clue about the SatAM series. Now that the Pokemon craze has subsided, we're trying to figure out where the audience is and what they're into. My guess is a lot of kids are into Harry Potter, but from what I hear from some retailer friends, while the books sell very well, the jury is still out where the various types of HP merchandise are concerned. Kids today are all over the board where their interests are. What's hot today is stone cold tomorrow. (My step-daughter used to be into Sailor Moon big time, now she could care less, having replaced her interest in that series by following the WB series Charmed.)

I'm not sure what Karl has done, but I included a 2-page flashback to more or less bring new readers up to speed, something we're going to be very conscious of in the issues ahead.

As for your feedback, both Justin and I are genuinely interested in hearing what you have to say. When putting together the latest letters page, I actually did use a posting that criticized us and responded to it with the sincerity it deserved. The only things I deliberately edited was the use of the word c**p, and the negative reference to Riverdale High, which I knew would automatically get the letter bounced by any higher-ups proofing the thing. Beyond that, I wanted to show that we were serious in presenting a diverse range of opinions.

One last thing, I need some comments regarding SONIC #94, so please feel free to post what you liked and didn't like. Thanks.

*************************************************** Ken