|
Post by RetroMartin on Jan 15, 2013 15:42:30 GMT
I personally would like to know (even though it may not have personally been much to do with you) why Chaotix got dropped so quickly (a whole 30-ish issues before the last "new story" issue of 184?
Personally I think a character like Mighty deserves more of a place in Sonic related material then basically everybody that appeared from Sonic 3 onwards. (And on a side note, it's lovely he popped up on a poster in Sonic Generations)
|
|
|
Post by Nigel Kitching on Jan 27, 2013 16:32:55 GMT
Is Rouge truly rotten to the core? Or does she have a good side? Oops - been so long since I was asked anything I forgot to check. But anyway, I'll think you'll find that Rouge is actually one of the X-Men.
|
|
|
Post by Nigel Kitching on Jan 27, 2013 16:35:45 GMT
Who would win in a fight between Captain Plunder and A.H.A.B.? I don't think they would fight at all. I imagine they would become the best of pals and enjoy the occasional shopping expidition together.
|
|
|
Post by Nigel Kitching on Jan 27, 2013 16:44:43 GMT
I personally would like to know (even though it may not have personally been much to do with you) why Chaotix got dropped so quickly (a whole 30-ish issues before the last "new story" issue of 184? Personally I think a character like Mighty deserves more of a place in Sonic related material then basically everybody that appeared from Sonic 3 onwards. (And on a side note, it's lovely he popped up on a poster in Sonic Generations) This is one of a certain category of question I receive which is based on a false premise. Chaotix were not dropped (this implies that a decision was made not to use them) they just weren't used. I never worked out how long it would be until their next appearance all I did was write other stuff. Of course I no longer remember what I actually wrote now - but I do know I never actively decided not to use Chaotix, if you see what I mean. Whilst I'm on... The comment that winds me up is when people describe one of my stories (or somebody else's come to that) as a 'filler'. As though I sat down to write something one day and decided to not make a proper effort and just turn something easy in. Never happened - I started all my stories hoping for great things but sometimes it just didn't work out and the story was crap. Not lack of effort just lack of success.
|
|
|
Post by Charles on Jan 27, 2013 20:07:56 GMT
I imagine they would become the best of pals and enjoy the occasional shopping expidition together. Someone needs to draw this. Oh yes.
|
|
|
Post by Nigel Kitching on Jan 27, 2013 23:48:45 GMT
I imagine they would become the best of pals and enjoy the occasional shopping expidition together. Someone needs to draw this. Oh yes. Better make sure the writer can spell 'expedition'
|
|
|
Post by neoamon on Jul 30, 2013 20:31:36 GMT
Is there a reason Megatox and Chaos looked simiular?
|
|
|
Post by L. T. Dangerous on Jul 30, 2013 21:11:31 GMT
That's a bit out of Nigel's hands, really. Richard Elson was the one who drew both of those characters in STC and Chaos was largely based on his Sonic Adventure appearance. I can only assume Elson tweaked Chaos' look because he's not terribly threatening in his smaller forms and he's generally just blobs or pools of water in his larger forms. Chaos in STC was somewhere in the middle and, facially, resembles a Drakon, as per the story. Nigel probably influenced the art a little bit if he discussed the story outline with Richard over the phone but, really, the simple answer is "they're both made of liquid".
|
|
Tom
Ex-Hume
Hume-who-used-to-think-he-was-in-charge
Posts: 3,786
|
Post by Tom on Jul 30, 2013 21:45:29 GMT
That's a bit out of Nigel's hands, really. Richard Elson was the one who drew both of those characters in STC and Chaos was largely based on his Sonic Adventure appearance. I can only assume Elson tweaked Chaos' look because he's not terribly threatening in his smaller forms and he's generally just blobs or pools of water in his larger forms. Chaos in STC was somewhere in the middle and, facially, resembles a Drakon, as per the story. Nigel probably influenced the art a little bit if he discussed the story outline with Richard over the phone but, really, the simple answer is "they're both made of liquid". I dunno, I'd think Nigel would have had input into the look of Chaos, as with any character he describes in the script. I assume the decision for Chaos to look different in the comic is one that was made either by Nigel or agreed between the pair of them. There were a few surface similarities, as a pair of liquid monsters drawn by the same artist might, but they weren't really that similar.
|
|
|
Post by Nigel Kitching on Aug 2, 2013 11:03:54 GMT
That's a bit out of Nigel's hands, really. Richard Elson was the one who drew both of those characters in STC and Chaos was largely based on his Sonic Adventure appearance. I can only assume Elson tweaked Chaos' look because he's not terribly threatening in his smaller forms and he's generally just blobs or pools of water in his larger forms. Chaos in STC was somewhere in the middle and, facially, resembles a Drakon, as per the story. Nigel probably influenced the art a little bit if he discussed the story outline with Richard over the phone but, really, the simple answer is "they're both made of liquid". I dunno, I'd think Nigel would have had input into the look of Chaos, as with any character he describes in the script. I assume the decision for Chaos to look different in the comic is one that was made either by Nigel or agreed between the pair of them. There were a few surface similarities, as a pair of liquid monsters drawn by the same artist might, but they weren't really that similar. I have no memory of discussing the look of Chaos with Rich - but I will have done, I just don't remember what we agreed. I seem to remember that I wanted to make sure he was scary. All the script says is: "Suddenly an image of Chaos appears on a screen. The creature needs to looks good and scary. We should bear in mind that the creature is going to become more menacing in subsequent appearances so we need to leave some scope for changing the character a little to reflect this. Chaos is doing something menacing in a city environment. Let’s show a police presence – characters in a uniform that is clearly a police uniform but a Mobius version of the familiar style. I figure that the Mobius police force has access to big hi- tech weaponry." Later: "Johnny, followed by Tails, rushes to attack Chaos. I guess Chaos is just doing general monster on the rampage stuff all this time. In his current state Chaos is in total confusion and not at all a rational being. This will change in future appearances. Johnny has his quarterstaff, by the way." And: "Chaos gives Tails and Johnny an evil look – no intelligence on display though and no obvious aggression either." Furthermore: "Sonic splats into Chaos. Chaos is a very viscous liquid, a sort of semi-transparent tar. Chaos distorts weirdly with the impact." I also noticed this note at the start of the script directed at the editor: "Essentially this is a two part story but it will not be presented as such and each part will have a separate title. This is all as I explained in my original proposal – every issue is someone’s first but it’s also very important to keep the regular readers engaged. Having read Lew’s last few scripts I have altered some of the details and changed some of the emphasis from that which is in the proposal. Lew’s story was a big end-of-the-world plot so I am following this with a story that begins by concentrating very much on the characters and not emphasising the great danger that is about to face Mobius." The script was written on 10/11/1999 - which seems like a long time ago.
|
|
|
Post by Nigel Kitching on Aug 2, 2013 11:13:38 GMT
Here's the script of the last two pages of 176 where Johnny dies. Written on 30/11/1999 - so there was about three weeks between this and the writing of the previous issue.
Notice how economical the writing is? When I worked with Rich I just knew we were in tune with each other - he just didn't need masses of panel description. I see some scripts by writers where there is just tons of descriptions and direction - it feels like the writer is trying to dominate the artist. With Rich I just knew he could do it and I could leave a lot of the storytelling to him. Of course maybe I was just lazy?
PAGE 6.
1. In the distance we can see Johnny reconnecting the cable. Sonic watches.
Sonic: HE DID IT!
2. Johnny looks up straight into Chaos’ face. Johnny looks scared but heroic.
3. Chaos hits Johnny and he flies away from Chaos. It’s a nasty blow but the readers shouldn’t guess that it has killed him.
SFX: THWAKK!
4. Sonic yells to Porker.
Sonic: NOW, PORKER! WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU’RE GOING TO DO, DO IT NOW!
5. The machines around Chaos shoot him with energy and he bursts into a thousand globs of liquid.
SFX: TZZZZZZZ!
6. Sonic is delighted. He and Porker celebrate. Nobody else is in this panel.
Porker: I KNEW I COULD DO IT! I’VE BEEN STUDYING CHAOS ENERGY FOR MONTHS! ALL I HAD TO DO WAS…
Sonic: EXPLANATIONS LATER, BUDDY… RIGHT NOW THE IMPORTANT THING IS WE WON!
PAGE 7.
1. Sonic walks over to the others. They are crouched around Johnny’s body – but don’t make that obvious yet. If you can show patches of glob on the ground it would be useful too.
Sonic: HEY WHERE’S JOHNNY?
Sonic: THE KID DID GOOD, EVEN I’M IMPRESSED THIS TIME!
2. Amy breaks away from the group a little to face Sonic. Porker has joined the others and is looking down. Amy looks devastated. If it’s necessary to get the effect, show tears.
Sonic: OF COURSE I’M NOT TOO HAPPY WITH THE GUY… AFTER ALL I’M SUPPOSED TO BE THE HERO AROUND HERE…
Amy: SONIC…
3. Sonic starts to catch on. He looks stunned.
Sonic: HE’S OKAY RIGHT? HE’S JUST A LITTLE SHAKEN UP, THAT’S ALL…
Amy: HE’S DEAD, SONIC… JOHNNY’S DEAD…
4. Distance shot showing the group huddled around Johnny – we don’t really see his body. Nearby we see Johnny’s quarterstaff. In the foreground we can see two distinct pools of glob.
5. Same as above but the two pools of glob have merged into one. Maybe show some kind of energy glow to further indicate that Chaos is still alive.
NEXT ISSUE: DARK DAYS!
|
|
|
Post by neoamon on Aug 27, 2013 21:37:18 GMT
Thank you Nigel.
Another question how did footballl manger Ronnie Dribble get a hold of Megatal a metal that only Doctor Robotnik and Tekno the Canary know how to create.
|
|
|
Post by ShayMay on Aug 27, 2013 21:44:59 GMT
Thank you Nigel. Another question how did footballl manger Ronnie Dribble get a hold of Megatal a metal that only Doctor Robotnik and Tekno the Canary know how to create. That'd be a question you'd have to direct to Mr. Stringer, I think. That was a story he wrote.
|
|
Tom
Ex-Hume
Hume-who-used-to-think-he-was-in-charge
Posts: 3,786
|
Post by Tom on Aug 27, 2013 22:18:25 GMT
Thank you Nigel. Another question how did footballl manger Ronnie Dribble get a hold of Megatal a metal that only Doctor Robotnik and Tekno the Canary know how to create. He's a football manager. Doing what football managers do. Bluffing.
|
|
|
Post by mikescrase on Sept 4, 2013 1:39:54 GMT
Hi Nigel, I wanted to ask you this at Summer of Sonic, but I was so starstruck I dropped about half my braincells at the time. Anyway, I, like I imagine many STC readers, am a huge fan of your characterization of Super Sonic. I loved the tension of knowing that he could crop his head up at any time and that not only did he have a link to the protagonist, but in a way was the protagonist themselves. When you think about it, it's a good job that Sonic was such a chilled out guy most of the time, otherwise Mobius might have been in a lot of trouble.
In more recent years, thinking about the character, and my own personal experiences, it seems like Super Sonic is a great allegory for mental illness. He's a dark side that Sonic can't control when he rears his head, and has to suppress the rest of the time because of the damage that SS might cause his friends. Super Sonic could work also totally work as a metaphor for addiction.
It's poignant to me because I have some experience with mental illness myself. Even the fact that Sonic doesn't vividly remember what he does as Super Sonic is a draw-able parallel.
I'm not suggesting that this was definitely your intent. But I am curious. Do you disagree that Super Sonic works well in that context? If you can remember the process you went through in deciding the way you would portray SS, how did that go?
|
|
|
Post by Nigel Kitching on Sept 6, 2013 15:28:02 GMT
Thank you Nigel. Another question how did footballl manger Ronnie Dribble get a hold of Megatal a metal that only Doctor Robotnik and Tekno the Canary know how to create. That'd be a question you'd have to direct to Mr. Stringer, I think. That was a story he wrote. Yep, one of Lew's. I don't even understand the question
|
|
|
Post by Nigel Kitching on Sept 6, 2013 15:51:07 GMT
Hi Nigel, I wanted to ask you this at Summer of Sonic, but I was so starstruck I dropped about half my braincells at the time. Anyway, I, like I imagine many STC readers, am a huge fan of your characterization of Super Sonic. I loved the tension of knowing that he could crop his head up at any time and that not only did he have a link to the protagonist, but in a way was the protagonist themselves. When you think about it, it's a good job that Sonic was such a chilled out guy most of the time, otherwise Mobius might have been in a lot of trouble. In more recent years, thinking about the character, and my own personal experiences, it seems like Super Sonic is a great allegory for mental illness. He's a dark side that Sonic can't control when he rears his head, and has to suppress the rest of the time because of the damage that SS might cause his friends. Super Sonic could work also totally work as a metaphor for addiction. It's poignant to me because I have some experience with mental illness myself. Even the fact that Sonic doesn't vividly remember what he does as Super Sonic is a draw-able parallel. I'm not suggesting that this was definitely your intent. But I am curious. Do you disagree that Super Sonic works well in that context? If you can remember the process you went through in deciding the way you would portray SS, how did that go? I never thought about portraying any aspect of real mental illness with Super Sonic to be honest. He was just 'evil' and kind of a force of nature or something. If I were to do a character who was representing ideas around metal illness I'd do it rather differently I think and maybe the nearest I came to this subject was Porker Lewis and his nervous breakdown. In this case I was interested in the intolerance of others (Sonic) for somebody who was suffering mental anguish. Super Sonic stated out just as a kind of out of control character and that was it - he might hurt somebody but he wouldn't know what he was doing. As he developed he certainly did know what he was doing. My main thought with Super Sonic (other than the fact he was dangerous) was that he was somebody you simply couldn't reason with, and that he would destroy you in a second without even giving the act careful consideration. Also he really, really loved being who he was. He's just in the moment - doesn't look back and doesn't think about consequences or the future. Kind of an unsophisticated character by design. Early on the character was not well developed (as far as I remember) and this was just about loosing control - an extreme case of doing something nasty when you lose your temper. I always really liked the pacifist Super Sonic. I wasn't saying anything in particular there it was just meant to be an unexpected outcome. The best use of this was to show Ebony willing to gamble with her hunch that he wouldn't turn Super again and kill everyone. But if you see parallels there that's totally valid all I can tell you is that I wasn't thinking along those lines.
|
|
|
Post by mikescrase on Sept 7, 2013 1:09:02 GMT
Hi Nigel, I wanted to ask you this at Summer of Sonic, but I was so starstruck I dropped about half my braincells at the time. Anyway, I, like I imagine many STC readers, am a huge fan of your characterization of Super Sonic. I loved the tension of knowing that he could crop his head up at any time and that not only did he have a link to the protagonist, but in a way was the protagonist themselves. When you think about it, it's a good job that Sonic was such a chilled out guy most of the time, otherwise Mobius might have been in a lot of trouble. In more recent years, thinking about the character, and my own personal experiences, it seems like Super Sonic is a great allegory for mental illness. He's a dark side that Sonic can't control when he rears his head, and has to suppress the rest of the time because of the damage that SS might cause his friends. Super Sonic could work also totally work as a metaphor for addiction. It's poignant to me because I have some experience with mental illness myself. Even the fact that Sonic doesn't vividly remember what he does as Super Sonic is a draw-able parallel. I'm not suggesting that this was definitely your intent. But I am curious. Do you disagree that Super Sonic works well in that context? If you can remember the process you went through in deciding the way you would portray SS, how did that go? I never thought about portraying any aspect of real mental illness with Super Sonic to be honest. He was just 'evil' and kind of a force of nature or something. If I were to do a character who was representing ideas around metal illness I'd do it rather differently I think and maybe the nearest I came to this subject was Porker Lewis and his nervous breakdown. In this case I was interested in the intolerance of others (Sonic) for somebody who was suffering mental anguish. Super Sonic stated out just as a kind of out of control character and that was it - he might hurt somebody but he wouldn't know what he was doing. As he developed he certainly did know what he was doing. My main thought with Super Sonic (other than the fact he was dangerous) was that he was somebody you simply couldn't reason with, and that he would destroy you in a second without even giving the act careful consideration. Also he really, really loved being who he was. He's just in the moment - doesn't look back and doesn't think about consequences or the future. Kind of an unsophisticated character by design.Early on the character was not well developed (as far as I remember) and this was just about loosing control - an extreme case of doing something nasty when you lose your temper. I always really liked the pacifist Super Sonic. I wasn't saying anything in particular there it was just meant to be an unexpected outcome. The best use of this was to show Ebony willing to gamble with her hunch that he wouldn't turn Super again and kill everyone. But if you see parallels there that's totally valid all I can tell you is that I wasn't thinking along those lines. To be honest, that sounds a bit mental illnessey as it is, given that "mental illness" is a pretty vague term. There are theories about the subject that claim that mental illnesses are simply aspects of normal behavior manifesting themselves in abnormal quantities. Perhaps disproportionately with other aspects of human behavior, creating unbalances in a person's thinking that culminate in undesirable effects, at least, undesirable as perceived by the general populace/scientific community. Obviously, even if you had intended to use Super Sonic as a metaphor, you probably would have wanted to keep that metaphor general enough so as not to narrow the scope of people who could relate to it.
|
|
|
Post by Nigel Kitching on Sept 9, 2013 13:20:13 GMT
I really never intended to use Super Sonic as a metaphor in the way I think of that term.
I just wanted to make him a scary as I could (but bearing in mind my audience's likely age of course.
Of course the characters I wrote were meant to have a certain sophistication but in the case of Super Sonic he was actually very simple and pretty two dimensional. This wasn't because I was being simplistic, I just wanted a character who was all on the surface. What you see is what you get - he says he wants to kill you and he really does - he has no detailed agenda.
I would have enjoyed writing a character who dealt with mental illness actually but to do the subject justice and deal with it with appropriate sensitivity would have been a problem in STC. I touched on it with porker but it was alluded to and was not the main aspect of Porker.
Of course, in a very broad and melodramatic fashion, Super Sonic is insane.
Interesting question though, thanks.
|
|
|
Ask Nigel
Sept 9, 2013 13:29:14 GMT
via mobile
Post by L. T. Dangerous on Sept 9, 2013 13:29:14 GMT
Was there ever a script you wrote that you really weren't that pleased with until something clicked into place? Or has there been a story that turned out better than you thought it would? I know creative people are quite often their own harshest critics!
|
|
|
Post by Charles on Sept 19, 2013 20:12:40 GMT
What was the reason behind Super going evil again in the last issue?
|
|
|
Post by ShayMay on Sept 19, 2013 20:22:06 GMT
I was always under the impression that the more Chaos energy Super Sonic had the more evil he became. He was only ever a pacifist when he was depowered. I always thought this was because Sonic absorbed 'evil energy' from the Chaos Emeralds, after Kintobor's experiments on them.
Not to answer the question for Mr. Kitching, of course, as, well, that's probably not the answer at all.
|
|
|
Post by Nigel Kitching on Sept 24, 2013 20:39:31 GMT
Was there ever a script you wrote that you really weren't that pleased with until something clicked into place? Or has there been a story that turned out better than you thought it would? I know creative people are quite often their own harshest critics! I wish I had a good answer for this but I don't really. I always hope everything I write will work out and I'm disappointed when it goes wrong. I had stories where I was struggling to find a good ending but usually it worked out. I did have a bit of a worry with the Knuckles slave ship Kohenyu thing. I was getting very close to the final part and I figured out the ending very late. I even called up Mr Dobbyn and Elson to see if they had any ideas but I don't think they did. But I figure there must have been times that were like you describe I've just forgotten. Maybe I just chose to forget.
|
|
|
Post by Nigel Kitching on Sept 24, 2013 20:40:32 GMT
I was always under the impression that the more Chaos energy Super Sonic had the more evil he became. He was only ever a pacifist when he was depowered. I always thought this was because Sonic absorbed 'evil energy' from the Chaos Emeralds, after Kintobor's experiments on them. Not to answer the question for Mr. Kitching, of course, as, well, that's probably not the answer at all. This could be right I honestly can't remember.
|
|
AoNoChaos
New Boomer
*Insert witty Sonic pun*
Posts: 41
|
Ask Nigel
Sept 26, 2013 0:23:28 GMT
via mobile
Post by AoNoChaos on Sept 26, 2013 0:23:28 GMT
Firstly, I want to thank you for being amazing! I don't read too many comics (I prefer the Japanese stuff) but your writing is one of the reasons I fell in love with STC! You, as well as Mr. Elson, really inspired me to created stories and characters of my own. Onto the point, I've been having this question for many years now and I'm happy to finally have the chance to ask you. See, Super Sonic was the reason I initially discovered STC (ah internet, how I love it). Though I've loved his insanity and destructive tendencies (truly a genius idea), his pacifist phase always intrigued me. I remember the last Super story (before the Chaos saga) there was a footnote that if enough Boomers requested it, more Super stories would be made. What I would love to know is that, was there not enough requests for more SS stories? Or were there just none written? If there were ideas that were never used, do you by chance remember them? I've just always wanted to know as when I was reading through the comics I was excited at the posibilty of more SS stories and was quite dissapointed when there weren't any. I know that if I had been an STC fan during print time (a terrible combination of young age and being a Canadian with no European connections) I would have written dozens of letters. Thanks again for answering all these questions! I read through each post through this thread and made an account just to ask my question
|
|