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Post by Nigel Kitching on Aug 29, 2010 11:26:55 GMT
The cancellation of the comic notwithstanding, were there any stories you wanted to do or characters you wanted to include that you couldn't, either because of space and time constraints or because the editor wasn't fond of them? There were many ideas I didn't get to develop due to either just not getting around to it or some change in editorial policy which made it difficult or impossible. I wanted to develop the Drakon empire thing and introduced various houses. I had plans for that but forget quite what I had in mind - I'd have to go back to my scripts to remind myself. I had to drop Amy because my version was not liked by the editor. I would have liked to use Big - never had the space. I would have liked to resolve some of the stuff with the Floating Island and Knuckles. Hobson and Choy didn't really go anywhere. And probably lots of other stuff too. Of course it's hard to know how many of these undeveloped ideas really had legs - I wouldn't have been able to figure that out until I tried to come up with a plot. Never mistake a good idea with a good story. Some good ideas just don't make a good story, particularly when you need to include a cute blue hedgehog.
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Post by Nigel Kitching on Sept 9, 2010 20:58:32 GMT
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Post by Retro on Sept 9, 2010 21:07:40 GMT
Intriguing looking, is this a foray into animated comics perhaps? Or a video showing proof of concept?
Either way, please do keep up informed on how things go with "Der Golem", please.
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Post by Nigel Kitching on Sept 9, 2010 21:15:58 GMT
Intriguing looking, is this a foray into animated comics perhaps? Or a video showing proof of concept? Either way, please do keep up informed on how things go with "Der Golem", please. It's actually work for my MA - it's supposed to be a demonstration of how you might create a comic strip to be viewed on-line.
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Post by Retro on Sept 9, 2010 21:17:13 GMT
Ah, I see. Well, I know I'd certainly be interested to see what comes from it. Naturally, most of us here will be interested in online comics.
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Tom
Ex-Hume
Hume-who-used-to-think-he-was-in-charge
Posts: 3,786
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Post by Tom on Sept 10, 2010 17:46:01 GMT
Well I hope your ma likes it Nigel, she seems to have done a decent job raising you.
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Post by justlearnstc223 on Oct 7, 2010 0:04:39 GMT
I don't know if I doing this right or not but, I have always wondered why the love triangle with johnny, amy, and sonic was never devloped in stc why is that?
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Post by justlearnstc223 on Oct 7, 2010 0:10:47 GMT
if stc wasn't cancelled would you have some how bring johnny back some how?
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Post by justlearnstc223 on Oct 7, 2010 0:33:44 GMT
i have an idea for a story it tells of johnny in the afterlife and has him flashbacking looking at his own body laying their then it goes on to tell what johnny been though, what he has seen, and who he has been watching over (amy) as a ghost then it goes to tell that mobians never die they just are now un seen watchers of their loved ones. johnny seems sad being a ghost but its not as bad as it was in the beginning. then a flash of light appears to show that its the chaos emeralds and a freind of johnny's in the afterlife tells him he has been selected johnny he replies for what then johnny vanishes in the flash of light then his pal says you'll soon find out my freind and it end that story. the rest of the story I aready ideas for but I have aready wrote to much *ANY WAY* WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY STORY IDEA?
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Post by Retro on Oct 7, 2010 2:40:59 GMT
Hey "justlearn."
Just a handy point out, at the top right of your post there's a button marked "edit." If you could use that, it'll save multi-posts from the same account, okay?
Nigel's pretty good at making sure he see's each and every question, so if you edit them all into one post then he'll still see them all.
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Post by madhair60 on Oct 7, 2010 8:47:31 GMT
Ooh, "Der Golem" looks interesting - presumably inspired by the German Expressionist film. Great atmosphere even in that short clip.
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Post by Nigel Kitching on Oct 10, 2010 11:01:27 GMT
I don't know if I doing this right or not but, I have always wondered why the love triangle with johnny, amy, and sonic was never devloped in stc why is that? There just always seemed to be something else I needed to do - I only got seven pages an issue.
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Post by Nigel Kitching on Oct 10, 2010 11:02:10 GMT
if stc wasn't cancelled would you have some how bring johnny back some how? No. Johnny was dead and he would have stayed dead.
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Post by Nigel Kitching on Oct 10, 2010 11:05:31 GMT
i have an idea for a story it tells of johnny in the afterlife and has him flashbacking looking at his own body laying their then it goes on to tell what johnny been though, what he has seen, and who he has been watching over (amy) as a ghost then it goes to tell that mobians never die they just are now un seen watchers of their loved ones. johnny seems sad being a ghost but its not as bad as it was in the beginning. then a flash of light appears to show that its the chaos emeralds and a freind of johnny's in the afterlife tells him he has been selected johnny he replies for what then johnny vanishes in the flash of light then his pal says you'll soon find out my freind and it end that story. the rest of the story I aready ideas for but I have aready wrote to much *ANY WAY* WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY STORY IDEA? Your story idea sounds fine. But what you have in mind would be quite different to my ideas of course. For one thing I pretty much kept mysticism out of Sonic (it was in the Knuckles stories more). Sonic was a sci-fi strip for me really.
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Post by Nigel Kitching on Oct 10, 2010 11:06:07 GMT
Ooh, "Der Golem" looks interesting - presumably inspired by the German Expressionist film. Great atmosphere even in that short clip. Thanks
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Post by Reddog on Dec 4, 2010 1:42:24 GMT
*Ok, suppress the fan boy giggles now* No...I can't help it...it's coming out! "I can't believe I'm writing a question that might -at some point -be answered by 'the' Nigel Kitching!" ;D Aright, seriously now, we're all pals here, none of that stuck up snobbery, but none the less like so many people here I want to thank you for being one of many people, in all different areas of life, that brought joy into my childhood. And now onto my questions, having patiently read though the whole topic to make sure they were not already asked. My first question relates to Amy and it's in 2-parts really although they might both be both so woven together than there is only one answer. Part 1 – 'Your Amy' During this extremely interesting series of question and replies I've just read you made two separate references to 'your Amy,' ...The business of Amy becoming more 'independent' was what the editor wanted. That wasn't my Amy and when I wasn't allowed to write her my way I just stopped putting her in my stories. This was fine as Lew then wrote her in her own strip.... I had to drop Amy because my version was not liked by the editor. I must admit, of all the things you've this this was the most surprising to me, the reason being that, call me ignorant if you like, but, from the period your referring to, Amy's departure from the main strip and going on on her Quantum Leap escapades across the Universe I did not notice any real chance in her character. True enough, Amy as a character underwent more dramatic revision as a character than probably any other, we all remember the rather agonising one-dimensional 'Sonic groupie' she was early on, causing me, in reference to this portrayal of her character in early STC and sadly, in later Sega, to of been the, 'single-handedly the greatest setback for the women's liberation movement in the last 40-years!' Yes, everyone here appreciated how you turned her into more of a character than a simple Sonic obsessed freak with her dropping the, frankly, sexual harassment of Sonic which I'm not going to go over the top and say was offensive or anything, that really would be going to cloud cook-coo land, it was more of the fact that, there is a simple limit as to how long you as a a reader can find Amy's 'have my babies' gag lines funny before it gets so stale and repetitive that you find it as annoying as Sonic himself. Not to mention that, 'in Universe' it also worked too as you were given the impression that as Amy grew to get to know Sonic as a real person and became a friend she also grew to respect him and genuinely care about him beyond a simple crush, to the point where, knowing that such behaviour annoys him she would not want to do it, actually giving a damn about his feelings. So, getting to my question now, baring all that in mind, that the fundamental character changes had already been done on Amy and I can't really see any difference, what did you mean about the editor not liking 'your version?' What did they have a problem with and what would you have done differently? Please elaborate for us sad obsessive fans. Part 2 'Further Romance' The second part of this Amy question follows this really, as it relates to the future in that glorious golden fantasy world where you were allowed to continue STC. As we are all aware, STC was written with a young audience in mind and so the issue of 'romance,' especially the physical expression of it was always going to be a very touchy subject (no pun intended ) Obviously anything 'too heavy' in that direction was always out of the question and rightly so, however, many other comics and children's cartoons at the time showed it was indeed possible to explore this, with kissing and hugging, without crossing the line and while I know it's not most boomers cup of tea, I thought the Sonic cartoon SatAM did this very successfully with Sonic and Sally's relationship. So what my question is, as it's clearly leading up to, in the most 'non-perverted' way is possible to ask this kind of question that does not make sound like some sad depraved furry, did you have any plans to do anything in this direction in the future? I have to admit, when I read your last Chaos story arch for this first time last week, having missed it the first time around (absolutely outstanding btw) I think there was perhaps a missed opportunity for a 'tender moment' between Amy and Sonic that could have taken things forward and still felt pretty natural, when she wakes him up and talks to him about Johnny, she could of hugged him, told him she was here for him, then pecked him on the cheek lightly in an affectionate way before leaving. On a lighter note on this issue, when I was 12, I actually started writing a letter to STC, which I never finished, asking if Sonic was gay! At the time I thought, even though they'll never print this, maybe it might put some 'pressure' on them have Sonic get his bloody act together with Amy. As for my second question, it's a little personal about how you feel about STC-O. While I take to heart your comments that you've not read it all, from what you have read, it's clear that the really dedicated fans took EVERYTHING you wrote to them in emails to heart, the Grimmer story that has already been commented on here, twice, it was almost as if the writers studied the email you wrote back in 2001 when you described his character as 'pathologically loyal' as their bible, likewise with many other story arches and elements such as the on going stuff with the Hidden Zone that only just recently came to some kind of conclusion, at least for the time being. What I'm trying to say is, while we have no illusions you'd have done things differently, it's not like when Philip K Dick was shown 20-minutes of the footage they'd recorded so far of Blade Runner and he started crying tears of joy before saying to Riddly Scott, "how is this possible? This is EXACTLY how I pictured it in my mind!" None the less, what I'd like to know and I should not even really be asking this since I'm not one of the writers or artists, have we, or rather 'they' those hard working fans, have they made you proud? It's not like we're desperately seeking your approval or anything, even if some of us do feel a real sense of appreciation towards for the great work you did. It's just that, the writers could of written anything they wanted, they could of ignored your ideas in they same tragic way you were ignored before but they chose not to because like me, they believed in you.
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Post by Nigel Kitching on Jan 8, 2011 21:00:32 GMT
I've been putting off dealing with this for a while, but now's the time.
"thank you for being one of many people, in all different areas of life, that brought joy into my childhood."
I appreciate you saying that.
Amy:
I like Amy as the 'Sonic groupie' (as you describe her). I never saw it that way. I saw her as a female 'Screwball' type character that you might see in a 1930/40s Hollywood movie - Claudette Colbert in 'It's a Wonderful World'.
You may not have noticed a difference in my take on her and Lew's. I thought they were very different myself.
'Women's Liberation movement'. Sigh... I don't make this kind of political point with my characters. I want (wanted) to write interesting characters that worked dramatically in my stories. I hate the kind of agenda writing you refer to. Does Sonic give us a good male role model? Does Porker? Why should I insult female readers by talking down to them by writing a positive, superior, in-control female character. Why can't the female characters be [censored]ed up like the others?
'Sexual harassment?' Give me strength - she embarrassed him by being a bit flirty.
If you found the flirty stuff became stale very quickly that's your prerogative.
Did Amy ever really have a crush on Sonic? - even I don't know the answer to this.
"Not to mention that, 'in Universe' it also worked too as you were given the impression that as Amy grew to get to know Sonic as a real person and became a friend she also grew to respect him and genuinely care about him beyond a simple crush, to the point where, knowing that such behaviour annoys him she would not want to do it, actually giving a damn about his feelings. "
This is your interpretation and not one I personally recognise.
I think that as Amy became involved with the Freedom Fighters Sonic just became a lot more ordinary and flawed in Amy's eyes. She cared about him but not any more than she did about the others. She did realise he was the important one though.
Your question:
I was writing Amy how I wanted to. Deb told me she wanted her to be different and more PC. Deb believed that because she was the only female character she needed to be more 'perfect' as she solely represented the female audience. She needed to be self-reliant and 'better' than those around her and no appearing to fancy Sonic. I explained my view (as above), I wrote a story where I tried to satisfy myself and Deb. Deb wasn't satisfied so I decided to stop using Amy.
I wouldn't have done anything differently, I don't think.
Romance. A lot (well a fair few anyway) seem to want to see Sonic type characters fall in love with each other and some want to see them getting it on. Possible to do some romantic stuff I suppose. But I didn't have any characters with those feeling for each other except for perhaps Johnny.
But I had no plans for romance. I've seen it done so badly elsewhere. I'm not sure it works well with 'cute' characters. I certainly didn't want to write hugs and kisses for the characters. I don't know why this seems inappropriate for the series as written by me. My instinct tells me it's not a good idea and a bit weird.
And for the life of me I'm not sure why I feel this way.
I quite like strong emotional feeling to be understated (in fiction) and leave the audience to fill in the blanks. But to use Johnny's death to create a romantic situation between Sonic and Amy was not what I was after at all. The scene was about guilt and responsibility and bravery. It was about Sonic and his relationship with those whom he (in his view) puts in harm’s way.
If I'd wanted a tender Sonic/Amy moment I'd have found another way of doing it I think.
Nothing wrong with your idea - just it's not an idea that personally appeals to me. I wasn't looking for the opportunity you claim that I have missed.
Your unfinished letter - you clearly have a strong desire to see romance between Sonic and Amy that goes way back. You appear to think that Sonic was supposed to have a romantic relationship with Amy. I didn't see it like this.
I love STC-O, there's been some great stuff which I have read and I'm sure some great stuff I have not. Having my stories followed on in this way is a huge compliment. When it all began I was asked about what ideas I had which were never produced (which was very little as I recall) but I have never tried to influence what is done here in any way.
Hope none of the above appears to be rude. I've just tried to be straight forward. I have to say this need for romance between cute little animals with no sexual equipment is a bit strange to me. True I could have included it and there may have been a way to do it well. What I don't get is how much you missed it not being there in any up front way.
But then again I showed death and destruction and you could argue that that is no more appropriate to the cute characters than romance.
Truth is I don't know how it came to be that I never used romance more. It was just my instinctss as a writer I guess.
But you've made me think about this and if I have any more insights I'll come back to you.
Nigel
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Post by thesimonb on Jan 11, 2011 22:43:06 GMT
Hi Nigel, Recently I found a few issues of StC I had and got very nostalgic. Sadly I got into it quite late (173 or so I think) so I was never really up to speed with everything, but I just wanted to say that your contribution to the comic is one of the things I look very fondly upon when I think back to when I was younger. As for a question, hmm... what was your personal favourite strip? Be it writing it or whatever, but which one did you just find.. the 'best'? Haha. Cheers, Simon
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Post by Nigel Kitching on Jan 12, 2011 18:06:45 GMT
Hi Nigel, Recently I found a few issues of StC I had and got very nostalgic. Sadly I got into it quite late (173 or so I think) so I was never really up to speed with everything, but I just wanted to say that your contribution to the comic is one of the things I look very fondly upon when I think back to when I was younger. As for a question, hmm... what was your personal favourite strip? Be it writing it or whatever, but which one did you just find.. the 'best'? Haha. Cheers, Simon Hi Simon Can't really give you a favourite strip. It was great working with Rich on Sonic and Nigel of Knuckles. But then again I was very pleased to be allowed to write and draw Decap and do pretty much what I fancied.
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Post by Supermorff on Jan 16, 2011 12:38:58 GMT
"and, if I recall correctly, you were a large part of the driving force behind making Robotnik dictator of Mobius." Well I wrote the story that introduced the idea. The idea was agree upon between me and the editor when I was offered the job of defining the Sonic Universe and creating a Writers Guide. I don't consider the idea as mine exactly the whole freedom fighter thing came from somebody at Sega (did the cartoon series have something like this?). I just did the idea in my own way. After the first story my editor suggested that I didn't make the whole thing too fascist. Hi Mr Kitching! I've been reading through some of your old comments and I find the idea of a "writers' guide" very interesting. I don't suppose you have any remaining copies that you could post online or share some other way? If not, could you please describe what sort of things the guide contained? Did you write it just at the beginning of your contract, or was it updated later on?
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Post by Devo DrakeFox on Jan 16, 2011 13:27:14 GMT
Hello, Mr. Kitching!
I've been contributing a fair few pages to the STC Wikia and I there are some slight details regarding the comic that no readers know that I thought you might know. Concerning some of the many Badnik designs in the comic that weren't taken from the Sonic games: most of these Badniks never had names printed in the comic and I was wondering if you or any of the other staff had come up with names for them? Did you come up with any names when designing them or was it simply a case of "Badnik Design No. 12345"?
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Post by Knuckles on Jan 18, 2011 13:58:28 GMT
I have a couple of questions for you if you don't mind. And thanks again for answering my Knuckles question a while ago, it still makes me smile that the man I grew up reading his comics and being inspired by took the time out to answer a question I asked.
Anyways... Would you ever consider writing a "complete story" for STC-O. I'm not suggesting you get involved in writing their universe, because the folks in charge now are doing a great job, but it's obvious by the fact you take the time out to visit this message board you still care deeply for the work you did on STC and I for one would love to see you write one last story for STC-O
My second question is once again regarding Knuckles. You say you had many ideas you never got to develop, and there were things about the Floating Island you would have liked to resolve. My question is did you have further plans to explore Knuckles as a tribal warrior who did not remember any of his past? If so, can you remember what these ideas were?
And for what it's worth: I think the idea of Amy and Sonic as a couple would never have worked due to the type of character Sonic is. He doesn't like his friends to see his weak side, he's constantly focused and determined to be the hero and a relationship would not have suited his character at all. Too many slash fic writers wanting what doesn't make sense to the universe I feel. Amy had a little girl's crush on Sonic at the start of the strip and she grew out of it to become a hero in her own right. Sure, she may have had feelings for Sonic even at the end, but I'm sure she knew Sonic never felt that way for her, or anyone. Sonic is a character who hates weakness. This is shown when Porker quits the Freedom Fighters. To him, being in a relationship with anyone and showing his weaknesses is not possible. He'd never be able to do it and it would have been poor writing to have him do this.
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Post by Nigel Kitching on Jan 22, 2011 16:19:11 GMT
Hello, Mr. Kitching! I've been contributing a fair few pages to the STC Wikia and I there are some slight details regarding the comic that no readers know that I thought you might know. Concerning some of the many Badnik designs in the comic that weren't taken from the Sonic games: most of these Badniks never had names printed in the comic and I was wondering if you or any of the other staff had come up with names for them? Did you come up with any names when designing them or was it simply a case of "Badnik Design No. 12345"? I actually don't recall ever coming up with my own Badnik - apart from the Troopers or course.
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Post by Nigel Kitching on Jan 22, 2011 16:31:59 GMT
Ever since the online strips started I thought it would be fun to write something. However I can think of a dozen reasons why it would not be a good idea. Then again I do have this start of an idea I would really like to work on. Should I write something?
I did have all kinds of half-ideas for Knuckles. I wanted to work with his past but not introduce a horde of echidnas into the current continuity. Zachary needed a back story. Just how did Knuckles end up alone on the Floating Island anyhow? Once all of the Floating Island is repaired just what is it capable of and what are its secrets?
But as for specific stories, I never really got that far.
But that reminds me I found some of my old notebooks full of ideas and rough scripts and so on. One day I'll look at these and if there is anything interesting I'll let you know. Of course interesting to me does not actually guarantee it's interesting to anyone else.
I don't think Sonic despises weakness. When Porker quit, Sonic got scared - he didn't want to lose Porker. His petulant response was about how he simply hasn't the emotional equipment to deal with a situation like that. Sonic, deep down, is afraid of the possibility of his own inadequacy.
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Post by Supermorff on Jan 22, 2011 20:46:39 GMT
Hi again, Mr Kitching,
I'm going to hope that the reason you seem to have skipped over my last question is because you're at this very moment digging out your old Writers Guide... but maybe you just didn't spot the question? I promise I'm not going to mind if the answer ends up being "No, sorry."
Also, I say 'yes please' to writing something new, and I would personally love to hear about anything you get out of those notebooks!
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