Is Imitation Really Flattering?

By Mike Pellerito

Is imitation really flattering, or does inspiration and originality not matter all that much??

If Archie Comics turns everything on its ear and wanted to publish a Vertigo type, mature reader style of comics, I could edit and make them successful. In all honesty I'd stop writing this column, obviously, and start writing a column on the virtues of mature themed comics. Maybe call it Entertainment For Elder Age. Or not, but you get the idea. If you spend countless hours everyday working on something, you might as well support and more importantly enjoy the product. Lots of friends in comics ask for some of my thoughts on different projects they are working on. To be honest it is extremely flattering. Certainly I have no shortage of ideas, and if someone can benefit from them, all the better. Make something that exists better, fine. Make it from the ground up, no prob. Gimme’ the specs, the deadline, the budget, and we're off. Of course it will be different and lots of fun.

That being said, no idea is truly original, or hasn’t been done better before you. Think you have a great cover layout in mind? Well some Flemish painter born probably did the same layout 500 years before your grandparents were even thought about. So, where does that leave us now?

Certainly living in the here and now can be brutally double edged. Currently tons of brilliant material is at our fingertips. Some retread the old same ideas with a re-imaging of a story we have seen a million times before. Others take a fresh look at what has gone on before, mix in something new with the familiar and help create new worlds fertile with originality, yet still firmly planted in nostalgia.

Put a new spin on the old idea, a new wrinkle, a new complication, something only your mind can come up with. It is that extra boost, the need to push harder, to try and stand shoulder to shoulder with the best of the best. When those copycats who can't seem to come up with a new idea, show their true colors, colors probably lifted from someone else's palette, it's like knowing you're the only car in the race with a full tank of gas.

On those rare occasions, you get to be a part of a team, a fleet of racers, all with a full tank and nothing but pedal to the metal mentality. When every thing clicks, you know the race is in the bag. That happens to be the case with this next project

Sonic the Hedgehog #172, on sale now, and is an example of that, break neck creativity, of embracing a medium and pushing it to its limits. Pretty much from day one it was obvious that writer Ian Flynn and penciller Tracy Yardley! were destined to be the talents the book needed. Steven butler had moved on to other projects and couldn’t handle the full time duties of penciling Sonic. (One such project was the New look Betty & Veronica project you have been hearing about.) With already set veterans on the comic like inker Jim Amash, letterer John Workman and colorist Jason Jensen it certainly feels like we are making the Sonic the Hedgehog comic better than it has ever been.

So for your viewing pleasure here is little behind the scenes look at the making of Sonic the Hedgehog #172. The script, the pencils (note how Mr. Yardley! includes balloon placement in his layouts. A real draftsman) and of course the final page as printed. Check out the little things like the trail of smoke and dust from Amy as she high tails it (pun intended) to smash Fiona. And when the hammer smacks the floor the smoke around the hit makes a heart shape. Little bits of storytelling like that have been making this run really enjoyable not only for the fans, but for the people working on it as well.

Take a look at the script and pages yourself. If you like it, Sonic the Hedgehog #172 is on sale now.

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG – "TRUTH OF THE HEART"
STH #172 - Lead

PAGE ONE

PANEL 1 - Largest panel on the page. We're in almost worm's-eye-view (2/3rds below). FIONA is at left-center, caught in mid-turn as she looks to the sky in alarm. AMY ROSE comes down from the sky, mallet raised high over her head and screaming lividly. Be careful of AMY's skirt, especially given this perspective.
Title above FIONA's head and credits along the top and bottom of the panel.
GENERAL NOTE: All of this takes place around the exterior of FREEDOM HQ and the surrounding GREAT FOREST. (see S#160)

AMY (burst balloon)
How could you?!

FIONA
WHOA!

TITLE: Truth of the Heart

CREDITS

Writer: IAN FLYNN
Artist: TRACY YARDLEY
Inker: JIM AMASH
Letterer: JOHN WORKMAN
Colorist: JASON JENSEN
Cover Art: PATRICK “SPAZ” SPAZIANTE
Editor: MIKE PELLERITO
Managing Editor: VICTOR GORELICK
Editor in Chief: RICHARD GOLDWATER
Special thanks to Robert Leffler and Dyna Lopez at Sega licensing.

PANEL 2 - FIONA takes a hop-step backwards (towards panel-left). AMY lands, swinging her mallet down. The mallet crashes into the ground immediately in front of FIONA. If you can manage to make it semi-subtle, have dust and bits of dirt from the impact heart-shaped.

AMY
We trusted you!
SONIC trusted you
With his heart!

FIONA
Would you hold on a second?!

PANEL 3 - We sit on AMY's shoulder as she hefts her mallet. FIONA is both annoyed and disturbed. FIONA looks ready to leap out of the way again, too.

FIONA
What's this all about?

AMY
Don't play dumb with me!

The plan was to talk about another big inspiration and how a bit of misplaced information might have caused me to miss out on one of the best comic series All Ages or otherwise. That will have to wait for another time, as it deserves more attention than this week allows. So next Tuesday, we'll have a day-by-day break down on all the cool stuff that has gone on each day of the NY Comic Con.

Just one last bit of inspiration. You may have heard this song or seen this new video for the band U2’s new song “Window in the Skies”. It is a real fun song, and you’ll notice some of the biggest personalities in music”singing” along to the song. This has been helping to charge the creative batteries lately. Well worth the read and the look, and of course it is All Ages friendly: CLICK HERE

Send your thoughts or if you are looking for mailing info to send in projects for the Recommend Reading list, send it here: MikeP@SilverBulletComicbooks.com


Check out some new All Ages reads on sale this week:

DEC063308 ARCHIE #573 $2.25
DEC063310 ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #177 $3.69
DEC063325 VERONICA #178 $2.25
DEC062374 MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS VOL 2 MISCHIEF
DIGEST TP $6.99
DEC062297 SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE #15 $2.99
DEC060257 CARTOON NETWORK BLOCK PARTY #30 $2.25
DEC060254 TEEN TITANS GO #40 $2.25
DEC063421 BART SIMPSON COMICS #34 $2.99