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The Games area is now being taken apart and everything in it will now be in their corresponding sections of the side on the Media section of the menu. We are currently adding other forms of media to the site as well. Look for more new additions in the coming weeks.

With our comics section being hit by my recent fiasco with Sega and others, we are focusing on expanding other sections of the site. One major change will be coming to the Fan Art section. We are still collaborating to find what will work best, so it may be awhile before it is all finished. But I just wanted to post a quick update to let everyone know that we haven’t abandoned you. We are only planning on improving the site to make it more useful.

If any of you are Sonic Fan Artists, join our deviantArt group if you want to be involved in any way! For now, enjoy our new Easter layout! And to mark the new direction the site is taking, check out a sneak peak of our new logo up above that was designed by our long-time contributor, Hazard-the-Porgoyal!

Kellie Parker from SEGA told me that I could leave the Archie comics on the site in a phone conversation. But after hearing backlash from so many people about being allowed to keep the Archie comics on the site, I sent Ms. Parker an email asking her to confirm that I can still post the Archie comics. Of course, I was ignored since I didn’t threaten her with re-posting the Egmont-Fleetway comics or anything else along those lines.

The more I think about it, the more I wonder, does Kellie Parker even have the right to say who can and who can’t post Archie’s Sonic comics online? If we’ve learned anything over the past decade, it’s that SEGA has terrible business practices. They claim to be republishing the Egmont-Fleetway comics, but their writers and artists seem to know nothing about it. And I still wonder why other sites that post the comics haven’t had to remove theirs.

I am just tired of the drama that has been going on with this site ever since Kellie first told me to remove the Egmont-Fleetway comics and I do not want anymore. I barely have the time to keep up with posting them as it is. And since so many people seem to have a problem with me sharing them, I am taking them all down. All that will remain will be the Sonic Promo comic and the manga, that is, unless you don’t want me to post those either.

[ADDED]

Removing the Archie comics from the site was my fault, no one else’s. Although a lack of communication on SEGA’s part had some play in the matter as well as user remarks about how I shouldn’t be allowed to keep them on the site either. My main reasoning for removing them was the constant worry that I would be contacted one day down the road to take them down anyway.

That’s why I asked Kellie if it was alright to keep the Archie comics on the site. Of course, a phone conversation doesn’t hold up to well unless it was recorded. So I emailed her on December 21 asking her to verify it for me. I knew to wait until after New Years for a response, but it never came. I resent the email the other day just to make sure she got my first one, and I never got a reply. So I figured it would be in everyone’s best interest to remove the Archie comics too.

I knew that Archie knew the comics were on the site, but they have never contacted me. They were using two logos that I designed for the site on their Yahoo store page. But as soon as I mention that on the site, they replaced them with their own logos. That had me wondering if they removed the logos because they were going to tell me to take the comics down from the site.

The lack of communication on Parker’s end did frustrate me but I have no hard feelings for her or SEGA. I know that she has to get a response from other people as well. Maybe she contacted Archie and they never got back with her. I was just tired of the whole waiting game altogether. I put the comics on the site for people to enjoy, and it seemed to just be upsetting people instead.

By the way, I did get a response from Kellie shortly after posting that I was removing all of the Archie comics. Unfortunately, it was a reply to my first email asking if it was alright to mention the republishing on the site…. But I have yet to hear anything about the Archie comics. And I don’t care if I do at this point. What is done is done and this site will be taking a huge hit from this as most of my visitors came to read the comics. But it’s better than soiling the site’s name.

~Joseppi

After not getting a reply after 24 hours, I posted the news. Soon after, I was told to remove the post. But by the time I did, the news was already spreading across the internet like wildfire. I talked to SoA’s Kellie Parker earlier today about the entire situation and she let me know that the delay in response time was because she had to ask the people over at SEGA of Europe and the timezone difference caused them to not get back with her until the next work day. But I do have to keep the comics removed from the site.

As for the republishing of the series; it is something that has yet to be started and the circumstances are not clearly known at this time. Considering one of the comic’s primary contributors, Nigel Kitching doesn’t even know about the republishing, it is hard to tell what is going on. SEGA may be republishing the series, or they may just be rebooting it altogether. All I can do now is keep my nose clean and do what SEGA has asked of me.

Now some of you may wonder why I am allowed to post the Archie comics which are still running and not the Egmont-Fleetway comics. This is most likely because I only post older issues which if anything, would make people want to buy the new stories. I will continue to the old Archie comics until I am told that I no longer can. And speaking of which, here are this month’s comics!

Upon reading the e-mail, I assumed someone from another site that posts StC scans was spoofing a SEGA e-mail address just to get me to remove my comics. I replied back demanding some proof. That was when she told me to call her on the phone to verify that it was her. I did and that’s when I was told the “information” that I previously posted on the site. I also asked her about the Archie scans that I have and she said they are fine, they just wanted me to remove Fleetway’s Sonic the Comic. More emails ensued but I am not yet sure on what all I can talk about.

I have read a few posts online about people thinking there is something “shady” about me posting that. I was told certain things but was never told that I couldn’t mention them until I already had done so. So at this point, I don’t even know what to believe. Now I am starting to think I’ve been doped by someone. But all will be known very soon as StC writer/artist Nigel Kitching has also contacted me saying that he knows nothing about the comics being republished. He also asked for Kellie Parker’s contact information. I am sorry about leaving everyone in the dark, but there is not much that I feel I can do at the time until more information is revealed.

~Joseppi

In the past year, I went back to school and got engaged, which gives me less time than I use to have to keep up with the site. And when I do get around to posting the comics, I have to hurry and rush through the process. And I don’t like having to do that, as it can make the quality of the site go down.

The site has become more about comics than anything else. That wasn’t what I completely envisioned for it.

So to solve these problems, I have decided to post the comics on a monthly basis instead of the weekly routine I have done for the past two years. Doing this, I will also have more time for other parts of the site as well. I hope this doesn’t come as to much of an inconvenience to all of you comic fans, but it is for the best. Because in the end, the quality of the site is what matters most. In the next couple of weeks, I will be putting up a new Archie Sonic Special. And then the next round of comics will be put up within the next month. Please continue to enjoy the site and thank you all for the loyalty!

~Joseppi