Burning Down the Rumor Mill

The general points I try to leave out for people often get eclipsed by larger journal entries, so I'm going to start putting that first.  

Are you REALLY Ian Flynn?  The comic guy?
Yes I am.  You can check out my website and my body of work at www.BumbleKing.com

Awesome!  I love your art in the comics!
That's flattering - but I don't do the art.  I'm the writer.  I compose the manuscripts the art team uses to produce the book.  I've done concept art, though.  Some you can find here on dA, some you can find in the graphic novel collections.  I'm a decent doodler, but I leave the REAL art to the skilled professionals.

Read my fan-fic!  Look at my fan-art!  Use my fan-concept!
No, nope, nuh-uh.  This would open me up to allegations of intellectual theft.  There's a lot of really creative fans out there, and they produce a lot of cool stuff.  What if I accidentally re-used someone else's idea down the road?  Some folks would be flattered, others would be enraged I "stole" from them.  For my protection - and to protect the fandom - I limit any fan-material to fan-art of official characters.

I want to talk to you!
I wish I could keep in touch with everyone, but I really don't have the time.  Your best bet is to voice your thoughts on my forum - www.BumbleKing.com/forum.  Comments and notes through dA will be read, but I don't know when, and I don't know if I'll reply.  I can only keep up so many avenues of correspondence, y'know?

So... why are you on dA then?
Mostly to keep up with old friends, some artists I like, and to share some concept art from time to rare time.

I love the comics!  I share them with my friends on dA!
The enthusiasm is appreciated, but you're breaking the law.  People have to buy the books to get the content.  That money becomes profit for Archie and ensures they keep producing the book and I keep my job.  Putting up scans for free loses Archie money.  And there's the whole illegal angle.  So if you've got full scans up, I'd appreciate you taking them down.  (Not like I can do anything about it, but still...)

I HATE you.
Sorry to hear that.  Say what you will, but keep it civil.  If you decide to be vulgar and/or profane, I'm hiding your comment.  It'll stay there - you'll know I'll have read it - but I won't force other people to endure your foul language.

Right, so, there's been a lot of talk and discussion on Sally's redesign.  Some of it has been good: folks understanding the situation, the thinking behind it, and the over-all nature of the book.  There's also been some bad: LOTS of rumors growing out of control, and a lot of what I've said being misinterpreted.  And some of that is, ultimately, my fault.  I can't talk about a lot of what's going on behind the scenes or what our long-term plans are, and so my vagueness is causing confusion.  So here's some added info that will have to be taken at face value, and then I've got to drop the topic.  I don't want to make a mess of things.

Sally!  WHY?!
I can't really comment on it much right now since it's only a rough teaser image and part of a larger game plan.  But suffice it to say: Sally (and the SatAM cast) are old, out-dated, niche characters.  If they're to survive, they need to mesh with the way the Sonic franchise looks today.  There's a lot of rumors flying around (some hilarious, some baffling) so stop to ask where's the source of someone's rumor is.  If "they heard" it's bunkus.  If "Ian said!" they better have a link.

Just keep these things in mind:
- does she still have her auburn hair?  Yes.
- does she still have a vest? Yes.
- does she still have boots? Yes.
- is she still a brown chipmunk? Yes.

Pants aren't going ruin her character.  She'd be a pretty shallow, terrible character if that were true.

Sally's now going to be younger/immature/too happy/too different/not enough different
Once again - this is rough concept art meant as a teaser.  It is not meant to unify the entirety of her subplot into a single image.  When we revealed the original Mecha Sally design last year, did it betray her redesign, weaponization, and entire subplot?  Of course not.  I can see where folks spinning out their theories, but it's mostly conjecture.  These "facts" are all fan-theory at this point.

Yeah, well, the reveal ruined the surprise!
I'd say "yeah, well, you're the one who looked" but this is the internet.  Dodging bullets is easier than dodging spoilers.  But, again, when we did the teaser reveal of Mecha Sally, did that spoil the entirety of her subplot?  I'd think not, given it's still going on.  Does this one teaser say when, how, and at what cost she'll change back?  Nope.  And c'mon - who seriously thought she wouldn't change back?  The alternatives would be to keep her a robot (which would wear out the novelty) or kill her.  Look at the explosive reactions to her getting a design change.  I think the internet would explode if we'd killed her.

You're just trying to kill SatAM forever you hateful SEGA-lover!
No.  If I wanted to kill that aspect of the franchise, it'd be dead.  I could've wiped it out at "Genesis."  I could have Dr. Eggman nuke them all in one panel and never speak of it again.  These characters have survived solely thanks to the Archie books, I'm a fan of them, and I'd like to preserve them for as long as I can - however I can.

Is this set in stone? For sure? I want to rejoice/lament/bomb your house
I honestly don't know.  I like it just fine, but there's been a LOT of scrutiny, and I think some folks have made some good and/or interesting points.  And I'm not the only one who listens to fan-input.  So maybe it will be tweaked.  Or maybe this is the final design.  You'll have to wait and see.

Why all the random game tie-ins?  Why interrupt it with the crossover?
You know I have no control over that, right?  I just write the stories.  I have a lot of creative freedom, but these properties don't belong to me.  When SEGA or Capcom says "Do this story for us, and do it now" that's what happens.  That's just the nature of the business.  I'm not the big decision maker - I'm just part of the process.

Can't you just tell them "No, not right now?"
Sure we could.  And then we'd all be fired and the comics would be canceled.  I much prefer to have fun side-stories and awesome crossovers instead, don't you?

Oh, and one more...

Are the new clothes coming from parental complaints over Sally's nakedness?
For pity's sake no!  Yes, there are people out there who would object, but they are of the smallest minority (and need a new hobby).  People getting hot and bothered about "nude" cartoon animals (both for and against)  are the furthest thing from my mind.  These aren't fully realize anthropomorphic entities, they're colorful cartoons with passing likenesses to human anatomy.  For the love all things sensible, would somebody think it racy if I put a couple of parentheses next to each other?  ( ( - woo! Scandalous!

Is there a level of hypocrisy in how nudity is treated between male and female cartoon characters?  Sure.  Is it unique to SONIC?  Not by a long shot.  Folks can debate all they want about the morality or political repercussions, but on our end it's very simple: SONIC-females are fully clothed, ergo Sally now wears clothes.