Ken Penders

Kenneth W. Penders, II (born September 28, 1958) is an American comics artist and writer. He is known for his work on the Archie Comics series Sonic the Hedgehog and its Knuckles the Echidna spin-off, which he contributed to from 1993 to 2006, and subsequent lawsuits involving them.

After leaving Archie, Penders filed for copyright over works he created for the comics, amounting to hundreds of characters and concepts. Archie sued Penders to retain the rights, but ultimately lost them, and in 2013 rebooted the Sonic comic to remove all of Penders's characters. Penders attempted to sue Sega and EA Games in 2011, for alleged plagiarism of one of his concept in the 2008 video game Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, but was dismissed.

In 2010, Penders announced The Lara-Su Chronicles, a graphic novel series that would continue his storyline Mobius: 25 Years Later, using his characters. In June 2024, after 13 years of development, he released The Lara-Su Chronicles: Beginnings, a hardcover compilation of his storyline comics and two preview chapters of the first Lara-Su book. Penders, his work, and the lawsuits are controversial within the Sonic fandom, with some fans blaming him for the Archie Sonic series' eventual cancellation in 2016.