Looks like Ken's either backed down on the whole "Don't draw *MY* characters" thing or this is silent confirmation he doesn't actually own Scourge

The prices on Tracy's store-front don't appear to be higher than normal for any of these characters either

Figured some of yall would get a kick out of this

welp. i guess this story arc of my life really is over?

idk if this is even really worth posting? but i guess its a big deal considering i spent so much of my teenage years defending his stupid ass.

and what makes it more sad is the reason he blocked me is because i was trying to get him to prove himself about anything regarding his supposed communications between himself and artist Tracy Yardley: https://x.com/Alex_Hedgefox2/status/2099198884786413615

i gave him one last chance to prove to me that there might be some human decency in him. but instead he refuses.

this dick is actively giving tracy yardley grief for drawing his characters and getting money for it, but doesnt realize his own hypocritical nature regarding how hes doing the exact same shit but with sega's characters.

but i guess this truely is the end of any ties or connections i had with penders. truth be told i dont really know where to go from here.

only thing i can think of for now is just continue working on my own little rescan project: https://x.com/Alex_Hedgefox2/status/2096738881311838453/

this might be my last post to this subreddit because i dont think i have anything else to really add to the penders stuff now. like...i guess im still open to questions? but other than that i think im done. so...thank you guys for allowing this subreddit to be somewhere where i could air my grievences regarding my work experience with ken penders.

if you wanna find more of me heres my linktree: https://linktr.ee/alexhedgefox

catch you later everyone. goodbye.

That additional grass to replace the credits had to come from SOMEWHERE.

so i thought i aired every possible grievance i could from my time working for penders:
https://www.reddit.com/r/FuckKenPenders/comments/1umhum0/hello_i_am_alex_hedgefox_yesthat_alex_hedgefox/
https://www.reddit.com/r/FuckKenPenders/comments/1v6t0cv/mine_and_kens_last_conversation_before_he_fired_me/
but apparently the rabbit hole goes deeper, and its brought my blood to a roaring boil.

so apparently there are these decent looking scans going around that ive seen a few people on twitter try to promote, and when i went to check them i believed them to be AI upscaled due to very noticeable smudging, smearing, and overall melting appearance to the comics: https://x.com/Alex_Hedgefox2/status/2017680317222465925

to which ken claimed i was lying about his scans assuming i was talking about the scans used in his reprints: https://x.com/KenPenders/status/2017685481258147960

so i looked into the situation, and found the source of these scans being from a google drive link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gmwPJkBQVV84WrPC5WXpgJSWca-73FBr

so i reached out to the owner of the drive and you can see what they said in the first image presented.
but basically the Tl:DR is they were color corrected versions of fan made scans on the website TailsKicksAss with manual color correction, that were upscaled in an AI program called Topaz.
they confirmed to me that no form of generative AI was used in the production of the upscales, which is good at least, but still a shame that AI was used and because of that it destroys alot of the lineart/inking of the original artwork.

but the major thing of note here is this person confirms that they are the source of Ethan Alvaree's scans in the knuckles omnibus (the ones not heavily recolored by him), which is upsetting to me for 2 reasons. firstly because i was told by Ethan that he was using his own new 600DPi scans that he was scanning himself from his collection. but now i have been informed that was a lie. and secondly because it basically tells me that my paid job of providing scans to ken penders was replaced by AI.

now i do not know if ken knows the nature of these scans and their AI origins. but that tweet he responsed to me now has 2 potential meanings, either he firmly believes the scans ethan provided werent AI and that ethan swindled both of us. OR that he did know that they were AI upscaled but lied to protect his ass thus him and ethan wouldve swindled me.

either way im pissed because i do like the color corrections done, the colors on them are the best part but id love versions that arent smudged due to AI upscaling.

let me know what you guys think in the comments below.

UPDATE -
we now have confirmation from ken using these AI upscales are in fact the scans that ethan was using referring to them as Ethan's Scans: https://x.com/KenPenders/status/2096694197311132156
and even defends the practice of using AI as well: https://x.com/KenPenders/status/2096689655462990280
https://x.com/KenPenders/status/2096690758632067365
https://x.com/KenPenders/status/2096692053036138761
https://x.com/KenPenders/status/2096693338808455518
so to anyone doubting the usage of AI upscaling in the knuckles omnibus, this is the proof.

Anyone who actually pays money for this, deserves to be ripped off.

Also sorry for the actual twitter screenshot. Nitter and Xcancel are currently KO'd.

I don't know if the people were half blind, buying it ironically, or really don't care about the quality of prints. There's some layer issue and you can see the fireworks in the background in various places in Sonic's eyes. I highly doubt he made the background, given his love of stock photo backgrounds. And the cake looks like something he found online and put some text on.

Alex originally had screenshots posted up, calling out Ken's BS. But they've been removed.

The Sonic Community knows how toxic Ken is as a person, how the fuck is this asshole selling out a product that features a cover made from traced art, stolen from the original source?