Ron Lim: Archie Sonic Comics’ WORST Artist (Sonic Video Essay)

How did this guy get to pencil Archie Sonic art for 6 whole years? Did no one even pick up one of the comics and take a look inside for once?

Music credits are in the video above.

Check out these channels!

Switch Friend Code: SW-6781-7058-1025

Discord Tag: Strister#3948

Those Wacky Tags:#roadto1k#SonicRangers#SonicFrontiers#Sonic2022#SonicMovie2#Stopmotion#Sonic #sonicthehedgehog #sega #sonicmovie #nintendo #sonicfanart #memes #art #amyrose #sonicmemes #sonicboom #sonicx #videogames #sonicart #sonamy #r #shadowthehedgehog #sonicteam #sonicmania #gaming #sonicadventure #anime #hondasonic #tails #knuckles #sonicthehedgehogmovie #knucklestheechidna #tailsthefox #fanart #bhfyp

[Strister_Real]

Just a quick mentioning that I meant the main story of issue 85 instead of the seconday story at 2:28 If I made any additional errors please let me know in the comments below!

[riahlexington]

Don’t worry this isn’t the worst art I’ve seen today. I saw Butch Hartman draw Timmy Turner and I need to lie down.

[CautionCat]

Honestly man, Ken Penders is the absolute worst artist from the Archie comics. This guy can at least draw somewhat cartoonish without falling into uncanny valley.

[zestytriss]

His art is bad but he is a better artist than Ken Penders.

[soulsparx]

i honestly love how ron lim drew eggman. he looks so... off...but, like, in a good way. he's obviously human, but he just looks...wrong. he's so unsettling and offputting in the best kind of way

[IAmBuddythedecibwave]

Looks like this guy had been drawing human anatomic accuracy so long that he didn't really know how to interpret a more cartoonish style. I have had a similar problem before. Different styles present learning curves. I'm just glad he somewhat overcame that barrier towards the end.

[MadameSomnambule]

His interpretation of Sonic kinda gives off Invader Zim vibes due to the proportions.

[Peachysodabum]

I loved how you took into account that his art improved. I think it might have been difficult for him to switch from drawing superhero human comics to such a heavily stylized animal comic, so it makes sense why his art-style looks so bizarre.

[ficklefitz]

eggmans shoulders pointing upwards i feel gives him a more "im trying to show my power against you" kinda vibe, always having them be raised in alert, all the while having his arms be big n bulky anyways, adds an extra shape or two that adds unique style for such a rounded character. Shows that he's not just a soft joke, he could actually throw a punch or two if he wanted

[keepingates]

i'll be honest, i actually quite like this style. yeah, tv eyes are weird as hell, but whenever he doesn't draw them this way, some panels can look really damn cool with the lanky limbs and long quills. sure, it's not the peak of archie sonic, but it has a distinct vibe to it which i greatly respect and enjoy

[FancifulDancingStar]

When Ron Lim draws stuff for Marvel or DC, his art's actually pretty good. I think that's just the thing, is that he's more used to drawing humans (especially superheroes), but didn't have enough experience drawing cartoony anthros. And really, that's the thing about art. It's a set of skills you develop, and just because you get good at drawing one thing, doesn't mean you're gonna be good at drawing anything and everything.

[RaccoonRevolution]

Something I've noticed after reading a lot of comics is that a lot of the time an artist who's extremely competent at drawing in a mostly realistic style will struggle with more stylized, cartoony characters. You go through Marvel's back catalog for instance, and you'll see a lot of artists who clearly weren't comfortable drawing Howard the Duck.

[ZeroDeMighty]

I never had any experience with the comics but I wouldn't exactly call Lim's art "bad". It has a distinct wonkiness to it that I kind of like.

[claraB]

This art isn't that bad lol. I understand your gripes with it, and it was probably worse starting out, but most of the issues seem minor and easily improved to me (as an artist myself)

[Isatino]

Looking past the bad design, his posing is actually good and very dynamic.

[yukimistay]

I'm actually glad you didn't mention Ken Penders very much. I feel like I've heard more about him than I have of most of my immediate family.

[raelogan]

I went to SD Comic Con one year of many, and I had gotten a comic from Ken Penders, which was signed, and some point afterwards, when walking through "Artists' Alley", I hear a distant "Hey, I drew that one!" several times before I realized that was directed at me.

Mr. Lim was across the crowd at a table, pointing at the book I was holding (it was the issue where Sonic and Shadow were set up on the cover like a boxing announcement, with yellow border), and it led to me walking over to the table to find out that this was the guy responsible for the artwork in the issue I was carrying. He was really fun to talk to for that few minutes and he offered to add his signature to the cover of the issue next to Penders' signature, so this also also one of only a handful of signed comics I have that has multiple signatures. He said he also was responsible for the artwork for the M&M Minis advertisement on the back of the book as well.

So he's got a weird art style, but in person as a meet-and-greet, he's worth a visit at a convention.

[KirbySonicTeam]

This was surprisingly wholesome! I was expecting just a video bashing the guy, but I’m so happy that you came to the same conclusion as I had. He eventually did get really good at interpreting the characters and went out on a high note. So thanks for showing that!

Also just wanted to ask: when you talk about wildly inconsistent characterization you showed the sonic death threat scene from the Babylon rogues universe arc. I was unsure if that was more of a neutral statement or an indication that you didn’t like that scene. I actually think its one of Sonic’s best as it’s a great climax to all the trauma and anger in Sonic’s life since sally was roboticized. Just wanted your thoughts.

[mcmistle]

Really wish you had brought up the Sonic Adventure special that Ron Lim had drawn, I found his art in that to be pretty great.

Also that Metal Sonic you had shown on the left wasn’t drawn by Ron Lim, that would be Steven Butler.

I also can’t be too harsh on his art due to the rough behind the scenes management with Archie affecting art schedules, on top of there being worst examples of art like the mentioned Al Bigley or Many Hands.

[DeviousPossum]

He definitely wasn't one of the best ones, but he definitely drew better than Ken Penders


Edit: fixed misspelling