TMNT #92 Preview and Discussion

[AlZarkovski]

First look:

Spoiler:

Ayyy, Alopex and Angel. Glad to have those two back in the main story. Seems like they're finally starting to flesh out the former's personality, took them a while to settle on what they wanted her to be like I think but from the Raphael Macro and that issue of TMNT Universe to this, it seems like they've figured it out. Also, obligatory praising-Dialynas comment.

[CyberCubed]

We see too much of Angel/Alopex, IMO, they're in almost every other major arc.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

We see too much of Angel/Alopex, IMO, they're in almost every other major arc.

My man! Totally agree with you.

For my money, Angel was far more interesting before she became Nobody and started kicking around with Alopex...

[Utrommaniac]

That is actually a good observation...they DO show up in every other story arch!

Which would make sense given the pattern of events. They seem to alternate between Foot/Gang arcs and Utrom/alien arcs pretty consistently.

Now with Bishop in the fray, that might be broken up somewhat, though probably he'll getting involved in both sets at some point.

[Cloudrunner]

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

My man! Totally agree with you.

For my money, Angel was far more interesting before she became Nobody and started kicking around with Alopex...

I feel the same way about Alopex. She was far more interesting when she had history with the foot. I think she could have played an interesting part in Splinter's foot clan. Instead all potential plotlines with her are forgotten and she and Angel just show up randomly at the start of a new arc to kick things off and then disappear. I really think Alopex is the biggest wasted potential in the comic.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by Cloudrunner

I feel the same way about Alopex. She was far more interesting when she had history with the foot. I think she could have played an interesting part in Splinter's foot clan. Instead all potential plotlines with her are forgotten and she and Angel just show up randomly at the start of a new arc to kick things off and then disappear. I really think Alopex is the biggest wasted potential in the comic.

Far more interesting as a villain or a (pardon the pun) lone wolf. But as soon as Sophie drew her cute, Alopex became nerfed.

[Cloudrunner]

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

Far more interesting as a villain or a (pardon the pun) lone wolf. But as soon as Sophie drew her cute, Alopex became nerfed.

Her being drawn cute isn't the issue. She's a fox, not a wolf. She should be more of a sleek assassin vs a hulking brute (which the Foot have more than enough of). In fact, I think the best she's ever looked was in her villain macro. The issue is more her personality and role in the story. After Northhampton, she never again had any major arcs with Shredder or the Foot, despite getting revenge on him being her apparent motivation. After freeing herself from Kitsune, she never went after the Pantheon, despite possibly getting spiritual powers that might help against them. Even when she got accidentally stuck in Toad Baron's lair, she just more or less went along for the ride.

Which brings me to my point. Every time she's paired with Angel, she loses her personality and relevance to the plot. Becoming just a sidekick with a fairly childish personality. I actually really liked her team up with Raph when infiltrating Null's facility, because she seemed to be the straight edge to his brashness. And she found a purpose in wanting to liberate other mutants from evil organizations. But now here we are, back with Angel. And she wants to try a sweet move she learned from Black Panther. Oops! There's nothing to the dynamic between those two that we don't already get from the turtles.

[oldmanwinters]

Make Alopex Gruff Again!

[Cloudrunner]

Only if you lose the purple gloves and weird bandage one piece bikini, which is somehow more sexual (by calling attention to it) than just letting her run pantsless like a cartoon character. That being said, I vastly prefer bandages and cloak over hoodie. Almost wonder if the hoodie was just to make her easier to draw.

[Redeemer]

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

Make Alopex Gruff Again!
https://i.imgur.com/HuDpg5Dl.jpg

Ah... Back when Alopex was a bad ass

[Utrommaniac]

Originally Posted by Cloudrunner

Her being drawn cute isn't the issue. She's a fox, not a wolf. She should be more of a sleek assassin vs a hulking brute (which the Foot have more than enough of). In fact, I think the best she's ever looked was in her villain macro. The issue is more her personality and role in the story. After Northhampton, she never again had any major arcs with Shredder or the Foot, despite getting revenge on him being her apparent motivation. After freeing herself from Kitsune, she never went after the Pantheon, despite possibly getting spiritual powers that might help against them. Even when she got accidentally stuck in Toad Baron's lair, she just more or less went along for the ride.

Which brings me to my point. Every time she's paired with Angel, she loses her personality and relevance to the plot. Becoming just a sidekick with a fairly childish personality. I actually really liked her team up with Raph when infiltrating Null's facility, because she seemed to be the straight edge to his brashness. And she found a purpose in wanting to liberate other mutants from evil organizations. But now here we are, back with Angel. And she wants to try a sweet move she learned from Black Panther. Oops! There's nothing to the dynamic between those two that we don't already get from the turtles.

I'm going to go with this on Alopex issues.
(And yeah, she's not a wolf, she doesn't have much choice but to be tiny and cute)

It's not the fact that she changed sides that drains her, it's just being relegated to Angel's sidekick.

Though...that moment of her clinging to a back of a moving car and forcing it to steer off course is very much an Alopex thing. Need to ruin a vehicle? Get her to do it.

I think saying that Alopex becoming less interesting is a consequence of her being relegated to Angel's sidekick is flat out wrong. I'd say it's the other way around. She was relegated to Angel's sidekick because she stopped being interesting, as the writers have absolutely no idea what to do with her.

Just think about what Alopex's role in the story has been since Northampton for a moment. Struggling? I know I am. She had that whole thing with Kitsune that ultimately amounted to nothing, seeing as the story would've been absolutely the same without it and it was all resolved within one issue. They made her Angel's partner so she can stay relevant to the story without them ACTUALLY having to do anything with her, and I think they chose the most lazy way to go about it. If she continued being closely tied to the Foot under Splinter, or if she joined the Mutanimals, or even if she lived with the Turtles and became a part of Clan Hamato - I personally think all of those would've been a lot more interesting than what we got.

The reason why I've been liking Alopex more recently isn't because her issues have suddenly disappeared, no, everything that I mentioned is still there, but she seems to at least be on the right track to having an actual personality, because I swear, before that issue of TMNT Universe with her and Raph, I couldn't name a single character trait of hers.

[Utrommaniac]

All things considered, Alopex joining the Mutanimals would make a hell of a lot more sense (plus they would have a "dog" in their midst to contrast Hob; maybe they'd bond over parallel traumas), but it seems to have been made clear that Alopex is basically against them. Which...probably would not have been the best path to take.

[ChosenOne]

Originally Posted by Utrommaniac

All things considered, Alopex joining the Mutanimals would make a hell of a lot more sense (plus they would have a "dog" in their midst to contrast Hob; maybe they'd bond over parallel traumas), but it seems to have been made clear that Alopex is basically against them. Which...probably would not have been the best path to take.

Speaking of the path not taken, I bet Hob has kicked himself a bunch of times since for refusing membership to accepting Bebop and Rocksteady for such a petty reason. They sure would've come in handy against the EPF, and Slash might even still be alive if they'd joined up with the Mutanimals...

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by ChosenOne

Speaking of the path not taken, I bet Hob has kicked himself a bunch of times since for refusing membership to accepting Bebop and Rocksteady for such a petty reason. They sure would've come in handy against the EPF, and Slash might even still be alive if they'd joined up with the Mutanimals...

Maybe someday Hob will try to recruit them again and they'll join up!

[Utrommaniac]

His thing with them was that they were originally humans...and would they really have lasted long in the Mutanimals, anyway?

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by Utrommaniac

His thing with them was that they were originally humans...and would they really have lasted long in the Mutanimals, anyway?

Of course not.

[ChosenOne]

Originally Posted by Utrommaniac

His thing with them was that they were originally humans...and would they really have lasted long in the Mutanimals, anyway?

So is Lindsey, whom Hob considers part of his new family. So is Angel, whom Hob considers an ally. As he said recently, he's not above working with humans to further his goals, not when there's such a lethal enemy as Bishop at the gates.

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

Of course not.

If Karai can keep them (mostly) in line, so can Hob. With the upside that he'd provide them with all the violence and mayhem they could ever want, and then some. Setting those two loose on the EPF forces would be a sight to behold. I hope Karai does it during City at War!

Originally Posted by ChosenOne

f Karai can keep them (mostly) in line, so can Hob. With the upside that he'd provide them with all the violence and mayhem they could ever want, and then some. Setting those two loose on the EPF forces would be a sight to behold. I hope Karai does it during City at War!

There's a big difference between the Mutanimals and the Shredder's Foot. The former is a family basically, while the latter are a clan of assassins and murderers. It's easier for Bebop and Rocksteady to fit in with the latter than the former.