Ask a Question: IDW's TMNT Editor Thread

[ProphetofGanja]

A spiderweb elbow tattoo does not inherently mean that the bearer is down with white supremacy, either. It is a common tattoo among those who have done time in prison, symbolizing being idle for so long that spiderwebs/cobwebs form on one's body.

[Utrommaniac]

Well, okay, but...

Spoiler:

[spookycookies]

Originally Posted by Utrommaniac

Well, okay, but...

Spoiler:

https://68.media.tumblr.com/ff4f0eda...ntoo1_1280.jpg
https://68.media.tumblr.com/36485475...ntoo2_1280.jpg

Oh geez. I know its a fictional comic book but in this day and age people online flip out over everything, I hope this doesn't impact the book in any kind of major way since it's such a blip in the grander scheme of everything IDW has done so far with TMNT.

About Bebop's design though, is there a editorial reason or just an in-story thing about why he doesn't have the turtleshell shoulder pads? I know he mentioned them once but that seemed to be the end of it as far as I recall.

[Bobby Curnow]

Ben can say whatever he wants about his thoughts behind the design, but it wasn't brought up in any discussion. Ben has no control over the backstory of the character, and Rocksteady is not a skinhead. End of story there.

As for Bebop's lack of Turtle shell shoulder pads, it just wasn't part of Mateus' designs and it wasn't something anyone felt had to be there in our redesign.

[myconius]

i'm not sure which social media group is more venomous? facebook or twitter?

i wonder if Ben Bates even really was thinking these ideas about the character before this person started egging him on?

[ChosenOne]

Well, to be fair, being a "white supremacist sympathizer" is still different from being a "white supremacist", period. It'd be in character for IDW Rocksteady, who is not only extremely dumb but also often operates on Rule of Cool (the "Rhinosaurus" gag comes to mind), to get a tattoo similar to someone he hangs out with based on how "rad" it looks, nevermind the meaning.

But anyway, how is any of this relevant again? Wasn't the X-Men debacle last week enough, are people actually trying to find reasons to complain and break out the torches and pitchforks about other comics now? Dang it... The arts and entertainment don't need this crap, that's why they're arts and entertainment.

[myconius]

Originally Posted by ChosenOne

But anyway, how is any of this relevant again? Wasn't the X-Men debacle last week enough, are people actually trying to find reasons to complain and break out the torches and pitchforks about other comics now? Dang it... The arts and entertainment don't need this crap, that's why they're arts and entertainment.

seriously!!! i agree 100%
seems like some people just go out of their way to look for problems.

pretty sad actually!

[Powder]

I get the impression Ben's goofing on that user, the spiderweb tattoo just means its bearer did a few years in the bing.

Typical Twitter nonsense.

[Utrommaniac]

I'm pretty sure these people might have forgotten what Rocksteady did to Donatello as well.

[neatoman]

All this talk about Rocksteady being a white supremacist... I don't know, it seems funny somehow. Maybe it's funny because because he chose an African animal to turn into, or because he thought cross species gene splicing was a good idea in general, or because he sucked so hard one of the most despised groups in the world didn't want anything to do with him, or because he clearly didn't believe in their cause for very long, or because he was originally created to appeal to small children... I'm not sure what it is but it seems like an intentional joke.

Anyway, I can't wait for someone to meme-fy this. Like edit Rocksteady panels to have him say racist stuff or [Unsolicited Opinions on Israel???].

[Utrommaniac]

I think the problem came from the fact that he supposedly joined the group to spite Bebop - a black man - after a big argument and stayed something to kill someone for that group's purpose and got a tattoo to commemorate it. And the fact that he even remotely thought Bebop would forgive him.

But never mind the fact that he smashed in a Japanese teenager's back with a sledgehammer...

He does think that Rhinos are dinosaurs though...so he probably has no idea they're African animals. He probably thinks Africa is a whole country at that.

[ChosenOne]

It's definitely a joke, the question is if it's an intentional or accidental one.

Rocksteady's best friend is an African-American and he spent months (years?) taking orders from Asians, one of whom he wanted to impress and "become friends" with so badly that it was part of the reason why he underwent irreversible mutation into a human-animal hybrid.

That person is not a white supremacist.

[myconius]

Originally Posted by Powder

I get the impression Ben's goofing on that user, the spiderweb tattoo just means its bearer did a few years in the bing.

Typical Twitter nonsense.

Originally Posted by ChosenOne

It's definitely a joke, the question is if it's an intentional or accidental one.

Rocksteady's best friend is an African-American and he spent months (years?) taking orders from Asians, one of whom he wanted to impress and "become friends" with so badly that it was part of the reason why he underwent irreversible mutation into a human-animal hybrid.

That person is not a white supremacist.

^

all very excellent points!

i hope the person that instigated this whole thing gets bored of the topic and finds some other distraction to waste everybody's time with.

[ChosenOne]

Originally Posted by myconius

^

all very excellent points!

i hope the person that instigated this whole thing gets bored of the topic and finds some other distraction to waste everybody's time with.

Life SJW jerks will find a way. Hopefully far away from this excellent comic of ours, though. I hear DC's nice this time of the year...

Let's focus instead on the good news (unless I understood it wrong) of the day: confirmation that the Punk Frogs are incoming!

[Bobby Curnow]

Yes, let's keep this thread to questions if possible, thanks!

[MikeandRaph87]

Speaking of questions, how did the idea for a bomb shelter under a church come about and become the TMNT's lair? I love the idea being a history buff. Its not the sewers yet has easy access to it. High fortified yet if you wanted to for plot it can be penatrated. Were there any other choices tossed around?

[Sophie Campbell]

I didn't know about the spider web, but the skinhead thing had actually crossed my mind back during Destroy Everything. I noticed Ben also gave Rocksteady an iron cross tattoo on his inner forearm which is a Nazi symbol, but I think is also a Motorhead thing? And his overall outfit in that series looks a bit like skinhead gear, with the button-down shirt and suspenders and the WWII type helmet... that was actually part of why I drew Rocksteady in just a tank top instead, I wasn't sure what was going on, haha.

[ChosenOne]

Bobby, I may have already mentioned the resemblance elsewhere around here when the Toad Baron's Ball arc of Universe was first announced, but in the interest of going back to the Toad Baron discussion (which is more or less where the thread left off), and while I realize this is an incredibly obscure reference with a snowball's chance in Hell of being true: does the character (as well as the concept of the Pantheon itself) take any inspiration at all from the 80's Fighting Fantasy gamebook Scorpion Swamp?

In said book, there was a set of characters each associated with a particular type of animals (and one of them with plants) such as wolves, spiders, frogs, birds, etc. The goal of one of the possible quests was to kill them all and retrieve the talismans they wore. The frog guy in particular reminds me very much of Toad Baron, I went and found a picture of him on Google:

Spoiler:

Master of Frogs, Toad Baron... Separated at birth?

[Sophie Campbell]

OMG SORRY, ummmm, Bobby whose Turtles do you like best, mine or Mateus's? lololool

[myconius]

Bobby,

are there any plans to release the 'Tmnt IDW Collection' in paperback?

or possibly be put up for consideration for the future?