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Possibility of a new comic in the future? (Read 7700 times)
Varia31
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Possibility of a new comic in the future?
08/29/16 at 00:36:14
 
Not to get everyone's hopes up, but I recently had an interesting exchange with Jaffe on Twitter. It started with me sharing a piece of fanart. He said loved it, and then mentioned how he misses the characters. I made mention of how it reminded me of a comic book.

Pic 1
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After that, somebody else expressed their hopes that we might see more Twisted Metal in the future, and then Jaffe had this to say.

Pic 2
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So yeah. I wouldn't hold my breath over this, but the possibility of a new Twisted Metal comic book sounds pretty cool to me, whether it be a digital exclusive or not.

What do you guys think? I know many feel that Jaffe should let the series be from now on (at least for a while), but what kind of ideas might you have for a comic book series?
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MoshTMA
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Re: Possibility of a new comic in the future?
Reply #1 - 08/29/16 at 13:09:38
 
Well, you know I want a Twisted Metal comic series that explores the universe. That being said, I don't think Jaffe should be involved in the writing of it. This is the same guy who doesn't give a shit about continuity and the same guy who doesn't want his work to be seen as art or intellectually relevant. He's the same guy who puts SweetTooth in the forefront and every other character in the universe in the background... thus why he wants to do a "horror digital comic", because it would basically be a SweetTooth comic where he acts like a wannabe Michael Meyers/Jason Voorhees type. I'm not very intrigued by that concept. What I dug about the TM2 limited comic was that it didn't even need SweetTooth to be interesting. Calypso made for a great central character, but I also think a TM comic series would need to focus on non-evil protagonists, like an Outlaw/Crimson Fury/Pit Viper type, otherwise the story would lack any intrigue.
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Varia31
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Re: Possibility of a new comic in the future?
Reply #2 - 08/29/16 at 16:06:40
 
I wouldn't assume that "horror digital comic" means it's going to mainly focus on Sweet Tooth. Look at the promo flash animations for some of the TM Black characters. Those were definitely horror type shorts. Sweet Tooth is the series' poster boy, so I'd say it's natural to have him as a highlight. But the way I see it, being that he said "world and characters" (not just "character"), he does want to show other things in the universe besides the clown. Although it is true that Jaffe seems to have more attachment to the character now than he does the series. So as much as I love Sweet Tooth myself, I too feel that the focus should be given to other characters.

I do think different writers would be good, though. You are right that Calypso was able to hold his own in that TM2 comic as a focus himself. I'm sure that having Calypso as a main antagonist to the people aligned with "good" (e.g. Outlaw, etc.), focus on the other drivers and even how some of the famous vehicles came to be as I saw someone else suggested would be a good way to go.

Sweet Tooth could just be this presence that is known and feared, a force to be reckoned with on the occasions where he does pop up, but isn't this constant, overwhelming idea that detracts from the rest of the universe. Perhaps put in a more mysterious air about him. Calypso could take after his TM2 counterpart, so that while he's pretty much the main bad guy, he also has a sympathetic side to him as we see in his origins. Outlaw (both of the Roberts siblings) would be infiltrating the Twisted Metal tournament in hopes of bringing Calypso down as per usual, and often find the line between good and evil blurred. The list goes on.

If the plan is to make just a graphic novel for now, then perhaps it can be split up into character driven segments (that transition into each other well), giving focus to certain people where it is necessary to progress the story. Or maybe even just make it a collection of short stories. There are a lot of ways this can be done.
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Re: Possibility of a new comic in the future?
Reply #3 - 08/29/16 at 19:07:27
 
" Sweet Tooth is the series' poster boy, so I'd say it's natural to have him as a highlight. But the way I see it, being that he said "world and characters" (not just "character"), he does want to show other things in the universe besides the clown. Although it is true that Jaffe seems to have more attachment to the character now than he does the series. So as much as I love Sweet Tooth myself, I too feel that the focus should be given to other characters.

I do think different writers would be good, though. You are right that Calypso was able to hold his own in that TM2 comic as a focus himself. I'm sure that having Calypso as a main antagonist to the people aligned with "good" (e.g. Outlaw, etc.), focus on the other drivers and even how some of the famous vehicles came to be as I saw someone else suggested would be a good way to go.

Sweet Tooth could just be this presence that is known and feared, a force to be reckoned with on the occasions where he does pop up, but isn't this constant, overwhelming idea that detracts from the rest of the universe."


Yeah, pretty much.

I think SweetTooth makes for a good chaotic/evil  character, a wild card in the deck, but shouldn't be the main focus, it just hurts the character and the Twisted Metal story.

I'll ask this -
How much good has come from SweetTooth being the poster boy for Twisted Metal?

It's a double-edged sword. He's an iconic character to a certain degree, known even outside the TM universe. At the same time he hasn't really made Twisted Metal better as a poster boy. It's most apparent in Twisted Metal 2012, but if you look at the cover art from TM1 to TMX you see how boring they got. The first 2 games had cool car combat images, and then after that TM games just lazily slapped SweetTooth's face/vehicle on the cover. Calypso on the other hand has never appeared on a single Twisted Metal game cover.
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Varia31
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Re: Possibility of a new comic in the future?
Reply #4 - 08/29/16 at 20:09:26
 
I think Sweet Tooth has become fairly popular in his own right, like you said, to the extent that he is fairly well-known even outside of the series. Perhaps if Sony feels this way, maybe it's time to let him branch off into his own sub-series? And assuming he is still in the main series (because I don't think it would be the same without him), have him only be a minor character, on equal footing with everyone else like he used to be in TM2. TM2 felt more like the focus was on Calypso and the contest itself, so maybe it's time to take the series back in that direction.
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Re: Possibility of a new comic in the future?
Reply #5 - 08/30/16 at 00:48:34
 
Varia31 wrote on 08/29/16 at 20:09:26:
TM2 felt more like the focus was on Calypso and the contest itself, so maybe it's time to take the series back in that direction.


Absolutely.

The old school lore seems so lost in time.

Remember when Minion was a tank driven by a demon? and Mr. Grimm was the actual grim reaper? And Calypso had a burnt face? Those were the days.

Modern Twisted Metal lore is bullshit. SweetTooth is now Marcus Kane... Mr. Grimm is some scumbag gangbanger... Krista Sparks isn't Calypso's daughter... Calypso is the devil... the contest is a bogus war between a few factions of gangs blindly following their unstable leaders. It's all just so meh in comparison to the classic universe. So you can see my concern for a horror digital comic based off that lol.
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Re: Possibility of a new comic in the future?
Reply #6 - 08/30/16 at 01:08:41
 
A Twisted Metal mini-series with individual comics about individual characters, increasing the number of each as needed to create a compelling story individually.
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Varia31
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Re: Possibility of a new comic in the future?
Reply #7 - 08/30/16 at 01:36:25
 
MoshTMA wrote on 08/30/16 at 00:48:34:
Absolutely.

The old school lore seems so lost in time.

Remember when Minion was a tank driven by a demon? and Mr. Grimm was the actual grim reaper? And Calypso had a burnt face? Those were the days.

Modern Twisted Metal lore is bullcrap. SweetTooth is now Marcus Kane... Mr. Grimm is some scumbag gangbanger... Krista Sparks isn't Calypso's daughter... Calypso is the devil... the contest is a bogus war between a few factions of gangs blindly following their unstable leaders. It's all just so meh in comparison to the classic universe. So you can see my concern for a horror digital comic based off that lol.

I dunno, I liked some of the ideas that the 2012 game brought. Sweet Tooth having a gang is a cool idea to me, it's just about doing it right (if a psycho like Joker can have a gang, why can't Needles?). I even thought that the Carnival of Carnage was cool since I felt it was a callback to the over-the-top bosses from the older games (Dark Tooth and Tower Tooth in particular).

And honestly, at least the 2012 has the reason of being a reboot as an excuse, but, despite that teaser about Sweet Tooth's return in the credits, it didn't go anywhere. But overall yes, the lore and universe in the old games is the best. Well, Black is great too, but the old ones had more charm to them on top of being dark and crazy. Everything feels more fleshed out and expansive. I actually really liked Head-On simply because it was still a continuation of the old series, on top of still having good gameplay (in my opinion), like a modernized TM2, but with its own identity.

And yes, I miss demon Minion and burnt-faced Calypso (although his look in 2012 looked good to me, too). I understand your concerns, but if it plays out more like Black did, a horror-oriented story could still work. It's all in the execution. Wink
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Re: Possibility of a new comic in the future?
Reply #8 - 09/01/16 at 21:38:39
 
I'm going to put forth my two cents here and say that Needles as the central character is just...a really bad idea to me. He isn't the right kind of entity to put at the front of a series, especially with the extremely ruthless and villainous personality he's developed over the years. Much like Mosh said earlier, I see him as more of a general presence within the series rather than the main focus, and I think it'd be nice to see him played as more of a scene-stealing character that doesn't appear as often as some others, but causes complete and utter madness whenever he does show up. (kind of like Claire Stanfield/The Rail Tracer in 'Baccano!')

As for which direction they should go with Needles as an individual, I've always wondered how it might play out if they began building his character around the contest, playing him up as a sort of 'modern gladiatorial champion' that subsequent contestants fear based on his victories and conquests alone. The old serial killer elements could be used as a 'then and now' to show just how much he's risen since he started competing, and the gang from TMX could be repurposed to fit with this new image of Needles being a tournament icon, but his presence in the series might be less intrusive to the rest of the story if he were played this way.

On another note:
Ripzsaur wrote on 08/30/16 at 01:08:41:
A Twisted Metal mini-series with individual comics about individual characters, increasing the number of each as needed to create a compelling story individually.


I see this as the most appealing approach as far as a comic goes. Nothing too fancy or convoluted; just a collection of stories for each character that add some depth to them and their world.
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Varia31
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Re: Possibility of a new comic in the future?
Reply #9 - 09/02/16 at 04:39:42
 
There are plenty of games out there where you play as a villain (or "bad guy"), and they tend to be pretty popular (Manhunt is a good example). I can see where you're coming from, but I do think Needles has the potential to have at least one spin-off game to his name, though.

Sir Isaac Nonsense wrote on 09/01/16 at 21:38:39:
As for which direction they should go with Needles as an individual, I've always wondered how it might play out if they began building his character around the contest, playing him up as a sort of 'modern gladiatorial champion' that subsequent contestants fear based on his victories and conquests alone. The old serial killer elements could be used as a 'then and now' to show just how much he's risen since he started competing, and the gang from TMX could be repurposed to fit with this new image of Needles being a tournament icon, but his presence in the series might be less intrusive to the rest of the story if he were played this way.


This sounds like a good idea. It's actually how I kinda view Needles in my own little headcanons as of late. But I definitely agree with the idea of having him as a "scene-stealer" like you described when he does show up, but he's by no means the main focus of the game. Honestly, the Harbor City stuff should just be revived, but I digress...

I, too, agree with Ripzsaur. I think a collection of short stories would be a good way to go with a graphic novel if it's a one-of-a-kind deal. Still, I think a full fledged comic series might be cool, much like how Tomb Raider now has one. An actual series could flesh out the characters and the world even better, immortalizing the universe in a way that even the games can't. Expanded universe material can often be where a series truly shines (like Star Wars). It could also offer an actual, ongoing continuity for once. Grin
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