Renegade Replacement?

[kjjohanson]

Guys, I'm sorry... are we talking about the character whose goofy power is that she projects Disney-esque cartoon animals that stick out like a sore thumb against otherwise decent art?

Guys?

She projects forms of anything that she's seen. The only things she's had access to are kids cartoons. Now that she's out in the real world, she could have a chace to pick up alot more ammunition for things she could project around herself. Torque could probably do the same, but his mental reservations forced him to keep up only his 'cool' Torquehalla mask.

Fixed that for you. Torque is dead. I have a Harbinger #1 gold riding on it.

You also beat me to this response, so I had to find something to add to the conversation. I would love for Animalia to be added as Torque's replacement.

There's a loophole here that lets you win your bet either way. JMatt didn't specify VEI Torque, so just pull out your classic Harbinger as the proof.

[Phoenix8008]

Guys, I'm sorry... are we talking about the character whose goofy power is that she projects Disney-esque cartoon animals that stick out like a sore thumb against otherwise decent art?

Guys?

She projects forms of anything that she's seen. The only things she's had access to are kids cartoons. Now that she's out in the real world, she could have a chace to pick up alot more ammunition for things she could project around herself. Torque could probably do the same, but his mental reservations forced him to keep up only his 'cool' Torquehalla mask.

Fixed that for you. Torque is dead. I have a Harbinger #1 gold riding on it.

You also beat me to this response, so I had to find something to add to the conversation. I would love for Animalia to be added as Torque's replacement.

There's a loophole here that lets you win your bet either way. JMatt didn't specify VEI Torque, so just pull out your classic Harbinger as the proof.

Or if Torque ends up not actually dead because it was a mind trip of some sort, you can both win by saying that he was killed by Kris in this issue, while he was still alive later on. Then you can just trade Golds!

[Elveen]

I have heard Josh reference the death of Torque a few times. Not sure if he meant what Kris did, or some later event.
But as I understood it...... Torque was going to die at some point during the run.

[Baramos]

Honestly I think it's time for some of Harada's right-hand psiots to defect. The seeds are there. Of course, maybe they want to avoid that to not make it like the original Valiant...

[Chiclo]

Sharknado

YES. I have yet to see the film but what better way to end a fight than send a tornado carrying sharks at your opponent? This should be a finisher on the next Mortal Kombat.

[MarkRoseHFX]

Sharknado

YES. I have yet to see the film but what better way to end a fight than send a tornado carrying sharks at your opponent? This should be a finisher on the next Mortal Kombat.

Sharknado was awesomeness. the ending is craptastically amazing. loved it.

[Shadowman99]

I've never thought that Torque was remotely interesting, so I'm more than happy to see a replacement for him.

He has the least dialogue of any of the renegades and when he does speak he never says anything particularly worthwhile or interesting, he's had almost no character development to date and has spent the entirety of his time in the comic confused as to whether he's in a reality or a fantasy, and his power set so far consists of a protective shell and super strength that's had no progression whatsoever. Is Torque dead? Couldn't care less either way.

Like I said, not that I particularly care whether he lives or dies, but if it was my choice I'd have him actually be killed in #15 so that a considerably more interesting character can replace him at some point.

[Phoenix8008]

I've never thought that Torque was remotely interesting, so I'm more than happy to see a replacement for him.

He has the least dialogue of any of the renegades and when he does speak he never says anything particularly worthwhile or interesting, he's had almost no character development to date and has spent the entirety of his time in the comic confused as to whether he's in a reality or a fantasy, and his power set so far consists of a protective shell and super strength that's had no progression whatsoever. Is Torque dead? Couldn't care less either way.

Like I said, not that I particularly care whether he lives or dies, but if it was my choice I'd have him actually be killed in #15 so that a considerably more interesting character can replace him at some point.

I see everything you've pointed out about Torque as true... as far as it goes. They haven't shown anything more than that... yet. But I see all that as window dressing which has been blocking the stuff inside the building that I hope is really interesting. Like you said, he has seemed confused as to whether he is dreaming or not and just playing along with it as best he could. The meat of his character growth will come when he has to actually CONFRONT the reality of his situation and learn and grow from there. That's what I'm waiting for and I hope he isn't dead because then that potential will all be wasted.

[Shadowman99]

I've never thought that Torque was remotely interesting, so I'm more than happy to see a replacement for him.

He has the least dialogue of any of the renegades and when he does speak he never says anything particularly worthwhile or interesting, he's had almost no character development to date and has spent the entirety of his time in the comic confused as to whether he's in a reality or a fantasy, and his power set so far consists of a protective shell and super strength that's had no progression whatsoever. Is Torque dead? Couldn't care less either way.

Like I said, not that I particularly care whether he lives or dies, but if it was my choice I'd have him actually be killed in #15 so that a considerably more interesting character can replace him at some point.

I see everything you've pointed out about Torque as true... as far as it goes. They haven't shown anything more than that... yet. But I see all that as window dressing which has been blocking the stuff inside the building that I hope is really interesting. Like you said, he has seemed confused as to whether he is dreaming or not and just playing along with it as best he could. The meat of his character growth will come when he has to actually CONFRONT the reality of his situation and learn and grow from there. That's what I'm waiting for and I hope he isn't dead because then that potential will all be wasted.

You might be right about that. I'm just a bit surprised that Dysart hasn't tried to deepen the character a little bit already. Seems a bit odd that he's obviously enjoying writing all these characters with depth, and yet has written Torque as very two-dimensional. Can't possibly be a mistake on his part

I know a lot of people on here have said that Torque has LOADS of potential and prospective depth as a character, but given what we've seen of him so far I just can't figure out exactly what it is that people have seen that could be interesting about him given a bit of character building. 'Course, feel free to share your thoughts folks, if you're one of those people that can see his hidden potential...

[bygranddesign]

Since being introduced in issue #8, Torque has gotten just as much if not more character development time as any other renegade since that issue. But it's probably hard to get too in depth with any one character when there are dozens of characters that Dysart is juggling from issue to issue.

I find this re-imagined Torque to be completely fascinating and interesting. First off, he SHOULD be sympathetic ... considering he is a cripple, who grew up poor and abandoned - the character is a great use of irony - in that his behavior is completely unsympathetic. He is a completely superficial jerk ... and when his powers were activated he created for himself a hard shell both physically and emotionally in order to protect himself and the real pain he has endured his whole life. I find that very compelling with some juicy narrative. I also frequently LOL at his many antics and juvenile behavior including his humping of a hummer and him playing dirty southern rock during the harbinger wars and trying to hit on Telic.

If I was going to introduce a greatest hits for Torque to try and convince you to "like" the character. "Like" meaning he is a fascinating and interesting character:
issue #8 - great introduction and origin issue
issue #11 - the bar scene where he makes fun of the cripple (great use of irony)
issue #12 - the back and forth with Telic ... and the confrontation with Peter.
Issue #15 - humping the hummer, seeing the metal show, Kris tearing away his facade

But ... ultimately you either like the character or you don't. At some point it becomes like trying to convince someone to like chocolate cake.

[Phoenix8008]

... and when his powers were activated he created for himself a hard shell both physically and emotionally in order to protect himself and the real pain he has endured his whole life.

This is the core of what I found interesting about him, but I hadn't heard it described or verbalized the right way to cut to the essence of it. His power is a reflection of his mental state. He's living in a shell and trying to pretend that it's real. I don't think he's really confused about the reality of his powers, but he is in denial. He doesn't have experience with reality except through TV and movies it seems, so he's trying to act like what he thinks people expect of someone like him (or like someone that he looks to be). All of this is why I want to be there when he has to confront all the realities of the situation and see how he deals with it.

[Shadowman99]

Hey, that's fair enough guys, I can see now what you find interesting about the character. The only real thing I have to say about that relates to the "chocolate cake": I understand how you find those things interesting; But on the other hand, I simply don't find them interesting, which probably explains my lack of overall interest in the character. But I do like chocolate cake.

...He's living in a shell and trying to pretend that it's real. I don't think he's really confused about the reality of his powers, but he is in denial. He doesn't have experience with reality except through TV and movies it seems, so he's trying to act like what he thinks people expect of someone like him (or like someone that he looks to be). All of this is why I want to be there when he has to confront all the realities of the situation and see how he deals with it.

That's a pretty interesting point. I'd sussed it to a degree in that I knew he spends most of his time playing up to the way his shell looks, but I hadn't really gone so far as to consider that he's also always trying to act in the way that others expect him to act. I dare say if Harbinger was 'real life' he'd probably being doing that without even realising it.

[lorddunlow]

But ... ultimately you either like the character or you don't. At some point it becomes like trying to convince someone to like chocolate cake.

If you are trying to convince someone to like chocolate cake, you should run, since that person is clearly a sociopath.

[MarkRoseHFX]

But ... ultimately you either like the character or you don't. At some point it becomes like trying to convince someone to like chocolate cake.

If you are trying to convince someone to like chocolate cake, you should run, since that person is clearly a sociopath.

What if the person is allergic to chocolate?

[lorddunlow]

But ... ultimately you either like the character or you don't. At some point it becomes like trying to convince someone to like chocolate cake.

If you are trying to convince someone to like chocolate cake, you should run, since that person is clearly a sociopath.

What if the person is allergic to chocolate?

No one is actually allergic to chocolate. Those who have reactions to chocolate are usually allergic to cockroaches.

You're welcome for that gross information. There is actually an acceptable amount of cockroach material allowable by USDA standards. Not sure about other countries, but nevertheless, if you're eating chocolate, you're consuming a little cockroach as well.

[MarkRoseHFX]

But ... ultimately you either like the character or you don't. At some point it becomes like trying to convince someone to like chocolate cake.

If you are trying to convince someone to like chocolate cake, you should run, since that person is clearly a sociopath.

What if the person is allergic to chocolate?

No one is actually allergic to chocolate. Those who have reactions to chocolate are usually allergic to cockroaches.

You're welcome for that gross information. There is actually an acceptable amount of cockroach material allowable by USDA standards. Not sure about other countries, but nevertheless, if you're eating chocolate, you're consuming a little cockroach as well.

just giving me some extra protein that's all

[lorddunlow]

But ... ultimately you either like the character or you don't. At some point it becomes like trying to convince someone to like chocolate cake.

If you are trying to convince someone to like chocolate cake, you should run, since that person is clearly a sociopath.

What if the person is allergic to chocolate?

No one is actually allergic to chocolate. Those who have reactions to chocolate are usually allergic to cockroaches.

You're welcome for that gross information. There is actually an acceptable amount of cockroach material allowable by USDA standards. Not sure about other countries, but nevertheless, if you're eating chocolate, you're consuming a little cockroach as well.

just giving me some extra protein that's all

If it tastes good, I don't really care (or want to know) what's in it.

[CylonSteve]

I want Armstrong to replace Torque! But my money is on Bloodshot and the Harbinger Renegades.

In all seriousness I think Torque may pull through. Who knows? I want Harbinger 16 in my hands. Dysart knows how to do a Cliffhanger, because Harbinger 15 was Bananas!

This time around Torque is way more developed than his VH1 counterpart. The VH1 was essentially the Jocks in 'The Revenge of the Nerds'. I care more about him this time around, than last time. Granted, I only read that Nifty Hardcover of Harbinger that came out a few years ago. If he is dead I am hoping for a brand new character or characters to join them.