Mega Man #13-16 Light and the kids visit a robot trade show and meet a bunch of others like them. And with new friendly faces comes a new threat! The Emerald Spears are here and they believe that the world is a better place without robots. And they’ll do whatever it takes to get rid of them! And among them is one man… known only as… XANDER PAYNE! Will Rock, Roll, and their new allies be able to stop this terrorist group? And what is Wily up to?
Question: If you could have a personal robot that was specialized in doing one non-sexual thing for you, what would it be? For example, Massage Woman.
>>141951553 >Question: If you could have a personal robot that was specialized in doing one non-sexual thing for you, what would it be? For example, Massage Woman. Revengeman
>>141951553 >If you could have a personal robot that was specialized in doing one non-sexual thing for you, what would it be? Probably a medical diagnosis robot, like Baymax. both my mother and I have debilitating health conditions, so an on hand medical bot would help a lot.
>>141951613 >>141951628 And here's where the comic really truly convinced me it was something special. We've had some characters from later games make cameos here and there, but now the goddamn Cossack family are going to be major recurring supporting characters.
>>141951553 >Question Slowly Bending Over To Pick Things Up Man (he'd look like Zero from MMZ) >>141951613 I love that the archeology robot looks like a mummy. The world of Mega Man is so whimsical!
>>141951613 I said it last time I was in the Ride and I'll say it again, there must had been some miscomunication with art or writing or even lore checkups because until the last few issues of the comic Kalinka is drawn like she's meant to be the same vague age as Rock and Roll when she's meant to be like early elementary/late preschool age
>>141951675 I'll admit she is pretty cute >>141951698 Look at how much fun he's having! >>141951718 Pharaoh Man? More like Bulge Man amirite? >>141951732 He's not cool! He'll never be cool!
>>141951754 Oh boy, they come pre-packaged! >>141951758 Huh. I guess they wanted her to be more relatable to Rock and Roll >>141951820 lmao Rush gets a seat
>>141951553 >Question: If you could have a personal robot that was specialized in doing one non-sexual thing for you, what would it be? For example, Massage Woman. Being my brother and comforting and supporting me when I'm down.
>>141951731 >It is cool now that we've gotten to a point robot masters are introduced before they go bad. Its kind of a neat spin. This is basically the entire reason why I wish an X series run could've been made
>>141951868 ENTER RA MOON >>141951849 >The Emerald Spears are fucking dumb, and that's completely intentional. Not the mention the name. >>141951837 Yup!
>>141951833 Quiet Mina! >>141951837 It is a cool reference considering they'd be planning the crossover around now >>141951868 It is fun seeing him do something other than wait for Mega Man in his skull castle
>>141951885 It's just really odd because during the issue on the beach she's clearly meant to be *ahem* appealing but I don't think anyone on this staff is about that scene.
>>141951847 Also can we talk about how you went through the effort to give robots personalities and pseudo life but also agree to give them court ordered lifespans? That's pretty fucked up right?
>>141951936 >He thinks he's people! He's so cute! >>141951958 Yeah, when it comes to robots they're kinda inconsistent with what human equivalent age they should be >>141951990 What? That's so messed up
>>141952021 >1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. >2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. >3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. He can't restrain the guy unless the guy was trying to harm someone or himself
>>141952102 Roll is younger, so maybe by that point Light had decided to drop the Popeye limb design? Megaman was likely heavily repurposed Protoman design.
>>141952144 Go, robot children and dog! >>141952116 Rush would definitely get high with you if he could. >>141952137 Everyone in this series have huge feet. Then again this is a Capcom property.
>>141951990 >>141952069 >>141952082 We're at a point in time where the majority of people still see robots and Robot Masters as tools, not living things (and the living thing part won't happen until Light finally has the breakthrough with X). And that court order was decreed after Mega Man 8 or MM&B, after several times Wily tried conquering the world. People were scared and wary.
>>141952190 >I don't know if there are any old guy tentacle porn WEl- >but I'd like to keep not knowing if there are any. Ah and just when I was about to dust off all my sadpanda links, bummer
Ian writing anti-AI strawmen villains is so hypocritical considering his views on AI now. “AI GOOD, until they start to replace my career field. Now AI BAD!!!”
>>141952176 Huh. It's still messed up considering how Rock's saved the world several times and acts like a person >>141952186 Truly comic's greatest writer >>141952190 >I don't know if there are any old guy tentacle porn but I'd like to keep not knowing if there are any. Keep reading to find out!
>>141952234 So Wily has all Robot Masters data in save clouds? Damn, so what to stop him from just constantly printing them out when he get's the means to?
>>141952212 I shudder to think what would come out if that was my laptop ;_; >>141952234 >He doesn't look as douchey as last time. Boo! >>141952252 What a jerk
>>141952261 AIs now are far more A than I, but more to the point they're also soulless tools being used by people who are closer to Dr. Wily than Dr. Light. AIs as in this comic, most likely, would want to aid and protect the humans they'd be in conflict with and are much more arguably their own people.
>>141952323 >Hypothetically speaking, let's say for the sake of argument, that I made a robot of you as a Basedjack Man and another of me as the Gigachad Man
>>141952190 >OH GOD, FINALLY A FELLOW ELECTRONIC DEVICE, I MUST INTERFACE WITH IT AND RELIEVE MY MACHINE URGES. HERE COMES MY USB STICK INTO YOUR USB PORT, BABY.
>>141952284 That part with Ra Moon was a bit of a lore fuck up on Ian's part. Robot Masters are 100% dead if their IC chip is destroyed. Memory backups aren't enough to revive them. Normally, Mega Man doesn't destroy IC chips so the Robot Masters can be rebuilt. Ian later retconned that only Ra Moon specifically has the power to recreate IC chips to revive robots from the dead. But that means Wily had their memory backups on his computer for no real reason.
>>141952261 There's a world of difference between new sentient beings that don't exist yet and cheap tools only shilled by talentless twats who are to lazy to grow actual talent and want to see other people lose work out of envy and spite
>>141952261 Wait until he finds out you can just look up Sonic lyrics on the Internet! I kid, I kid >>141952335 That's good to know >>141952436 They decorated their pyramids with anthro porn, of course they're weebs!
>>141952451 The quake woman bit is pretty cool, I remember thats actually a method for defusing some bombs, to the point that some have to have to have counter triggers made that will trigger if moved like so.
>>141952280 Like all terrorists, they're not concerned with the well-being of those they're terrorizing. Any humans who need those robots to live even a somewhat normal life, or stay alive at all? Too bad, acceptable sacrifices.
>>141952383 Wily, you and Light only invented the concept of the Robot Master together, you should be way more shocked of a Robot Master tier creation in this ancient ass pyramid
>>141952492 Yeah, it would have made more sense if the "backups" are just new robots entirely that were based on the mm2 masters, while the originals were all destroyed.
>>141952480 It's really simple and you people are too stupid to fucking understand it: The robots in this era are NOT ALIVE. They IMITATE life, but they do not have souls, free wills, etc. Light didn't manage to do that until the end of his life with X. The Robot Masters and even Rock and Roll are just pretending to be alive.
>>141952383 >What a very ninja looking robot. That's actually an artist mistake. Shadow Man was supposed to have an alien design before being revived as a ninja. Alien Shadow Man will appear later in a flashback.
>>141952480 Allways thought of Robot Master Sentience is a limited form of it. Think of the difference between smart and dumb AI in halo. The sentience we see could be a collection of human interactions AI compared to X being made for sentience ground up
>>141952470 Mavericks huh? >>141952480 Same. It's just one guy that seems fixated on them not having free will >>141952527 Well, if Xander doesn't need him anymore...
>>141952529 I'm not fucking stupid when I see these characters who are robots emote, think to themselves and have thoughts and opinions and shocker think they're sentient. Maybe not as fully advanced and free as the reploids but still pretty much sentient.
>>141952587 >>141952572 >Mavericks huh? And "brothers" being mentioned by Light. Further proving that Ice Man's crush on Roll is incestuous but it's totally not.
The problem with arguing the sentient capabilities of Robot Masters is that Capcom cocks up the lore and even in Mega Man X8, New Generation Reploids are hyped up as being able to go maverick "at will", meaning even the writers really don't have any genuine consistency.
>>141952573 You're confusing sentience with sapience. And they're all still Three Laws-bound, they have some ability to think for themselves but they are still limited.
>>141952588 I think they went out of print once they lost the license but there should still be copies around >>141952601 >And "brothers" being mentioned by Light. Further proving that Ice Man's crush on Roll is incestuous but it's totally not. lmao
>>141952620 He’s actually pretty good in this story. If he just stayed as a minor villain instead of trying to upstage Wily more people would like him.
>>141952573 Literally the whole point of Robot Masters is that they can think for themselves so they can command other robots and perform complex tasks. Why would you think they're not sentient? They just don't have true free will because they're 3 Laws compliant.
>>141952662 Yes I'd agree on that but to say they have no will or personality as some people seem to is wrong. I just think to act like they have no personality or will is missing the point a bit and just ignoring what is overtly shown. They do have limits but they are clearly still capable of a degree of free will and emotion even if it isn't to the full extent as reploids in the X series, though honestly they seem to have bigger flaws with how often and easy it is to be a maverick
>>141952749 So Roll isn't that much heavier than a normal person. >>141952728 This comic will soon be getting quite the body count. One arc will be showing two planes of people crashing and blowing up.
>>141952702 I don't think that's the case, I fully believe they are thinking, emotive and still limited by built in laws. I just don't buy the idea they are basic and unthinking as some people in threads seem to think the classic robot characters are
>>141952654 Honestly Capcom was a lot more lenient with his they're characters are showcased with how willing they are to vary them in other continuities or adaptions
>>141952727 I do like how Wily does clearly give a shit about the DWNs to at least some degree. Sure, he's willing to set them up as sacrificial pawns, but he does still treat them like people. ... Which makes it way more fucked up, actually.
>>141952749 I actually love that Flash man reasonably is still holding that against him, really fleshed out the dynamic and relations Willy's Robot Masters have with one another
>>141952852 I don't care if she's plappable, she needs to be stopped! >>141952827 Should've spammed the page of Rock shooting Heat Man with a smile on his face.
>>141952845 The cops here are actually competent, just outgunned in most cases. I'd put my faith in them for easier than I would something like S.H.I.E.L.D.
>>141952867 >Should've spammed the page of Rock shooting Heat Man with a smile on his face. Yeah, or the crash man bomb trail. Those are a lot more heavy.
>>141952892 Y'know, all told, it's really weird how the Classic period is actually a decent place to live. Quite the contrast with the rest of the Mega Man timeline.
>>141952981 DUN DUN DUN! >>141952963 As long as they don't seriously hurt anyone and it's to protect others from them. Anyway, finding loopholes is a very human thing to do.
>>141952992 Light torches maybe? Or get fires started for camping? I'm assuming Kossack realized that even if he wasnt built for combat, a weapon wouldn't hurt.
>>141952959 This is a legit terrorist attack being depicted in this all-ages comic, by the way. A literal terrorist just blew up a convention center full of people. Yeesh.
>>141952963 To be fair, that was kind of the entire point of Asimov's robot stories. The three laws are bullshit, and the fact they can be easily wiggled out of is the plot of like most of those books.
>>141952999 >Mega Man X starts to disappear >Reploids start to Disappear >21XX changes radically >In it's place is a future Earth.......visited by a Xorda ship....
>>141953058 >>141953039 >This is a legit terrorist attack being depicted in this all-ages comic, by the way. A literal terrorist just blew up a convention center full of people. Yeesh. The Ra Moon arc is going to make this look like a story for babies.
>>141953076 >The Ra Moon arc is going to make this look like a story for babies. YEP. But at least you can vaguely justify a lower rating due to the fantastical elements. Here, dude just pushes the button. Realism tends to hit harder, y'know?
But yes, Ra Moon is objectively way worse. They show the planes falling, man. Fuck.
>>141953000 He's at least trying to make the world a better place for humans, even if his methods (and reasoning!) are extremely messed up. Eggman just doesn't care so long as he's having fun >>141953039 It's no worse than CounterStrike, at least you don't have to play the role of a terrorist here >>141953110 Whoops!
>>141953140 Imagine being such a robo incel that you still work for the fucker that was willing to kill you while he was nice and cozy in his control booth.
>>141953198 Rosie and Stern are on the scene. >>141953169 Light is proud of his boy. >>141953181 What a guy. Willing to sacrifice everyone but himself for his cause.
>>141953121 Elec Man's so handsome! >>141953158 lmao >>141953184 Boo hoo hoo, I had my sight restored by robotics ;_ Not adding the other ; since he's only got one one now
>>141953243 He didn't even technically lose the eye, they gave him a prosthetic right away, and I bet you it was paid in full by the state. Dude is just a pissy crybaby.
>>141953290 Plus it's the damn future, give it a year and they'll give him a model that would not only be same looking as a normal one but probably make him even better at his fucking job.
>>141953299 The comic gives more prominence and personality to the Dr Light robot masters from the first game, Elec Man has a bit of personality in powered up but it's very different, he is essentially electric James from Pokemon there
>>141953239 Hey, it's not-Gumshoe! >>141953251 It is now! >>141953299 None of them really have much of a personality in the original games so you had to fill that in yourself >>141953303 Yeah, it's one of my favorites >>141953306 >Another cool robot guy. He and Cut Man are easily my favorites of the original Robot Masters
>>141953299 Elec Man's personality is based on Powered Up, the MM1 remake where everyone gets a bit of dialogue. Generally, Robot Masters don't get much writing. Besides the Powered Up bots, Ian just builds up on whatever tiny character bios each has.
>>141953377 Give it up, Stern. You can't not like Rock. >>141953352 Here's a better spoiler: Sonic's doucheyness gets cranked to 11 and Rock looks much better in comparison.
>>141953414 Wakey, wakey! >>141953412 Would be better if the games weren't really covered the same way and laid out differently. Enough with the robot gauntlets!
>>141953438 >Enough with the robot gauntlets! Yeah, that's fair. Reading through what is essentially boss rushes loses its charm if the battles are usually only a couple or so pages.
>>141953501 >>141953490 >It's Blues, the handsomest (and legalist!) of Light's creations! And he's got a boat load of daddy issues! >>141953474 Going through all the games so fast is a boss rush of its own.
>>141953543 >As in "humans all died out" or "humans fucked robots until only hybrids are left"?
Humans and robots eventually become Carbons by the time of Legends. Technorganic beings with limited lifespans, a perfect melding of flesh and circuitry.
>>141953501 So in the span of like a day Wily >Found an ancient device that print anything he needs including but not limited to whole ass Robot Masters >An ancient robot on the same level as Robot Masters >And the very first Robot Master who conveniently is also carrying a grudge against Light
What's next? Is he gonna find a source of ultimate power just lying in the grass?
>>141953575 >Humans and robots eventually become Carbons by the time of Legends. I see people post this as canon in MM threads, but doesn't this contradict Legends 2? Humanity didn't become Carbons, they were REPLACED by them. The Master was a human, not a ZX Humanoid/Reploid.
>>141953596 Now open-toed shoes are one thing, I can begrudgingly tolerate those (no thanks to Kishimoto), but the fucking pawpads on the bottom are retarded.
>>141953299 It's how he acted in Powered Up. All the MM1 robot masters act like how they did in Powered Up. From MM2 onward Ian is just making up new personalities for them that he thinks fits.
>>141952588 Good luck finding them at a reasonable price. The only one I was able to find that wasn't amazon overpriced was vol 3 used for about 10 buck, but the cover was bent in half straight through the middle.
>>141954204 You can try online book stores like thriftbooks or betterworldbooks. Was able to find some of the Sonic Archives I was missing to complete some of my collection, but even then the Mega Man books show up so rarely. Like I said the only one I found was vol 3.
>>141954403 Someone speculated earlier in the storytime that the series would have been shelved a lot earlier if it wasn't for his input in designs and fooling kids during the dark ages with his covers and I genuinely believe it.
>>141953855 lmao, pic related >>141954086 Yeah, Evan insists on giving him the round eyes, but his official eyes are way cooler >>141954199 Would >>141954322 Very nice! I really should unpack mine from storage
>>141954426 Also how he was the guy that bought the studio a copy of SA1 from Japan so they could get a vague notion on what the fucking story was, cause Sega wasn't helping.
>>141953628 He will create an AI that becomes possessed by Cyber Satan.
>>141953829 Don't blame him for this. 99% of it comes down to Wily refusing to accept that in his attempts to create free-willed heroes, he only made robots a greater and greater source of fear with his attacks as he grew increasingly insane. Everything from the Classic era through to X and finally into Legends is because Wily hated Light enough that he'd willingly ruin everything both of them worked towards.
>>141954471 The problem with all these fan comics is that there are too many cooks in the pot and nobody can focus on one thing to finish because they all have their own take on how to finish the story and nobody agrees on a consensus.
>Should we go with pre-boot or reboot? >Should we ignore endangered species or not? >Should we ignore all the Pendering mishaps and try to figure out Ian "real" plan or continue with the last issue continuity wise? >Should we resolve the Naugus plot point, or focus on Metal Sally?
>>141954547 I could never get into those battles thing. I don't care that somebody is classified as "continental" or "country level" or whatever or where Sonic can fit in when he canonically gets NACKED like 3 times.
>>141954534 Anon Endangered Species Metal Sally, Bunnie, and Naugus/geofrey arc are done, the only arc's left for them to finish are Scourge and Antoine.
>>141955030 she's awfully pretty. and nice. i like her a lot she is very sweet and i want to date her and hang out with her :3 full disclosure: i have not read this thread but i have read and saved all of the previous mega man threads
>>141955030 I'm really liking her in this book, she has a nice balance of being useful, yet not to the point where's its out of character or upstages the actual combatants.
>>141955063 Yeah, it really pisses me off just how much precious time was wasted on arcs that really didn't matter when they were so close to the reboot.
>>141955158 The Penders banhammer came out of nowhere. That's why Endangered Species only does one issue with last minute rewrites on terminology but non-edited pencils, but the next three issues are a rushed job last minute mess.
Ian on his forum mentioned that he was told by the higher ups to continue as normal and not worry about the lawsuit because it would blow over, so he was woefully uninformed on how it would end up.
>>141954885 Better to be a villain with patrician taste than to be a hero with pleb taste. Those thighs! >>141955030 I'd like to see her a bit more active and to do some fighting
>>141953460 so does blues have free will, he was able to leave and seems awfully protective of his core programming and yeah yeah I know the x factor but blues seems really really human
>>141955537 Idgaf what Penders tried to inject. But honestly, this scene is basically my mom and I. She doesn't care that I'm an adult, she'll still treat me like this. Lmao
I think another reason why the sentience of Robot Masters is so blurry is because I feel like none of the staff that's ever worked on the franchise could articulate what's the meaningful difference between a Reploid and a Robot Master that just simply isn't Three-Laws Compliant (read: Zero)
>>141955540 I'm assuming so, Light built him with the full intention of creating a son, he was just forced to add the combat functions to justify spending the military's budget on him.
>>141955607 I sure hope he's paying all the artists royalties for the art they provided, or do creator's rights only matter when it's Ken "Echyd’nya" Penders? >>141955693 I hope he's able to release a few before that happens. I really want to storytime that trainwreck
There are so many Mega Man spinoffs, which also get their own spinoffs in the form of time skips in the story. If you could make your own Mega Man spinoff, what would the story and setting be like?
anyone else excited for the generations remaster I never played it, didnt have a console between ps2 and switch so itl be neat playing it for the first time
>>141955693 Unless he completely redraws the thing and removes all reference to knuckles + Sonic and Co, I'm betting he will. and even then, I think he only owns the rights to the characters, not necessarily the comics themselves. So both Sega AND Archie can get his ass.
>>141955803 He doesn't even own the rights to the characters. IIRC there was a Twitter thread revealing something along the lines of him only owning the rights to the titles of the stories said characters appeared in, which does not equal owning the characters themselves.
>>141955839 And this fuckwit was one of the main driving forces over the Archie comic getting killed besides that new editor that REALLY wanted crossovers to be a thing.
>>141955794 I'd make Dr. Light a robot who decided to simulate the lives of humans and experiment with those simulations. The humans find out they have different abilities. Dr. Wily would be an intelligent virus that would alter the lives of these humans. Protoman would be one of the humans who'd attempt to break out of the simulation, thinking he is truly a real human being. Mega Man, of course, would be tasked with deleting the Wily Virus since he's resistant to it, and as a secondary plan, he can also pass the vaccine to his friends and family, who will be the enemies he faces as he tries to stop Wily.
>>141955839 Really? Jeezus, this guy's braincells must really be getting out of whack then if he thinks he can pull this. Though then again, this is the same weasel who claims he came up with the iconography of Sonic riding on the Tornado's wings, despite everyone and their mother knowing it appeared in the games first.
Hard to tell if he actually believes his own nonsense, or just thinks everyone is too stupid to fact check.
>>141955895 I love how Pender's current strat is to try and gaslight people into thinking its Sega and Archie's fault that the comic storyline died with how selfish they allegedly are, and not his delusions of grandeur.
>>141955930 Penders is a narcissist, so it's 100% the former. Narcissists lack any sense of self-awareness and basically live in their own personalized bubble of reality where everything caters only to them.
>>141955983 It's particularly shitty how the big threat kept being sideined from stuff like that and then later sonic is blamed for everything even when he was saving the world those times
I can't believe no one posted the video! >>141955839 The suit was settled, but the speculation is he owns the rights to Archie not suing him provided he doesn't use the Segasonic character designs. Of course, Archie doesn't own the license now, and Sega's not restricted from Lara Suing him >>141955934 100% this. I need my fluffy himbohog in full HD! >>141955983 Hey, there was videocalls too!
>>141955944 Sonic Live. And no, don't give me that shit that 25YL is still worse - Live was the biggest reason why Penders lost his goddman mind and thought he could do whatever with the book since it's where his whole IAN DROID thing was meant to take over.
>>141956032 The font choice is so classy! >>141956033 >>141956055 I really need to dig up his original PowerPoint for his movie pitch. It's got that "highschooler slapped it together 5 minutes before it was due" energy >>141956102 Now do Max!
>>141955955 This line from the Penders written part always sticks in my head >>141955990 I liked it besides the lack of explanation for why Shadow turned evil. If there was an explanation then I would be fine with it
>>141955944 I kinda liked 25 years later for one reason only. Penders inadvertently painted a pretty accurate picture of what Sonic would be like if he was forced to become King, and why it was bad.
Grown up Tails was cool.
Other than that... lots of nonsense and why tf did Shadow turn evil. Very OOC for Archie Shadow to begin with.
>>141956367 With that said, can Sega please kick his teeth in with a lawsuit? I just want this guy to finally go down for good. We are never getting our Archie stuff back, games world-building and character dev is still crippled, so it ain't fair that he still gets to do his thing after EVERYTHING he has done to the entire franchise over the years.
>>141956225 If Fiona did turn Tails down there all the stuff that happened later could've been avoided. And that was the worst case scenario before Sonic intervened. lol
I think the colorists effect on the artwork are underrated. I liked Herms's early work as well as his work on IDW as well as Jensen's. Jensen started around issue 120s, and ended mostly around 180s. I prefer Herms's older style though, but I don't like his pencils that much.
>>141956367 And yet that was still the endgame that Penders planned for Sonic. Midlife crisis aside he was going to be king during a time where it's mostly peace and only talking and politics is necessary to solve larger problems. Then Ian had Sonic lose it all and have to get it back to appreciate the life he had. So he embraced being king and father.
>>141956713 >constantly loses continuities >favorite ship is dead and gone >does best when he has a lot of already established stuff to use It really feels like he doesn't care anymore. I've seen plenty of writers I've liked lose that edge they had over the years. It happens.
>>141956713 I guess the passion is missing. The post-Forces IDW Sonic isnt as fun or free reign as Archie Sonic. Outside of some kino Eggman scenes or nice callbacks to past titles, you can tell he's mostly phoning it in and using it as an excuse to post furry waifus.
>>141956713 He's been writing Sonic for SO long now that he's just starting to get burned out. He was full of vigor when he took over but going through the shit that he's gone through? Anyone would be feeling sluggish and out of it.
