All-Out War Against Ravenwood In Bebop & Rocksteady Hit The Road #5

Bebop & Rocksteady have New York City in their sights, but standing in the way of their home is Agent Ravenwood and the EPF. They’re used to fights, so this is nothing new, although they’ve never come up against anyone quite like Ravenwood. That’s not going to slow them down. You know what might? Robot versions of themselves.

Let’s think about this for a second. For some reason, the EPF has made robotic versions of Bebop and Rocksteady. Granted, they’re two incredibly strong and resilient mutant warriors, but it almost seems like they just had these lying around. Do they have other robot mutants?
In any case, this leads to a moment not unlike that in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure where the main characters meet their robotic counterparts. They’re mystified by their appearance. At first it looks like they’re going to be fast friends, but Bebop & Rocksteady aren’t exactly good with people, let alone robots, so a fight breaks out.

Artist Ben Bates doesn’t show us all the carnage that breaks out. We see the growing smoke cloud from their scuffle. It’s like something out of a cartoon where the characters occasionally stop to yell at one another and lick their wounds. The sound effects get bigger and bigger too, leading to a monumental explosion that rocks the bridge they’re standing on.
One aspect of Bebop & Rocksteady Hit the Road that I love is how letterer Shawn Lee emphasizes certain words from the main characters’ dialogue. It’s not just a bolded word here or there. It’s this larger font that you can just imagine being said in an annoying voice. If you were friends with these guys, those are the words that would grate on you. It’s perfect for the characters.

Agent Ravenwood has been dropping hints as to her true nature throughout this entire mini-series. Here in Bebop & Rocksteady Hit the Road #5 we see what she’s really capable of and it’s some pretty creepy stuff. She has total control of her body, able to adjust her size as needed, kind of like how Ms. Marvel or Mr. Fantastic operates. In Ravenwood’s case, she’s bulked up, appearing almost like a polygon character from an early Playstation game.
The real scare factor comes when Bebop has had enough and rips her arm off. This hurts her, but she’s able to adjust to compensate. Meanwhile, the arm that Bebop’s holding grows a head. Ravenwood’s body comes apart, revealing multiple heads, each attached by long strands of flesh. It’s like something out of a Junji Ito book.

Some of the more violent scenes, both with the Bebop & Rocksteady robots and later with Ravenwood, are shown with these bursts of color. Brittany Peer creates these explosions of red and purple energy that give you the feeling of the attacks without having to show you the specific acts. This is especially true for Ravenwood as she’s getting pummeled by Bebop and Rocksteady. We see her face outlined in these roughly shaped panels of red.
Bebop & Rocksteady Hit the Road has been an absolute blast from start to finish. Writers Ben Bate and Dustin Weaver have made me fall in love with these characters all over again. It’s impossible not to love these complete idiots. Sure, they’d probably be super annoying in real life, but as a reader, they’re hilarious and so much fun to watch. Now that they’re back in New York, we get an idea of where they might go next and it’s going to make for some pretty interesting storytelling.
Bebop & Rocksteady Hit the Road #5 from IDW Publishing is currently available at your local comic shop and digitally through ComiXology and Amazon Kindle.