Heavy Duty as Roadblock in IDW?

october77 · 11-21-2009, 06:12 PM

Okay, so I finally got around to reading the new IDW continuity..only into the first couple issues as of yet but why does Heavy Duty look EXACTLY like Roadblock. Even in issue #0 the artist talks about Heavy Duty as though he is Roadblock.

I remember there being some confusion when people thought Hasbro lost the right's to the name Roadblock...which is silly. That's like losing the rights to the word grass or rock..its a noun. Perhaps that wa an issue but I can't find any info on it on the internet so I thoght I'ld ask here.

Thanks!

P.S Roadblock > Heavy Duty

Killer 1 · 11-21-2009, 06:25 PM

As far as I know, it has nothing to do with any copyright issues. I think the character was actually written, and drawn as Roadblock, but was changed due to the fact Heavy Duty is featured prominently in the movie.

october77 · 11-21-2009, 06:28 PM

Yeah, that was my feeling as well. Ugh, I hate when that happens...Heavy Duty is British in the movie anyways so it still doesn't work.

zuludelta · 11-21-2009, 06:29 PM

IDW editor Andy Schmidt explains in one of the letters pages (can't remember which issue) that they couldn't use the Roadblock name for legal/copyright reasons (apparently, somebody else has acquired the "Roadblock" brand for use in comics publishing... I guess Hasbro slept on renewing their copyrights). For all intents and purposes though, the IDW-verse version of Heavy Duty is basically Roadblock except in name. Schmidt even goes so far to say that he prefers the Roadblock code name over Heavy Duty (since Roadblock is the character he grew up with), but he just can't do anything about it, although he promised to make a change if the issues around the usage of the Roadblock name are ever resolved.