Thursday, May 23, 2013
TMNT (1987) Season 3, Part 7 Review
Hoo boy. A lot of shit in this batch of six episodes from season 3. An Irma spotlight, two Zach the Fifth Turtle episodes in a row, a confused plot about Michelangelo turning human just so April can join a gang, a reminder that the Neutrino's still exist, and god damned Mister Ogg.
TMNT (1987) Season 3 Part 7 Review at Adventures in Poor Taste.
On the bright side, I'm almost done with season 3. Just one more of these to go (and thankfully, the upcoming final batch of 5 episodes are almost all pretty good).
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
TMNT Villains Microseries #2: Baxter
Publication date: May 22, 2013
Script: Erik Burnham
Art: Andy Kuhn
Colors: John Rauch
Letters: Tom B. Long
Editor: Bobby Curnow
Summary:
The present.
Burnow Island. Baxter Stockman
is working tirelessly in a lab. He considers to himself how General Krang’s plan to
terraform the Earth with the Technodrome and essentially eliminate human civilization is rather bad
business. As Mousers aid him on his
latest side project, he thinks about how he can overcome this problem.
The past. Baxter
is a small boy playing chess with his father in the park. Baxter thinks the game is dumb, but Mr. Stockman
insists that chess enhances one’s ability to think and problem-solve. Baxter suggests luck has more to do with it,
enraging his father, who insists that outcomes are the result of a person’s
mind and nothing else.
The present.
Baxter gets a message from Krang, who demands a status report. Baxter tells him that the Technodrome is
proceeding on schedule. Krang is
disappointed, as he wants the Technodrome completed AHEAD of schedule. Furthermore, he’s annoyed that Baxter is
wasting time on a side project. Baxter
claims that his “side project” is actually intended to speed up the
construction of the Technodrome. He
introduces Krang to the Flyborg, a combination of mutant fly and
cybernetics. When built into drone
units, it will be markedly more efficient than the current laborers. Krang offers Baxter a backhanded compliment
and signs out. Baxter starts to lose his
temper, but recalls what happens when one loses their cool.
The past. Baxter,
a teenager, is playing chess in the park with his father. Mr. Stockman chides his son on his slow
move-making. Frustrated, Baxter makes a
thoughtless move, setting himself up for defeat. Mr. Stockman warns him that getting angry
causes an individual to make poor, self-destructive decisions. Baxter asks for a do-over, but Mr. Stockman
reminds him that there are no do-overs in the real world.
The present. As
Baxter takes the Flyborg for a test run, he considers his many options; most of
which end in his loss of “the game”. A
unit of Rock Soldiers stop him and demand to know what his creature is. The Flyborg suddenly shows a burst of
sentience and free will. Speaking, it
says that it does not want to be an expendable slave and rebels. Baxter’s override systems fail and the
Flyborg takes down all the Rock Soldiers.
Baxter flees for his life, contacting Krang and asking him to send more
guards and to guide him to a saferoom.
Krang laughs at Baxter’s misfortune and offers his help, but only after
Baxter debases himself for the General’s amusement.
Baxter takes shelter in the heavily fortified control
room, but the Flyborg enters through a ventilation shaft. Upon entrance, it destroys all monitoring
equipment. Seeing his carefully laid
plan a success, Baxter initiates his true override protocols, incapacitating
the Flyborg. As it happens, the entire
Flyborg project and rampage was Baxter’s design. Now with complete access to the control room
and no one looking over his shoulder, he downloads all information regarding the Technodrome and Krang’s many nefarious schemes. Once he gathers all he requires, Stockman
feigns helplessness and draws the guards to the control room. The Flyborg begs to be spared, but the Rock
Soldiers kill it.
Later, Baxter goes over the files he downloaded and is
disturbed by Krang’s plans. The files
contain enough data that he can use to seize control of the Technodrome, but he
can’t do it alone. Looking over a
profile of the Fugitoid, Baxter thinks he can manipulate the robot into helping
him. Smiling, Baxter believes he has
Krang in check.
The past. Baxter,
an adult, meets his father for a game of chess in the park. Before even playing, Baxter tells his father
he has him in check. He then presents Mr.
Stockman with documentation of a hostile takeover that gives him complete
control of Stockgen, ousting Mr. Stockman.
Mr. Stockman can’t believe his own son would do this, but Baxter simply
knocks over his father’s king, saying that he taught him everything he knows.
Turtle Tips:
*As the events of TMNT (IDW) #20 are referenced and Krang
has fully healed, I would place this issue after TMNT Villains Microseries #1: Krang.
*This issue was originally published with 2 covers:
Regular Cover by Tyler Walpole, and Cover RI by Kuhn and Daniel “PeZ” Lopez.
Review:
The origin of Baxter Stockman; that’s a tough one to
retell. You see, “Insane in the Membrane”,
the notorious “banned episode” of the 4Kids TMNT series, was pretty much the
essential Baxter Stockman origin. It
was also one of the best Ninja Turtle stories ever told. So the idea of an author going back and doing
a new origin for Baxter left me a tiny bit incredulous. How do you top “Insane in the Membrane”?
Well, I wouldn’t say that Burnham tries to "top" that story, but
he does offer a very fitting glimpse at the origin for this universe’s
Baxter Stockman. Burnham opts to focus on Baxter’s relationship
with his father (whereas the 4Kids episode focused on his relationship with his
mother) and the lessons he learned which shaped him into the super villain he
is today. The flashbacks are rife with
subtleties in Baxter’s upbringing that I felt offered quite a bit of depth for
3 whole pages. Baxter’s dad is caring
(taking the time to teach his son valuable life lessons and improve upon his
natural intellectual gifts), but unforgiving (he vocally attacks Baxter for
every poor decision and denies excuses or second chances). He’s profound (likening the numerous nuances
of chess to practical values), but contradictory (losing his temper when Baxter
mentions luck, then telling him never to lose his temper because that breeds
mistakes).
There’s a surprising richness and sincerity to their
relationship that, again, packs a lot into just 3 pages. The broader details of Baxter’s relationship
with his father are unknown to us, but we can see in that last page that he
resents him to some degree (enough to steal his company). Whether this was supposed to imply that
Baxter was naturally a corrupt individual or if he despised his father’s
unflinching parenting and that’s what corrupted him (he uses what he’s taught
against his father), there isn’t enough material to really say,
but I think we all get the gist of it.
And it doesn’t necessarily contradict any of the origin
material from “Insane in the Membrane”, either.
There’s no telling what Baxter’s relationship with his mother was like in IDW or if she died when he was young as in the 4Kids cartoon (and perhaps being
raised exclusively by his demanding father without the softer guidance of his
mother is what “turned” him). I don’t
mean to sound like a stickler for older material, and I know I shouldn’t be
actively comparing these new stories to what’s come before, so please forgive
me for that. I just feel that you can
effectively combine both origins together and come away with an even fuller
picture of Baxter’s personal history than before.
As for the present-set stuff, we get a blunt reference to
Baxter’s fly mutation from the Fred Wolf cartoon in the form of the Flyborg,
but it’s not particularly bothersome.
Baxter commanding an army of Mousers and Flyborgs, combining his two
most notable character traits from earlier incarnations, is a fun prospect and
I look forward to seeing his machinations develop. While Baxter comparing all his actions to a
game of chess is a bit of a cliché, it works alongside the flashbacks and I
enjoyed the opportunity to see how his thought process worked (going over his
various options and their various outcomes several moves in advance, so to
speak). In a way, it kind of reminded me
of April’s microseries issue, where we got a peek into her noggin and witnessed
how she weighed and considered actions preemptively. Considering the close ties between April and
Baxter, the similarities paint a rather interesting picture as to how they
mirror one another.
Andy Kuhn is back on art duties. Not to beat a dead Mouser, but I feel
compelled to reiterate that the primary grievance with Kuhn’s work on IDW’s
TMNT books (from myself and, as I’ve witnessed, many fans online) has been the
way he chooses to render the faces of the Turtles. Now, give us an issue with no Turtles in it
(save a one-panel flashback) and what do you end up with? A clear look at Kuhn’s art without that one
negative element distracting you from processing his work. And he’s really very good. The characters are expressive, the action
flows nicely and he uses space exceedingly well. His panels never feel cluttered, but nor do
they feel empty. He only employs
as much background detail as is needed to tell the story so your focus is never
lost. The guy has grown considerably
since his debut on the Michelangelo microseries.
I’d also like to point out that the cover by Tyler
Walpole is quite possibly the most perfect image of Baxter Stockman I’ve ever
seen. It says so much about the character. His look is intense and reflective (ha ha) as
he ponders the Mouser in his hand, denoting his intelligence and focus. Yet he’s also menacing, frightening, not only
because of his intensity, but because of the eerie creations that swarm at his
back. Walpole’s cover is just a superb
piece of art that really defines the character in one singular shot; very
impressive.
While this issue may not be notable for its action, as
the “threat” of the Flyborg’s rampage is dampened by the advanced knowledge
that Baxter is plotting the moves of a “game”, it’s a wonderful insight into
the scientist’s brain. Even if you feel
compelled to compare this origin with his 4Kids origin, you’ll find it acts
more as a compliment than a contradiction and shows us a different side of the
bad guy’s upbringing. There’s great
subtlety in the relationships between the characters, even when their
interaction is limited to just a few pages, and the art ain’t bad, either. A nice, if belated, second epilogue to the
Krang War arc.
Grade: B+ (as in, “Baxter’s Flyborg being a cheeky combination
of the two things he’s known for being turned into gives me hope that Baxter
might stay completely human for the duration of IDW’s TMNT comic”.)
Sunday, May 19, 2013
TMNT (Vol. 2) #10
Publication date: August, 1995
Story and pencils: Jim Lawson
Inks: Eric Talbot
Letters: Mary Kelleher
Colors: Eric Vincent and Altered Earth Arts
Cover: Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman
“Descending into D.A.R.P.A.”
Summary:
At the apartment, Casey gets off the phone with his
mother, telling her about the break-in he, April and Shadow came home to the previous day. There’s a knock on the door
and it’s Lou Braunze. He asks to see
Casey in private, as he has some news.
They go for a walk and Braunze tells Casey that he’s the
one who scared off the burglars yesterday, except they weren’t burglars but
government agents. Braunze tells Casey
about DARPA (Defense and Research Projects Administration), a covert branch of the CIA that
works outside of government approval and oversight. He goes on to say that DARPA has Raphael and
that they’re keeping him in their Nevada research facility. He tells Casey to gather all his friends who
can help so that they can free Raph.
At the DARPA lab, Raph wakes up strapped to a table. He breaks the straps and stumbles off. Injured, he hobbles into a room where several
aliens are being held in stasis tubes.
One of the aliens, a Triceraton, awakens and seems to recognize
Raph. Suddenly, Raph is attacked by a
toothy, tentacled alien. He’s in no
condition to fight back, but the noise attracts several guards who proceed to
tranq him and the alien.
Down in the sewers, Braunze tells his story to Leo, Don,
Mike and Nobody. Don doesn’t trust him
and wants to know what his connection to DARPA is. Braunze concedes, explaining that back in the
‘50s, he was one of 18 people that volunteered to undergo mental enhancements
at DARPA. Many of the participants died,
but he was one of the few who successfully gained mental powers. In his case, he can read minds and shape the
thoughts of others so that they believe whatever he tells them. He used the latter power to escape
DARPA by making everyone think he was dead.
With no other choice, the Turtles, Nobody and Casey agree to follow
Braunze to Nevada.
Three days later, they arrive in Lincoln County, Nevada
by van. Hiding their getaway vehicle,
they proceed on foot. A helicopter flies
overhead, but it hasn’t seen them. The
DARPA guards are shooing away a pair of observers trying to catch a glimpse of
something unusual at the nearby DARPA facility.
Laying low, Leo thinks the observers may just get their chance.
Turtle Tips:
*This story is continued from TMNT (Vol. 2) #9. The story continues in TMNT (Vol. 2) #11.
*This issue was 8 months late, apparently.
*This issue also contained a back-up story, “Bog, part 2
of 5” by Ryan Brown, Chris Allan, Matt Roach, Dave Vance and Altered Earth
Colors. Yes, part 2. The editors got the order of the back-up
strips wrong and published part 3 first by mistake.
Review:
So, the DARPA arc begins. I have mixed feelings about this one, most of
which I’ll get to when it’s relevant (their treatment of Casey and Nobody, for
instance). While it ties into everything
that’s been going on since Volume 2 began (the dreams, Baxter’s whereabouts,
etc.), the setup in this issue felt very rushed and convenient.
So the guy living in April’s apartment building just
happened to have once worked for a covert branch of the CIA which happened to be
the same covert branch of the CIA that kidnapped Raph? And when he goes and tells all this to Casey,
the Turtles and Nobody, they just believe him immediately (except Don)? I guess arguments could be made
that Braunze used his mental powers to calm the others and keep them from
disbelieving or getting volatile (though Don seemed immune, maybe because he’s
smarter), but jeez, doesn’t it all just seem rather lucky?
Braunze, as a character, has no personality or
charisma. He’s used as a tool in this
volume to facilitate the conclusion and get the Turtles where they need to be. He isn’t interesting and I couldn’t tell you
a damn thing about him other than the fact that he’s bald and can read minds
(but isn’t stuck in a wheelchair like that other guy). Braunze is sort of the start of a trend you’ll
notice in Vol. 4: Bland characterization.
In Mirage’s (Laird’s) never ending quest to make characters feel more “real”,
what we wind up with is a whole bunch of really, really boring guys that all
talk with the same verbal tics (“Ummmm”, “Hmmmm,” “Mmmm,”) and mumble about dull bullshit all the time. Having a unique
power (telepathy) isn’t the same thing as having a unique personality. Making a character bland doesn’t make them
more “real”, it just makes them boring.
Granted, I’m getting ahead of myself here, as that’s more
an epidemic that’ll plague Volume 4, but Braunze really is the beginning of
it. You can also see it creep into
pre-established characters, too.
Whatever happened to Nobody being the Batman-esque vigilante loon? All he does now is stand around and go “Hmmmm,”
or “Ummm,” or “Mmmm”. April? She sits around reading magazines, now. And all her dialogue starts with “Hmmmm” or “Ummm”
because if you can’t tell that shtick REALLY annoys the hell out of me.
I guess that’s one of the other reasons why I dislike
this arc. The “new trend” of Mirage’s
TMNT writing starts to stick out around here. I’m sure it was there back when the volume
began, but 10 issues in, you really start to notice it. It’s not to say that there aren’t elements of
the DARPA arc that I don’t like (great throwbacks to the outer space adventure
arc of Volume 1), but it’s full of problems and the volume starts to fall apart during it.
Grade: C- (as in, “Could the book suddenly starting to
suck have anything to do with the 8 month delay between issues? Because they sure weren’t using the extra
time to polish the artwork; this is some rough stuff by Lawson”.)
Saturday, May 18, 2013
TMNT (Vol. 2) #9
Publication date: December, 1994
Story and pencils: Jim Lawson
Inks: Eric Talbot
Letters: Mary Kelleher
Colors: Eric Vincent and Altered Earth Arts
Cover: Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman
“Victory?”
Summary:
Down in the sewers, Baxter wakes up. His repair systems had overridden all his
other functions and forcibly powered him down.
Much to Baxter’s surprise, he’s found that his right arm has begun to “grow”
back. He wonders if perhaps he made his
regeneration systems ‘too’ intelligent and now they’ve gained a sort of survival
instinct capable of overpowering his own commands.
In the apartment, Casey gets off the phone with
Nobody. According to Nobody, there are
no reports about Raphael in any of the police databases; in fact, there are no
reports about ANY of them despite all the eye witnesses to the fight
scene. Donatello suspects a cover-up and
suggests they find Baxter’s robot, as its origin may be the key to finding who
took Raph and where they took him to.
After they leave, the Feds staking out their apartment
run a thermo scan, finding only a cat still inside. They’re ordered to ransack the apartment and
take the cat (Kluuuunk!), as it may be extraterrestrial. The Feds begin tearing the place apart, but
their noise alerts Mr. Braunze down in the basement. He runs up to the apartment and tells them to
drop Casey’s things and beat it. The
Feds pull out their guns, but Mr. Braunze exhibits amazing physical prowess and
takes them all down. He then grabs the
Fed named William and orders him to talk.
William refuses, but Braunze says he has no choice as strange hypnotic
rays come out of his eyes.
Back in the sewers, the Turtles and Casey follow the
trail left behind by Baxter. They
hear a tapping on a sewer pipe up ahead and follow the noise. They walk right into Baxter’s trap, as he was
making the noise and leaving the trail to lure them. From a vantage point, he opens fire with his
machinegun, forcing the Turtles and Casey to take cover, then runs down another
tunnel.
They follow him into a section of the sewer covered in ankle-deep water. They
realize it’s a trap too late as Baxter appears on a ledge above them, holding a
live power cable. Baxter drops the
sparking cable, but Leonardo reacts instantly by throwing his katana at it. His sword pins the cable to the wall and the
electricity arcs up to the ledge, striking Baxter. The power is too much and Baxter explodes
into a million pieces.
Once the smoke clears, the Turtles and Casey inspect the
remains of the robot. They find Baxter’s
old glasses and wonder what they were doing inside the robot. Donatello discovers no central memory bank
and comes to the conclusion that Baxter WAS the robot. However, with his brain missing or possibly
destroyed, they’ve no one to question and are back to square one regarding Raph’s
whereabouts.
Turtle Tips:
*This story is continued from TMNT (Vol. 2) #8. The story continues in TMNT (Vol. 2) #10.
*The events of the miniseries Donatello: The Brain Thief
take place between this and next issue, explaining what happened to Baxter’s
brain and what the deal with his regeneration systems is.
*Although the cover and indicia date this issue as
August, 1995, the official Mirage TMNT website gives the proper date as
December, 1994.
*Due to a printing error, the “Bog” back-up was once again delayed and does
not appear in this issue.
Review:
The Baxter Stockman arc concludes, ending on a pretty
exciting note, too. While the “rematch”
doesn’t amount to much of a fight, I think we got the big action sequences out
of our systems in the last issue. This
showdown illustrates a bit more cunning on Baxter’s part, as he lures the
Turtles into a trap he took time to set-up beforehand.
It’s a crude one, sure, but it shows his resourcefulness. His first encounter with the Turtles was very
brazen; drawing them out into the open with a show of force and trying to crush
them all with nothing more than brute strength and weaponry. I rather liked seeing Stockman take a
different approach for this issue’s big finish rather than just giving us
another drag-out brawl.
And man, the page where Leo throws his katana at the live
wire and pins it in midair was just a great bit of work from Lawson. I went on about his layout prowess in my last
review, so I won’t repeat myself, but when that guy is firing on all cylinders,
his stuff is incredible. (For an example
of him *not* firing on all cylinders, well, proceed into my reviews for “The
Brain Thief”.)
Speaking of “The Brain Thief”, well, it DOES follow-up on
the big plot point that Baxter brings up at the start of this issue: his
regeneration systems attaining low level sentience. Like a lot of plot threads introduced in this
volume, the early cancellation left it unfulfilled. Much of the Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 2) era
and its character-themed miniseries were spent tying up the myriad loose ends
leftover from Volume 2’s unceremonious death, so whether you like “The Brain
Thief” or not, it at least provides closure for something this issue spends 5
pages waxing on but never addresses again.
Mr. Braunze, in case you don’t recall, was briefly
introduced a couple issues ago in a bit of foreshadowing. He’s a big part of the DARPA arc that will
finish off Volume 2, but since we haven’t quite gotten there yet, I’ll save my
thoughts for now. All I’ll say is that
he’s one earring away from winning the Mr. Clean lookalike contest.
What else is there to say about this one other than
KLUNK! They finally remembered
Klunk! Sure, we don’t SEE him, but he’s
mentioned. I was starting to worry about
that little kitty.
Grade: B- (as in, “But seriously, The Brain Thief is like
1 issue of content, 3 issues of Donatello running down sewer tunnels. Lawson’s great at cinematic decompression
with his layouts, but sometimes he goes a little too far”.)
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