TMNT Micro-Series #3: Donatello

Publication date: February 29, 2012

Story: Brian Lynch
Script: Brian Lynch and Tom Waltz
Art: Valerio Schiti
Colors: ScarletGothica and Ilaria Traversi
Letters: Robbie Robbins
Editor: Bobby Curnow

Summary:

Donatello, the tech-savvy Turtle, considers his relationship with his three brothers and how he cannot connect with any of them. Mike likes computers… for you tube videos. Raph likes computers… for weight-lifting. Leo likes computers… or just pretends to for the sake of making conversation. Still, Don manages to socialize via internet forums under the screen name “duz_machines_84”. Online, he’s made many friends, but also enemies, including the arrogant and rampant misspeller, “kirby_fan01” (who tends to use the word “obstruse” a lot). Don brushes off the dork’s snide remarks and accepts an invitation from “prof_J_perry” to attend the New World Expo, a convention showcasing the latest and greatest in scientific achievement.



Cloaked in a trench coat and fedora, Don observes all the crazy gadgets with nerdy glee, eventually coming upon the booth of eccentric Harold Lillja. Lillja shows off his anti-gravity gauntlet/cloaking device to the expo judge, only to accidentally destroy a hot dog cart and get disqualified. While Harold protests, the judge leaves, making a suspicious call on her headset. As Lillja begins to pack things up, a group of black-suited spooks approach him, seize his equipment and “insist” that he accompany them to parts unknown. Sensing trouble, Don loses his disguise and follows from the shadows.

As it turns out, Lillja was brought to the offices of one Baxter Stockman, who insists that he’s Lillja’s biggest fan. Stockman provides a brief account of Lillja’s career: that he was an up and coming scientist many years ago, but fell into obscurity when his partner stole all his work. Baxter insists that he funded the Expo strictly to lure Lillja out of hiding and make him an offer. In exchange for fame and fortune, all Lillja would have to do is locate a single mutant turtle and extract its blood (Don doesn’t like the sound of that). Lillja is confused, so Baxter offers him a DNA tracker that will lead him directly to his target; he need only use his amazing inventions to detain the specimen. Lillja turns on the tracker and, low and behold, the laser beam directs their attention to the mutant turtle standing in the corner of the room.



Don subdues the gun-toting spooks while Baxter escapes to summon reinforcements. Don tries to talk Lillja out of making a deal with the devil and through a few choice mispronunciations (“obstruse”), Don realizes that Lillja is “kirby_fan01” and Lillja realizes Don is “duz_machines_84”. Unfortunately, Lillja is stubborn and wants to prove his genius to the world, so he hits Don with his anti-gravity gauntlet’s power. Don doesn’t want to fight the old man, though, and after a few more blows figures out that the gauntlet is powered by the user’s own bio-energy. Once Lillja exhausts himself, Don recommends some techno-babble that might help fix the power source problem. As armed reinforcements arrive, Don asks Lillja to make his choice: will he do the right thing, or join with another partner that only wants to steal his inventions for insidious purposes?

Lillja sides with Don and helps to clear the field for a moment. Don borrows the gauntlet from the exhausted Lillja and powers it himself. Grabbing Lillja and blasting the beam into the ground, they go flying through the skylight and across the city (where they land “safely” in a tree).



Climbing into his Ford Pinto (he was probably safer when armed guards were shooting at him), Lillja doesn’t exactly have the kindest of parting words to Don. Knowing that now he’ll have to go into hiding from Baxter, he blames to Turtle for the trouble he’s about to endure; changing his identity, address and screen name.

Back at the Lair, Don tells what he’s learned to Splinter and his brothers. With the debriefing over, he sits to play a new MMORPG, “Strangeness”, and maybe cheer himself up. Logging in, he receives a message from “captain_obstruse” asking if “duz_machines_84” would like to join his campaign.


“Bah, Hembeck!”

Comic strip by Fred Hembeck

Despite the protests of Raphael, Leonardo and Donatello, Michelangelo refuses to admit a fifth Turtle into their group: Picasso. Observing the cubist weirdo, Raphael considers that at least he isn’t as freaky as their previous consideration: Warhol (a can of Campbell’s turtle soup).


Turtle Tips:

*This story is continued from TMNT (IDW) #6. Chronologically, the next story is Infestation 2: TMNT #1.

*Professor Jordan Perry appeared in “TMNT II: Secret of the Ooze”, played by David Warner.

*Harold Lillja’s anti-gravity gauntlet originally appeared in Donatello (microseries) #1.

*This issue was originally published with 4 variant covers: Cover A by David Peterson, Cover B by Schiti and ScarletGothica, Cover RI-A by Peterson and Cover RI-B by Kevin Eastman (reproduction of original Donatello #1 cover).


Review:

Donatello’s never been one of my favorite Turtles in years past, as I always found him a bit too much of a “Mary Sue” archetype. He could turn a starmobile into a blimp in under half an hour, and in more than one continuity, he turns beat-up vans into “party wagons” and “battle shells” all by himself. How does he do this? Is he REALLY that smart? Is anyone on the face of the planet REALLY that smart? He also speaks multiple languages, flies spaceships, “hacks” computers… any time a convenient resolution for a conflict is needed, and there’s a tech-related “out”, Donatello just happens to be an expert on that subject. Problem solved, roll the credits.

And that goes for Mirage, too! Dude built a giant freakin’ robot turtle in one issue because, I dunno, that’s just what he does on Tuesdays.

IDW’s Don, however, has turned me around on the character, little by little. Over in Waltz’s ongoing, Don has been less of an absurd and convenient techno-prodigy and more of an analytical skeptic. He argues with Leo about strategy and openly doubts Splinter’s story about their origin as reincarnated Japanese children (going so far as to conduct his own investigation into the subject, because he just can’t buy it on faith). This Don has an attitude, which keeps him from disappearing into the background until someone needs a computer to be hacked and he’s given permission to step out of the scenery. But he isn’t so much of an antagonistic contrarian as he is an individual who expects observational evidence to support outrageous claims or demands a good reason to do something he considers stupid or inefficient.

IDW’s Donatello feels like the most well-rounded the character’s ever been, and that trend continues in this microseries installment.

Brian Lynch and Tom Waltz continue Don on the same track at the story’s start, showing that he’s just too different from his brothers to really get along with them (in a nice parallel to the opening of Michelangelo’s microseries, which featured a similar sequence). Being a shut-in due to his freakish appearance, naturally he ends up making friends online and it’s nice to see Don branching out into socializing in his own way. In fact, that’s sort of been a theme in IDW’s series, lately, as all the Turtles save Leo (so far) have been making human buddies at a steady rate. Of course, this dulls the “outcast” aspect of their character at a glance, but at least in the case of Don, he still has to bundle-up in a (rather unconvincing) disguise just to attend a convention. So the “outcast” quality is still there, even if the Turtles have 2 or 3 human friends.

Incidentally, for the “brainy” Turtle, I found that Don’s microseries chapter was funnier than Mike’s, the “comedian” Turtle. While much of the humor stemmed from Lynch’s and Waltz’s script, I think Valerio Schiti’s highly expressive art style is what did it for me. There’s a great lot of energy to the characters and the action, and I dug the “Kirby dots” whenever Lillja used his gauntlet (a nice throwback to the Kirby character of the Mirage series, who in turn was an homage to Jack Kirby-himself). Moreso, though, Schiti infuses a wonderful amount of personality into the characters, particularly in the way he exaggerates Don’s eyes.

Also, I really liked the characterization of Baxter in this issue. He’s charismatic, but in a devilish sort of way; like he’s making you an offer you can’t resist even if it’s clear as day there’ll be a catch. His glowing admiration for Lillja was really well done, as you could tell it was all bullshit (his aide even suggests going with the runner-up at the end; Lillja was nothing special to Baxter) and that summation he gave of the man’s career read like he skimmed his Wikipedia article a minute before he entered the room (the brevity of which Lillja similarly comments on). IDW’s Baxter just seems so… competent. In Mirage, Baxter was a cliché mad scientist who never really reached his full potential, even after he became a cyborg. In both the Fred Wolf cartoon and the 4Kids cartoon, he was an abused lackey and perpetual screw-up. But here, Baxter seems like real villain material.

I can’t really find much to harp on about this issue. There’s another string of Fred Wolf cartoon references being hurled at the audience, and I’m wondering how long it’ll be before Waltz, Lynch and the rest of the IDW crew run out of them; they’re exhausting the lyrics of the theme song at a rapid rate. I mean, it’s cute and that’s fine, but maybe some more moderation? And though there’s no indication in this issue that it’ll happen, and it is more a case of me being paranoid, I do hope that Don stays more within the realm of “reasonable genius” and doesn’t start building shell-cycles and sewer-sliders and portable portal generators and all other manner of sci-fi machinery any time soon. Part of the appeal to IDW’s Don is that he's smart and techno-savvy, but he isn’t capable of building a hi-tech battle van on a lazy Sunday afternoon just so Playmates can hock some more vehicles for the fall toyline.

Grade: B+ (as in, “But one last compliment; the coloring by ScarletGothica and Ilaria Traversi was excellent”.)

TMNT (Vol. 3) #25

Published by: Independently published by Andrew Modeen (unofficial publication)
Publication date: February-March, 2012

Writer: Andrew Modeen
Pencils/inks: Arseniy Dubakov
Pencils (pg 6, 26, 46, cover): Frank Fosco
Pencils/inks (pg 48-49): A.C. Farley
Cover inks: Kevin Eastman
Notes: Gary Carlson
Lettering/production: Adam O. Pruett
Additional plot/edits: Ross May
Tones: David Seltzer with Red Herring Color (Nick Rodgers, Kenny Madrid, Jay Stiverson, Amanda Sims)
Cover colors: Courtland Brugger
Special thanks: Mark Pellegrini

Summary:

In his secret lab, Donatello wakes to the sight of Baxter Stockman hovering above him, inserting cables and tubes into his body. As it happens, Don’s natural immune system is rejecting the cybernetic parts and if they remain, he will die. Stockman is using his own cyborg body as “life support” for Don while he siphons off the nanite-infused liquid metal. As it happens, though, as the nanites recede, Don’s own mutagen-enhanced healing factor is now able to progress unimpeded. His shell has already grown back and he’s gradually returning to normal.



At the mausoleum, Leo, Raph, Mikey, Splinter, Dr. X and Pimiko have survived the explosion set by the Lady Shredder, Cheng and the Foot. As they escape through the streets and into the sewers, a Shredder Elite sees them and alerts Lady Shredder. In the tunnels below, Leo sends Splinter to hide and protect Dr. X while he, his brothers and Pimiko stand their ground against the final assault.

At the Jones apartment, Casey is icing his head from the beating he took at the bank when his check bounced and he pitched a fit. April soothes him, assuring him that they’ll make ends meet and he’ll find another job. They’ll just have to save up a little bit longer for their wedding. Shadow awakens from bed and comes to see her parents, having had a bad dream about Uncle Mikey.

In the sewers, the battle begins. Hordes of Foot Soldiers fill the tunnels and overwhelm the Turtles. Leo orders everyone to retreat back to their original Lair. Meanwhile, Cheng unloads his “surprise” from the back of a van at the behest of the Lady Shredder.

Don comes to once again in his lab and finds that he is rid of nearly all traces of the liquid metal, which Baxter has absorbed and used to repair himself. Don resigns himself to the fact that Baxter will now be able to escape, but such isn’t the case. Only being a brain, there wasn’t enough organic matter for the liquid metal to bond with and Baxter crumbles back to his previously dismantled state. Baxter thanks Don for the fun, anyway, and asks that after he puts him back up on his shelf… he give April his regards. Don leaves with a suspicious look on his face as Baxter laughs maniacally.



In the sewers, Cheng’s surprises reveal themselves: the two surviving mutant Shredder clones the Turtles thought they killed years ago. The clawed Shredder clone and the midget Shredder clone, fully healed, attack. Cheng is pleased with his work, certain that by perfecting Mashima’s mystic worms, he’ll be able to create whole armies of the creatures. There’s another surprise on the way, though, as King Komodo returns amidst the chaos to finish Leo off. King Komodo kills the clawed Shredder clone so that he can have an unobstructed match with his one-handed foe.

Cheng and the Lady Shredder finally enter the fray, with Cheng leading a pair of Foot Mystics in mystically enhancing their army’s strength. Lady Shredder prepares to take Raph off guard when Pimiko intervenes. Raph confronts Cheng as Leo continues his battle with King Komodo and Mikey takes on the midget Shredder clone. With all the extra Foot Soldiers around, things look bad until Don returns to lend a hand. Grabbing a staff from one of the Foot, he offers to give explanations later and proceeds to fight by his brothers’ side. In the battle, King Komodo bites off Leo’s prosthetic stub-blade, revealing a re-grown hand beneath. Komodo is perplexed and Leo uses the distraction to decapitate the monster. Taking a cue from his brother, Mikey wraps his nunchaku chain around the midget Shredder clone’s neck and squeezes until the creature’s head pops off. Meanwhile, Raph kills the two Foot Mystics with shuriken and stabs Cheng with his sai. Raph believes that by killing Cheng, his astral tether to Splinter is now severed. While that is true, Cheng assures the Turtle that he has already dealt their father a fatal spiritual blow. Angered, Raph kicks Cheng’s corpse.



Lady Shredder and Pimiko continue their duel and it becomes apparent to Lady Shredder that Pimiko is her daughter. Pimiko won’t believe it and, protecting Raph from the Lady Shredder’s gauntlet, impales her through the stomach with her katana. In the skirmish, the Lady Shredder delivers a decisive strike to Pimiko as well, piercing her stomach with her gauntlet. As they both lay dying, they remove their masks and the truth is revealed. Lady Shredder, Tang Amaya, tells Pimiko that she left her with Warlord Komodo in the hopes of sparing her the life of an assassin and is truly saddened to see that her daughter could not escape her fate. Even sadder, she regrets that she was unable to avenge her sister, Tang Shen, or her beloved, Oroku Saki. Hearing this, Splinter exits from the Lair and places his hand on Tang Amaya’s head. He shows her the death of Tang Shen as he saw it through his own eyes (as a normal rat) and Amaya finally knows what really happened. With her final breath, she curses Oroku Saki and tells Pimiko she loves her. Pimiko attempts to tell Raph something important, but her life gives out and she dies, too. Removing his bandana, Raph cries through both now-healed eyes.

Their leader dead, the surviving Foot Soldiers retreat into the darkness. Only the last surviving Shredder Elite remains. He approaches the Turtles and, cursing them, pulls out his katana and commits seppuku. With the circle of blood that has plagued them and the Oroku family finally complete, Splinter tells them that the feud that has lasted their whole lives is over.



The next day, Karai arrives in New York via helicopter. As it happens, her whole “disgrace” was nothing but a ruse to weed out the last remaining Shredder-loyalist dissenters amongst the New York branch of the Foot. She addresses the two shamed heads of the branch and the surviving Foot Soldiers: The need for a “Shredder” is over, the Council of Five from the Japanese branch has her back and she is now in complete control.

In New York harbor, Leo and Raph cremate Pimiko’s body on a funeral pyre as they did her father many years ago, though they wish her peace in the afterlife. Confidentially, Raph tells Leo that he sort of had a thing for Pimiko; a real thing, not like the “romance” Leo and the others chided him about having with his friend Lucindra. Leo understands and, also confidentially, tells Raph that he and Radical have been seeing each other, lately. On that romantic note, April and Casey deliver Mikey the good news: his novel “A Rose Amongst Thorns” has gone for a third printing and is a best seller. Mikey’s muse, Horridus, stops by to visit and Mikey can’t wait to share it with her. Horridus, though, reveals that she’s developed a thing for Dragon and that she’s staying with him, now. Heartbroken, Mikey throws his typewriter across the room in a fit of rage.

Later, the Turtles, Splinter and Dr. X reconvene at the Lair, where Don finishes picking the last of the liquid metal from his skin. Suddenly, Leatherhead arrives through the transmat to complete his task; sending Dr. X back to the Utrom Homeworld for a debriefing. Dr. X is surprised that her assessment of the transmat’s functionality was incorrect (while Leatherhead is surprised to learn that Dr. X is actually female) and bids her friends a fond farewell (Leatherhead opts to stay on Earth).

At Puzorelli’s apartment, the mob boss finds the severed head of his nephew, Joey, on his bed along with a terrible message on his answering machine: the Foot Clan has rallied and are aggressively taking the city back from the mob. Even worse, the assassin Razorback is rumored to be back in town. Puzorelli pours a drink and considers that, in the end, it is better off that Shadow is with a family that can keep her away from the mob violence that has consumed his life and murdered his family. Right on cue, several Foot Soldiers invade his apartment and assassinate him.

With all the insanity of the past year finally behind them, the Turtles and Splinter take a much-needed retreat to the farm in Northampton.

On the Utrom Homeworld, Ambassadors Korobon and Klag debrief Dr. X on her extended mission to Earth. Dr. X reveals that she believes the Earthlings to be ready for “first contact”, though a few more years are necessary before they can make their move.

At the Halls of Lost Legends, Merlin talks with his pet owl, Archimedes, who wonders if the Turtles are ready to join them in the Hall. Merlin discards the notion, as the Turtles won’t be ready for quite some time.


Turtle Tips:

*This story is continued from TMNT (Vol. 3) #24.

*Andrew Modeen has made a digital version of the issue available for download Here.

*Donatello will revisit Baxter in TMNT (Vol. 4) #9.

*The mutant Shredder clones last appeared in TMNT (Vol. 1) #21.

*King Komodo last appeared in TMNT (Vol. 3) #18.

*Pimiko’s history with Warlord Komodo was detailed in TMNT (Vol. 3) #5.

*Cheng’s cryptic words about Splinter’s fate will come to fruition in TMNT (Vol. 4) #10.

*Karai's dishonor and missing status was first referenced in TMNT (Vol. 3) #7 and was most recently referenced in TMNT (Vol. 3) #21. Chronologically, she last appeared in Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 2) #43.  She'll appear next in TMNT (Vol. 4) #4.

*Karai brokered the truce with the Turtles in TMNT (Vol. 1) #61.

*Raphael and Lucindra were last seen together in TMNT (Vol. 1) #44.

*Leo’s romance with Radical will be seen in greater detail in Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 2) #41.

*Horridus last appeared in TMNT (Vol. 3) #22. Her… “relationship” with Dragon was detailed in Savage Dragon #71.

*Razorback last appeared in Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 2) #61.

*Further tests by the Utroms regarding “first contact” will proceed in Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 2) #42. “First contact” itself will occur in TMNT (Vol. 4) #5.

*The Turtles visited the Halls of Lost Legends in TMNT (Vol. 1) #43.

*This issue received a print run of only 135 copies in the US. 15 additional copies were printed and distributed in Russia by Dubakov. The Russian version contains a few slight variations in art, particularly page 36, where the first panel of the Elite Guard unsheathing his sword had the hands redrawn.

*This issue also contained a bonus story, “Christmas Past” by Andrew Modeen and Dan Berger, and two bonus pin-ups; “Lady Shredder vs. Pimiko” by Jim Lawson and an untitled piece by Frank Fosco.


Review:

It’s been an agonizing wait, but we finally have it: the concluding chapter to Image’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vol. 3, which was abruptly cancelled way back in October of 1999.

Once again, author Andrew Modeen coordinates all the talents necessary to see this publication through to the end, and the talents he collects here are staggering. Original series author Gary Carlson provides notes, pointers and approval for Modeen, as does Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 2) author Ross May (whose stories were utilized heavily in this issue). Art-wise, Russian penciler Arseniy Dubakov provides the bulk of the work and does so admirably, with some surprise guest appearances by Frank Fosco (artist on the original Image series), A. C. Farley (original Mirage staffer), a sweet pin-up by Jim Lawson (another Mirage staffer) and cover inks by none other than Kevin Eastman-himself!

And not to undersell the rest of the team: the toning by David Seltzer and the Red Herring gang create a suitably gritty atmosphere, Courtland Brugger’s cover colors accentuate a great piece of art, and Adam O. Pruett’s letters are unobtrusive and intuitive (to say nothing of the work he put into the actual publication side of this project).

So applause all-around for everyone involved. You’ve earned it.

Story-wise, the Volume 3 conclusion project has had a dual agenda since its conception: to provide closure on the Image series, but to also tie it back into Mirage continuity (Peter Laird struck it from the record when he started Vol. 4). What’s fascinating is that stitching Vol. 3 back into the overall tapestry of Mirage continuity proved far more intuitive than it may seem. There were very few direct contradictions amongst the post-Vol. 3 Mirage publications (and even a few sideways references, like the continued presence of Dr. X in Tales of the TMNT Vol. 2 issues) and all that really needed be done was a “fill in the blanks” game of sorts; getting the Turtles back to where they needed to be before Vol. 4 began.

While some lingering plot threads from the Image series have no choice but to get the short end of the stick (Mikey’s break-up with Horridus, Puzorelli’s demise), Modeen finds a way to stitch them in that still leaves them open-ended enough to complement what comes later. For example, Mikey is never again seen pursuing his dreams of being an author in Vol. 4. The reality is that though his interest in writing dates back to TMNT (Vol. 1) #17, it was a character element Laird and Eastman discarded and never cultivated. By making Mikey’s dismissal of his dreams part of an ugly break-up (evident in the great visual of him throwing his typewriter), it adds an extra layer of tragedy to his Vol. 4 stories, particularly when he takes the less ambitious job of “tour guide” for visiting alien dignitaries.

Other plot threads are sewn-up but in a way that conveniently foreshadows future events. Cheng’s time spent leeching off of Splinter’s spiritual energy will ultimately lead to the Sensei’s abrupt death in Vol. 4. Likewise, Baxter seems to give up on escaping rather nonchalantly, but his ultimate satisfaction is in knowing that he will nearly be the death of April later in Vol. 4, as well. The Jones family's money problems even foreshadow the fact that they wait many, many years to get married (April is still Casey's "girlfriend" by the time Shadow begins attending elementary school). Like I said earlier, these plot threads are tied-up, but in a manner that segues into future plots to make the transition more seamless. If you're reading everything in order, it will appear as though the later stories are referencing this series of events, further cementing its place in continuity.

The real meat of the story, though, comes in completing the Foot narrative, left ominously lingering with the original Image series’ cancellation. Whereas issue #24 was all about Tang Amaya’s complicated background, this one was all about the action. The sewer fight is a massive ordeal that spreads for page after page. It’s got Foot Soldiers, Shredder Elites, Foot Mystics, mutant Shredder clones, the Lady Shredder, a giant Komodo dragon… everything! I’d rank it among the most chaotic and thrilling fights from any Mirage TMNT comic.

The death of Tang Amaya and Pimiko was beautifully done and a fitting send-off to the two characters. What pressed upon me more, however, was that they represented the last of the Shredder’s negative influence on the Turtles via the Foot Clan. While this story acts as a “bridge” to Vol. 4, it never the less functions as a genuine “ending” in its own right, as the feud between the Turtles and the Oroku clan finally ends. While I appreciated Splinter speaking that reality at the fight’s conclusion, and Karai hammering the point home during her triumphant return from self-inflicted exile, my favorite moment of the entire issue was when the last remaining Shredder Elite commits seppuku. That wasn’t just a totally bad ass scene, but one of the most meaningful in the entire Mirage series: the last remnant of the Shredder’s influence goes out with a whimper. Absolutely perfect.

Arseniy Dubakov’s art for the issue is far more polished than his pencils for the previous installment. I think what really makes the difference here is the inking; he uses a much lighter touch this time around. There’s a better sense of line-weight so the characters don’t look so flat against the background. The thinner strokes also allow you to appreciate his line-work much more so you can see the finesse and detail. And as I said before, the entire fight scene in the sewer is an amazing marathon of insanity and carnage.

As for the guest artists; Fosco and Farley, well… How awesome was that? Fosco provides multiple splash pages, and while the “strike a pose while facing no one in particular” moment on page 6 was kind of goofy, it was goofy in a very 90s sort of way that suits this story. King Komodo’s decapitation provided some great cinematic emphasis and the “return to Northampton” splash page was thoroughly gorgeous (gotta love Klunk in the foreground). Farley’s 2-page spread, though… that just about brought a tear to my eye. “Halls of Lost Legends” was one of Mirage’s best one-shot stories and is a beautiful-looking issue. So to see him revisit that with a positively stunning two-page epilogue was truly epic. As I understand it, Farley says that this will be the last TMNT-related art he ever draws, and while it’s sad to see him leaving the characters, I can’t say he didn’t go out with a bang.

If I had any particular criticisms, I suppose I’d have to lob them in the direction of some of the gratuitous swearing. “Shit” was used in the Image comics, which is fine, but it was more the use of “fuck” that felt a bit insincere to me. I’m not a prude when it comes to expletives, but it just didn’t seem like it fit the tone of the scene it was used in (Pimiko’s funeral) and isn’t something you’d find in a Mirage/Image TMNT comic outside of “Bodycount”.

And I suppose the use of so many continuity points to construct the issue, while awesome for those of us that eat, breath and drink Ninja Turtles, is probably distracting and confusing for less-inducted fans. Of course, this was a creator-sanctioned fan-project limited to 135 copies and not really intended to be seen by anybody other than the most hardcore members of the TMNT fanbase. So I feel inclined to concede the point.

Quite honestly, I think that this entire 2-issue project is a wonderful display of the dedication and enthusiasm within the TMNT fanbase and from the people involved in making the original comics. This was a non-profit production, yet everyone involved from Erik Larsen to Gary Carlson to Frank Fosco to Andrew Modeen to Ross May to Arseniy Dubakov to Kevin Freakin’ Eastman were perfectly thrilled to do their part and see that this thing made it to the fans; at either their own expense or for no reimbursement whatsoever. The term “labor of love” gets thrown around in excess these days, but that is genuinely what this was. The passion involved in making this happen is nothing short of an inspiration.

Grade: A (as in, “And if you’re wondering why I got a special thanks, I helped out with some timeline stuff and did some research here and there”.)

Awesome Turtle Picture #013

Though he isn't quite so well-known in the West, one of the greatest Transformers illustrators of all-time is Hidetsugu Yoshioka. In the mid 90s, Takara commissioned him to illustrate a series of "story pages" for the magazine Comic Bom Bom to promote their Super Turtles and Metal Turtles toylines. You can find a complete gallery of the pages at TFPulp, though they aren't of the best quality (they're large, but badly pock-marked).

However, Adam Winters got ahold of one of the issues that featured Yoshioka's art and sent me a high res scan, which you can enjoy below:

Awesome Turtle Picture #012

This piece was originally created for the Fantagraphics book New Age Comics #2, but didn't see print in that title due to cancellation.  It was first published by Fantagraphics in Amazing Heroes #107, then by Mirage in TMNT (Vol. 1) #15. A self-portrait by Eastman and Laird showing off the Mirage Studio of circa 1985:



And here's the color version:

TMNT (IDW) #7

Publication date: February 22, 2012

Story: Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz
Script: Tom Waltz
Art: Dan Duncan
Colors: Ronda Pattison
Letters: Shawn Lee
Editor: Bobby Curnow

"Enemies Old, Enemies New, Part 2"

Summary:

On the planet Neutrino, the armor-clad General Krang overlooks the devastation and inquires the number of his troops killed in action. Captain Tragg informs him that six Stone Soldiers died while only one Neutrino Resistance Fighter was felled in the battle. Krang doesn’t like those numbers and orders Sergeant Granitor to teleport them back to Burnow Island on Earth. Returning to his compound, Krang (now revealed to be a small brain-monster in a robot body) orders Lieutenant Pogue to prepare his plane, as he intends to pay a personal visit to Baxter Stockman in New York.



In the alley behind Rupert’s Pizzeria, Mike won’t stop telling Raph about how awesome his human buddy Woody Dirkins is. The guy works at the pizza place and Mike met him while he was scrounging through the dumpster for chow. Woody introduced him to fresh pizza and Mike has been obsessed with the stuff (and grateful to Woody) ever since. Mike introduces Woody to Raph and picks up his order, trading fist bumps and annoying lingo with his equally dorky friend. Raph rolls his eyes.

Down in the sewer lair, Don and Leo discuss the realities of Splinter’s story; that they are reincarnations of dead Japanese children. Leo is willing to take Splinter at his word, but Don cannot trust something so fantastic-sounding. At the very least, he plans to investigate the legend of Oroku Saki and see what he can dig up on the Foot Clan. Leo, though, has been having dreams of his mother, Tang Shen, though he isn’t sure what to make of them. Suddenly, a horde of Mousers invade the lair, attacking the Turtles and Splinter.

At the New York Tech University gym, Casey continues with April’s self-defense courses. Finishing up, April tells Casey it’s time to hit the books. As they leave the gym, a romance appears to blossom.



Down in the lair, Old Hob reveals himself to be at the controls of the Mousers and is enjoying making the Turtles and Splinter scurry for their lives. The Mousers are overwhelming, so Splinter tells his sons to retreat. Hob isn’t having that, though, and orders the Mousers to collapse the ceiling on his foes.

At Baxter’s posh apartment, he receives a surprise visit from General Krang and his Stone Soldiers. Krang is furious that a year has passed and he still has not received the super soldier mutagen or psychotropic drug that he commissioned Stockman to create for him (have supplied him with the necessary ooze components to get the work done). Stockman says that he’s fulfilled his end of the terrapin exo-armor experiment, citing the Stone Soldiers as proof of his success, then uses the break-in at his lab as an excuse for the delay. Krang refuses to accept any excuses, so Stockman assures him that he’s undertaking initiatives to retrieve the lost psychotropic drug as they speak…



Down in the lair, Mike and Raph arrive just in the nick of time. Don and Splinter are down and Leo is standing alone against a horde of Mousers.


Turtle Tips:

*Chronologically, this story is continued from Infestation 2: TMNT #2. The story continues in TMNT (IDW) #8.

*General Krang last appeared in TMNT (IDW) #1.

*The Turtles met the savate ninja in TMNT (IDW) #6.

*Captain Tragg is obviously the same character as General Traag from the Fred Wolf TMNT cartoon, albeit reduced in rank (because Krang is a General in this universe) and also his name is misspelled.  To IDW's credit, they'll stick with the "Tragg" spelling even if it's a mistake.

*Burnow Island is named after editor Bobby Curnow, but you probably already figured that out.

*Woody Dirkins was inspired by Dirk Wood, IDW's head of marketing, in name, appearance and personality.

*Although it was published before TMNT Microseries: Donatello #3 and the 2-issue TMNT: Infestation II miniseries, this story takes place afterward, as confirmed by editor Bobby Curnow on the IDW and Technodrome forums. Regardless, this issue can still be read without those in-between stories and the audience won’t miss a beat.

*Details on the Neutrino Resistance will be revealed in TMNT Microseries #8: Fugitoid.

*Woody will return in TMNT (IDW) #15.

*This issue was originally published with 3 variant covers: Cover A by Duncan and Pattison, Cover B by Eastman and Pattison, and Cover RI by Mark Torres.


Review:

Alright, things have started to really heat up, really fast!

The opening of this issue was quite a surprise, as suddenly out of the blue, we’re on another planet and Krang is almost nonchalantly revealed to be a creature identical to his Fred Wolf incarnation. In fact, we’re just bludgeoned with an assault of Fred Wolf concepts within only the first couple of pages; Krang in a bald-headed android body, Tragg (sic), Granitor, the Neutrinos… It’s a lot to take in all at once, but I didn’t so much mind. I *like* the Fred Wolf concepts at their core and have often pined for a Turtle comic or cartoon that was willing to do more with them and explore them on levels the often-hokey Saturday morning cartoon never did.

I really dig Duncan’s redesign for Krang (which was leaked months and months ago when IDW made this issue’s A cover available online), as it incorporates much of his classic look while reducing the silliness inherent in it. His robot body is still insanely buff, bald and has the glowing red eyes, but now it’s clothed and we should all be grateful for that. Krang-himself, though, looks practically untouched on a visual-level, save some more fearsome elements that have been exaggerated on him.

With this Krang being a General and all, it makes sense that Tragg and Granitor would have their original ranks of General reduced to Captain and Sergeant. It was a pleasant surprise to see them show up and I dug how Waltz worked in the whole “terrapin exo-armor” as an explanation for the existence of Stone Soldiers. Likewise, I’m psyched to see what he digs out of the Krang/Neutrino conflict. We’d occasionally see glimpses of it in the Fred Wolf cartoon, but it was usually a background concept while sillier plots took the spotlight (like the Turtles looking after a Neutrino baby while the King rallies the troops to fend off Krang’s forces).

As for Woody Dirkins… I have no idea what to make about that. The issue makes a big production out of introducing him, so I can only presume Waltz has major plans for the guy down the line as a supporting character. It *is* nice to know, though, that other Turtles have human friends they see regularly beyond Casey and April (in most continuities) and it makes sense that the overly friendly Mike would be one of the first to make them. Woody’s intro also serves as an explanation for Mike’s pizza obsession, which was another Fred Wolf concept I wasn’t anticipating encountering. As for Mike's behavior in this issue, well, he had his obnoxious-factor cranked up to 11 and I hope that isn't a trait that remains consistent. I understand that, being only 15 months old, video games and pizza are some new and wondrous thing that he can't get enough of... but do we have to keep hearing about it?

As for the Mousers, well, they’re the Mousers. They may be the one constant of every TMNT universe that have never undergone any significant change. And why would they? They’re little toothy robots that the Turtles smash; don’t go reinventing the toaster, guys. We didn’t get to see any of the unique-looking Mousers from the end of #6, but maybe they’ll show up next time.

Anyway, all at once, this series has just taken off with its story and that’s something I’ve been waiting a long time for. The abundance of Fred Wolf-isms may turn away the Mirage-devotees, but anyone who grew up with the 80s cartoon and can still enjoy its ideas and characters on some level should get a kick out of the fresh start they’re getting. This was a very exciting issue and I hope the pace keeps up.

Grade: B+ (as in, “But if Waltz turns Woody into this universe’s incarnation of Pizzaface, I will explode from the eruption of pure, concentrated joy”.)

Announcement: Another manga-enduced hiatus begins!

That's right, the reviews here at TMNT Entity are going to be taking a break (save for new IDW releases) so I can spend my weekly budgeted alotment of Turtle Time translating the Japanese manga, Super Turtles Volume 3, the concluding chapter of the Super Turtles saga.

The generous Adam Winters has provided me with complete scans of this hundred-page story (that deviates considerably from the Super Turtles anime OVA which you've probably seen on You Tube) and Cryomancer of the Optical Internet Translation Gang will once again be working his clean-up and lettering magic to make these translations look as pretty as possible.

As I'm currently attending college classes and working a full-time job, it may take the better part of a month for me to complete my translations, but I'll try to throw some content up here on TMNT Entity whenever I can (probably some more of my Awesome Turtle Pictures; those are quick and easy).

Until then, you can check out the existing TMNT Manga section of TMNT Entity where you'll find a directory of links to volumes already translated and lettered, so you can catch up on all the TMNT manga stories you might have missed! (Don't worry, the .cbr files were hosted on Mediafire in addition to Megaupload, so they're all still there!).

And here's a preview of what to look forward to in this third volume of Super Turtles by Toshiki Kudō (if his style seems familiar, that's because he also drew the official manga adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back!):

TMNT (Vol. 1) #28

Publication date: February, 1990

Story: Steve Murphy
Art: Jim Lawson, Kevin Eastman (page 11), Rick Veitch (page 12)
Cover: Michael Dooney

“Sons of the Silent Age”

Summary:

High above the rivers of Northampton, a bald eagle soars. It swoops down to pluck up what it thinks is a fish, only to have scaly hands claw at it in defense.



On a lonely bridge spanning the river, the Turtles, Casey and April are hanging out, though Raph sits apart from the pack. Leo tries to get Raph to talk about what’s bothering him, but the melancholy Turtle’s lips are sealed. Casey joins in, but Raph rejects him, explaining that a human couldn’t understand what he’s feeling. As Leo and Casey leave him to sort his problems out alone, Raphael thinks back to what he’s been through lately: his rash behavior nearly getting himself and his brothers killed during their assault on the Foot HQ and his recent de-mutation during their encounter with Bloodsucker.

Casey snaps everyone up and as darkness falls, the gang board a raft to head down stream for the weekend. Keeping a journal, April notes that everyone has been on edge at the farmhouse for the past few months and it was Splinter’s idea that they take the camping trip to clear their minds. As they float downstream, they pass a nuclear power plant and April is disgusted and frightened by its presence. Diverging off the main river and down an obscure side-stream, none of them notice several strange fins following their raft.



Making camp, Casey regales the audience with stories of his favorite barroom brawls while Raph shuffles off to the water’s edge to be alone. Suddenly, a strange female fish-person comes crawling out of the water, seemingly poisoned and dying fast. Casey is apprehensive but April wastes no time trying to help the poor creature. Together, April and Casey attempt CPR.

Unfortunately, four male fish-people come storming out of the river, not trusting the two humans pounding on their female’s chest. The Turtles keep the four males busy with a fight while April and Casey continue to do their best, though the female is not responding. As the light dims in the female’s eyes, April becomes hypnotized in her gaze. She finds herself looking back in time, to the days when similar fish-people populated the area in peace. Centuries later, they even befriended native Indian tribes, though both were driven away by encroaching white settlers. The poisons of nearby pollutants began destroying their habitat and one-by-one, their race died off. She is the last female of her species and the four males are the last of their gender, as well.

April pulls down the female’s eyelids as she dies.



Seeing this tragedy, the four males cease their aggression and solemnly carry their lost number back into the river. As she watches them disappear in the waves, April realizes that the Turtles share a similar burden as the only males of their kind, doomed to extinction. She finally understands Raph’s pain.

Later, the bald eagle succeeds in plucking a fish from the river. The bird carries it to the rim of the power plant’s smokestack and proceeds to devour its prey.


Turtle Tips:

*Chronologically, this story follows TMNT (Vol.1 ) #45 as the next canon issue. Chronologically, the next story in sequence should be TMNT (Vol. 1) #27.

*Raph is pensive, dealing with the events of TMNT (Vol. 1) #21 and TMNT (Vol. 1) #26.

*Another fish-person will appear in TMNT (Vol. 2) #4.

*This issue was adapted into the 4Kids TMNT episode “Sons of the Silent Age”, though its message and narrative were radically altered.

*This is one of two issues published between TMNT (Vol. 1) #21 and TMNT (Vol. 1) #45 considered “canon” by Peter Laird. Yes, even “The River” trilogy that is referenced in this story is not considered “canon”. Pay no mind and read what you wanna.

*Because this issue acts as an epilogue to TMNT (Vol. 1) #26, that is why I think it fits best directly after that story and before TMNT (Vol. 1) #27. The reason I place this story after TMNT (Vol. 1) #45 is because the Turtles are situated in Northampton, which is where they were shown to be staying shortly before “City at War” kicks off. As they gave away their sewer lair in Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 1) #6 and thus had nowhere to live in New York City, it seems best to group all the post-TMNT #21 New York stories and post-TMNT #21 Northampton stories together, rather than flip-flopping back and forth as they were published.


Review:

Whew, this was some heavy stuff.

I give Steve Murphy a lot of crap in my reviews for TMNT Adventures (which he wrote under the pseudonym “Dean Clarrain”) and most of it revolves around the nonstop assault of environmental messages and guilt trips. But that has more to do with their overwhelming frequency and the fact that the messages are not written very subtly or even very well.

“Sons of the Silent Age” is a different matter altogether. This is one of the best issues of TMNT (Vol. 1) or at least one of the best issues to have a message to impart on the audience. It reflects on the trials the Turtles have so recently undergone, acting as an epilogue to “The River” and a callback to “Return to New York”. It isn’t often enough that we see the Turtles emotionally dealing with the horrors and tragedies they have endured and it tends to either make the characters seem callous or the writing insincere. While I wouldn’t want a series with too many “stop and cry about it” issues, they are needed every now and then to display the humanity and emotional depth of our cast.

But what Murphy does is he takes that sort of story and wraps a chilling and saddening message in it about extinction, the environment and what we’re doing about it. This isn’t written like his finger-wagging sessions from TMNT Adventures; no one stops to tell you what you should be thinking and the lesson isn’t awkwardly summarized for the audience’s digestion. The two themes compliment one another and it all meshes into a highly thought-provoking tale.

“Sons of the Silent Age” helps you better understand Peter Laird’s long-time “no girl Turtle” stance all the better (Venus de Milo was Kevin Eastman’s creation), as providing a female takes away the understated tragedy of the TMNT’s very existence: they’re all male, they’re four of a kind and when they die they will leave behind no genetic legacy. Total extinction. I think it makes what the Turtles do all the more important, as they have no descendants to succeed them and only their actions and impressions will be there to remind the world that they ever existed at all (and being ninja who cannot be seen in public and have to keep their existence a secret… that makes it all the worse).

The environmental messages are there and they are important, but they aren’t laid on thick. The bald eagle (the national bird of the United States of America) plucking up a fish and devouring it while nesting on the edge of a smokestack is a particularly vivid bit of imagery, given the circumstances of the fish-person that just passed away due to poisoning from an American nuclear power plant. What the message in this story does is make you think. For yourself. It doesn’t tell you what to think; it presents you with a haunting story packed with commentary and leaves you to come to your own conclusions. If only TMNT Adventures had more stories like this in it.

On that note, I’ve always considered the 4Kids TMNT cartoon’s “adaptation” of this story to basically be what “Sons of the Silent Age” would have been like had Murphy written it for TMNT Adventures. It is a butchered abomination of the source material, getting every last theme wrong and laying the environmental messages on thickly and obnoxiously. The female fish person survives along with her eggs, ensuring the survival of her people and a happy ending. No allegory is made to the Turtles’ situation. And worse than all that, the bulk of the episode revolves around the Turtles, April and Casey trying to take down a crooked power plant that’s leaking toxic waste into the river, driving home the “GO PLANET!” message to the kids rather than letting them think for themselves.

It is absolutely wretched and I can’t fathom why Murphy even bothered writing it at all if he was just going to discard every theme and plot point that made the original version so meaningful.

Anyway, I’ve developed a reputation for hating on the environmentally themed TMNT stories, but I don’t hate them because they’re environmentally themed. I hate them because they’re badly written. “Sons of the Silent Age”, however, is wonderfully written and forces readers to stop and think not only about the fictional characters within the story on a whole new level, but perhaps real world matters that directly affect them, too. Rather than tell you what to think, it makes you think. And that’s the difference.

Grade: A (as in, “Although lots of new male Turtles seem to be okay with Laird; Slash, Tokka, Kirby, Hun, the Dark Turtles and, um, do Metalhead and Turtlebot count?”)

TMNT (Vol. 1) #27

Publication date: November, 1989

Story and art: Michael Dooney
Lettering: Mary Kelleher

“Dreams of Stone”

Summary:

In a strange dream, Don finds himself out in the wilderness of Massachusetts. He is approached by an Indian Chief who asks him what he hears; the rivers and the wind of nature or the brick and steel of the city? As Don contemplates the question, he spots the Chief’s granddaughter, Radical, battling Complete Carnage. Don leaps in to help Radical and suddenly awakens. He finds that his brothers all had the exact same dream, though unlike Don, they only observed the battle and did not participate.

Elsewhere, Radical and Complete Carnage awaken by a lonely stretch of highway, both weakened by their battle in the Dreamscape. Carnage flees to the safety of the highway asphalt while Radical is unable to stop him.

Back at the farm in Northampton, the Turtles approach Splinter about their dream. He tells them that a shared dream is a strange thing and that he has also been seeing visions… visions of a giant neon buffalo. Following Casey’s directions, the Turtles travel out into the wilderness until they stumble upon the forgotten tourist trap of Buffalo Rock, where a decrepit neon sign shaped like a buffalo sits. Below it, by the highway, they find Radical meditating.



Overjoyed to find that she hadn’t died when she used her “particle beam” to defeat Carnage in their last encounter, they’ve none-the-less found that she has changed. She no longer considers herself a superhero and has gotten a job in the Indian Studies department at the Museum of Natural History in New York. This has helped her get in touch with her American Indian roots and finally grow up. The Turtles tell her of their dream and the spirit of her grandfather that led them to her.

Down the highway a bit, Carnage emerges from the asphalt, exhausted. He journeys into a small town where the manmade structures can revitalize his powers, though he fears sleep, as he doesn’t want to be trapped in the Dreamscape again. Frustrated, he destroys a small store, swearing death to Radical.

Back at the highway, night falls and Radical starts a fire, preparing a ritual to summon guidance from Wakinyan Tanka, the Thunderbird. The fiery feathered specter appears to her and the Turtles, reminding them to keep in mind their enemy’s strengths as well as their own.

Down in the sewers, the tired Carnage grumbles to himself how much he hates Radical and finally collapses from exhaustion, falling asleep.



And at the bonfire, the Turtles ask Radical to tell them the whole story; how she survived apparent death and where her mystical powers came from. Radical spills the beans, explaining that in her ignorance, she believed her powers to be alien or radioactive or something corny like that. In reality, her grandfather was a great shaman and she has long been connected to the spirit world. She didn’t realize this until her “particle beam” transported both herself and Carnage to the Dreamscape. From there, she recalled a repressed memory from her childhood. Her grandfather had taken her to a lake where he said the children of the great white grandfather beaver dwell. She found a local white boy trying to throw rocks at one of the beavers and stopped him. Radical then saw a vision of the grandfather beaver and knew that both she and the boy had been chosen; she to represent the forces of nature while he was cursed to represent the destructive forces of man.

Don asks why he was able to fight in the Dreamscape while his brothers were not. Radical explains that because he had read books on Native American history, her grandfather’s spirit chose him to come to his granddaughter’s aid. Sensing that Carnage has entered the Dreamscape, Radical creates a portal to the realm through the neon buffalo sign, leaving to spring her trap.

Inside the Dreamscape, she calls the Coyote Spirit to guide her to Complete Carnage. Taunting the villain, she lures him back to the neon sign. Carnage sees it as a manmade object to give him power and tries to merge with it. This ends up transporting him back to the waking world, where the Turtles stand ready to fight. As the Turtles keep him occupied (and try to prevent him from reaching the highway asphalt), Radical prepares a spell in the dirt. Alas, the Turtles are no match for the villain, who clobbers them and begins thrashing Radical. Radical tells Don to remember what he knows about Indian folklore and finish the spell himself. Don tries, but can’t recall it all. Just as Carnage leaps toward the asphalt, Don remembers that the Coyote Spirit is the trickster of American Indian mythology and hastily draws the canine. He does so just in time, as the asphalt transubstantiates into water right as Carnage begins to merge with it. Merging with a natural substance, his only weakness, Carnage’s atoms scatter as the highway turns into a raging river and his essence is swept away for good.



Later, as the Turtles prepare to leave, the voice of Radical’s grandfather once again asks Don what he hears. Bidding Radical goodbye, Don replies that he hears the spirit of the wind.


Turtle Tips:

*Chronologically, this story follows TMNT (Vol. 1) #28. Chronologically, the next story in sequence should be TMNT (Vol. 1) #46.

*The Turtles last met Complete Carnage and Radical in Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 1) #5.

*The Turtles will encounter Radical again along with a clone of Complete Carnage in TMNT/The Savage Dragon #1. The real Complete Carnage will not be seen again until Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 2) #41.

*Leo briefly references the events of TMNT (Vol. 1) #14 (though the editor’s note mistakenly cites the issue as #17).

*This is only one of two issues published between TMNT (Vol. 1) #21 and TMNT (Vol. 1) #45 that is considered “canon” by Peter Laird (though several issues published in that time-span do not conflict with any narratives and can be considered "canon" due to this).

*I place this story after TMNT (Vol. 1) #28 because that issue functioned as an epilogue of sorts to Veitch's "The River" trilogy and fits best as taking place directly after that story.


Review:

Thanks to Michael Dooney, Complete Carnage and Radical have finally become decent characters.

Dooney’s editorial at the beginning of this issue is interesting. First, he apologizes for inadvertently putting Volume 1 on a “Native American kick”, as he wasn’t aware that Rick Veitch was using American Indian mythology in his “River” trilogy and the similarities between their installments are purely coincidental. More importantly, though, he falls just short of admitting that Complete Carnage and Radical were terribly shallow characters in desperate need of revitalizing and revamping.

And he was right! Complete Carnage and Radical had very little personality or convincing motivations in their previous appearances and their original origin always felt half-baked and uninteresting. Dooney works around the established origin, not so much contradicting it as he does substantiate it with actual content. The “TMNT & Other Strangeness” RPG guides had previously made an attempt at giving the characters a less shallow origin, though they went in a totally different direction (spirits of warring alien factions traversing the universe and possessing two hapless New Yorkers). All things considered, I prefer Dooney’s more mystical take.

I rather like his characterization of Radical, here. When she first appears, she acts much more mature and intelligent than the dull-witted, bland super-heroine stereotype of her previous appearances. She starts to get preachy about the glory of American Indian history and the evils of Whitey, but that's pretty much a prerequisite for any media that involves American Indian characters in any capacity. However, once she enters the Dreamscape and approaches Carnage, she immediately reverts back to her old self, recklessly taunting the villain and making snappy insults. She feels far more well-balanced, now.

Complete Carnage, on the other hand, doesn’t get a whole lot better. He still has a cool name, cool powers and a cool look, but jeez are his motivations shallow. He’s an idiotic fool that wants to kill Radical just because and he’s far too stupid to use his vast powers competently. He’s always struck me as a waste of potential; a villain that has everything going for him but his personality. At the same time, when he does show up later as a grim-dark serial killer, it felt terribly insincere. I imagine there’s got to be a balance somewhere. At any rate, I actually found his clone to be a far more enjoyable take on the character, even if he was just a mindless, slobbering beast.

Dooney’s art is Dooney’s art and that’s awesome. I’ve reviewed several of his stories by now and I’m running out of ways to say the same compliments over and over again.

Anyway, Complete Carnage and Radical have finally passed that hurtle that’s turned them into interesting recurring characters. They won’t get many more appearances from this point forward, but “Dreams of Stone” definitely stands as a good story showcasing how you can take two bad characters and make them work with just a little effort.

Grade: B+ (as in, “But man, those ads for the first live action movie in the back are nostalgic as Hell; especially that photo of Eastman and Laird with the Leo suit”.)

The Real Ghostbusters vs. the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Over at the other site I write for, Adventures in Poor Taste, I whipped this Turtle-related article up:

The Real Ghostbusters vs. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

It's a review of an episode of "The Real Ghostbusters" that aired in 1990, "Mean Green Teen Machine", which was a rather ill-executed attack on the success of the Fred Wolf "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" animated series. It's an interesting watch, to say the least; even moreso because Cam Clarke (80s voice of Leonardo) plays the lead Turtle-parody character, "Guggenheim".

But while I'm equal parts Ghostbusters and TMNT fan, all this episode succeeded in doing was to make both parties look embarassing.

Enjoy!

Pig Heaven, Part 2

Originally published in: TMNT Adventures Special #4
Publication date: Spring, 1993

Plot/art: Milton Knight
Idea/script: Robert Loren Fleming
Letters: Mary Kelleher
Colors: Barry Grossman
Edits: Dean Clarrain (Steve Murphy)
Managing edits: Victor Gorelick

“Pig Heaven, Part 2”

Summary:

Two weeks have passed since Louie’s pasture appeared in Times Square and vanished. After finishing her report on the event, April heads down to the sewer lair to see how the Turtles have been weathering their guest: Louie Columbus. “Not well” is the answer, as Louie’s cleaning fetish has destroyed their lives (and their stock of leftover pizza). Splinter’s pretty sick of the guy, too, and after some meditation, concludes that the only way to get Louie, Kid Cortex and Oxymoron back to their interdimensional pasture (and get Donatello home) is with the aid of Cudley the Cowlick.



Heading to a rooftop, Michaelangelo summons Cudley, who happily offers to give them a lift to the pasture in exchange for all the hay he can eat. Leaving Splinter and April behind, the mutants and Louie jump in Cudley’s mouth and travel to the floating pasture.

There, they find Donatello and all the farm animals hypnotized and rolling around in filth. The cause of this mess is a gargantuan mutant pig named Sooey Generis. Apparently, while in Manhattan, the formerly cute and kind Sooey got a taste of mutagen-tainted sewage and mutated into the monster he is, now. Sooey wants every animal in the pasture to love filth as much as he does and will destroy any dissenters.



Sooey orders his hypnotized minions, including Donatello, to flatten the Turtles. The TMNT put up the best fight they can, but they don’t want to hurt the innocent creatures. In the brawl, Kid Cortex gets batted into a storage shed, where he finds a keg of TNT. Antagonizing Sooey, Kid leaps inside the keg and allows himself to be swallowed whole. Once in the stomach, Kid rams the keg, detonating it and destroying Sooey.

“Destroy” might not be the word, as the explosion actually turns Sooey into hundreds of copies of his original, tiny and harmless self. Kid survives and after being reunited with Oxymoron, they join Louie in rebuilding the farm. With the spell on Donatello and all the other animals broken, the Turtles travel back to Earth via Cudley’s mouth. Cudley, meanwhile, shouts the favorite catchphrase of cows everywhere: “Turtlebunga!”


Turtle Tips:

*This story is continued from “Louie’s Pasture, Part 1”. The story continues in "Cleaver's Critters".

*April refers to the Turtles in her broadcast as though they were public knowledge. This will clash with TMNT Adventures #47, where the Turtles are shown to be unknown to the world at large.

*Cudley last appeared in Mighty Mutanimals (miniseries) #3.


Review:

Milton Knight’s first TMNT Adventures story comes to a conclusion, though I found the first half more interesting than the second. It would appear that the two stories weren’t originally intended to be published in the same TMNT Adventures Special, either, as “Pig Heaven” opens with an extended summary of “Louie’s Pasture”… a story readers had just seen a page ago.

Knight’s manic sense of action and outrageous expressions and poses are all on display here once again, though the setting of a farm leaves the scenery with less character than New York City had. I actually found the most entertaining part of the story to be the first act, showcasing Louie pestering all the Turtles in the lair with his clean freak habits.

It’s hard to believe that “Pig Heaven” is a full 30 pages, too, as it zips by so incredibly fast. The real attraction is the flamboyant energy of the artwork; so it’s more about stopping and savoring the insane style.

Not everyone likes Milton Knight’s work, but I enjoy it in small doses. And in the grand scheme of TMNT Adventures, I’ll gladly take stories like this over the Green Peace dreck that tends to dominate the comic. These sorts of wacked-out adventures are fun because they come at regular intervals, punctuating longer action-oriented storylines. They’re just a very lighthearted break, which I appreciate.

Grade: B- (as in, “But I wonder if Knight ever worked for Spumco. He seems like he comes from John K’s school of art”.)

Louie's Pasture, Part 1

Originally published in: TMNT Adventures Special #4
Publication date: Spring, 1993

Plot/art: Milton Knight
Idea/script: Robert Loren Fleming
Letters: Mary Kelleher
Colors: Barry Grossman
Edits: Dean Clarrain (Steve Murphy)
Managing edits: Victor Gorelick

“Louie’s Pasture, Part 1”

Summary:

When Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World, he brought along his older brother, Louie. However, Louie didn’t feel up to the return trip and opted to stay behind in what-would-become-Manhattan. There, he began a farm that at some point got shifted to an alternate dimension (How? I guess that’s not important). Louie didn’t care, though, because keeping the farm sparkling clean kept him occupied; constantly brushing and moping and hosing down his livestock (much to their irritation). In fact, Louie was so busy with cleaning that he never noticed that every hundred years, his farm would return to Earth for exactly 24 hours in the exact place where it was built… what is now Times Square.



And that brings us to today. Louie’s pasture shifts back to Times Square and all the noise and commotion drives his animals crazy. As his cows give rides to prostitutes, his sheep check out “Silence of the Lambs” at the local cinema and his chickens buy bags of coke (you think I’m joking, but I’m not), Louie panics to collect them all. In his rush, he runs out into the middle of traffic, where he gets hit by a car and knocked down a manhole (landing right on the TMNT’s doorstep).

Meanwhile, Oxy (a muscle-bound, brain-dead oxen) and Kid (an egotistical, hyper-intelligent goat) decide they’ve had enough of Louie’s constant cleaning and want to live in filth. So they sneak out of the pasture and down into the subway tunnels. Unfortunately, the police don’t cotton to farm animals on the trains and the fuzz chases them into the sewers. Losing the cops but exhausted, Oxy and Kid stop for a drink of sewer water. As it happens, the water is laced with mutagen and Oxy becomes an even stronger, invulnerable anthropomorph named Oxymoron, while Kid becomes a genius-level telekinetic named Kid Cortex. The two animals then invade Central Park, intent on transforming it into a farm all their own, where all the animals are free to be as dirty as they want.



Back at the pasture, Louie explains the story to the Turtles. His 24 hours are almost up and he’s still missing two of his most beloved animals. The Turtles vow to help him locate his livestock, at least until they see a fleet of police cars racing to an emergency. Deciding that looks more exciting, they follow the cop cars to Central Park where Kid Cortex and Oxymoron are tearing up the place. The Turtles take the mutants on and the fight eventually leads to Central Park Zoo. Oxy frees the most vicious animals from their cages and Kid uses his telepathy to make them attack the Turtles. Battered, the Turtles retreat.



Returning to the pasture, they collect Louie to see if he can talk some sense into his wayward flock. However, Louie doesn’t want to leave his pasture unguarded, so a disgruntled Donatello remains behind to mind the farm. At Central Park, Louie begs Oxy and Kid to come home, reminding them of how he raised them from little babies. Moved to tears, Kid and Oxy agree to return to the pasture.

They’re too late, though, as the 24 hours expire and the pasture returns to another dimension for a hundred years; with Donatello along for the ride!


Turtle Tips:

*This story concludes in “Pig Heaven, Part 2”.

*Chronologically, I would place these stories between TMNT Adventures #22 and TMNT Adventures #23.

*The Turtles will travel back in time and meet Louie’s brother, Christopher, in TMNT Adventures #40.

*Due to the presence of Cudley the Cowlick in the follow-up story, "Louie's Pasture" cannot take place between TMNT Adventures #38 and TMNT Adventures #48 and must take place beforehand. Considering the TMNT are chilling in their sewer lair, that forces it to take place before the "world tour" arc that began in TMNT Adventures #28, too. But it has to take place after Mighty Mutanimals (miniseries) #3, again, due to the presence of Cudley the Cowlick. Complicated, I know.


Review:

I know this is going to sound strange coming from a guy who loathes the TMNT stories by the likes of Mark Martin and Hedden and McWeeney, but I really like Milton Knight’s stuff.

Normally, I don’t care for the zany, surreal, overly exaggerated TMNT stories that don’t feel like they could fit in any universe (Martin, Hedden and McWeeney produced my most despised issues of Mirage’s TMNT Vol. 1), but I think Milton Knight’s stuff fits in just fine with the universe of TMNT Adventures. While his visual style is pretty out there and exotic, the stories themselves are no more ridiculous than a lot of the earliest installments in the series, when the book still held a tone closer to the kooky stylings of the Fred Wolf cartoon.

Storywise, things move at a mile a minute and you’ll be done with this first half of the Special before you know it. Knight’s style is all about being fast and furious with the characters in a constant state of motion; no one can sit still for a moment. Knight brings a look that’s like a Fleischer Bros cartoon on crack, and while the manic squash-and-stretch visuals may nauseate some, I found them palatable because of the sense of humor he brings to each panel. Where Martin, Hedden and McWeeney’s similar take on cartooning irritates me, Knight’s execution makes me laugh. Go figure.

Knight works in some very… risqué gags that I cannot believe made it past Victor Gorelick and the other content guardians at Archie. There are erotic girly shows advertised all over Times Square (with names like “Secretions”), what are clearly streetwalkers riding the cattle like mechanical bulls and the aforementioned scene where a bunch of farm animals buy coke from a dude with a huge nose (very subtle). The jokes are easy enough for kids to miss, but as an adult, it makes you go “wow”. Reminds me a bit of Rocko’s Modern Life, in that regard.

Knight also nails the Italian accent on Louie and his dialogue is just a whole lot of fun to read. The Turtles all act identically and they aren’t really the focus of the story, which might put you off (then again, this is only the first half of a full story). Still, I think what makes this TMNT Adventures Special so enjoyable is that it comes on the heels of the previous three, which were all about hammering home environmental or social lessons to the audience. TMNT Adventures Special #4 has no ulterior motives or educational agendas; it just wants to entertain. And after three issues of public service announcements, I think we all needed that.

Grade: B (as in, “But it only gets weirder in the next chapter, where the giant disembodied cows head shows up”.)