Originally published in: TMNT New Animated Adventures #15
Publication date: September 10, 2014
Story: Bobby Curnow
Art: Chad Thomas
Colors: Heather Breckel
Letters: Shawn Lee
Edits: Bobby Curnow
“Splinter’s Game”
Summary:
In the living room, Mikey trounces Raph in a game of
Ninja Ultra Fury on their Legal-Approximation-Of-A-Playstation. Mikey asks Master Splinter if he’d like to
try and Splinter agrees. Having never
played a video game before, he completely fails at it and loses instantly.
That night, while the Turtles sleep, Splinter returns to
the game with ultimate focus. For several
more nights, he trains, and in doing so, he “becomes the game”.
At breakfast, Splinter asks Mikey if he’d like to partake
in a rematch of Ninja Ultra Fury… on max difficulty. Mikey declines, saying he’s bored with the
game and has moved on to a new title.
Splinter momentarily freaks out in frustration, at least until he
notices Leo and Don watching him. Then
he tells them to forget what they’ve seen.
Turtle Tips:
*This story is continued from “The Adventures of Ice Cream Kitty”. The story continues in
TMNT New Animated Adventures #16.
Review:
TMNT editor Bobby Curnow has been credited on “story” for
much of IDW’s ongoing TMNT series, but I think this is his very first Turtle
script. It’s a fun little 4 pager, in a
way reminiscent of the old Fred Wolf TMNT episode “Leonardo vs. Tempestra”. In that one, the no-nonsense train-a-holic
Leonardo gets obsessed with mastering a video game. Here, much the same happens with Master
Splinter.
Beyond that, it’s sort of a one-punchline kind of comic,
though the Engrish phrases were kind cute.
Grade: B (as in, “But I guess I kind of prefer these
short gag strips over the ‘what I learned today’ centerpiece stories”.)
