TMNT (IDW) #53

Publication date: December 23, 2015

Story: Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, Tom Waltz

Script: Tom Waltz

Art: Michael Dialynas

Colors: Ronda Pattison

Letters: Shawn Lee

Editor: Bobby Curnow

"Order from Chaos, Part 3"

Summary:

At Mutanimals HQ, the whole crew greets Michelangelo with one of Pigeon Pete’s special worm-cakes.  Mikey is happy to celebrate with his new friends, but declines Hob’s invitation to join the team.  While he doesn’t want to be a part of the Foot Clan, he doesn’t want to abandon his family completely, either.

On a rooftop, Casey calls Detective Kara Lewis for an update on his escaped father.  Unfortunately, Lewis has yet to catch Hun due to a media gag order involving mutants.  Casey hangs up and is greeted by Raphael who asks how he and April have been doing.  Casey says that they’re just getting some space from each other; April’s working on the scroll and he’s doing the vigilante thing.

Back at Mutanimals HQ, Pete proves to be an idiot savant at board games, much to Mikey’s surprise.  Hob then interrupts the festivities with news of a weapons shipment at the docks.  Being “heroes” and all, the Mutanimals head to stop the shipment, armed with weapons they stole from Null.  Mikey decides to go along.

At April’s place, she’s busy studying the scroll when her mother comes to see her.  Mrs. O’Neil asks how things are going with Casey and April tells her that they’re just getting a little space.  Mrs. O’Neil tells April a story about how her marriage almost failed when she and Mr. O’Neil prioritized their work over their relationship.  She tells April that distance can help a couple see the big picture, but she has to use that time to actually figure things out.

At the docks, the Mutanimals intercept Lupo and his weapons shipment.  They send the gangsters packing in record time and head back to HQ.  Unbeknownst to them, they’re being watched by Agent Winter.  His commander tells him not to be concerned with the weapons shipment and to keep tabs on the mutants.

At Dun (one “n”) Import-Export, Darius Dunn (two “n”s) gets a report from Jammer about Lupo’s failure thanks to the interference of the Mutanimals.  Fed up with the Foot Clan and the Mutanimals getting in his way, Dunn vows to ignite a war and orders Jemmer to fetch “The Inventor”.

At Mutanimals HQ, everyone celebrates with a pizza, all save for Hob, who leaves to “take care of” the weapons they seized.  Mikey asks Slash what Hob does with the weapons they intercept and Slash presumes he destroys them.  Mikey isn’t buying that and clings to the back of the van as Hob pulls out (unaware that Mondo Gecko is watching him).

Mikey arrives at a warehouse and sneaks in through the window.  To his horror, he discovers that Hob has been stockpiling all the seized weapons.  What Mikey doesn’t know is that Hun is sneaking up behind him.

Turtle Tips:

*This story is continued from TMNT (IDW) #52.  The story continues in TMNT (IDW) #54.

*Hob helped Hun escape from Detective Lewis’ custody in TMNT (IDW) #48.

*Hob stole the weapons from Null in Mutanimals #4.

*Check the posters on the wall of Mutanimal HQ and you’ll notice quite a few Archie TMNT Adventures references: Ace Duck, Cryin’ Houn’, Cudley the Cowlick, and Acme Traps (from TMNT Adventures #22).  Also an angry starfish and a guy in a helmet and goggles I don’t recognize.

*This issue was originally published with 3 variant covers: Regular Cover by Dialynas, Incentive Cover by Atilio Rojo, and Subscription Cover by Eastman and Pattison.

Review:

Alright!  A Mutanimals story!

I enjoyed their miniseries, so I was hoping for more Mutanimals-focused stories in the ongoing series.  Looks like I’m finally getting my wish with this two-parter.

Mikey’s exile from the Turtles has been an interesting development thus far.  As you’ve probably noticed by now, he’s abandoned his nunchakus in favor of the grappling hook, a nod to the old Fred Wolf cartoon where he was forced to make that swap to appease outraged Europeans (I hear they’ve since gotten over their nunchaku phobia).  The fact that he wanders right into the wings of the Mutanimals was a solid way to get that team back into the plot and I love seeing all those colorful faces again.

Hob, as it seems, hasn’t gone over to the side of the angels just yet.  You got that notion back when he busted Hun out, but it’s a bit clearer now.  Hob does have his own twisted sense of altruism and honor, though, so I don’t think he’s gone completely “bad” (at least not from his POV).  You also have to wonder how many of the Mutanimals are in on his collaboration with Hun?  Slash didn’t seem to know about Hob’s weapons stockpile, but Herman the Hermit Crab was the one who helped bust Hun, so presumably he’s in on it?

Lovin’ all this intrigue.

The various plot threads are folding together nicely and it looks like we’re headed toward another gang war story arc.  “City Fall” wasn’t perfect, though I enjoyed it, and I think one thing that could have improved it might have been if the various gangs being taken down by the Foot Clan had been given stronger identities.  In this situation, it looks like there are going to be at least three major factions: Splinter’s Foot Clan, Hob’s Mutanimals and Darius Dun’s Street Phantoms (or whoever make up the bulk of his forces).  We’ve already got a more colorful cast of characters this time around, so if IDW is indeed headed toward another gang war, I think it’ll turn out to be more interesting than before.

That said, I do wish they’d decide how they want to spell Dun’s name (either one “n” or two).

The other storyline progressed in this issue is April/Casey.  Though “progressed” might not be the word for it.  As dire as the Casey & April miniseries was, it still ended with the two lovebirds realizing how much they care for one another and coming together stronger than ever.  Now it seems like they’re suddenly and inexplicably drifting further apart.  Did they just forget about their declaration of love for each other or are we all just trying to forget that the Casey & April miniseries even happened?  Because I’d be surprisingly cooperative with the latter option.

New artist for this arc is Michael Dialynas and I think he’s pretty good.  He’s trying to stick to the aesthetic of Santolouco and Smith, at least more than Garing did, so folks looking for some visual cohesion may prefer his run.  While it has less of a personal fingerprint, I think his layouts and expressions look very lively and kinetic.  His pencils mesh better with Pattison’s colors than Garing's did, but again, that may be because Dialynas is trying harder to conform with Santouloco and Smith.

Dialynas puts a lot of humorous details into the expressions of the characters, from Dun losing his shit to Pete being… Pete.  His Mutagen Man stuck out to me; being less stylized than Kuhn’s rendition of the character, you can actually make out a few of the different animals that were supposedly combined to make him.  Or at the very least, you can now tell he’s got an equine’s skull (or part of it).  Dialynas left in Kuhn’s highly expressive eyeballs for Mutagen Man, so there’s this nice balance of comedy and grotesquery that makes the character so likeable.

I think this two-parter is shaping up to be a little more focused than the last one, even if I think these issues come across closer to a four-parter but with two slightly more distinct halves (does that make sense?).  It looks good and it’s got a ton of Mutanimal action.  I’m easy to please like that.

Grade: B (as in, “But Sally Pride and Man Ray would still benefit from a personality boost”.)

TMNT (1987) Season 8 Review

Well, I've made it to the "red sky" seasons of the original 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon.  This is where things get EDGY!

Check out my TMNT (1987) Season 8 review at AIPT.

A bunch of good episodes in this rather short (8 episode) season.  A rather cruddy three-parter in the middle, but it's still more exciting than many of the seasons before it.

Next up are the Lord Dregg seasons and then I'll be done.  Let's see if I can't knock seasons 9 and 10 out in a timely fashion.

No review this week

Can't make it to the comic shop this week; too much holiday stuff to do.  I'll pick up TMNT #53 next week.

Merry Christmas!

Quiet Please

Originally published in: TMNT Amazing Adventures #5

Publication date: December 9, 2015

Story and art: Ian Flynn and Coleman Engle

Letters: Shawn Lee and Chris Mowry

Edits: Bobby Curnow

“Quiet Please”

Summary:

In his lab, Donatello is busy with an experiment when Leonardo barges in.  Leo’s looking for his sword and after Donnie assures him it isn’t there, he sends him away and gets back to work.  Then Raphael shows up to bully Donnie because he’s bored and has nothing better to do.  Once Raph’s gone, Donnie is about to get back to work when Michelangelo enters, giving a tour of Donnie’s lab to Ice Cream Kitty.  Eventually, Donnie drives them out.

He’s about to get back to work when all three of his brothers and Ice Cream Kitty come barging back into the lab, fighting over something.  Their roughhousing ruins his experiment.  Finally fed up, Donatello goes off on them and chases them all out of his lab.

However, now it’s too quiet and he can’t get to work.

Later, April finds Donnie sitting under a sewer grate, listening to the loud racket of the city above.  She asks him why he chose there to work and Donnie says he thinks best when he has some white noise.

Turtle Tips:

*The series continues in TMNT Amazing Adventures #6.

Review:

Ian Flynn’s the main writer over at Archie’s Sonic the Hedgehog book and the recently cancelled Mega Man book (was really digging that one).  He’s good at what he does; I'd like to see him write a longer form TMNT story, as a matter of fact.  The Setup – Punchline – The End formula of these back-ups are kind of constricting and it’s rare that anybody gets their best work out of them.

Coleman Engle’s art style is very sharp and I particularly like his use of line weight: big and thick for characters in the foreground, thinner and crisper for characters further back.  It has a Saturday morning cartoon look to it and reminds me of how Stephen Silver did line weight on shows like Clerks and Danny Phantom.

Facial expressions are, uh, “anime inspired”, I guess you’d call them.  They look fine and aren’t too overblown, and the aesthetic is certainly befitting of the source material (the Nick show resorts to anime expressions all the time for whatever reason).

Tea-Time for a Turtle, Part 1

Originally published in: TMNT Amazing Adventures #5

Publication date: December 9, 2015

Story; Peter DiCicco

Art: Chad Thomas

Colors: Heather Breckel

Letters: Shawn Lee and Chris Mowry

Edits: Bobby Curnow

“Tea-Time for a Turtle, Part 1”

Summary:

Down in the lair, Raphael is trouncing Donatello and Michelangelo at a game of video hockey.  Raph offers Leonardo to play winner, but Leo says he has some stealth training to do topside and awkwardly hurries away.  The other Turtles shrug, knowing that Leo never lightens up or has fun.

In reality, Leo has headed over to have a tea party with Chloe, the little girl he met back when Slash first appeared.  Evidently, Leo’s been joining her for tea-time for a while.  Chloe asks if Leo would invite his brothers to tea next time, but Leo suggests that they wouldn’t enjoy the experience as much as he does.

Back in the lair, Donnie receives a call from April.  Apparently, there’s a report of a mutant fly-man ransacking an abandoned computer lab and that can only mean Baxter Stockman.  The Turtles decide to go bust him up without Leo, as Baxter is no threat on his own.

The Turtles ambush Baxter as he tries to abscond with some high tech computer equipment, only to learn that THEY are the ones being ambushed.  Tiger Claw jets down from the sky and opens fire on the Turtles, quickly pinning them behind a dumpster.  They attempt to call Leo for back-up, but he isn’t answering.

At Chloe’s place, Leo has set his T-Phone aside, as is the table rules.  Chloe insists that if he won’t invite his brothers to tea, then Leo must at least have one more cup with her before he leaves.  Leo obliges as his brothers continue to get shot at…

Turtle Tips:

*This story is continued from TMNT Amazing Adventures #4.  The story continues in “Tea-Time for a Turtle, Part 2”.

*Leonardo had his tea party with Chloe in the season 2 episode “Slash and Destroy”.  Chloe has appeared in several episodes afterward, but usually as a crowd filler.

*Michelangelo suggests wearing his Turflytle costume to the altercation with Stockman.  The costume appeared in the season 2 episodes “The Mutation Situation” and “The Lonely Mutation of Baxter Stockman”.

Review:

I must be getting old; I’m not jaded or cynical about cute things anymore.  Or maybe I haven’t gotten old enough.

Whatever the case may be, this first half of the next story in Amazing Adventures was pretty cute.  Peter DiCicco pens a lot of horseplay and brotherly taunting between Raph, Mikey and Donnie.  While it might seem a little excessive (that’s ALL those characters seem to do in this story), it’s actually rather cleverly implemented.  Seeing those three engaging in so much immature roughhousing and masculine ribbing, one can sympathize with Leo trying to keep his friendship with Chloe a secret. 

What works about it is that Leo never has to have some sort of clumsy inner monologue describing his feelings, 'Oh no, if my brothers found out I like sipping tea with a little girl they’ll never let me live it down!' etc.  You put the pieces together on your own, which may not seem difficult for us adults reading children's comic books, but it’s always nice when a kid’s comic offers the target audience a little bit of intellectual credit.

Also, Leo befriending Chloe was something more than just a silly throwback to a quick gag from one episode.  After acquiring April and Casey, the Turtles sort of quit trying to make human friends in the Nickelodeon cartoon.  The Turtles are actually pretty social characters and I can believe they’d jump on any opportunity to be friends with humans that they can get, even if one is a little girl that likes tea parties. 

As for the bad guys, my only comment is that Michelangelo derisively refers to Baxter Stockman as “a level one boss”.  Clearly, Mikey’s been playing TMNT: Turtles in Time.  “Scene 1: Big Apple, 3 AM”

Chad Thomas continues to rock it on the art duties.  There are more of the little details in his pages that I love, especially that wood-paneled, trackball-controlled, 1980s arcade cocktail cabinet Raph and Donnie are playing on at the beginning.  

Man, I forgot all about arcade cocktail cabinets; they were more common in waiting rooms than in the actual arcades (there was a Ms. Pac-Man cocktail cabinet in the waiting room of my dentist’s office, way back when).  Look at that thing, the images on the screen are of hockey players, but the cabinet art features a guy wearing a football helmet.  Clearly this is one of those cabinets where you could select your “game mode” between different sports, but the field grid always stayed the same and the actual games were identical even if the sprites were different.

I could write ten more paragraphs about that imaginary arcade cocktail cabinet.  But I won’t.  Because I’m hungry.

TMNT Amazing Adventures #5

Publication date: December 9, 2015

Contents:

*"Tea-Time for a Turtle, Part 1"
*"Quiet Please"


Turtle Tips:

*This issue is continued from TMNT Amazing Adventures #4.  The series continues in TMNT Amazing Adventures #6.

*This issue was originally published with 2 variant covers: Regular Cover by Jon Sommariva, and Subscription Cover by Dave Alvarez.

TMNT (1987) Season 7, Part 4 review at AIPT

My journey through season 7 of the original TMNT cartoon comes to an end!

Here's my review of TMNT (1987) Season 7, Part 4 at AIPT.

A really good season overall (ignoring the European Vacation stuff) and probably the best season in general behind the first.  As the final "classic" season before the red sky revamp, it gives a pretty good sendoff to a number of classic recurring characters.

Looking forward to the red sky episodes as I don't think I've watched all of them, and certainly not in chronological order (the rest of the series will have a strict serialized episode-to-episode continuity).  So much of that will be fresh territory for me.

Krampus (2015) review at AIPT

Went to see Michael Dougherty's holiday horror flick "Krampus" last week and loved it.

Here's my review over at AIPT.

Despite the dark and serious marketing, it's actually a family-oriented horror film, appropriate for the older kids.  That's not a knock against it, as it's still really enjoyable.  The abundance of practical effects over CGI was a major selling point for me, too, and all the monsters look great.

On the TMNT front, I've got another review of the 1987 cartoon coming next week.  Also have TMNT Amazing Adventures #5 to review my way through (it came out last Wednesday but haven't been able to get to it yet).

Batman/TMNT #1

Published by: DC Comics

Publication date: December 9, 2015

Script: James Tynion IV

Art and cover: Freddie E. Williams II

Colors: Jeremy Colwell

Letters: Tom Napolitano

Variant cover: Kevin Eastman and Tomi Varga

Assistant editor: David Pina

Group editor: Jim Chadwick

“Knights in a Half Shell”

Summary:

In Gotham City, Batman investigates an attack on a Powers Industries laboratory.  A band of ninja and four green monsters apparently stole an experimental generator.  It’s the fourth attack/theft on a major research facility since the abduction of Dr. Naveen Khan, a famous theoretical physicist.  Hearing the testimony from one of the lab technicians, Batman decides to investigate further.

Meanwhile, the "four green monsters" order a pizza and sneak it into the sewers after the delivery guy sets it on the ground.

Down in the Batcave, Alfred is worried that with the anniversary of his parents’ death approaching, Bruce Wayne AKA Batman (spoiler alert) will be going into one of his “moods” again.  Indeed, Bruce is working on the Intimidator, a high tech suit of battle armor and ignoring any pleas to summon the rest of the Batfamily back to Gotham for support. 

Changing the subject, Bruce tells Alfred that the injuries inflicted on the lab technicians are consistent with injuries from ninjutsu fighting styles.  Alfred suggests that if ninja are involved, then perhaps it is an attack from Ra’s Al Ghul and the League of Assassins.  Bruce dismisses the idea, as it just isn’t the League’s style to use only one martial arts technique.

Donning his costume, Batman heads to the Wayne Enterprises R&D facility in the Batmobile, asking Alfred to call the GCPD and decline their offer of police protection for the building.  He’s certain the ninja clan will strike there next and doesn’t want the police interfering.

Down in the sewers, Killer Croc is following a GPS signal following the Batmobile.  Croc and his gang know that Batman is going to investigate Wayne Enterprises and they’ve no interest in stealing anything from that place.  Rather, Croc wants to strip the Batmobile for parts, as its high tech doodads would go for millions on the black market.

Along the way, they stumble across a sewer lair that looks like a teenage hangout.  Croc orders his men to find and kill the occupants before they can squeal to the cops.  Those occupants are, of course, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and they beat the hell out of the thugs and Croc.  Donatello ponders how different this dimension is from their home universe and wonders how they’ll ever get back.  Raphael insists that the only way they’re going to get home is to track down the Foot Clan and not let them get away again.  Leonardo suggests they keep their cool and continue searching, a strategy which Master Splinter agrees with.  Michelangelo, however, is upset that Croc destroyed his video games.

At the same time, Batman catches the Foot Clan red-handed as they try to steal a signal amplifier from Wayne Enterprises.  Batman takes all the ninja down and interrogates the last one standing.  The Foot Soldier tells him that they are the Foot Clan and they only want a means to get home.  Batman asks about the four metahumans that have been seen with them, but the Foot Soldier only gets out the word “turtles” before he is killed by shuriken.

Batman looks up to see the Shredder staring down at him from the catwalk.  The Shredder warns Batman to stay out of their way then throws a smoke bomb.  When it clears, all the Foot Soldiers and the Shredder are gone.

Outside, the Turtles emerge from a manhole and stumble upon the Batmobile.  Donnie is entranced by the vehicle, but Michelangelo warns him that it may be taken.  Batman swoops down from the rooftops and sees the "turtles" the Foot Soldier was talking about…

Turtle Tips:

*This story is continued in Batman/TMNT #2.

*According to IDW editor Bobby Curnow, this miniseries is not a part of the IDW TMNT canon.  However, the Turtles who appear in it are “inspired by” the IDW TMNT.

*A special Director's Cut edition of this issue was released by DC in September of 2016.

Review:

Okay, before I talk about the issue, I want to talk about DC’s marketing for it.  Namely, this:

“Cowabatga”?  And I thought Image’s marketing for the TMNT was embarrassing.

Now anyway, can I say that this surprised the Hell out of me when it was announced?  I mean, yeah, because really.  Batman meeting the Ninja Turtles?  That came out of left field.  Even the Ghostbusters crossover wasn’t quite so shocking since IDW held both licenses so it made a little bit of sense.  But BATMAN?  Not in a million years.

The Turtles have crossed over with a LOT of different franchises and licenses over the years, even before they achieved major media popularity in 1987.  But this is easily their most mainstream crossover ever.  I mean, Usagi Yojimbo and Cerebus are big deals in the world of indie comics, the Wild West C.O.W. Boys of Moo Mesa had their own Saturday morning cartoon, and the Ghostbusters are major motion picture stars… but Batman is BATMAN.  That’s a big fuckin’ deal.

So to see the Turtles meeting Batman, outside of those weird unsanctioned Russian comics that we should probably forget about, is a bewildering treat.  Like Fanfiction.net and DeviantArt just sprang to life and started charging $3.99 a month.

My love of TMNT is no secret, but I’m also a relatively enthusiastic Batman fan.  I’ve written articles about Batman over at AIPT (including a couple trade paperback reading orders of my best estimation) and I’ve read countless pages of comics.  The Dark Knight duels with Swamp Thing for the spot as my favorite DC Comics character, and probably edges a lead since I’ve read ten times as many Batman books as I have Swamp Thing (if only because DC hasn’t reprinted most of Swampy’s library).

So just like TMNT/Ghostbusters, Batman/TMNT is a crossover that hits me right in the wheelhouse.  Its two great tastes and so far they taste pretty great together.

My knowledge of more recent Batman comics is a little behind; I stopped at “Death of the Family” and haven’t gotten into “Zero Year” yet.  I also haven’t read any recent Bat titles that aren’t from the Scott Snyder/Greg Capullo run.  This whole New 52 business is off-putting to me, sorry (though I enjoyed the “Court of Owls” arc).

So with that in mind, I’ve no prior experience with Tynion or Williams, though I understand more dedicated readers of DC’s contemporary output are familiar with them.  As a first impression, however, I’m rapidly becoming fond of them both.

Tynion’s Turtles get less exposure in this first issue than Batman does, but the title is “Batman/TMNT” with the Dark Knight coming first.  So the impression I got is this is going to be from Batman’s POV primarily, which works with him being “The World’s Greatest Detective” and having to piece the plot together for the reader.  If it was the TMNT’s POV first, then we’d already know everything in the first few pages because they’re the ones invading Gotham and trying to find a way home.

But from what I can tell, he obviously has their attitudes down.  Maybe he overplays their clichés a bit; Donnie loses focus during the fight with Croc to prattle ponderous exposition and Mikey won’t stop whining about his My Little Pony spoof video game.  But to be fair, Batman gets equally Flanderized, with Alfred going on about how his parents were killed in Crime Alley and how he’s become a dark, brooding avenger of the night, etc.

Oddly, it was Tynion’s Killer Croc that I liked the most.  I really didn’t dig what had been happening to Croc around the time of “Hush”, where Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee had turned him into a mindless, snarling monster.  That sort of “characterization” is horrendously limited and a major regression from the competent mobster he was in the ‘80s.

So it’s good to see him get his faculties back, with a scheme that was actually sort of inspired in how relatively mundane it was.  And he even lets his thugs talk back to him (to an extent) without going all “RAR GONNA EAT YOU!” because he isn’t a braindead monster.  Sorry to go off on a Killer Croc-related tangent, but I like to see him written with two brain cells.

Williams, well, every time I was about to type something regarding his art, I wasn’t sure if it was his doing or the work of the colorist, Colwell.  The two look superb together and there are these little nuances in their techniques that make this comic stand out visually.  The characters all have these white outlines around them that on the surface kinda makes their figures look “pasted” onto the pages, but also keeps them from getting lost in the backgrounds.  Williams doesn’t skimp on any of the environmental details, so it would be easy for the characters to get confused with their surroundings without those outlines.

IDW editor Bobby Curnow said that this miniseries is only “inspired by” the IDW Turtles and not a part of that universe, and you can see it in the character designs.  The Turtles, Splinter and especially Shredder are all drawn with their IDW models (the Turtles have Santolouco’s unique bandana shapes, Shredder has the scarf, etc.).  From a narrative standpoint, I’m not sure why this comic isn’t part of IDW canon since it seems rather nonintrusive to the IDW universe so far, but things could change.  Likely, it’s more a matter of licensing and reprint rights; IDW would have to pay DC every time they wanted to reprint this story so it’s just easier to say it “doesn’t count”.  Whether it “counts” or not, however, should be immaterial as to whether it’s “good” or not.  And it’s pretty good so far.

Other than that, there isn’t too much else to say about this opening chapter.  I’m sure Batman and the Turtles will fight due to this misunderstanding, but circumstances will cause them to eventually work together in the end and they’ll come to terms.  These sorts of crossovers follow a formula, but really, if Batman and the Turtles DIDN’T fight, readers would be pissed.  And if Batman and the Turtles DIDN’T team up, readers would also be pissed.  It’s a catch 22 and we all sort of give crossovers some slack for it.

Grade: B (as in, “But maybe this will lead to Rocksteady making a TMNT game in the vein of the Arkham series.  Because I’d just be amused by the prospect of ROCKSTEADY making Ninja Turtle games, if nothing else”.)

TMNT (Dreamwave) incomplete material

Originally published by: Titan Books

Taken from: TMNT Volume 2: Out of the Shadows

Publication date: 2007

Story material: Peter David

Artwork: Lesean Thomas

Summary:

Dreamwave’s TMNT comic ended at issue #7.  However, Peter David had completed the script for issue #8 and had plotted issues #9-10 prior to cancellation.  Lesean Thomas had also completed rough pencils for part of issue #8.  The available material was collected by Titan Books for their TMNT Volume 2: Out of the Shadows trade paperback.

TMNT (Dreamwave) #8: “T4 – The Turtlenator”

(Script and rough pencils completed for most or all pages)

Although the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles previously succeeded in destroying PIT, the super computer built by Baxter Stockman to manufacture his Mousers, the machine has gained sentience and sworn vengeance.  

Collecting all the data gathered by its Mouser “children” during their previous battles, PIT creates T4 – The Turtlenator, a robot duplicate programmed to hunt down and destroy the Ninja Turtles.  After training the robot, PIT sends it on a mission to avenge its "brethren".

T4 begins its search with the sewers and spies Michelangelo waving goodbye to April as she exists a manhole.  Once April leaves, T4 descends into the sewers and attacks Mikey.  Subduing him with its chain and cutting him with its scythe, T4 analyzes Mikey’s blood and determines it has learned everything this particular Ninja Turtle has to teach it.  And so, T4 prepares to kill Mikey.

TMNT (Dreamwave) #9: “See ya Later, Turtlenator”

(No art available)

The other Turtles arrive in time to save Mikey.  Donatello, having studied the Mousers after their last encounter, uses a device that creates electrical feedback to severely damage T4’s programming.  T4 retreats as it begins to biologically assimilate Michelangelo’s DNA.

The malfunctioning Turtlenator, now looking organic, escapes to the surface.  Cut off from its wireless connection to PIT, its memory banks tell it that April O’Neil is an ally, so it heads to her apartment for help.  April, thinking T4 is one of the TMNT she hasn’t met, lets it in and takes care of it.  Over time, T4 develops a sense of trust toward humans.

Later, T4 overhears the Purple Dragons committing a robbery and stops it, making no attempt to stay out of the public eye.  Reporters and gawkers then praise T4 as a superhero in a “frog” costume and T4 proceeds to publicly fight crime over the next few weeks.  The Turtles, observing all this on TV, are mortified, as the new Ninja Turtle is blowing their cover.

TMNT (Dreamwave) #10: “Domo Arogato (sic), Turtle Robot-O”

(No art available)

The Turtles inform April that T4 is not one of their brothers, but an evil robot.  April encourages them not to attack the robot, as she believes it is capable of learning and changing.  With T4 about to receive a medal from the city for all its good deeds, April assures them that it has learned right from wrong.

The Turtles watch the ceremony in secret, but just as T4 is about to get the medal, PIT regains control of the robot and causes it to go berserk.  Don uses his feedback machine to try and stop it, blowing open a chest compartment and revealing to the public that T4 is a machine. 

PIT won’t let T4 be defeated the same way twice and regains control.  T4 chases the Turtles through the alleys and along the rooftops, besting them in combat at every turn.  Eventually, T4 is about to execute one of the Turtles when April intervenes.  She gives a speech about “who you really are” and T4 hesitates, unable to strike.  The Turtles use the momentary opportunity to destroy T4.

Later, Don sends an e-mail virus to a Stocktronics employee.  The employee, opening the e-mail, infects all of Stockman’s computer systems, including PIT, wiping the AI from existence.

Turtle Tips:

*This material covers the issues that would have followed TMNT (Dreamwave) #7.

*The T4 - The Turtlenator storyline was previously advertised in TMNT (Dreamwave) #5.

*The Turtlenator, known as the Turtlebot in the cartoon, toyline and Konami video game, appeared in the 4Kids TMNT episode “What a Croc”.

*The Turtles destroyed Baxter Stockman’s Mouser factory in TMNT (Dreamwave) #3, albeit primarily off-panel.

*The bonus material in this volume also included a sketch and character model gallery, rough pencils on selected pages and rough cover art for released issues.

Review:

I thought I was done with Dreamwave’s revolting TMNT comics, but then a fan sent me the bonus content from Titan’s trade paperback collection.  I pride myself in being thorough, so here we are.  Special thanks to Adam Winter for sending me the stuff, but you’ll understand if I don’t I send you flowers.  These comics are bad.

The bonus content related to the T4 storyline is mostly just summaries and script excerpts; there are only 5 pages of rough pencils to look at.  As much criticism of Lesean Thomas as I’ve made in the past, I will say that his pencils look a lot better in the rough stages than how they wound up appearing in the finished comics.  Dreamwave’s coloring style evidently did him no favors whatsoever.  That said, there isn’t really a lot to judge; it’s just five pages of roughs.

Peter David’s plot summaries sound about as ho-hum as possible.  This is a story we’ve seen done a thousand times over; it’s the whole “can robots learn to love?” bullshit.  We have an artificial monster that starts out wanting to destroy, relents and ultimately is destroyed itself by the new sense of “compassion” its logic circuits cannot quantify.

“Query: What is this program you call ‘love’?  Err-OR!  Err-OR!  It does not compute!”

David is a great comic writer; one of the best.  I love almost all his stuff.  But hoooooo-ly shit, he was phoning this book in long distance.  None of those plot summaries sound even remotely original, with every twist and turn boorishly telegraphed.

As for T4 – The Turtlenator, I think I liked him better as the Turtlebot, which was his more prominent name.  He was a one-off opponent and facilitated a good fight scene in his episode, made for a well-sculpted action figure and provided a decent-enough boss battle in a video game, but that’s about all he was ever good for.  

T4, I guess, tries to go a route a bit closer to Metalhead from the Fred Wolf TMNT cartoon; the robot Turtle programmed with the thought patterns of the TMNT and built to destroy them, but eventually starts to learn right from wrong.  However, even the Fred Wolf cartoon didn’t play it this close to the clichés and Metalhead’s single head-lining episode was actually pretty fun.

Anyway, it probably isn’t fair to judge these stories based on paragraph plot summaries and rough art, but I’ve already endured the seven completed issues that were published.  So call my estimation of their potential quality an “educated guess”.  It just would’ve been more hackneyed plots, amateurish art and atrocious coloring.  Be thankful the series ended at #7.

TMNT Season 7, Part 3

With the European Vacation episodes out of the way, I can get started on the "proper" seventh season of the Fred Wolf produced TMNT cartoon.

TMNT Season 7, Part 3 review at AIPT.

Actually, the "real" season 7 of TMNT is full of great episodes.  It's a last hurrah for the classic look and feel for the series (before the "red sky" era) and most of the recurring villains and allies get to make some last appearances this season.

In this batch of episodes, we get the Neutrinos, the Triceratons, a handful of the show's best guest villains (Rat King!  Leatherhead!  Slash!), and Casey Mother Fuckin' Jones!  There are other highlights, too, including the origin of the Foot Clan and a pretty decent, and rare, "dramatic" episode.

Things are lookin' up!

TMNT (IDW) #52

Publication date: November 25, 2015

Story: Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow and Tom Waltz

Script: Tom Waltz

Art: Ken Garing

Colors: Ronda Pattison

Letters: Shawn Lee

Edits: Bobby Curnow

"Order from Chaos, Part 2"

Summary:

At Foot HQ, Leonardo and Alopex are demonstrating sparring techniques to a group of Foot Soldier trainees.  The lesson is on how to switch between different martial arts styles on the fly so as to keep your enemy off kilter.  As the trainees begin practicing, Leo and Alopex reminisce about how they both fought for the Foot Clan in the past, but under uniquely different circumstances.  Leo still doesn’t feel comfortable in his role as Chunin and is particularly worried about Splinter, whom he thinks is getting darker and more serious.  Alopex, while not as uncomfortable as Chunin, does miss hanging out with Angel.

Outside the Second Time Around shop, Angel hears some roughhousing in the alleys and finds Casey beating down some punks.  When he’s done, she asks him what’s up and he explains that he’s preemptively keeping his neighborhood safe; getting the punks before they can commit any crimes.  Angel isn’t too keen on that approach, but Casey says that on his road trip he learned that the bad guys are always waiting for you to let your guard down and the best defense is a good offense.  He asks why she isn’t in her Nobody suit and Angel says that Harold needed it back for upgrades.

At Foot HQ, Splinter meditates…

Not long ago.  Splinter approaches Kitsune and reveals that April told him everything about her siblings and “the game”.  He urges her to drop all pretenses and tell him what her scheme is.  Kitsune remains coy, insisting that her brother and sister were merely playing with April and Casey, as immortals enjoy manipulating humans to pass the time.  Splinter warns her that he will not tolerate any attempts on her part to undo the work he’s doing in restoring the Foot Clan’s honor.  Kitsune warns him that she isn’t the one he should be worried about…

The present.  Splinter is woken from his meditation by the female Foot Assassin.  She accuses him of defanging the Foot Clan as Jonin and is joined by Jammer, Maze and the rest of the Street Phantoms.  Splinter defends himself and calls in a pair of Elite Guard to help.  The Elites are taken down quickly by the Phantoms while Splinter deals with the Assassin.

Outside, Leo, Alopex and the trainees rush to help Splinter, but they’re blocked by the Street Phantoms.  The intangibility cloaks make them almost impossible to tag and the Foot take a beating.  Leo and Alopex decide to put their own lesson about keeping the enemy off kilter into practice.  Leo distracts Jammer and Maze, goading them into hand-to-hand combat.  As soon as they become tangible, Alopex slices off their cloaks, allowing Leo to knock them out.  The other Street Phantoms collect their leaders and retreat.

Meanwhile, Splinter fights the Assassin and unmasks her.  She identifies herself as Jennika, and as an Assassin, she feels betrayed by Splinter’s new, less lethal direction for the Foot Clan.  Splinter assures her that there will be need for Assassins in the Foot’s future, as they fight to maintain authority over the city’s underworld.  He also reminds her that he seized control of the Foot by killing the Shredder and isn’t nearly as non-violent as she thinks he is.  Jennika apologizes and swears allegiance to Splinter.  Splinter accepts, but demotes her and leaves her punishment up to his Chunin.

Elsewhere, Michelangelo hesitantly follows Mondo Gecko to Mutanimal HQ.  Mikey says that he didn’t want to join the Foot Clan, but hooking up with Old Hob seems like a lateral move.  Mondo tells him that the Mutanimals are more than just Old Hob and he has plenty of friends waiting for him.  Indeed, upon arriving, the Mutanimals greet him with a surprise party.

Unbeknownst to any of them, they’re being monitored by Agent Winter, who appears to be working for an organization called Dark Water.

Turtle Tips:

*This story is continued from TMNT (IDW) #51.  The story continues in TMNT (IDW) #53.

*Leo and Alopex reminisce about the times they were both tricked into working for the Foot Clan.  Both Leo and Alopex rebelled against the Foot in TMNT (IDW) #28.

*Casey mentions his road trip with April, which concluded in TMNT: Casey & April #4.

*Agent (Alex) Winter and Dark Water originate from the TMNT animated series produced by Fred Wolf.  They were featured in the season 8 episode "State of Shock".

*This issue was originally published with 7 variant covers; Regular Cover by Garing, Subscription Cover by Eastman, Retailer Incentive by Ibraham Moustafa, Blindbox Exclusive by Clay Mann and Ulises Arreola, and 3 Blindbox Exclusives (Blue Leo, Red Leo, April) by Robert Atkins, Chuck Arnold and Simon Gough.

Review:

In the letters page, Curnow refers to #51 and #52 as a “mini arc”, so I guess this was a two-parter?  I’ve been asking for two-parters for a while now, so I ain’t complaining.  I’m just curious what the story arc of these two issues really was; setting up the status quo or was there some more complete narrative in these issues?  Jennika acting like an idiot?  Was this actually HER story?  I guess…

…we’ll find out in 30 days.

Regarding the status quo, we catch up with some of the other characters.  I had forgotten that #51 skipped things ahead by a whole month, so all these characters talking about how much things have changed and how they don’t like where things have been going, etc. felt a little strange.  We sort of missed something with the time skip, so we have to be TOLD about all these sweeping changes as opposed to having seen them…

…ourselves.

I guess if you’re reading through the series and you slot the Casey & April miniseries between #50 and #51, that’ll help the time skip feel a bit more organic.  It takes a while to drive from New York to California and back…

…after all.

Alopex and Leo getting all buddy-buddy was a nice touch, if sort of a delayed bit of characterization.  Remember way back in TMNT #30, during the Northampton arc, when Raph caught Alopex stalking Leo because she felt a kinship with him?  The writers sort of forgot about that and whatever friendship Leo and Alopex were developing got delayed almost two years.  Good to see it revived in this issue, even if it was a small moment.  Alopex on her own has felt a bit disconnected from the rest of the Turtles.  She has that budding romance with Raph (or whatever it is), but we haven’t really seen how she interacts and mingles with the rest of the TMNT.  I think that’s probably why she hasn’t felt very integrated…

…into the cast.

Angel giving Casey a hard time seemed awkward at first, but made more sense after I reread it.  I mean, Angel’s a vigilante, too, so why is she admonishing Casey for doing the exact same thing?  I think the angle is that Casey is getting a little unhinged and his proactive approach to cleaning up the streets is taking things too far.  Those were punks and thugs, sure, but they hadn’t yet committed any crimes.  While it’s never a good idea to be strictly reactionary either, being too gung-ho and looking for trouble can lead to…

…some bad outcomes.

And at any rate, THIS Casey is finally starting to feel more like the Mirage Casey.  Less pretty boy punching bag, more looney street brawler that can hold his own in a fight.  I mean, really, compare Casey as he appears in this comic with how he appeared in the Casey & April miniseries.  It’s like they’re barely even…

…the same character.

Then there’s Jennika.  Is that the payoff to the Foot Assassin mystery?  Some character we’ve never heard of before who doesn’t like Splinter but never mind, she likes him now?  I’m assuming there’ll be more to her than this, because man...

...there has GOT to be.  

The Street Phantoms were pretty cool, with the same look and powers they had in the Fast Forward cartoon.  The way Leo and Alopex defeated them was kind of lame, though; goading them into shutting down their intangibility cloaks with a fist fight?  It’s one of those defeats that hinges entirely on the stupidity of the antagonist.  You know, sort of like the ending to…

…Commando.

Garing is leaving after this issue.  I can’t say his style would have been a long-term fit for the series, but I enjoyed the variety for a couple issues.  He felt more like something out of Mirage and I definitely needed a break from all the “cutesy” stuff.  I think my only real complaint is that sometimes his expressions don’t match the scenario.  Like Angel on panel 3 of page 5, drawing her tonfa and turning to the sound of danger.  She’s supposed to look surprised (she says “what…”), but she’s smiling like she’s posing for a photo.  There are moments like that which feel…

…a little bit awkward.

And yes, in case you’re wondering why I’m using all the ellipses, well, go back and read any given issue of the TMNT ongoing.  You’ll notice that there’s this way Waltz likes to transition from one scene to another by having a character’s dialogue trail off into ellipses…

…and then resume in a box on the first panel of the next page, overhanging the new setting and ominously foreshadowing its events in some way.  

I mean, there’s nothing inherently WRONG with such a device, it’s just that Waltz uses it SO MUCH.  And in a book that juggles so many different characters and plot lines, constantly having to bounce back and forth between them every couple of pages, we end up seeing the ellipses-transition-dialogue-foreshadowing technique A LOT.

I mean, how often can the characters be coincidentally/unknowingly predicting what the rest of the cast is doing?  It’s like everybody in this book has precognition or ESP or something.

Anyway, so far the new status quo has me intrigued.  The Mutanimals thing is especially interesting, particularly when you combine it with Splinter’s declaration to consolidate authority in New York under the Foot Clan.  It looks like the book may be heading toward a confrontation between Splinter’s Foot Clan and Hob’s Mutanimals, with Michelangelo’s allegiances maybe caught in the middle.  Combined with the other factors at play and it ought to be something to look forward to.

Grade: C+ (as in, “Come on, why the hell was Mikey so joyous upon being greeted by freakin’ Mutagen Man at his surprise party?  He’d never MET Mutagen Man before.  Jesus, if I opened a door and a glowing tank of human organs leapt out and screamed SURPRISE at me the last thing I’d do is say ‘aw shucks, you guys’ and then eat cake”.)

Donnie Finds a Relic

Publication date: November 11, 2015

Originally published in: TMNT Amazing Adventures #4

Story and art: Sina Grace

Letters: Shawn Lee

Edits: Bobby Curnow

“Donnie Finds a Relic”

Summary:

While sledding in the junkyard, Donatello notices Raphael has something lodged in his shell.  Donnie pries it loose and finds that it’s an unlabeled audio cassette tape.  He spends the next few days agonizing over a way to play it, but none of his machines can read cassettes and building a tape player is a lot more complicated than he thought.  Donnie fears that the cassette, being from the analog age, may contain some form of wisdom that has not yet been uploaded to the cloud and, if not transferred to a digital medium, might be lost forever.

Sensing Donnie’s distress, April heads to a pawn shop to buy a boom box.  She trades an old record needle for it, but as she leaves, she’s accosted by a unit of Foot Soldiers.  April beats the stuffing out of them and returns to the sewer to present Donnie with the boom box.

As it happens, the tape contained a demo track from a circa 1987 indie rock band called Coco and the Pebbles.  They never hit it big or released any albums and so that tape is one of the only recordings of their music in existence.  The Turtles, April and even Splinter then get down to the hot licks.  Unbeknownst to Raph, he has a hard disk lodged in his shell…

Turtle Tips:

*The series continues in TMNT Amazing Adventures #5.

Review:

I do love stories that revolve the outdated technology of my generation.  It’s low hanging fruit and an easy way to please me, but I don’t care.  I think my favorite episode of Cowboy Bebop is the one where the characters spend half an hour trying to find a Beta player only to end up with a VHS.  I'm an easy mark for that shit.

“Donnie Finds a Relic” is maybe a little ahead of its time, at least regarding the difficulty to obtain cassette players.  Donnie laments that the technology has been rendered antique and is now unobtainable while the boom box April finds in the pawn shop is priced in accordance with such rarity.  I’m pretty sure we aren’t quite there yet in regards to the scarcity of cassette players, but hey, maybe in another 5 or 6 years.

But I think the story might be intended more as a reflection of the child audience this comic is aimed at, who have never had to coexist with tape decks and VHS players.  To them, such technology IS lost to the sands of time and thus unobtainable, so I suppose it comes down to perspective.

Otherwise, the story is fairly straight forward.  I liked that Grace used human Foot Soldiers instead of the robotic Footbots which the cartoon has switched over to on a fulltime basis.  It’s always a pleasure to see some season one elements crop up when every other Nick TMNT outlet has moved on past them.

Grace’s art has that intentionally “rough” look in both the pencils and the coloring.  It's that “deliberately sketchy” aesthetic where background lines are left half-finished and the colors “miss spots” like they were haphazardly applied in quick brush strokes.  It’s a popular trend among indie artists, though perhaps getting so popular it’s losing its appeal.

Anyway, like a lot of these guest back-up strips, “neat” pretty much sums it up, but I’m glad to be getting these things.

Meeting of the Mutanimals, Part Two

Publication date: November 11, 2015

Originally published in: TMNT Amazing Adventures #4

Story: Matthew K. Manning

Art: Chad Thomas

Colors: Heather Breckel

Letters: Shawn Lee

Edits: Bobby Curnow

“Meeting of the Mutanimals, Part Two”

Summary:

Unconscious in his Kraang holding cell, Slash recalls the past…

Spike watches as Raphael spars with Leonardo.  Raph can’t get the drop on his brother, so Splinter suggests he resort to misdirection.  Raph tricks Leo into thinking his Space Heroes pinball machine is busted and uses the distraction to tag his brother.

The present.  Dr. Rockwell uses his telekinetic powers to dump a bowl of water on Slash and wake him up.  Slash recognizes Rockwell and Leatherhead (who is in the next cell down).  Rockwell has been fitted with an inhibitor helmet, though his mental powers are strong enough that he can still levitate small objects with it on.  Unfortunately, he cannot operate the Kraang control panel, as it is too complicated.  Next to the control panel, Pigeon Pete has been shackled to the wall.  Seeing this, Slash concocts a plan.

Kraang Subprime then comes by and begins to gloat that soon he and his forces will begin converting the air on Earth into the atmosphere of Dimension X.  Slash tells him that by doing so, he’d destroy the greatest food on Earth: Pizza.  Having never tried pizza, Subprime orders his men to fetch him some from the nearby pizzeria.

They return, but the pizza has gone stale.  Slash loudly mentions that it’s too bad all the stale crusts, the BREAD, will go to waste.  Pigeon Pete immediately goes bonkers at the sound of “bread” and breaks free from his shackles.  Slash tells Rockwell to levitate the pizza over the control panel, and in his zeal to get the crust, Pete destroys the console.

The cell doors slide open and Slash orders his team of mutant animals, his “Mutanimals”, to attack and retreat.

The past.  Spike watches as Raph struggles to get out of a hold that Splinter has him in.  Splinter tells Raph that he isn’t coordinating his body, but flailing all his parts independently.  He explains to Raph that he can be much stronger if he unites his parts into a single force.

The present.  Slash and the Mutanimals leap across the rooftops, now a fully assembled fighting force.

Turtle Tips:

*This story is continued from “The Meeting of the Mutanimals, Part One”.

*Kraang Subprime mentions how Slash escaped the last time they captured him.  That was during the season 2 episode, “Metalhead Rewired”.  Pigeon Pete and Dr. Rockwell were also among the mutants who escaped from the Kraang in that episode.

Review:

The Mutanimals' origin story concludes.  Not really a whole lot to say about it; Slash’s escape plan kind of hinged on Kraang Subprime being an idiot, but the Kraang have never been that smart.

It was the flashbacks to Slash’s time as Spike that I enjoyed most.  Loved the idea that he was fully cognizant, even when he was just a normal dopey-eyed turtle, and was processing everything going on around him while he chomped on his leaves.  

In a way, it adds some credibility to the fact that upon being mutated, Slash was instantaneously on par with (maybe even a little better than) the Ninja Turtles.  He basically got all the same training they did from Splinter, even if he didn’t actively participate in it.

Also, I liked the callback to “Metalhead Rewired” as a means to explain how Rockwell and Slash knew each other.  I’d forgotten about that episode and the collection of mutant characters who shared a prison block in it.  Good pull on Manning’s part.