Publication date: Summer, 1993
Script: Dean Clarrain (Steve Murphy)
Pencils: Jim Lawson
Inks: Dan Berger
Colors: Steve Lavigne
Letters: Mary Kelleher
“The Riddle of the Rusty Scupper”
Summary:
The Turtles and April have travelled to the Caribbean to
enjoy a well-earned vacation (after using all their quarters to trap Krang in a
washing machine). While lounging on the
beach, they see an old pirate ship from the 1590s called the Rusty Scupper sail
into view. Greedy for treasure, all five
of them board the ship.
They find a note challenging them to solve a riddle and
lift the pirate ship’s curse. The
riddle: “What’s black and white and red all over?” They’re immediately attacked by skeletal
pirate ghosts who say that the curse forces them to do battle with anyone who
boards their ship… at least until the riddle is solved.
The Turtles try a bunch of goofy answers, like “a skunk
with a bad complexion” or “an embarrassed zebra”, but none of them lift the
curse. April suggests they try something
more pirate-related and sees the Jolly Roger hoisted high. She guesses “a skull and crossbones against
the setting sun” and the pirates begin to vanish. They thank her for freeing them before the
Rusty Scupper vanishes, too (sending April and the Turtles plummeting into the
water).
Later that night, the Turtles gather around a campfire
and exchange bone-related puns. Enduring
this, April considers uttering a few curses herself.
Turtle Tips:
*This issue was preceded by TMNT Magazine (Welsh) #12. It is the last issue in the series.
*The previous issue did not contain any comic
content. The last issue to feature a
comic was TMNT Magazine (Welsh) #11.
Review:
Hey, another 6-pager.
That’s good! Also, the last issue
of the series. That’s bad!
Or maybe not so bad, considering your feelings toward
these comics. But I don’t know why
anyone would have strong feelings about these TMNT Magazine comics one way or
the other. They were a neat little bonus
from the era, and the early issues introduced a lot of characters who’d go on
to do greater things (be it in Archie’s TMNT Adventures or as part of the
Playmates toyline), but they were pretty corny and inoffensive. At their worst they were heavy handed with environmental
messages and at their best they were a showcase for obscure characters we didn’t
see very often. Pretty middle of the
road, but what do you expect from 4-to-6 pages every three months?
This issue in particular is a bit of a yawn-fest and
doesn’t do much with the extra 2 pages aside from make room for more silly
guesses at the riddle. I did like the
ghost pirates, but then, I
think “The Fog” is a good movie, so what do I know?
Looking back over the whole 14-issue TMNT Magazine series
(13 issues +1 special), it was very much a product of its day. Many popular cartoons of the era had these
quarterly fanclub-type magazines and they were all extremely interchangeable. The Real Ghostbusters had one, as I recall,
and it was almost exactly the same (it may have even been published by Welsh,
but I'm not sure). There was a LOT of
filler that only tangentially related to the brand (science articles, safety
tips, cheap magic tricks you can do in the kitchen, shit like that) with the
comics and maybe even the text stories being the highlight.
But when comics like THIS are the highlight of your
magazine, then in retrospect it was probably a shitty magazine.
