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Yojimbo Arc Review

Oh yeah! I forgot to mention: I finally saw the Yojimbo arc the other night.

I have a lot to say about it.

I’m understanding why some people debate the validity of most of the season 5 arcs as canon: most of them feel like made for TV movies whose tone are so far removed from the canon that it seems like they don’t belong. This isn’t me trying to scream ‘THESE AREN’T CANON!!!’, but I can see why people would come to that conclusion. I have a hard time seeing most of them as anything but bonus movies. 

Like…compare them to those movies that are made for an anime (those DBZ ones I saw as a kid come to mind). They have aspects of the canon lore in them, and sometimes aspects of them are integrated into the canon if the series is ongoing, but their tone, themes, and sometimes characterization seem so far removed from the story itself that it’s hard to view it as anything but a ‘what-if’ scenario. I felt this especially with the Monster Arc, and I sort of feel it with Yojimbo too. However where I think it was to the mosnter arc’s detriment, it was to Yojimbo’s benefit.

Yojimbo is not a turtles story, it’s Usagi’s story. I don’t say that as a complaint or insult, either. The episodes wouldn’t have worked if the turtles were the main focus, I feel. It has an entire different feel from a regular turtles episode/arc, so making Usagi the focus actually helped it a lot more than it would have hurt it. It almost feels as if, on the surface, it could be one of those ‘pitch pilot’ episodes, but you can tell it’s just a love letter to Usagi Yojimbo and an homage to classic samurai movies.

I had a lot of gripes with it, though most of them revolve around the turtles and not Usagi or anything from his world. I initially thought the turtles being summoned was dumb, but then I realized it’s one of the only ways it could have made sense, and that’s also likely how a lot of these sorts of crossovers go. 

I initially thought the turtles being forced to fight Usagi was just a flimsy excuse to get them all in one place, but when they continued to use it I had no problem with the initial encounter in retrospect. One of those things that makes you look back on it and go ‘oh shit nevermind that was actually a good idea.’ With the way the arcs in the season had been going I expected it to be a one-off thing, so I’m glad it wasn’t; it would have been a blemish on the arc otherwise.

The turtles’ maturity and lack of common sense bugged the shit out of me though, and it’s probably one of my biggest ‘complaints’ about the arc. The fact that they’re in a new world and they don’t trust Usagi, I can get that. However there felt like a lot of idiot ball holding in the first two episodes to me. Considering Leo’s knowledge on kappa, you’d assume he’d know at least a little about Tanuki as tricksters. Not a lot of people with cursory knowledge about Japanese folklore are aware that kappa eat your internal organs suck out your soul through your ass, so it would stand to reason he’s the type who didn’t limit his knowledge strictly to kappa. 

And even if he didn’t (and I’m willing to secede to that), he’s supposed to be the brother that’s good at assessing the situation and making sound decisions about what to do. You can argue that he doesn’t trust Usagi, but I find it kind of reckless and out of character for both him and Donnie to just jump into the fight and risk endangering everyone without at least looking at their options. To be fair, that’s a problem I’ve had with Leo since season 4; it seems a lot of his characterization and experience gets thrown out the window for the sake of making the plot go where the writers want it to.

And to further add onto how stupid this is, given the experiences the turtles went through in seasons prior you would think that, when sent to another world with completely different laws and customs, even if you didn’t trust the locals you would at least assume they know about the creatures and customs of the world more than you do. I could see the turtles from an earlier season making these sorts of mistakes, but after four seasons of this shit they should have more common sense. Again though, that goes back to me feeling season 4 was mishandled (almost as if there was a largely different writing staff behind it), and this is just another side affect of that. That’s a whole different discussion/rant.

The only other complaint I have is the part in the last episode where the turtles realize they’re no longer under Jei’s control. I would have saved that conversation for after they had turned on Jei, and left it a surprise for the audience. It sort of felt like a wasted opportunity for a twist, as well as like they were holding the audience’s hand. You can argue that it’s a kid’s show, but considering seasons prior executing stuff like that way better (Parasitica comes to mind) I think kids don’t need that sort of guidance to get what’s going on. It just took a lot of punch out of what was otherwise a pretty awesome scene.

The relationship between Usagi and Kintaro was genuinely pretty charming to me, and I felt like Kintaro’s development was handled surprisingly well. I would have liked to see more of that between Usagi and the turtles, but you can chalk that more up to limited time than poor writing. You at least got the impression that they grew to trust him as well. There were even charming scenes with Kintaro and the turtles, so that was something. The fact that Leo knew just how to handle Kintaro was heartwarming and made sense, considering he grew up being the eldest to three younger siblings. So for all the bitching I did about Leo being mishandled earlier, it’s not like they completely mucked him up or anything.

I thought the Tanuki coming back after an offering was a nice use of them as a deus ex machina of sorts. It didn’t feel forced or out of place to me. The fight scene on the mountain was also pretty great. Probably one of the better ones in the arc if you ask me. 

The scene where the turtles were outed by their scent made me laugh as well; it was the first thing I thought of when they put on disguises (’Uh you guys probably smell like shit you know that right?. There’s no way this is going to work’). I also like the callback to Raph and his trouble with horseback riding. My sister was complaining that they gave him Kintaro when she felt Usagi should have had him, and I responded that it was done for the sake of upping the stakes (but I agree with her. It was a pretty dumb idea).

What Jei did to Leo was super fucked up too. I can see why people made a huge deal out of it when it first aired. While I think it would have been obvious to me that it wasn’t really happening, I feel like I missed out on its impact by being spoiled over it online (but to be fair it’s the price I pay for exploring the fandom without finishing the series). It still managed to hit me hard and had a good punch even when I was spoiled by it, so it definitely did its job regardless. It also served as a nice hint that they were still under Jei’s control; that I didn’t catch right away.

I also want to give a shout out to the score of these episodes. The lack of music with some ambient sounds really benefited the special as a whole. Made it feel more like you were watching a Japanese Samurai flick, and it made the music that much more powerful when it was used.

Lastly, the entire last episode was incredible from start to finish. The fight scenes were solid, Kintaro was pretty great, and Usagi was a downright badass through and through. The ending scene with him wandering off to where his journey took him next really screamed ‘classic samurai film’, and the fact that he took the turtle effigies and wrapped them around his sword showed he grew to respect them as much as they respected him, and that he’ll likely always remember the encounter. I can also say never showing us the return home or pre-arrival from the turtle’s perspective was a very smart move. It would have subtracted from the arc in my opinion.

While I mostly have positive things to say about it, it definitely isn’t my favorite of this season. I feel Lone Rat and Cubs has been, with When Worlds Collide being a close second. To be fair, the reason is because they both felt like they could fit into the series proper to me (even the epilogue arc didn’t give me that feeling). I can argue that Usagi was probably the best put together and arguably the best overall, but I just can’t see it fitting into the series proper, so it’s a little lower on my personal list.

I still have one more arc to watch, and I’m both excited for it and dreading it, as it seems to be one of the series’ biggest base breakers. I’m not sure if I’ll like or hate it, but there’s only one way to find out!

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Based on my schedule, I think I’ll be able to have the next review this Sunday. Failing that, Monday. I’m hoping to even add a review of issue 12 to compensate downtime, but no promises on that.

I’ve heard a bit more about the IDW comics. I did plan on reading them eventually, but I’ll likely wait until I finish these ones, and maybe wait til after I watch the 2003 series. Depends on the necessity of them.

A lot of you probably know better than I do on that one.

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So I certainly have a lot to talk about when I finally discuss the 2012 series.

I don’t think I’ll be able to properly review the episodes with screencaps and the like, since it’s harder for me to cap streaming sites with this clunker. I may just talk about each episode, or the references in it, or discuss a lot of things character-related. Do it pretty free form.

I dunno. That sound good to you guys? I’m still on season 3 so there’s time to decide.

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I have issue 11′s review in the drafts. I just haven’t had the time to work on it. I think updates will continue after the 4th of July holiday.

[turtlesinreview]

TMNT Mirage Comics Issues 10

Holy shit, this story dives right into the action and gives you NO fucking break. I honestly feel like I’ve missed something. Maybe a few side comics here or there that aren’t included. Since I’m just reading the main issues for the time being I ask you forgive me if I’ve lost something critical, and trust me when I say I already have.

Strap in kids.

Story

The comic starts immediately with Leonardo already on the ground in the apartment severely injured with everyone surrounding him. I don’t know what fucking happened. I can’t even find what issue or mini-comic I could have missed. Point is, shit starts dire.

The worst part is the foot has invaded their home, meaning Shredder must be back. But how is that possible?

Donatello is quick to take charge, telling Splinter and April to get Leo out of there while the three of them fend off the foot. After a bit of a scuffle, Splinter then tells Don and Mikey to help April while Raph stays behind in the dark to take out any incoming foot soldiers, a plan Raphael loves.

Leo, barely conscious, keeps insisting that he can walk. He also wants April to save herself, but she says he’s her family and she won’t leave him behind.

She goes to open the door, and Leo immediately tries to stop her, knowing the foot are out there. He blocks her, and Michelangelo is quick to rush over and take out the foot in the way. Mikey promises April that as long as they’re alive, she’ll be safe.

Mikey then takes the lead to scout out the area. He and Don take out a few foot along the way, and they eventually make their way to the antique shop, where Shredder and the foot are waiting for them.

Before a fight can begin, a hooded figure makes himself known to aid the turtles: Mother fucking Casey Jones.

Raphael already seems to know him, which is likely why he’s there now. With Casey there to help things go a bit more swimmingly. In the meantime Splinter is telling April they may have to leave through the front door, but April has a better plan: a cooler in the back. Apparently the antique store was connected to a grocery store, linked by a cooler entrance. Her father never properly sealed it up, so it made for an ideal escape route.

Eventually the chaos starts a fire, meaning the firefighters and cops are on their way. Shredder and the foot retreat, and the heroes make an exit in the back, having to leave April’s van behind.

They look upon the fire in the distance, and April is devastated knowing that her entire life has gone up in flames.

Casey decides to take the crew elsewhere to hide for a while, and our comic ends with them on the road to reach Casey’s dead grandma’s place.

Characters

Holy shit there’s a lot to talk about. Everyone had a big role to play in this issue in one way or another.

I think I’ll start with April this time. It’s really neat to see the behavior of the original April. From my exposure to other Turtle series, I’d say April is usually depicted the most differently in each one. Like the others she generally has the same personality, but usually has traits that make each April stand out, and I’m not just talking about their appearance. That said, the three things I remember most about her are her courage, stubbornness, and caring personality. How much each of these stand out varies from series to series, but they’re usually all there in some form.

This April is very brave. Not fearless, but her courage here stems from her big heart. She makes it perfectly clear that she loves her new family of mutants, refusing to run away and leave them in danger. Some could argue she usually causes more trouble by sticking around, but in this situation it’s quite the opposite. Without her, they probably wouldn’t have managed such a safe getaway after all.

Also I have to add that the scene where she watches her home burn down was incredibly distressing.

Splinter takes the role of the leader for the most part, which makes sense. After all he needs to get his sons and April out of danger, and as we’ve already established, he knows what he’s fucking doing. While (as usual) we don’t see much growth out of him, we do see him giving very well-organized commands. That was pretty awesome.

He also stopped an arrow mid-air. That was fucking badass.

This is another issue where Donatello stands out. He’s the first one to instruct the team when danger rears its ugly head, and as usual his quick thinking helps the team ward off trouble. He also works pretty well with Michelangelo as a back-up for taking out enemies on the way downstairs.

Speaking of, Mikey also gets a huge role in this one. He rescues April and is quick to tell her that they’ll protect her no matter what, proving that he (and his brothers) care about her very much. They really do consider her part of the family at this point, and it’s nice to see the feeling is mutual.

On top of that, he’s the one who leads the charge downstairs, and is very good at spotting and taking out enemies. This is probably the most we’ve ever seen him do, and I can say it didn’t disappoint me at all.

Leonardo may have been on death’s door for the most part, but it was pretty clear he was trying (and failing) to shake it off. Ever the determined leader, he insisted he could walk despite needing to be held up by April just to move around. Hell he even told her to abandon him and escape. Be it out of a (very small) bit of ego/pride, or because he sincerely cares about her, it’s still a pretty noble thing and in character for him.

When April tries to get him out the door, he can tell right away she’s about to be attacked and moves to ward off the foot. Had Mikey not spotted the situation who knows where that would have left Leo. Guy is as brave as they come.

Raphael mostly just fought in this issue, but he did so spectacularly. He was very eager to take out any foot he could in the dark, and probably has the highest body count this issue as a result. In contrast to Michelangelo’s usual role of the comic relief, Raph was the one with all the wittier lines, at least when Casey didn’t have them.

Lastly, there’s Casey, who I have been fucking pumped about meeting. Unfortunately this isn’t his debut issue, and what’s even more unfortunate is my inability to get a copy of said issue. If you’ve seen the first turtles movie, I imagine the debut shares similarities to that, but it’s no substitute for the real thing. I’d like to review it in the future, if only for the sake of completion.

Casey is a real show stealer though, through and through. How he knew to come to the antique shop I can’t say, but he’s there and he kicks ass. He gets almost all the witty lines in this issue, and coming in as a fifth ranger is what helps the turtles survive the ordeal and escape.

Lastly it’s Casey who helps find them a new homestead in the meantime and hide, so the guy’s clearly got a good heart. I think we all knew that, though.

I sadly can’t say a lot about the Shredder. I don’t know if it’s really him or someone filling in his role, but either way despite his presence being a threat he doesn’t actually do much this issue. Most of the combat involves his foot soldiers.

Writing

The writing in this issue is rightfully tense and there’s this constant sense of urgency, perfectly fitting for the situation. As usual Laird and Eastman use a small amount of words to tell you mountains about the characters, and everything feels perfectly natural. This issue has a lot more show, don’t tell than previous ones, and I’m glad they’re learning that’s the best method when making a comic.

I should say it seems like their team has gotten larger, but I didn’t see who did what. Either way I’ll just give credit to everyone for both writing and art. The point is I think a larger staff helped. It may have something to do with the improvements overall.

Art

Look at this. Just fucking look at it.

Do I even have to explain why this spread is amazing? It doesn’t overdo the shading, the attention to detail is impeccable, and it gives you the proper ‘oh shit’ feeling just be looking at it. The Shredder is there, waiting for the turtles while feeling no sense of dread. He knows they stand no chance in their current predicament.

Basically, imagine this, but it’s a bunch of panels in a comic. Every panel captures the mood its trying to. The things that need detail have it, and it’s not overdone. The art and design is at a point where the changes are minimal, so it’s as if I’m repeating myself each time. Hell I may just have to use this place to simply showcase panels in future updates.

Final Thoughts

This is the issue where the tone seemingly shifts dramatically, but as usual it doesn’t seem unnatural or even like a mood whiplash. I’ll admit it’s a shame that I’m missing a piece of the puzzle, but I promise to review it if I can locate it, even if it’s late.

Basically, I have a feeling things are gonna feel a little different from this point on, and I’m fucking excited about it.

[turtlesinreview]

Okay so I currently can’t find myself a copy of Raphael’s micro comic Me, Myself, and I, so I can’t really review the debut of Casey Jones. If I happen to get a hold of it in the future I’ll gladly review it.

For the time being I’ll just assume it went similarly to how Raphael met him in the movies. I don’t think it’s too far off anyway.

[turtlesinreview]

TMNT Mirage Comics Issue 9

This issue delves a tiny bit into the turtles’ past. Origin story comics always fascinate me because it gives us a broader look into what made a character who they are. How well did this comic do? Let’s see.

Story

This comic starts with this guy, Hattori, having a weird dream about a bunch of samurai fighting brutally. He’s unsure of what it means.

Meanwhile, Splinter is training the boys in martial arts. They’re doing well, but he has criticisms for each one. He meditates shortly after, and senses a faint signal. He isn’t able to intercept it, though.

The next day he’s training the boys again, but he can’t get that signal out of his head. He calls it an early training day to go back and meditate.

Splinter finally reaches a man in his deathbed in Japan. The old man, Gosei Hatsumi, wants to pass on the spiritual power from all the samurai in his family line. Specifically, he wants to pass it to his grandson Hattori. He needs Splinter’s help in doing so, so they switch bodies. They only have 10 hours to do so or else Splinter will die in Hatsumi’s body, so Hatsumi quickly gathers the turtles for an impromptu mission.

They take a moment to spy on Hattori and his father, Kenji, discussing the family business. Kenji expects Hattori to take up the family business, but Hattori would rather live his own life. Kenji disregards him quickly.

Hatsumi sends Donatello and Raphael on recon, and the two find out that there are four assassins who are going to kill both Kenji and Hattori so their associates can take over the business themselves. As soon as the boys tell Hatsumi he has Don, Raph, and Mikey take out three of them. Leo stays with him for support.

The boys easily subdue the assassins, and look pretty badass doing so. They then come back to Hatsumi and Leo, who are watching the Gosei men eat dinner. Hatsumi is trying to think of a way to get Hattori away from his father, who Hattori is again discussing his future with. Kenji is less than thrilled and tells him to forget about martial arts. Basically saying it’s pointless.

That’s when the fourth assassin strikes. He tries to shoot down Hattori, but his father shields him. Leonardo takes out the assassin, but not fast enough to save Kenji, who fucking dies.

Hatsumi has the boys block and guard the doors, then explains to a panicking Hattori that he is actually his grandfather in the body of a giant mutant rat. While Hattori doesn’t believe him at first, Hatsumi shows him a symbol he tried to send him through his dreams, proving it was him. Hatsumi managed to transfer all his knowledge using Splinter’s body, then switched back before fucking dying.

Unfortunately Donatello got the number of assassins wrong, and a fifth one falls through the window. The turtles are guarding the door, so it’s just Hattori and Splinter to fend him off. Splinter tells Hattori he’s totally got this, and it turns out Hattori does! He effortlessly kills the skilled assassin, shocked that he’s able to do so. Splinter explains he has the knowledge and skills of all his fucking ancestors, and he should take advantage of it. Hattori vows to do so.

The comic ends with Splinter explaining to the boys that he had switched bodies with an old-ass man. They thought he was acting weird, but didn’t actually pick up on it, apparently. Splinter says they can go to sleep, and the boys get excited.

Characters

Splinter gets a larger focus than normal in this comic, but unfortunately we mostly follow Hatsumi. The upside is Hatsumi is pretty great, so it’s not like it’s a huge bummer or anything.

Even then Splinter is about the same as usual, but we do know now that he has some sort of spiritual ninja powers. So there’s that. He was also very encouraging to Hattori during his fight, and seemed genuinely proud of the turtles as well. This issue also proved he knows what he’s fucking doing, but there was never any real doubt of that. I also have to give Splinter major props for willingly switching bodies with an old man knowing that if they fail he’d fucking DIE. That’s one brave-ass, heroic rat.

Donatello, who I usually joke does FUCKING NOTHING, actually gets a bigger role in this one. He proves to be good at recon, hushing Raphael so he can hear the two associates talk. His info may not be on point, but at least he has a firm understanding of recon and moving with stealth. I hope we get more focus on that, since we usually see him do NOTHING but fight and come up with one-line combat plans. Which is good for showing his skill, but I’d like to see more of his behavior too.

Michelangelo is mostly seen goofing around during this issue, hopping around in the background like an adorable doofus. He does complain about his training weapon, the mankiri-gusari, saying he’d rather be using the nunchucks.

I’ve actually been looking for an excuse to bring this up. I won’t pretend I’m a weapon’s expert, but from what little I know of all the weapons the turtles mainly use, the nunchucks are the hardest to master and the easiest to fuck up with. To me this says mountains about Michelangelo’s skill as a warrior despite his upbeat and goofy nature.

Raphael also has a training weapon, the tonfas. Ever since learning about this weapon I’ve been kind of a fan of it. If the few animes I’ve seen have taught me anything (and they haven’t), the tonfas are a force to be reckoned with. Kind of an interesting training weapon to substitute for sais, but also oddly fitting.

Raphael didn’t really do a lot in this issue, which surprises me and, oddly, pleases me. He gets way too much screentime as-is.

Leo meanwhile also didn’t do a lot, but he does train with just one katana instead of two. He and Raphael spar at the beginning of the comic, and he does take out an assassins with a bunch of badass throwing stars, but that’s about all he does. Splinter does praise him on his fighting form (which is no surprise), but says practicing is no substitute for real combat.

Writing

The writing is back to form. The premise of this episode is less absurd, but the whole ‘astral plain via meditation’ thing is kinda wacky. Despite that it’s hardly out of place in this comic, considering the turtles are...well, mutants, and have also been to fucking space. I can buy weird mystic magic bullshit at this point.

The tone of this one is mostly serious, the humor mostly being in the visuals with background events. It’s missing a lot of the signature wit, but it’s pretty welcomed all the same, especially after an issue that was full of comedic moments.

Art

Again I have to praise the art for this issue. It seems Eastman and Laird have finally found a solid style, and it can only improve from here. The scenery really pops way more than it has in the past, so it’s nice to see that being applied with improved anatomy and excellent composition.

I’m not sure how old the turtles are supposed to be in this issue. It was a little hard to tell. They’re definitely younger, but by how much I couldn’t really say. I can’t count this as a real complaint. More like I personally wish it were more obvious.

The fight scenes as usual are awesome, and the shading matched the mood of each scene flawlessly. I absolutely value...value, so if anything really hyped me up in this issue, it was the shading.

Final Thoughts

A solid issue that, as usual, takes itself just seriously enough. The framing device for the adventure was interesting, and we got to see the turtles out on a training mission and Splinter being a cool dude. This one is a must-read, and as far as tone goes I’d say it’s my favorite so far, even if there weren’t a lot of stand-out moments to me. It was a very well-constructed issue to be certain.

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TMNT Mirage Comics Issue 8

This is not only a one-off, but a crossover to boot! I know pretty much nothing about Cerberus, so I won’t be talking about any of the lore involving him. I also have a feeling we’ll never see him again. I guess his story didn’t have the same lasting power the Ninja Turtles did, but then again he didn’t have a show to help spread his name. Anyway.

Story

Renet, apprentice to Lord Simultaneous is bored and decides she’s going to take his magical time sceptre for a spin. She gets caught and decides to transport herself to New York in 1986.

Does this mean the comics run in real-time? I think I’d heard about that before. If true, it means the turtles are now 17. Still technically teenagers, and still living in April’s apartment. Just watch. Future comics are gonna show me no one in this comic ages in real-time and I’m just making assumptions based on what I’ve heard.

The turtles are going to train on the rooftop when Renet appears out of fucking nowhere.

While confused at first, the turtles assure her they are indeed an oddity here and she is in fact where she thinks she is.

Sadly Simultaneous follows her and the turtles, being the altruistic numbskulls they are quickly opt to protect her. Realizing they don’t stand a chance against her master, Renet uses her sceptre to teleport them to a random place before time started being recorded.

That’s where Cerberus appears. He’s looking for some scrolls and plans to raid a castle to get them with a few guys I can only assume he hired. The men decide ‘we’re not doing this’ and just leave, That’s when the turtles and Renet pop in. A bit of confusion ensues, but Renet quickly explains her backstory (mostly off-screen) to set things right.

Meanwhile some demon guy-- I’m just gonna call him Romero because I can’t be assed to look up his full name-- can tell the sceptre has made its way to their time period for some reason. He leads an army to it and he easily kicks the asses of everyone in the area, turtles included. Romero steals the sceptre while they’re unconscious.

When they come to, Renet is upset that her sceptre is missing, explaining to the turtles that they’re stuck in the present time without it. Leo somewhat uncharacteristically (but reasonably) loses his shit.

Cerberus says he can help them. He takes them into town to hawk some of Renet’s jewelry and strike a deal with some mercs. He gives them some sort of story to convince them to join the turtles in infiltrating Romero’s castle.

The kids find it hilarious.

The next day the heroes use the army as a cover so they can sneak into the castle from the back. Romero uses the sceptre to summon an army of undead, by saying the dumbest incantation I’ve ever heard.

Luckily the turtles don’t have to worry about any of that really, or at least very little. They mostly deal with the enemies inside the castle. They make quick work of the enemies and arrive to Romero quickly, who uses the sceptre to easily subdue them.

Fortunately in an act of deus ex machina, Lord Simultaneous appears out of fucking nowhere, having located Renet. Romero reveals that it was actually Simultaneous who banished him to this time, which is how he knew about the sceptre. Lord Simultaneous says he forgot all about Romero, which only pisses him off more. Then Simultaneous turns into this weird...tiny...man...thing. I’m guessing it’s his true form.

Romero decides to use the sceptre against him, but quickly finds it has no affect on him whatsoever.

While I thought it was because it was his own sceptre, the real reason is actually funnier. Lord Simultaneous says the sceptre is insanely outdated, and his time watch negates all the effects of it. Lord Simultaneous then decides to fix every problem in a couple pages. He takes the sceptre back, banishes Romero AGAIN, gives Cerberus the scrolls he’s looking for, then returns the turtles to their normal time.

Renet isn’t harmed, but she is punished, force to wear some sort of ridiculous giant shackle belt thing and do a bunch of chores for a week...well, two after her complaining.

I don’t know what affect this has on Cerberus’ canon, but I do know Renet is a member of turtles’ canon, and shows up in a few other series. I’m going to assume we’ll see her again as this blog goes on, be it in the comics or another series.

Characters

We’re introduced to a few new characters today, but I’ll mostly be focusing on Renet. Cerberus I doubt we’ll be seeing again, Romero is just a generic (if funny) villain, and I’d rather talk about Lord Simultaneous in the writing section.

Renet is...interesting. That’s putting it nicely, of course; she’s annoying as fuck. Even the turtles seem to think so. She’s clumsy, ditzy, and prone to lying to get out of trouble that she herself causes.

On top of that, she never shuts the fuck up. I call her a ditz because she talks like one, and she’s apparently pretty loud too. The boys frequently have to tell her to quiet down.

Worst of all, all she seems to do nothing but cause trouble for everyone around her the entire issue.

Despite all this, I can’t bring myself to hate her. She has a charm to her I can’t deny. She DOES seem kind despite her flaws. She doesn’t want those around her to get hurt from the mistakes she makes in spite of her willingness to lie, so that’s...something. It’s kind of a shame that there’s not a lot of good things I can rightfully say about her, because I actually do like her as a character. Maybe she’ll show more redeeming traits in future appearances. We’ll see.

Each of the turtles has one moment that appeals to me. Above we saw Michelangelo give Raphael a friendly wake-up call with a bucket of water, further cementing him as the fun-loving prankster of the group. This of course results in retaliation, of course.

Apparently even Donatello gets a little bit of excess splash if I read a panel correctly. Raphael, you ass.

Speaking of Raph, he had a pretty golden moment too. The group is waiting for a messenger to give them the A-okay to sneak into the castle. Raphael, as usual, leaps before he looks and just goes jumping into a bush like a fucking dumbass.

I think Raphael might be my favorite turtle in the prime series. He’s so fucking ridiculous that I can’t help but love him.

It doesn’t help that he usually gets all the fun scenes.

Leonardo, meanwhile, is pretty damn serious in this one for the most part. He seems the most annoyed by the situation, which I found unusual. Not being annoyed in and of itself, but he’s usually the one who tries to keep the others from complaining (I’d say that seems more like Donatello’s role, but as usual he doesn’t do much in this issue).

If nothing else, at least Leo is the most proactive to finding the sceptre as a result. Actually I’d argue Cerberus is the most proactive in finding it, but we’re not talking about him in this review.

Leo didn’t seem to like Cerberus much, but they fought pretty well together I’d say.

Lastly, as usual, Donatello didn’t do an awful lot. At least not from what I could tell. The only moment of note was his disappointment in Cerberus not wanting them to cry out whenever they attacked.

The turtles really felt more like side characters in this story, but I can at least say they were pretty involved. It is a crossover after all.

Lastly, I just plain liked Cerberus. If I were less lazy I’d look up information on his story, but unfortunately I am very, very lazy.

Writing

The writing in this issue is a little strange compared to the rest of the series so far. This is likely because Cerberus creator, Dave Sim, also wrote for this issue. Which makes a lot of sense. As a result the writing, while pretty fucking funny, seems to be missing the somewhat serious tone the comic has had up to that point. It can be rightfully excused since this is a crossover, but if it’s also considered canon in both series it can make things a bit awkward. Depending how you look at it I mean.

Lord Simultaneous is a big problem with this. Sort of like a big fat elephant in the room of sorts.

While I don’t have a problem with the character itself, introducing a character with god-like powers into a canon can be very hit or miss. If done right it causes little harm to the story, and can even make it better. If done poorly the audience will wonder why the fuck this character isn’t used more often to solve problems, or worse yet does solve problems so often that there is no longer adversity in the story.

Fortunately I have a strong feeling this didn’t affect the story too poorly, considering how popular the turtles still are today. Hell maybe we’ll never see Lord Simultaneous again, and if that’s the case it’s fine with me. I like the guy, but he’s too meta, even for a series like this. He works with the writing style established in this issue in particular, but I think outside of it he’d cause too many problems. If they only use him (and to a lesser extent Renet) for situations like crossovers, then there’ll probably be no problems with them in the foreseeable future. Time will tell I guess.

That’s not to shit on this issue. I still like it, and as I said above, the humor is pretty fantastic. I’m guessing Dave Sim is partially to thank for that, but I won’t cut Laird short either.

Art

The art is amazing in this issue. This likely has a lot to do with the fact that Eastman is working with both Dave Sim and Gerhard, and their styles blend together relatively well, but not perfectly.

You can often tell who drew what, but there are times when the styles blend together so seamlessly that you’d be surprised to know four people worked on this comic.

Another thing I really like is, while I feel Cerberus looks horribly out of place when hanging out with any humans Eastman draws (and hell, even with the turtles he looks out of place), it adds a lot of charm to it. It shows that Cerberus is his own character and is, in fact, from a different world (comic) than they are. Even his dialogue and bubbles have a different visual style.

I also have to give props to Eastman and Laird; their humans look great in this. They’ve gotten a lot better at anatomy, and their characters are a lot more pleasing to look at than they were when they started this comic.

Final Thoughts

So far this is one of my least favorite issues, and that’s not to say it was bad. It was a fun, goofy issue and I’m assuming a nice little crossover to boot. You’d have to ask a Cerberus the Aardvark fan if it did that series justice. I wouldn’t know that.

I’m hoping the next issue is a return to form, though. This one was just a little too out there for me. I’d still say it’s worth the read, but I’m not sure if it did the series any favors. I’ll have to wait and see I guess.

[turtlesinreview]

TMNT Mirage Comics Issues 2-7

Since I read all these together I’m reviewing them together. I may or may not do this by arc or by issue in the future. I’ll see how it goes.

To me, at least so far, the closest thing I could think to compare the writing style of TMNT to is ‘If Axe Cop were written by grown men’. I don’t mean this as an insult in the slightest either. Eastman and Laird are a pretty clever and hilarious comic making duo, and these comics prove it. There’s this tinge of absurdist humor throughout the overall plot while the in-character humor is witty and natural. It has yet to feel like a chore to read, even the parts that are essentially expositions dumps.

Because those exposition dumps are fucking insane.

This is what I mean when I say it makes me think of Axe Cop. The plot gets more and more absurd with each passing page. It feels like the whole thing is taking you for a ride, but it also doesn’t feel like it has a horrible case of ADD either. The plot is always progressing, and there’s even a bit of downtime here and there to build up the characters. It’s great!

Where the style greatly differs from Axe Cop is about everywhere else. Like I said we get to know the characters a lot better. The mood is usually ‘gritty’ while still being clever and comedic, and while you may often find yourself surprised that something is happening, it never feels unnatural for it to happen. You go through the whole experience going ‘okay, this makes sense’, and there’s always a sense that what’s happening is a danger to the characters, no matter how ridiculous it may seem.

Essentially, the comic takes itself just seriously enough, making it a pretty enjoyable read, at least so far.

From this point on I’ll try to divide topics. I’ll keep writing out of the mix since I just went over it above, but I’ll add it in its proper place for future reviews/rambles. I’m still getting a feel for what I’m trying to do here.

Story

Let’s see if I can do this without going into ‘overly detailed’ territory. I have a bad habit of doing that.

The turtles, through watching TV, learn about these mobile mousetraps called mousers, which Splinter is concerned over since they’re apparently meant to rid the city of the rat problem. This means they may make their way into the sewers.

Turns out Baxter Stockman, the mousers’ creator, is actually using them in robberies around the city and plans to hold the whole thing ransom with his mousers. Apparently he was going to cause his own little 9/11 by destroying one of the twin towers. He tries to get his assistant April in on in, but when she refuses he tries to fucking kill her ass. The turtles save her and a new friendship is formed.

After Baxter announced his plan to the public, April and the turtles go back to his lair to stop him. There’s this tense moment where April and Donatello are trying to shut down a self-destruct program while the others fight off the mousers. They save the day and April becomes their buddy. The boys head back to the lair and that’s when shit really hits the fan.

After a bit of panic the boys get a hold of April and she agrees to house them. Due to some crazy-ass mixup the cops go after April’s van and a fucking insane chase scene ensues.

Afterwards the boys stay at April’s for what I think is a couple weeks if I remember correctly. We get a lot of nice little character scenes here. Anyway after fighting some rouge foot soldiers out for revenge the boys run into a building called TCRI and it induces a flashback in them.

They go to figure out shit about their past and find Splinter in the process. Unfortunately they ALSO run into some aliens and are accidentally teleported to another planet/dimension. I think it’s planet.

They meet a robot named Honeycutt who...well I posted a bit of his origin earlier. It’s convoluted and I love it. He can make a teleporter, but he refuses to because he doesn’t want it being used for evil. This leaves the turtles stranded and also means two opposing forces, the Federation and the Triceratons, are trying to get their hands on him for their own purposes. Chase scenes and a fight in a bar ensues.

Eventually the Triceratrons get a hold of Honeycutt and the turtles stowaway on their ship, where they somehow put themselves into a stasis via meditation where they don’t need oxygen.

I don’t think that’s how that works.

Anyway this results in them betting captured and put in gladiatorial combat. After they win the fight they hold the Triceraton ruler captive, but he gets stupidly shot down by his own men leaving them with no collateral. It works out fine though because they get teleported back to the TCRI building at just the right time.

On Earth April is worried about them, and apparently everyone saw the big ray of light the teleporter (or transmat as it’s called in the comics) let out when the turtles were sent to that far off planet. No one’s been able to get inside TCRI so the government has been called to storm the building.

The turtles are reuinited with Splinter and he and the aliens explain they they were just trying to get off the fucking planet. They explain their chemicals are what transformed them all into who they are today by accident, and it’s thanks to Splinter being a talking old rat that they ultimately didn’t destroy the turtles and even tried to bring them back. Okay so there’s more to it than that but I’m condensing it here.

The transmat needs to charge and be repaired again, but the government is starting to storm TCRI. Honeycutt and the aliens work on the transmat while the security system (with the help of the turtles if I recall) try to fend off against the feds so they don’t discover their alien allies.

The arc ends with the turtles and Splinter teleported into April’s tub, and I have no idea what became of everyone else.

Characters

One of these days I’m going to write a looooooooong essay about how much I enjoy the design evolution the turtles went other. Y’know, once I’ve seen enough of each series to warrant such an essay. I honestly think the turtles tend to look better with (almost) every iteration, and it should be somewhat obvious where I don’t.

I bring this up in this section and not the art section because in some parts of the comics I’m ashamed to admit I can’t tell which fucking turtle is talking when. While their voices are starting to become more distinct, the only way to visually tell them apart is what weapon they’re holding, or if they’re doing something a specific turtle would do.

A big example was before the bar fight. The first time I read it I assumed it was Michelangelo buying the beer, but upon rereading it I realized it’s probably actually Raphael.

But does that also mean Raphael was the one hitting on this space babe? Because that seems more like a Michelangelo thing to me!

Y’see, I assume THAT’s Raphael because I know that Raph’s the first one to use the ray gun, and I’m pretty sure he was standing next to Honeycutt at the time.

Of course in that panel Leo has moved to the other side of Honeycutt, so maybe they’re just relocating every fucking panel. The point I’m trying to make here is forgive me for getting the turtles mixed up sometimes. Especially Mike and Raph whose weapons I can’t use as stronger indicators to their identities.

Anyway, the returning characters, I.E. the turtles, are pretty fucking great in this. They’re starting to show and develop their own unique personalities, and it’s nice to watch the evolution as it happens. Leo is about the same as he was before, and has seemed to change the least, for the time being at least. I do like the little ‘If Raphael can fire a laser then I definitely can’ moment because it’s an early establishment of the rivalry they’ll probably share throughout the series, or if nothing else the rivalry they share in other iterations of the story.

Otherwise Leo was just as kickass as he was in the first issue, leading the team and being the badass ‘fight with honor’ brother for the most part. He was also the level-headed one when it was clear Splinter was MIA, as opposed to Raphael.

Speaking of Raphael, he had a lot of great moments in these issues, and it sure shows why this version of him is pretty damn beloved and used (I mean besides it being the initial/canon version).

The moment that stood out to me was how despite Leonardo’s protests and insisting he help clean up at home, he decided ‘no fuck that I’m going to find Splinter myself’ and just left and came back whenever the fuck he felt like it. It’s the moment that cemented him as the impulsive hothead, a trait I feel guilty for hoping will come back and bite him in the ass later.

Another highlight was when he was sizing up April after he took a shower. Nothing of note here. Just thought the scene was funny.

Also holy shit. Sometimes I forget just how short the turtles are. I guess they are still teens. Moving on.

Donatello was the one I usually identified as ‘the one who isn’t doing anything’ in this comic, but that’s pretty unfair. He actually does a hell of a lot. Combat aside, we also get an indication of his techy side in the first panel of the second issue.

Donatello was my favorite turtle in the ‘87 series. It was because he was sensible and intelligent, and back then those were the types of characters I liked. Oh an he was purple. I like purple. Anyway, he comes up with a few good battle strategies, and holds his own in combat pretty well in these issues.

His best moment so far is probably in the second issue, though, where he’s helping April reroute the mousers and deactivate the self-destruct system. He pretty much establishes himself as the brains of the team.

Michelangelo establishes himself as the carefree and cocksure brother during all this. He was eager to be a distraction for one of Donatello’s plans, and he even had some smug comments for a certain Triceraton guard.

That’s probably my favorite scene with him.

April’s really cool. She quickly establishes herself as the surrogate mother figure for the turtles, but sadly she’s under utilized in the latter issues I read where she mostly just hangs around New York worrying about the turtles. I’m sure she’ll have more to do later, but it’s nice that they have a ‘normal’ friend as well.

This is my first exposure to Honeycutt, and I can say while he has the dumbest origin ever, I really like him. He’s a man(bot) that sticks to his convictions, even if it risks the safety of himself and his friends (though he does CARE about said friends). I have a lot of respect for him, and I hope he shows up more after this arc.

I don’t have much to say about everyone else. Splinter was barely in this set of issues, and the alien race that Kraang is based off of...well, so far I like what other series have done with them more. Hopefully this isn’t the last of them though, so my opinion may change.

The Federation and Triceraton were...neat? Funny? I liked ‘em, but the races didn’t wow me too much. I liked the random extras in the background more.

Art

Issues 2 and 3 were a leg up from the first issue. They even used what I think is charcoal for the shading. That said, the people still looked pretty gross, at least in my opinion.

That said, I think the style is truly established in the fourth issue. Less is more really applies here, and that shows as the comic goes on. I think the overly detailed shading, while not terrible, was an overall detriment to the first few issues. Four through Seven look leaps and bounds better than the first three, at least in my opinion.

Not only that, but the art gets a lot better with each passing issue. I think one of the ideal comparisons for this is April. I’ll put an issue 2 image of her against an issue 7 image and let you be the judge. Hopefully you can see what I mean.

Not only April, but the turtles also look a lot better. They’ve become much more expressive, have a lot more motion to them, and their beak-noses aren’t doing that awkward crunching thing as often after the third issue. As before, I’m very excited to see the direction the art goes in the coming arcs.

Final Thoughts

I’ll admit, it was hard to resist the urge to read more of the comic while I was writing up this review. That’s probably going to be the most painful part of updating this blog. However, that should tell you how enjoyable this comic is. It’s hard to put down, and engaging all the way through.

This arc was pretty neat, and I’m excited to see what happens next. I know I said that last time, but I have a feeling this is how I’ll feel for a while if the quality remains this consistently good. Only one way to find out!

[turtlesinreview]

TMNT Mirage Comics Issue 1

I’m gonna preface this first post by asking that you consider this a semi-review, semi ramble.

I decided to make this blog after reading the first seven issues of the original comics, so I’m gonna discuss them all at once. I may do reviews in bulk like this in the future as well when it comes to the comics. We’ll see.

Anyway, the first issue I’m at least gonna discuss on its own for what I hope is obvious reasons.

The first issue is unique in that the brothers (or at least Leonardo and Raphael) are narrating it, while in the others there just seems to be a general narrator. The art style is also drastically different from the other issues, likely because this is the first one. I don’t think they were originally planning on making a series out of it if I recall, but I could be wrong on that. Either way it sold pretty well!

We’ve all heard the origin story before. Rat learns martial arts from his owner, owner fights with a dude over a girl, owner ends up killing the dude and marrying the girl. Dude’s brother wants revenge and becomes the Shredder, kills owner and his wife, and the rat escapes. Then pre-Daredevil Daredevil saves a guy from a truck carrying toxic chemicals. The chemicals bounce of off Daredevil’s head and he becomes blind. The chemicals smash into a turtle tank and said turtles and chemicals fall into the sewers. The rat rescues the turtles and all five of them mutate into a family of ninja animals.

Wait, that sounds incredibly apeshit and convoluted? That’s because it is, and I fucking love it.

Anyway the first issue is also really different than the others ones in the way it’s written. It’s a lot more serious and gritty, with a rather no-nonsense tone despite the absurd premise. Which isn’t to say there isn’t room for jokes, but they are few and far between, at least as far as direct humor goes. The humor in this issue mostly lies in the Daredevil parodies, as well as the fact that the concept on its own is pretty silly, which I don‘t doubt anyone who has never touched TMNT would think. Then again, the absurdity of ninjas who were turtles was the whole reason this comic came to be, so god bless it.

Oh yeah, and it also ends with the turtles fucking killing Shredder.

That’s probably not news to anyone who knows a lot about the turtles, but to cursory fans or newcomers that’s probably fucking unheard of. In most versions of the story Shredder is pretty much the Turtles’ main antagonist, but not this one. This is sort of one of the reasons I’m interested in seeing where the story goes, since I grew up on the show and movies (where he was either around the whole time or kept coming back to life somehow).

I can’t talk about characterization too much (which you’ll likely be quick to find is my favorite thing to discuss) because we don’t get a solid idea of what most of the characters are like here. I don’t think we’re even supposed to at this point. I’m pretty sure Laird and Eastman hadn’t even thought that hard about it yet when it came to the turtles themselves. It did establish Leonardo as their leader of sorts, which his narration being very stern and serious. He really gave off the ‘no-nonsense ninja’ vibe to me. He even gives Shredder a chance to preserve his honor by offering to let him kill himself (an offer he obviously refuses).

Raphael gets the second most characterization of the brothers. While at first I couldn’t tell the narration had switched to him, it became apparent when the delivery was a bit more ‘cocky’ then Leonardo’s. I can’t say there was a huge difference, but Raphael was at least painted as the more ‘sure of themselves’ brother, arrogant and finding some joy in fighting.

Michelangelo and Donatello don’t get much characterization at all, to be honest. They have a few lines like needing a bath, being tired, and wanting some tea, but that’s not much to establish who they are (though that’s pretty much their reaction to killing the Shredder and avenging Splinter’s owner, so maybe it is. Huh). Donnie did get the killing blow on Shredder though. That was kinda neat.

Splinter’s characterization is established here too, and has stayed pretty solid 7 issues in. He’s the disciplined yet loving master of a group of ninja pupils. Wise and full of good advice. Mostly he serves to give the origin story and explain why he trained them to be ninjas in the first place. In most versions of Turtles I’ve seen Splinter tends to remain a relatively ‘static’ character in terms of personality, which I don’t have a problem with. He’s old and full of wisdom after all.

Shredder is characterized as a powerful warrior who uses his men to work security for local businesses. He’s also a petty and cowardly man, opting to kill the turtles along with himself instead of taking a noble death. It should be noted that it did take all four of the turtles working together to kill him, so he is every much as big a threat as Splinter said he would be.

Overall this is a pretty powerful first issue, and I can see why it sold well enough to warrant a second and even a third. There was a lot of potential here, especially now that the turtles have fulfilled their life’s mission. What’s next for them? It left me eager to see where the story went.

I should probably mention the art. If I could criticize it at all I’d say the anatomy and body structures are a bit shoddy and sloppy, and the inking isn’t ideal either. That said the inking established a solid mood, and it’s obvious Eastman is excellent at composition, which really helped. And while I think the humans look kinda weird, the Turtles look cool (despite wonky limbs) and Splinter looks fucking badass. All in all the art, while not perfect, is pretty good and works for what they were trying to set up. It only continues to improve as the issues go on too. Incredibly so. I can let sloppy art slide with the knowledge the artist rapidly improves.

So yeah. This is gonna be a pretty fun read.