TMNT Reborn Volume 1 Review

Hi, this is Bobby Kernow, and you are going to

have a shell of a good time inside the pull bag.

Who wants cornflakes? I'm having raisin bran.

Choco Puffs for me. You wouldn't have any, uh,

real food, would you? Of course. Sushi? I guess

I can hold out until we get up to the street.

You've just jumped inside the pull bag. Join

TFG1 Mike and the rest of the comic crew here

at the GCRN as they make their great escape into

comics. From DC, Marvel, and Image to IDW, Bloom

Studios, and Xenoscope, we have everything right

here. We cover things like Transformers, He -Man,

Super Heroes, TMNT, and Radiant Black. Yeah,

we have all that and so much more. It's all inside

the pull bag here on the GeekCast Radio Network.

So without further ado, it's time to talk about

the comics. We're reading right now here inside

the pullback Hello and welcome to the pullback

this is episode 507 that's right folks 507. This

is not a new record Well, it technically is but

it isn't I'm of course TF Joe and Mike joining

me sort of as always I guess a year apart is

mr. Joe Reed. Hello, sir Hello, I'm back. Yes,

you're back. And we're gonna have a shell of

a good time. Aren't we as always? Oh, yeah, it's

the you know, it's still the pandemic just like

messed up my sense of time. It doesn't even feel

like that. Like issue 100 still feels brand new

to me. But what are you know, that's it's been

so long. But I'm glad to be back. I'm glad to

actually be reading these because man, I don't

you know, I've the the post -100 run, I can't

believe we're there and in new territory. Yeah,

pretty much. Multiple territories. Yes, we're

here. We're going to be talking about what they

are branding. And I love that they did this.

I love that they did like, okay, we're going

to do 101, 102. Like they're not going to renumber.

They're not going to make it a dip. They technically

did make it a different title, but it's still

turtles. It's still the turtles we've known from

the beginning, but we're doing TMNT. Volume 1,

so this is TMNT Reborn Volume 1. This collects

issues 101 to 105. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

from the ashes. Oh boy, and the creative has

changed. Where's Tom? Well, he's here, sort of.

He's there. He's consulting. But yes, apparently

Mr. Wallace needed a little bit of a break and

deservedly so. I mean, you work on a hundred

issues plus whatever other mini -sodes. Like

you're going to need to not necessarily step

away, but you're going to need to do a little

bit of vacation. We have Sophie Campbell with

the script and the art, with Rhonda Pattinson

on the colors, Sean Lee on the letters. As I

said, story consultants were Kevin Eastman and

Tom Waltz. Very, very cool. And I love that we

start out with this map. At least in the in the

trade video. I don't know what the single yeah

in the singles We don't and it's at least in

the singles as well. It doesn't have that subtitle.

It's just Ninja Turtles number 101 Yeah, the

reborn thing. I think they did with the trades.

Yep to make that just kind of stand out and I

remember Bobby kernel and in some interview I

read somewhere. It's like that they were fighting

the The higher ups in that they did not want

to renumber Ninja Turtles. They didn't want to

start over at issue one. They wanted to keep

it going. Yep. And I'm glad that at least as

of the most recent issue in stores right now,

they have not renumbered. Yeah. If you're going

to renumber something, make it a subtitle. Let's

make it separate. Mm -hmm. And oh, boy. It's

been a full year since we did issue 100 or it's

been over a full year. We did that August 25th

of 2021 and Like always I don't read these ahead

of time I read them for the show so I get the

most raw reaction I can get out of these and

I Forgot splinter dies. Yeah We're coming off

of city at war. Yeah, we're splinter ended up

sacrificing himself to save the family. And yeah,

he's dead. And as I opened the book and saw the

page where they're mourning over his body, beautifully

drawn, Sophie, thank you. I remembered, I was

reminded rather of how when the series started,

and they got to that, I think it's issue five

where The flashback happens where Hamato was

a human and his four sons were human in ancient

Japan and watching that reading that comic I

realized as a new father at the time that I related

to splinter more. Then I did with the turtles

when I was a kid growing up yeah it was the turtles

that they were my jam but then from that issue

on I saw. What was happening from the point of

view of splinter and now. Here splinter dying

like no It's like a key player it's the grounding

force taken Out from under the turtles and and

everything from here on out is new. Yeah, it

is It's all new all different all all everything

even though it's still the same characters. It's

still like they're in new situations. I mean

You know all that stuff and both of them are

gone right splinter and shredder both. Yep. Yeah

and and the interesting thing here to city of

war was the end of the original Mirage run and

For the whole 100 issues. They've been pulling

from all the different histories, but largely

their journey was kind of Running in parallel

to the original Mirage Run with cool things mixed

in. But Splinter doesn't die in that book until

volume four, where nobody read those issues.

At the end, very few people read them. But with

this, their skeleton, the skeleton of the book,

they've been kind of supporting it, is now gone.

And we are definitely in uncharted territory,

reborn, if you will, as the subtitle of the trades

say. Yep. And I know I've said this before in

however many years it's been since we've been

doing this. I think we've been doing this since

2014, late 2013, early 2014, when we started

this series. God. This is January of 2023, folks.

If my, without looking. If my brain is right

in saying, I think we released our first episode

in April of 2014 or March of 2014, which means

we are almost a year away from a decade of doing

this comic on this podcast. Wow. Yeah. Cause

it was, you know, my, my son's, uh, uh, 11 and

yeah, that makes sense. Cause I, that would,

the book started, uh, as he, when he was a baby.

So. Yep. Wow. Yeah, wow is right cuz holy crap

Let's see, let's see your origins was September

4th of 2013 and then we did that that that where

is the other thing team and team volume 2 and

words IDW team and T volume 1 Joe Wow, huh? Third

we could Wow We are exactly one year away from

the 10 year and our January 22nd of 2014 is when

we When we did this originally when we started

volume one and this will air January 18th 2023

so pretty much a year away from a decade of doing

turtles. Holy crap That's so cool But yeah, I

mean this I've said, I've said it since the beginning,

you know, and, and you can, you convinced me

and I'm glad, but I wanted, I almost wanted nothing

to do with this. As soon as I saw the red bandanas

in the very beginning, way back when I'm like,

Oh God. Cause I was the cartoon kid. I was the

kid that found them. Like I didn't read the,

I still to this day have never read the original.

Things that Eastman and lair did not that I don't

want to I just never did and ever since then

There hasn't really been any convincing needed

because holy pizza this like just It's just everything

and you're right. This is change. This is new.

This is holy crap. What are they gonna do without

their father and You know you have them Dealing

with all of that morning you have April doing

her job with Baxter because I guess Baxter is

the mayor now or whatever and Then you have this

and I believe it's narrated by Donnie at first.

I wasn't sure like I thought they were all Narrating

different for like I didn't realize it was one

voice But it is Donnie narrating like who's you

know like Mikey's curled up in a ball raps out

doing his Street Avenger thing. Oh wait, Street

Avenger was Knight Rider. Whoops, sorry. But,

you know, his, you know, his whole black bandana,

you know, I'm not doing, you know, I'm just doing

whatever. And, you know, you have the little,

like, I think the only character we don't see

in this, not that we need to see them, but we

don't see the purple dragons and which technically

we don't see Casey. Yeah. But. Really quickly,

I want to go back before we really dig deeper

into this. But this map, man. Oh, boy. This thing

is like so zones of control. The blue on the

map is the mafia gang subservient to cry. The

purple is the purple dragons. Obviously, the

dark, I guess, navy, bluish or whatever color

it is, is mutant town. And the yellow is correct.

The collateral dragon. damage zone whatever the

hell that is now looking at this page at the

very top left northwest corner you have the epfhq

about i don't know let's say 26 blocks south

of that you have the foot clan hq and then over

on the northeast side you have herald's lab all

the way up northeast there And then obviously

mutant town. Basically a mutant bomb went off.

Yeah. Well, yeah. Where the mutant bomb went

off. I want to say by maybe by the East river.

I don't know whatever it is, but like, you know,

close to that section is, is where the, is where

the turtles layer is. And then the rest of it

is just like, we don't know what, what is there,

but watching. I don't think. There have been

at this point there have been three times in

this comic series That we've I mean there have

been more than three times that it's gotten emotional

But like really big emotional change when they

were looking for RAF when Donnie died Supposedly

at the time like issue 44 of 48 or 49 or 50.

Yeah, so all that and now The fallout of losing

their father and taking us, even though Donnie's

narrating, but taking us into each turtle and

each character and what they're going through

and what they are doing to deal or not deal.

Like Mikey's just curled up with this kitten

he has and he's, he's not getting out of bed.

I love it. I think it's been six months at this

point and they're all still just. not dealing

with it. Yep. It's been six months since the

bomb went off and I love that. Normally I'm perfectly

fine with like a comic ending on something, an

event or whatever and then kind of leaving you

on a cliffhanger and then doing the whole six

month later thing because I don't necessarily

need to know what happens. Like right after the

bomb go, like we saw what happened after the

bomb went off. We know, oh, this is where the

status quo is going to end up or whatever we

think we know. And now we see it six months later

and everybody. The whole universe here has changed

and it's so good. This run got, and this is something

that I think we'll, we'll go into later as this,

as the, the issues go on, but this one got a

lot of. I don't know, tongue lashing on the internet.

There's a lot of hate. I looked at this, especially

rereading it this moment, it's an emotional story

and it's emotional action and it's character

development, characters learning and growing.

I don't need my comics to be full of fight scenes.

And they generally can get boring. This is this

is interesting, especially because it's taking

the turtles to a place where they haven't been

before. Literally. Yep. Yeah. And I, this is

why I mean, I don't necessarily like, look here,

folks, I'm going to say this right now. My goal

is for Joe and I to cover as much IDW TMNT as

we can between January, 2023 and December of

2023. Whatever we need to do to get current over

the next year, we will do it. Which includes,

which is separate from the IDW universe, but

which includes eventually the last Ronin. We

will be reading that at some point, but this.

I don't understand people on the internet. I

don't. I do, in that I know, I understand where

they're coming from, but it doesn't, I don't

know, man. Like, can you say that their opinion

is wrong? It's their opinion. No, opinions aren't

right or wrong. I mean, they're opinions. You

can agree with them or disagree with them if

they have an opinion. But what I remember seeing

when this first started, let's just say these

first five issues, 101 to 105, because it's not

Tom, because it was Sophie instead of Tom. I

saw a bunch of articles and a bunch of tweets

and a bunch of, and I'm not, I don't even remember.

I just remember that I saw it and I'm just like,

shut up, read the book. What have I said from

day one, after you convinced me, what have I

said? This is the most emotional, best storytelling

Turtles has ever had in nearly 40 years. It makes

me care as an adult. I don't need to be entertained

in that kind of popcorn way anymore because I'm

a grown up. And this has popcorn moments, but

it's an emotional story. Technically, it has

pepperoni moments, but yeah, you're right. Yeah.

When an opinion, and I'm using this word improperly,

the word opinion, but when people's opinion on

what they were reading in this book was wrong,

was when, as I read their critique, It felt like

they got the foundation elements of the turtles

wrong. And for them, the turtles are ninja martial

artists who beat people up. And for you and I,

and watching the original movie, and watching

the original cartoon, and some of those things,

the turtles were people who make friends out

of their villains. They make family out of their

villains, and the turtles are about family. That's

what it's always been even before they knew that's

what it was about. That's what the turtles was

out. They just happened to be ninjas. We're getting

to see them be very human emotional things, human

emotional characters going through severe family

trauma and mental health issues. Hey, that's

interesting. Watching people who are rooting

for. Yeah. And throughout this whole first trade,

these first five issues, 101 to 105, we see almost

everybody. I mean, we see like out of the turtles,

we see the turtle. But like, as I'm reading this

trade, I'm like, okay, I know Donnie's narrating.

But where's Donnie what like I was like, what's

good? Well, you know And then late, you know,

we'll get to it later when he writes the note

But I love that the focus is on Jenica is on

alopex is on Mutantown is on old hob and all

of that on Sally Leo and Raph and Mike and Mikey

I mean, I I love that Donnie is the the narrator

is essentially the The director of traffic sort

of and we don't see that in the first issue you

see at all this stuff that's going on like with

these. These three mutants that are going to

rough somebody up for some groceries or you know

because there's no food in mutant town and the

other thing is we don't need to bury the lead

about this. There's a wall folks they built a

wall. And I don't mean to say it like that to

where referencing former X. Oranges and all that

and everything else, but it's a walled off part

of the city. Mutant town is, is, you know, cut

off from the rest of the city, even though it's

still in the city. It's like, you know, do not

pass go do not collect. Yeah. No nothing. If,

if, uh, our listeners need a reminder there,

the end of, uh, 108 mutagen loaded bomb. went

off, Old Hobb set it off and mutated a substantial

portion of the city. And as a response to that,

they've shoved all the mutants into this one

town. This one little section of town walled

it off and said, nobody goes in or out because

we don't know if that mutagen is nasty. And I'm

reading this going, man, it feels like the pandemic.

It feels like segregation. It's weird little

things happening and the mental health stuff

like April is overwhelmed with work and they

show her in her apartment and it's demolished.

It's not her fault. There's the mental health

thing where she just doesn't feel like she has

the time or energy to pick up, to clean, to organize

and bless her heart. I think I've been there

and I know people I know have been there. This

is just ... Wow. Yeah, man. I don't know how

you can read this and not see it. Yeah, I mean,

I'm there currently like, Hello, like I said,

we haven't done that. We haven't recorded. And

it's because life has gotten in the way, you

know, you're busy, I'm busy, whatever. And, you

know, my whole life got uprooted, you know, in,

you know, it's January 2023, you know, November

23, three, it'll be two years, but in 2021, Karen

died. It sucks. I'm not trying to say that in

a whatever tone, but like I said, when we released

issue 100 in August of 2021, and then we released

the Turtles 3 commentary in 2022 in March, and

then in April we did MMPRTMNT from You know,

in April of 2022, I'm surprised we got that podcast

done because I was spending 11, 12 hours a day

not doing podcast stuff, but I was trying to

find a new place to live because I no longer

had Karen. We no longer live together. She passed

away. So I had to find a whole new way of life.

So in a way, you know, all the recordings up

until I think episode 505 and 506 503 502 503

and well 502 was recorded 503 and 504 were pre

-recorded before I ended up moving most likely

I think and now I am in the present where I have

moved from Washington to Indiana and that mental

health man like it's it's serious shit and it's

one of those things where I enjoy reading that.

Like I said, after, after I read this, I messaged

you and I said, Oh my God, what a story. We have

so much to talk about because comic books aren't

just, they haven't been this for a long time.

They aren't just insert superhero here with a

cape, with a symbol on it, on their chest who,

you know, whether they're male, female or otherwise

come in. punch somebody, save the day, fly off

to their fortress of whatever. You know, it isn't

that new. It hasn't been that for a long time.

No, I've it's something that I want to look at

and study someday. But I think the superheroes

and superhero culture in movies and comics and

everything like that, I think this is our these

are our Greek. and Roman gods, you know, like

the Bard came to town on Wednesdays in ancient

Greek times and saying about the new stories

of Hercules and Odysseus and all the kids and

families would come and they'd listen to this

guy tell these stories. And well, now we don't

have Zeus and Hera running around. We have Wonder

Woman and Daredevil. They are our Greek gods

and it's through them that we learn the parables,

the monomyth, all these human stories being told

to us in different ways and helping us cope and

helping us live through them. My sense of time

is all jacked up ever since 2019. When did Sophie

start writing this? Because she's writing our

lives. She started in issue 101 whenever issue

101 was originally published. I don't have it

pulled up. I have that date. But that's when

she started. This is I've wanted to interview

Sophie for a number of years now. Yeah. And now

I really want to see because it was 2019 December

of 2019. So this was this would have been. Okay,

the, the March of 2019 was when the pandemic

really hit. Is that right? Yeah. So yeah, this

was six months, eight months after it really

got weird. Yeah. Yeah. I think there's pulling

from that reality pay perhaps. Yeah, pretty much.

And the thing of it is, is it's like being a

writer in general is difficult. It's a difficult

job because you have to juggle so many various

things and so many people are so good at it,

but being a writer artist. I don't know how you

breathe. Yeah. I mean, I guess the work is how,

you know, it's just like, you know, just like

how me as a podcaster, you know, I record, I

host, I edit, I, you know, whatever, but. But

like writing and drawing this comic with how

emotional these scripts are and these scripts

are so filled with juggling emotions because

not every character is the same. Not every character

feels the same. Jenny may feel different than

Alopex. Raph may feel different than blah, blah,

blah. Mikey's over here. Leo's. The fact that

later, where Donnie narrates and says Leo has

kind of lost the whole interest in being the

leader of Clan Hamad, I'm like, oh, holy crap.

Like, yeah. And then you have all the introduction

of all the new characters, because, you know,

we're - The so many new, new characters. Yep.

Yep. What's her name? Dude, I'm only looking

at page eight of five issues. We're just so excited.

Oh, yeah. No, absolutely we are. Absolutely.

This is fun. This is great. Like I said earlier,

like I said about 10 minutes ago, I purposefully

don't read this until we want to discuss it because

it's not that I don't want to support the book.

It's that I want to have this visceral, emotional...

reaction because i know after almost a decade

of us reviewing this series. That they are going

to basically pluck out our heart strings with

it like they're gonna get us into these new characters

and they're gonna get us feeling about them and

they're gonna you know show us what what's going

on with characters we know and love from the

past one hundred and whatever issues and. Off

we go on this adventure. And we have so many

little mini adventures. We have battle scenes

in here. I mean, this second issue we have, uh,

Jenny fighting these, these new characters who

are trying to steal. I forget. What is her name?

The, the, the new lizard girl. Uh, Mona Lisa,

this is Mona Lisa coming back from the cartoon.

Yep. A new interpretation. She looks and feels

like Irma to me, but not as Georgia. Yeah. I

see the the panel where she says, that's so cool.

A real Ninja Turtle. I'm OK. I'm Mona Lisa, by

the way. And yes, just like the painting. Yeah,

her face, the way Sophie drew her face, the glasses

and all of that. Yeah, it definitely reminds

me of Irma. Absolutely it does. And so we get

Mona Lisa and we get Jenica. And. And then we

get, you know, just the... And that's just the

first issue, so we leave off on this where apparently

the boss comes in, because the other three are

like, oh, we're gonna get the boss, and the boss

is apparently this new character, Diamond, who

apparently is some sort of porcupine? Porcupine,

yeah. Oh my god, a porcupine mutant. Wow. What

a way to be. And... Yeah. Starting with 102,

we get Raph and Pepperoni. Pepperoni's face.

Getting so much expression out of that little

baby ceratopsia. Yep. How about we patrol just

a little longer, then we'll call it a night.

Her face, man. Just wow. And then we see Sally

from the Mutanimals, and Sally and Raph have

a conversation. Yep, Sally's having regrets for

helping Hob because Hob has taken charge of the

mutant town and running it like a little fiefdom

and taking more and more power rationing things.

It's not really working out for the regular folks.

And it's interesting to realize here to Raph

being the vigilante protecting. the city. He's

doing what he's always wanted to do. He's wanted

to be that superhero protecting the regular folks.

That's like the job. He doesn't want to do the

ninja stuff worrying about clan wars. He doesn't

want to go to space. He wants to protect the

neighborhood and that's what he's doing here.

I think he says here in one of these things that

he left Northampton where the other turtles are.

He went to New York because he just can't stand

to be around them moping around. Raph is going

to be mourning too, but he's going to be mourning

in his own way, which is to say completely shelled

up inside taking it out on thugs. He's hurting

too, but he has to be doing something. That's

his coping mechanism for that sadness. When the

pandemic was really raging and it was hard for

me, the the only place I felt like myself was

at work, working with my students. And that's

interesting. So talk to me about that just a

little bit. I mean, you want to focus super hard

on it. But like, you know, you're you're a teacher,

you teach in a school, your students come to

class, the pandemic hits, all of a sudden, everybody

is Zoom boomers and this, that, and the other

thing and everything else. So for you as somebody

who is from our friendship and what I've known,

you're a very hands -on teacher. How do you teach

with the classes, with the subjects that you

teach over the internet? We really couldn't because

I teach design and construction. And how do you

do blueprint drawings when the students have

you know, not no computers, no drafting stuff

and in construction, like you guys have to learn

how to frame a house. How are you going to do

that over the internet? And so what, what I did

was that I turned everything sideways and started

dealing with mental health stuff. I was the teacher

that took the time to say, how are you doing?

What do you need? Are you okay? Hey, look at

this cool fun hobby you can do with no money

and no time. Look at this guys. And I don't want

to say I was entertaining them because it wasn't

like Joe Reed circus time, but it was it was

trying doing everything I could to keep them

healthy. And when school went back in person,

And we were working and there was a period where

we couldn't get within so many feet and we all

had to wear masks. But when it got kind of back

to normal, it's still mental health time and

being in front of those computers and sequestered

away has really messed with a lot of people were

even though it feels like we're back to normal,

we're not back to normal yet. And so I've still

really been pushing. the mental health and finding

something to be excited about. Motivation is

gone. And so I'm reading this comic going like,

I see all of this stuff, the panda and each of

the turtles. Downatello is very pragmatic. I

think that may be why he survived this without

really having a scar like the other guys. But

no, each of them is dealing with it. in April,

I guess a fourth person dealing with this stress,

a lot like we all dealt with stuff during the

pandemic, just kind of shutting down or hiding

in our work. It was very, very neat. I can't,

I just, I have to hear if all of that was deliberate

on Sophie's part or channeling it accidentally

or deliberately. So good. Yeah it is so very

good and I mean you know they try to call April

and she you know clicks the call you know doesn't

accept the call she tries to call them Mikey

just looks at it and takes his I believe it's

Clunk his new cat and just kind of walks out

of the kitchen. Clunk was in the Mirage comic.

Okay. Well this far I'm not I don't whatever.

It's a Christmas episode. Uh, you know, and Mikey's

walking out of the kitchen and Leo's walking

in and they just kind of pass each other without

saying a word. And you just kind of see how the,

you know, three of them are just not, they're

just not. And eventually, Leo, how do we fix

this? Nobody says anything even though we all

have so much we need to talk about and I Don't

know. Maybe we can't fix it That maybe it doesn't

need to be fixed does he say that well Maybe

we shouldn't fix it. Yeah. Ouch. Yeah it hit

me really really bad and We haven't been to Northampton

since I want to say somewhere around issue 28

-29? Wasn't that the original Northampton run?

And I can't remember if they went back after

they went to space. Yeah, I don't remember. So

listeners, please, please let us know. And, you

know, we see, you know, them try, you know. This

is, oh, this is Donnie. So this is Leo and Donnie

saying that maybe we shouldn't. And donnie go

see the thing with me is the thing that throws

me off with with some of the character designs

in the north hampton style in the north hampton

stuff here and this is not sophie's fault this

is just me but like. Donnie goes up to mickey's

door hey mickey he's in a blue sweatshirt with

gray pants and he's not wearing his bandana.

Yeah, all their bandanas, they're tied around

that stick by Splinter's body. By Splinter's

body out in the woods, right. So he goes, hey,

Mikey, the next panel is a beat of him just standing

there, no answer. And he's like, okay. And it

isn't until I see him packing up and I see him

writing the note when he has the purple cap on.

And I was like, Okay, this is Donnie I now get

it like her at first I wasn't sure which I thought

it was Leo I thought it was whatever but it's

not it's Donnie so we have Donnie leaving the

farmhouse going into the city and We see you

know as he's leaving we see Leo kind of walking

away out in the snow and they walk there's like

there's a panel oh my I Can't but there's a panel

in here And again, ever since it's been a while

since we've done one of these folks and I don't

want to go into my Amazon rant about them buying

Comixology and screwing it up, but I still have

the Comixology app on my phone and I'm looking

at a full panel image, not necessarily zoomed

in, but in the guided view on my Pixel 6 Pro

from Google. Can you see donnie walk in one way

and leo walk in the other two paths diverged

in a snowy wood. It's such a great image but

it's breaking my heart because. They all are

going their separate ways and they don't know

how to deal with this mental health stuff that

they're doing and then you see mikey with clunk

in the window watching them walk away from each

other and it just kills me. There's the there's

that part of Michelangelo who's watching that

happen Who's just dying inside? Yep, and he's

numb to that. He's even numb to that He is the

glue of that family and he just doesn't have

enough energy to care. Nope He doesn't have enough

energy to care. He doesn't have enough energy

to feel it. That's a better way to say cuz I

know he cares That's the point. Well, yeah, I

mean he does. Yeah, he does care but It's such

a When you lose somebody parent significant other

You know any family member friend whatever, but

when you lose somebody that's especially a parent

With everything that this family just the four

of them have gone through Being human the reincarnation

all this stuff everything that has happened in

this series to those five people Splinter Leo

Donnie Mikey and Raph We get to this point and

splinter is now gone and like I said earlier

they all have to figure out What to do? What

is next there is no? At some point, yes, they

are all still family, but at some point, the

team mentality is gone and it's all about them.

It's all about them as individuals. So the eye,

there is an eye in team at this point because

it isn't about being a team. It's about discovering

how they are going to fix the emotional damage

that was caused by losing their father. Their

anchor. the one who kept them together, who banged

Raphael back into shape. I'm thinking this comic

is bringing up so much from my own life here.

When both of my grandparents on my mom's side

finally died, largely the family stopped really

getting together for the holidays. They were

the anchors. We've all had to kind of move on

to figure out how to be our own anchor for ourselves

or for other people. And that's what the turtles

are doing. They don't have anything holding them

together and they're going to have to reconstruct

that. And how many of these readers on the internet

didn't see that or weren't able to care about

that? They're reading the wrong comic. If they

want just the, like you said earlier, just the

traditional turtles fight villains, either win

or lose, that's not this. This is way more than

your standard story. So we go to Old Hob and

we get the new porcupine carrier. I believe the

carrier's name is Diamond. Sally fire me. You're

just going to leave me in the streets and blah,

blah, blah. And he's like, did you hear what

I said? Leave the premises or face some real

consequences. And Hob pulls a gun on this character.

It's like, holy crap. Like I know Hob is who

Hob is and all that, but yeah. Yeah. Sally says

earlier, mutants don't kill mutants. And that's

one of the mutant animals rules, but here's old

Hob. Almost breaking that. I mean it that that

gun stays out for a while and I Was waiting for

the gunshot to go off off -camera. Yeah, I just

expected it to happen because That's where we

are right now. Yep and Yeah, old hob is gonna

work with with Koya and and And bludgeon. Oh,

yeah, Koya and bludgeon. I was gonna say something

else. Yes, Koya and bludgeon They've got whatever

deal they're doing Yeah, the hob is Doing some

real shady here. He's selling or trading Mutants

to the foot clan so they can get trained up as

foot ninja type. Yeah, like more koia and bludgeon's

and That's he that's like human trap mutant trafficking.

Yeah, it's it's mean trafficking. It goes right

up against even Hobbes misaligned sense of morality.

Yeah, this is he crossed the line, man. Yeah.

And then we get, you know, I think it's Leo.

I think it's Leo that reads Donnie's note. Guys,

I'm headed to the city. Don't worry, I won't

be away too long. But I need to get out and think

and and think about things I need to work out.

Work on myself right now. Love you Donnie and

Just and then we go to Sally and Jenica and Who's

the other turtle there? That's oh, that's raft.

Oh see No headbands no clue The only way I know

it's Raph is because he's really scowling, but

like the black on it, you know, the black armbands.

And I'm like, oh, that turtle is much larger.

Okay. So it's not okay. It's Raph. Yeah. And

then obviously pepperoni is there. So obviously

it's Raph. And yeah. And they talk about the

new hedgehog character where Sally says, it would

have been easy when the mutanimals were just

me, Hob, Ray, Lindsay, Mondo, but it's not that

at all anymore. Now we're like an army or a police

force, you know, Ray and Herman just follow whatever

crazy orders Hob gives them. Mondo and Seymour

didn't want to be a part of what Hob was doing

anymore. They hit the road. Lindsay's human,

so she's she got evacuated. I don't like this

any more than you do, but I'm pretty much on

my own here, guys. And it's extra hard trying

to wrangle the worst enforcers like diamond.

And you see Alopex pulling out the the the porcupine

pricks for the porcupine needles from from Jenny.

I hate her. Ouch. Again, character just, just

character stuff everywhere. Uh huh. Uh huh. And

Diamond goes in, we go back to old Hob, and Diamond

goes in and sees what kind of mutants old Hob

is going to be giving the, like, to be trained.

And once again, he pulls the gun on, on, on Diamond

and, all right, that's it. So the hos the mutants

escaped because diamond was was it was messing

with them and it was like Hob shut up and get

caught with car eyes mutants back and These these

new mutant animals and we meet animals here like

food food like they're they're essentially little

kids Still they're just children and he was gonna

trade them out yeah again going to the whole

trafficking thing and Again, I have to say, I'm

so glad I did not read this in single. It would

kill me. This, for me, this series is not to

be read month to month because I would be on

pins and needles. Like, I think that's the point.

I like that I get to read it both ways because

I do read it when it comes out. Um, and I've

been doing a real bad job of that lately. So

I'm, I'm very glad to be going back through it,

but I always catch things in a different way,

going back through it when I don't have to wait

and when it's all, when it all stays fresh. Yeah.

Yeah. And we get to Donnie in the city and he

goes to, goes and sees April and can I hang out

here for a little while? It's, it's kind of freezing

outside. They have a conversation which is really

really cool kind of reminds me It isn't really

Donnie doesn't have a crush on April or anything,

but this is the one place He know he can go but

it reminds me of the 2012 cartoon where that

Donnie voiced by Rob Paulson did have a crush

on April Just reminds me of that same way. Yeah,

just just a little bit but there is no like human

-turtle relations here and in this scene hit

me again with the, you know, the house being

destroyed and she's got this shame. Like she

doesn't want him to see it, but he assures her

like, no, no, no, there's, there's no judgment.

We've all been through this and it's, it's very

hard as the person with the messy space to want

to let people in to be there with you or to even

like Donnie offers to help. And she doesn't want

the help because it's her stuff. It's her mess.

And how bad she would feel. It's such a real

moment. And straight from pandemic times. Yeah,

exactly. And we go to Raph and Jenny and Raph

says, Do pay attention and I'm gonna keep doing

my own thing. She's like why? huh, I Said why

what are you gonna do go mope and brood some

more? So they have a whole fight here. She's

letting him have it. Oh, she's She's not only

letting him have it. She's basically giving him

what for and like they go back and forth like

they're you know stubborn, you know, we always

but like You know when Raph gets what I'm gonna

kick your ass and she just You know basically

stands above him and says then do it do it wrong

with you You guys just let everything fall apart

Splinters gone, but I thought we'd come together

be a clan you guys would show me the ropes You

know and just It's just so so such a good good

conversation and good and I don't know what those

people Supposedly saw when they read this but

they weren't looking in the right place cuz Sophie

is just doing an amazing job We haven't really

talked about the art, but the colors in This

Rhonda's colors man, like Sophie's drawings and

Rhonda's colors That's a combination you cannot

beat. Basically, this entire book, wherever they

are, unless it's a fully dark thing, the backgrounds

look like I mentioned earlier in the one panel

with red. with Raph saying, what I'm going to

kick your ass. It's him and his black bandana.

So he's green and he's got his whatever trench

coat on in the back. The very small part of the

background is red. Then it changes to orange

and then it changes to like a yellowish orange

and the colors keep changing as the emotions

keep happening. And then, you know, we get all

the snowy scenes and the outdoor scenes for Northampton.

So that's kind of like blue, white and the trees

are bright, like. It's such good stuff. As I

was looking at this, I wanted to ask Sophie,

what is the process that goes into creating this

particular image or that particular moment in

writing? And you just noticed with the colors

there, I've wanted to watch Rhonda color a page

while talking through all of the decisions. Because

it's, it's a fascinating, it's fascinating to

me that this comes together like this and. Oh,

so good. So good. So, so very good. Absolutely.

It just, it's just amazing. And again, the, the

transition from scene to scene, like Donnie's

at April's, you know, you have. Sally and and

Raph and and Jenny and in a place then you have

you know, Leo and Mikey in a certain You know

certain area and Mikey Oh poor Mikey He has lost

clunk And he's looking everywhere and I Understand

this But I didn't under it when eventually what

happens happens and we'll talk about it. But

like When clunk shows back up. I'm like, yeah

where the Where are you? Like, but like, oh my

God, this is the like, it's like Mikey when he

lost Woody's friendship, the pizza dude, the

pizza delivery dude, from, you know, it's the

same thing, you know, he loses his cat, you know,

he's been with this, he's had this cat for however

long and he goes and looks for him and looks

for him and And then Leo shows up and what's

wrong, Mike? And again, you know, loss gets them

talking. Loss brings them together. Just like

loss brings all of us together. You know, if

something, you know, something happens to one

of us or all of us, you know, or, you know, my

mom passed away in 2015, Karen passed away in

2021. Everybody has been there for me in both

of those times when I needed them in whatever

capacity I needed them to. I had to move across

the damn country from Washington, Indiana, and

I had to basically fundraise that because I didn't

have the funds to do that. I raised just over

$4 ,000 to move my entire life across the country.

I wouldn't even know how to do that. I don't

recommend it. I don't recommend it. Hey, Mike,

on that laugh and note, I need to take a few

minutes and run upstairs and see what's up. I

don't know, edit point or something. If I close

this, can I click on it again to open it or do

you need to send me another invite or should

I just leave it running? Oh, just leave it running.

It's fine. I'll pause the recording. All right,

so I will be right back as soon as I can. 5507

edit. All right. Test, test, test. Say something.

Testies. Testies. One, two, three? Yep. Yep.

Okay. What's that from? Is that from something?

Well. Or did I make that up? I don't know. So

no clue. All right. 5528 edit point. Where the

hell was I? Okay. So yeah, we were talking about

the colors and the color changes and how well,

obviously. Hello. It's been a decade. We know

how good Rhonda is with colors, but the color

change and the art style with Sophie and just

the combination works so, so well. And, oh man,

we get back to, you know, Mikey losing or not

finding the cat and, and, and Leo kind of consoling

him and all that. And I find this really interesting

because I never, my entire life, it's always

been Leo and Raph and Donnie and Mikey. Never

would I put Leo and Mikey together. Not that

I don't like it, but it's just not what I ever

like. Leo and Raph, they always fight. They always

make up. Whatever. Donnie and Mikey, you know,

they got pork rinds or they got pizza or whatever,

you know, whatever. And then there's 2012, the

A team and the B team. Yep. What struck me as

you're saying that is that it's Mikey and Leo

who are the two that are most tied to Splinter.

Mikey being the youngest, the kid needs the guidance,

needs the leadership, and Leo who's the boy scout,

the oldest, the leader, the one who works under

Splinter and looks up to him. Donnie and Raph

can kind of make it on their own. Donnie just

because he disassociates and loses himself in

his, in his work, but Raph because he's the solo

guy. It's, but Mike and Leo are, would have the

hardest time getting over this. Yeah, absolutely.

So we get that scene and then we go to Donnie

and April kind of like sneaking through the city

because they're trying to get back to mutant

town. And we cut to the escaped mutanimal mutants

or whatever they are, the new characters, and

they come across this little character we saw

earlier that Jenica and Alopex were trying to

get to come into the shelter. And wow, this is

just crazy. I think this little albino turtle

is going to be very very important Uh -huh If

we didn't already have And I know I know is I

know it's a turtle and that's fine. That's not

but like I'm like Well, wait a minute. We already

have a soggy. What the heck is going on here?

But but yeah, no, absolutely this little albino

turtle is gonna be Kind of like not necessarily

the next pepperoni, but but close enough And

of course, you know hub comes in and ruins the

party or ruins the whatever Yeah, cuz they the

the little um, oh What are they ferrets? Yeah

They are yeah. Yeah, it'll come to me. I know

what they are, but they ravaged the The little

shelter that alopex has set up they went in and

ate everything and ran out and so Yeah, they're

there Jenica and Mona Lisa are trying to track

them down to trade follow them because they were

kids and they had tags on their ears and they

need to help them and They show back up With

old hob because yeah, they went home and Hum

here is Just because you can see somebody's point

of view doesn't mean you have to agree with it

kind of like So he goes on to sit, you know,

so he says Someone's got to make the hard decisions

to keep mutant town going. Someone has to make

Arrangements to bring in food and supplies for

the people here And I'm the only one who can

and he goes on and on and on I have a responsibility

to the mutants here And he's right. He does have

a responsibility cuz hello. He set the damn bomb

off Mm -hmm. He got what he wanted. Yeah But

I mean Bob is no he's no Charismatic good leader.

He does not have good ideas I was looking at

this page in this section thinking all the way

back to issue one And remember thinking, Oh man,

they created a new big villain for them. And

then it says weird cat and furious. He's just,

he's, he's part of the whole story. He's a full

character. We understand his motives, his thoughts,

his feelings. It's, it was neat to watch that

happen. Yeah, absolutely. It was, and it's one

of those things where his evolution, like you

said, He now has what he's wanted since issue

one You know, he always was like oh mutants only

no humans this that well he's got at least one

section of the time one section of New York City

You know And I do love you know as we end this

issue where where Sally and an old hob are kind

of fighting over this whole Whole thing and and

everything else and she's like the mutanimals

are over and the issue ends What a cliff There's

a whole feeling of Somebody punching Hitler in

that picture up above it. Oh Absolutely. Yeah,

I don't you can't right cross somebody like that

and Nope, not at all. I'm that in the Ninja Turtles

adventure series Raphael punched Hitler. He went

back in time. I'm wondering how close the panel

mirrors that. Not that you can't do that and

not mirror Captain America doing it all the way

back, but still. Anyway. Yeah, true. Absolutely.

We get to the next part of the story here. I

love Sophie's cover for this issue with Sally

on the cover and her just, you know, essentially

getting suited up with her glove and all that.

I love the way she looks. So good. So awesome.

So we get the next part of the story and they're

all kind of, you know, just, oh my God, this

was a battle. This was this. This was whatever.

Koya and Bludgeon are, Koya's pissed and Bludgeon's

just like, and they kind of fly off and, and

you know, everybody's talking about turf and

Hobbes like turf, grow up you idiots. And we

are left with Jenica, Sally, the new ferret animals,

Mona Lisa. And and yeah, and this little unnamed

turtle alabino turtle that they named Lita. Yep.

And I like this because I've said this for 10

years now. This comic isn't for kids. This series

is not for. Like I wouldn't like I don't know.

You're a parent. Would you give this to a 10

year old? I don't think he'd get it. I don't

think I get it either, but I like that they're

bringing, the reason why I'm saying this is because

I like that they're bringing in, you know, when

we have this mutant bomb that went off, we have

all these new mutants and we have some of them

who are, who were kids and who are kids. And

I like that addition to, to the story. I'm glad

I said addition, not complication. It's an interesting,

yeah, like, I don't know, maybe I'd have to reread

the whole series again, but I think with issue

101, it really is not a comic that a kid would

be entertained by. I think a kid could be entertained

with most of 1 through 100 at some points or

another, but this is a slower, more emotional,

more internal story, and in that way, it's a

more adult story. Yeah, but I mean this scene,

it just feels like, and I'm not saying, I don't

say this to be negative, but this scene where

it's after the fight with old Hob and Sally and

all that, and they're meeting these new kid mutants.

You know this whole scene where jenica is you

know kneeling to them and you know what are your

names and i'm zinc and i'm mushroom and i don't

have a name and how about we call you lead a

house that you know it feels like. It kind of

feels like somebody. That i used to watch like

an episode of sesame street like this is what

the end i'm saying this because i love it i think

it's great i think it's cool i think it's awesome.

I think it's one of those things where, you know,

because Splinter is gone and you now have these

little ones, you have to show that like these

two ferrets basically started bullying this turtle

kid. You know, they, they, they, you know, whatever.

Does that happen later? I remember there's a

bullying incident, but I don't think it was the

ferrets. Okay, maybe it was the other. Oh, that's

right. It's the it's diamond later. I think No,

there are kids that bully Lita at the dojo that

we haven't we don't know. Okay. Yeah I think

that was what made the turtles realize that the

ferrets weren't evil Was when they saw Lita playing

with them. They're like, oh, they're just kids

and throwing snowballs back and forth and then

a whole lot shit up So Jenny and and all them

returned to the shelter with with alopex and

Donnie's there and Don I just wanted to help

this place seems great gotta help fix it back

up and then some you know, so we got Donnie and

and and Mona Lisa and and all that I Love Mona

Lisa. Are you a ninja too? I like machines as

well. They're weasels because Alopex calls them

weasels. There you go. What were you going to

say? No, that was it. Alopex goes to the alley

in the back to throw out some trash and sees

Raph hanging out back there. I love the moment

with with her. She talks to him and you know,

Don's in there. She goes, hey, Donnie, Raph's

out back. It just forced the situation. Yeah,

exactly. Well, because Raph isn't going to force

the situation. He is content sitting there with

pepperoni. And he thinks he's content, but he's

not. Yes, but I'm saying like before she came

out. Yeah, he's not content, but. Before she

came out, I'm sure he would have sat there and

brooded all night long with pepperoni, but she's

like, and I, I don't dislike it. Okay. But I'm

going to tell you, there are very few moments

in the series where I have been utterly shocked.

And it's been a long time coming with these two,

but I was utterly shocked at the moment they

have in a little while. because she's, she's

out here, you know, putting her arms around him

and cuddling up close to him. And then obviously

she goes to, to, uh, you know, Hey, Don, like

you said, Raph's out back and we get, you know,

Raph and, and Don and, and pepperoni and. Jenica

comes out. Jenica comes out, but before Jenica

comes out, let's talk about these few panels

here. So Donnie comes out, he sees Pepperoni

and Raph, he sits basically to our right. So

he's on Raph's left side and Pepperoni is on

Donnie and she's got her front paw. She's basically

on her hind legs, just kind of like a dog would

do, whatever. But you see Raph scowling and you

see Donnie kind of interested in Pepperoni. And

then Raph puts his head on Don's shoulder. You're

killing me over here, Sophie. You're killing

me. Like, and then Donnie does, you know, he

puts, and then we got pepperoni on Donnie's lap

and, you know, Raph says, I missed you, man.

And Don says, me too. And they have, you know,

this little bit of conversation and then Jenica

comes out and it's the three of them. And Raph's

trapped in the middle. Yep. Pretty much. Raph

doesn't want to be, so what now? Where does it

go? I think at several points when the turtles

have come back together, it's been a strained

relationship. And they start, like Don comes

out and he's with... with Raph for a minute.

Raph is thinking, this is going to be hard, this

is going to be unfortunate, this is going to

be terrible, it's going to be difficult. I think

they kind of lay this groundwork silently or

even out loud to say, all right, let's just not

make this weird. It's hard. We know that. All

right, let's just do. I think that happens several

times to help get them back together. Now it's

a good thing in that very first panel I mentioned

when Donnie first comes out and he sits down

and Pepperoni is to the right part of the screen,

basically on Donnie's left leg. It's a good thing

Donnie and Raph's positions weren't switched

because I would swear. Pretty nice night, isn't

it? You know what I'm talking about. Joe, you

know. The listeners may not know, but pretty

nice night, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, nice night.

Pizza Dude's got 30 seconds. Seriously. That

conversation in the movie, they're sitting there

talking about Splinter maybe dying. Like in the

future someday, how are we going to get along

with it? And Mikey's just not having it, not

handling. Nope. He wasn't handling it 30, 40,

30 years ago. He's not handling it now in the

comic. And I love that, but just seeing Raph

and Donnie sitting next to each other, that was

my first thought. It first references that scene,

I think, a little bit. A little bit, which is

fine. Like I said, yeah, I love it. I think it's

great. So we go back to Northampton. We should

also mention there that was that was Raph and

Don having a moment the two that we don't usually

see get together Exactly. Yeah Yeah, and again,

Jenica has has added this whole new dynamic to

them because she is now a turtle But yeah, we

don't see you know Raph and Don usually have

the mulling Usually it's, you know, Leo and Raph

will fight and then, you know, they'll hug in

a bathtub. Yeah. I don't think Leo in that same

role. I don't think that have gone as smoothly.

No. Leo would have put his foot in his mouth

and Raph would have gotten irritated. Yep. Yeah.

Yeah. Because all now that I say that, yeah.

Even though that moment earlier was very much

like the sewer scene with Donnie and Mikey in

the movie That whole moment with Donnie and Raph

in this comic is not Leo and Raph standing in

a tub, you know Leo let it go they hug and of

course behind them is Donnie and April such a

Kodak moment That's not what this is. And that's

okay. I'm not, you know, each thing needs to

have its own thing. And like I said earlier,

I'm not used to Donnie and Raph being teamed

up. I'm used to Donnie and Mikey and Leo and

Raph. But this works so well. And the three of

them essentially, along with Pepperoni, come

home to Mikey. You know, I'm thinking back to

the original, well, the first arc. That Sophie

wrote, which was the Northampton run. That was

another time where the turtles were defeated

and emotional. She is a writer of characters.

Absolutely. And of growth and internal stuff.

Oh, I need to correct myself. This is not...

So when they come home, it's Leo looking out.

To see the, to see Jenica, Raph and Don. Oh yeah.

It's not, it's not Mikey. It's, it's Leo. And

he's got a Christmas tree on his shirt. Okay.

I know technically it's not his shirt. Technically,

normally the turtles don't wear clothes, but

they're wearing clothes. And I don't mind them

wearing clothes. That's fine. I think it's cool.

I think it's awesome. I think it's great. But

the fact that he's wearing it, I mean, I know

it's winter and all, but Christmas shirt. A Cosby

sweater. That's that's verboten these days, I

think considering the person that that that that

person is Or that he's been this whole time or

whatever. I don't know. But yeah, so we have

essentially the reunion here with with everybody

And Mikey comes out and says, you know, you know,

we'll we'll find clunk. Well, we'll find him

Wait, is that him? This is where I got confused.

Okay. Earlier I mentioned about how Mikey, like

the cat ran away or the door was open and the

cat ran out. Where in the hell does the cat come

from? They looked everywhere for this damn cat

and it just appears like we don't see how. Yeah,

it's on the porch, but like. We don't ever see

it on the porch before. Now. You know, where

were you hiding blah, blah, blah. And they're

all laughing and they all have a good laugh.

And we see all this, this laughter and they're

all kind of cackling and, and, and Leo says,

Oh man, I haven't laughed like that in a while.

Leonardo laughs. I know he does, but you know,

and then they have a bonfire. Yeah, you can't

have the turtle sitting in front of a fire without

bringing a movie reference. Leo? If you drag

this out of here for nothing. Don't worry. I

came prepared. Put those away. Now everybody

close your eyes and concentrate. Concentrate

hard. Yeah, it - You're right. You can't have

a fire without thinking of, you know, my sons.

And I'm glad it works here. It's great. I'm so

glad the flames didn't turn blue. Yeah. I don't

need that heavy handed of a reference, but the

drill sitting around a bonfire is healing. Yeah.

Makes me wonder if that happened in the first

Northampton run. Maybe. Yeah. And I like how

Like we know that Mikey is the party dude Mikey

is always like in general might maybe not this

Mikey but I Am so glad that neither him nor Don

or anybody else marshmallows Like you said the

fire is more than enough of a reference to you

know, pull us back to whatever And they're talking

about the kids and the young mutants and whatever

and talking about, you know, about Splinter and

there's something constructive they can do. We

can teach them. We can pass on everything that

he taught us. What if we made a new clan anybody

could join? You know, and the Splinter clan and

I just wish I understand why the bandanas are

there. And I get it. But come on. Jenica still

has her bandana. Like, she still wears it. She

still... Come on, I just want bandana turtles

one more time. Well, I think that's the symbolic

thing here. When there's a grave, their bandanas

were tied around this branch and then they...

take them off the branch. They take them with

them. Oh, that's okay. Yeah, because they have

them. Yeah, they have them. And when they go

back to New York, they take the bananas with

them. There's this mysterious guy as they. Who

the fuck is that guy? I know who that guy is.

Do you know who that guy is? No, I don't know.

I don't remember who that guy. I know who that

guy is. In the dream world, Splinter asked him

to take care of his children. Oh, right. Okay,

like that's Ghost Shredder. Oh, shit. You're

right. Wow. That's Yep. Holy crap. He's been

in the background of several panels before this

as well. Oh, I haven't noticed. And I had a feeling

that he was the one who had something to do with

clunk disappearing. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, that makes

sense. And then reappearing. You know, I don't

know how much maybe I'm reading into that but

I have a feeling maybe yeah Clunk was hanging

out with Shredder for a while. Yeah, so they

go back to New York or mutant town anyway, and

It's still all New York, but you know the mutant

town and they're fixing up the the place and

we have Lita and and and the other ones meeting

the weasels. Yeah We have the weasels meeting

clunk and pepperoni and It's so good to see them

all back together again One of my big gripes

with a lot of comic book stuff and with the movies

and TV shows is that they they always are trying

to get the characters into the world ending moment

and We never get to see them Have their status

quo we never get to see them. Have a moment of

peace and i is with with sophie's arc here i'm

so thankful for slower. More relaxed more celebratory

sorts of. Character moments like this like this

is this is so great that the turtles deserve

a break they've had a hundred issues of living

through hack. They can take they can take this

character moment. So I'm loving it. Everything

you just said, you're absolutely right. It's.

It's a comic that. All five of these issues have

been, and this is the end. This is the like you're

saying. It's not. We are not at a point where.

We already had the quote unquote world ending

moment and the. Quote -unquote villain and hero

died We lost splinter shredder died, you know

shredder was also died, you know, like we've

already like issue 100 was like Hello, you know

10 11 year or whatever. Well, like, you know

a hundred issues of a comic leading up to that

one climactic battle and now we have not necessarily

the fallout of that but we have a a new status

quo And the turtles have to fill the splinter

role. All of them do together as a family. And

I'm going to flip ahead a page or three from

where I'm at. Yep. OK. So you talked about the

cliffhanger ending and not being able to to wait

and how. We're always waiting for the last page

of a comic where everything just gets worse.

And, you know, I want to see my. heroes on their

days off. I want to see them recover and rest.

And yeah, they're all back together. They're

building the shelter back up. And this issue

ends with not a cliffhanger like that, but they're

going out together, hanging out like they've

never been able to hang out before. They go to

the Kennel Club with the mutant bands because

we're talking about - To see a metal show. Yep.

I love this. It's so cool. It is so cool. And

I'm trying to figure out... Is it Jenny? Yeah,

it's Jenny. You guys ready for this? Like...

And then we get, at least in the trade, we get

the alternate covers. And yeah. Of the next issue

or of this issue? Of... Oh, no. I'm so sorry.

No, I forgot. Yeah, you guys ready for this?

And then it goes to the next issue. And yeah,

you're right. It's... Because I love the cover

of this. They've got the lead singer of this

metal band who is a... pink haired, uh, leather

clad mutant pig. Yup. And the crowd is in front

of them. Yeah. Except for Raph, who's in the

foreground going, eh, with his hands over where

his ears would be. Yeah. Poor Raph. I can relate

to Raph in that moment. Yeah. And I, what I love

here, again, the colors. So you look at this

panel. Okay. The panel that you're talking about,

you see the cover. No, not the inside, the inside

for page one. Got you. Page one. Like you, you

see the, the after bomb or after the, oh, it's

the after the bomb concert or whatever. So that,

that panel is purple. The panel with Leo and

all of them is blue because it's focusing on

Leo. Raph and, and Alopex are. Or that might

be Sally. They're covering their ears. That's

red. So that's red for Raph. Orange for Mikey.

And then, you know, purple for I love that they

did that. That is so cool. Oh, I think. Well,

that's weird. They're not in they're not in each

other's colors because the purple is the concert

and it's kind of an everybody shot. Yeah, Leonardo

one is that's not that's Mikey and Jenica in

blue. Oh Raff in alopex in red, right? Their

years. Yeah, and I think that's Mikey trying

to push his way through the mosh pit Yeah, he's

in his own car. No, no, that's not Mikey. No,

that's Leo Would that be Leo? Leo it seems to

me that the bottom panel the purple is Leonardo

meditating. Yep scar on the eye. That's Leo Okay.

Yeah. That's Leo. So that would be done. Yeah.

Yeah. Cause Mike, okay. Yeah. You're right. I

mean, but that, I don't mind having to work like

I, that is, that's half the fun. And you're right.

The color is like, man, I can't color anything.

I look at this and what you can pull off with

monochromatic panels, I have no idea. Yep. And

then we get... And then the next page, page two,

these wonderful tertiary colors. The dull purple

and aqua green, the pink, the man. Yep. Oh, it's

representing the flashing lights of the concert.

Yeah. It's not just even an energetic response.

Okay. Oh, gosh, it's so brilliant. It is so brilliant.

Well, well done, Sophie and Rhonda. Amazing.

Even though you confuse this half the time and

then we get to the soap opera scene. This is

the scene where I was like. What just happened?

I mean, I'm glad it happened, but yeah, you know.

I feel like I shouldn't be watching this. They

don't want me there. I'm going to let them have

a moment. Where I am with the energy of this,

it's Raph and Alopex having a moment. I've called

it from the beginning that Alopex is an analog

for the character Ninjara from the animated comics,

which was never licensed into the Mirage universe

that Nickelodeon got the rights to. And so we

have Alopex, who I think Sophie is responsible

for back in the Northampton run. I think she

invented this character as an analog for Ninjara.

And yeah, they're having their moment. They're

coming back together. And then we have this kiss,

which just kind of, and I think they're I love

that my characters are getting together, the

two that I've wanted to get together since I

called it way back in the day. But I'm uncomfortable

because you can't do that in a comic and not

reference the furry movement. Oh gosh, the animal

cartoons from the 80s and the weird underground,

weird, weird furry stuff that I had never. I've

glanced at it and said, oh, that's not for me.

I mean, like I said, it's not what's going on

here. They're not doing it. It's not that. No,

no. Like I said, this is very much a soap opera,

emotional, you know, like they have a moment

alone. No one else is around them. You know,

they they, you know, they sit here and talk.

And these characters are not doing that for our

gaze. Oh no. And the interesting thing that occurred

to me now is that Ninjara was a furry character

who went on to do very adult things in another

series after the Archie run ended. Oh no. Oh

boy. Whether that was official or unofficial,

but it happened. Yeah, it happened. So that's

where partially I'm uncomfortable. The other

part of it is that they're, I'm not meant to

be seeing, I should be, you know, I'd avert my

eyes if I were walking down the street just to

show, just to give them a little room and respect,

but you know. And I did love this moment too.

Bludgeon and Coya are up on the roof. They are

watching this whole thing go down and Bludgeon's

calling it like it is. It's no, no, this is a

good moment. This is positive. They're there,

they're dancing, they're listening to the music

and Coya doesn't understand it, doesn't get it.

Yeah. And, uh, Bludgeon's like, I believe it's

called fun. Ugh, Black, I hate fun. And you can

clearly tell that Bludgeon doesn't mind it. And

Koya is, she's still in that mindset of soldier,

of foot clan, of this, of that, of, of what,

and that's her personality and that's fine. That's

absolutely fine. It's neat to see Bludgeon and

Koya getting more personality that I haven't

seen them get. And this is not what I would have

expected from Bludgeon, the mindless killer shark

character. He gets the character. He gets the

human moments. Yep, absolutely. Or mutant moments,

to be inclusive. Yeah, I mean, yeah. We We get

did after the concert moments of everybody kind

of meeting the meeting the band and and all that

and Very very interesting and you know It's another

moment I want to call attention to yep Jenica's,

well, she is a rock and roller. She plays guitar

or has when she had human fingers and dated Casey

and that broke off because things got weird.

Her growing a shell and all that, but she's talking

to the lead singer of the band who is a lady

pig and says, can I buy you a drink? And we're

looking at that and there's like, okay. we're

hinting at a relationship here, potentially,

you know, and I know there are people out there

who see moments like that in their Disney films

and in their media like this. And it's like a

trigger for them to say, Oh, no, they're pushing

the agenda. And I look at this moment and I go,

wait, agenda, like, this is representation, like,

Yeah. These people, people like this exists and

they deserve to see themselves in media represented

as casually as whatever I can identify with.

And I think I probably, I think I'm thinking

of that in this moment because that was a lot

of the vitriol I saw on the internet was all

of this. Ah, they're just pushing the agenda.

No, no, dude. How can you not see representation

and the turtles being like symbols of inclusion

of bringing people into the family? Like, were

you watching the same shows and movies and comics

that I was when I grew up? I mean, you know,

I have as open mind as I do because I read these

things. What did you miss? Yeah, exactly. Like

and. It's two brand new character like Like hello

we so let's just say right now that there's it's

Raffanella pecs and Jenica and The lady pig I

forget what her name is. I don't know if her

name. I assume her name is said let me Scroll

back here and see but anyway She's the name of

the band. Yeah. Yeah, the lead singer lead singer

of the band. We get a name like so you got Raff

and Alapax you got Jenica and her and Really?

Those are the only couples you really really

have as far as mutant dumb. You don't really

have like Leo isn't like Going after anybody

or you know Donnie is isn't you know and there

are no and You're right when you said earlier

about when Jenica changed from a human to a turtle

her and Casey dating after that would have been

a little weird and You know, well, I I would

say would it have had to have been and I'm Wondering

and and hoping that they address that later when

Casey shows back up like yo Casey, dude I get

it. Yeah at the same time Casey yeah, Casey we

don't I don't know how that You know, I don't

think we were around for the breakup. He just

kind of like disappeared, but we'll see. We'll

see what happens. Yeah. And, you know, we go

back to Bludgeon and Koya in there, you know.

Koya's like, we should jump them. They're vulnerable.

They're not even armed. I love that moment with

Bludgeon. Like, no, no, let them have this moment

of peace. Yeah. Like, hush, Koya. We, you know,

we... when we need to let, like you said, let

them have. And finally, bandanas. Finally. Thank

God. Cause like on that last panel, like guys,

there's only so many shades of green I can use.

Yeah. And I mean, even though like the turtles,

the The five turtles, let's say, because you've

got to include Jenica now, Mikey, Donnie, Jenica,

Raph and Leo. They all have, and I did kind of

complain about this a few years ago, like how

many different shades of green they are, like

Mikey's one shade, Donnie's a different shade,

Leo and Raph, I don't know if, no, they're not

similar, they're different, but like, it doesn't

matter because now we can really tell them apart.

We can they are so defined in Sophie's style

as far as who they are and what they're each

about and That's got to be so hard to keep consistent.

I know right at the same point. I bet it just

becomes second nature well Donnie's got the rounded

nose and and Leo's got the short square nose

Raph has the long squared like that probably

will become second nature. Yeah Yeah, absolutely

and just seeing Where Leo says, where it's Alapax

on the left, Raph, Don, Leo, Jenica, and Mikey,

and Leo says, and now we're going to give ourselves

to our new community, and despite our own imperfections,

the Splinter Clan will serve the people of Mutant

Town. We will honor and pass on the teachings

and the spirit and the love of Hamato Yoshi.

We will be his legacy. Yeah, I Afterlife You

know thinking about death all of that that stuff

scares the tar out of me, but I think the the

one comfort that I have had is in thinking and

realizing that the the energy the The everlasting

life comes from the effect that we have on other

people Splinters not dead as long as these four

turtles five No, it's not even the turtles and

what I think I've noticed myself doing it several

times this podcast I say turtles, but I mean

the family. I mean all of them. Yeah alopex and

and Yeah, everybody. Yeah, the whole snow car

Yeah, it's the family Remembering and passing

on splinters teachings and as long as they're

doing that and he's not Gone, he's not dead.

He's not forgotten. He's living His energy is

still living on through them like a wind in a

sailboat. Yep. And then we kind of go back to

everybody having their own adventures. Like we

have, so we have the Mikey, hell yeah, Splinter

Clan after Alapix puts on her green bandana.

I thought for sure it was going to be light blue

because of her face tattoo, but that's okay.

It can be green. And it makes sense. I mean,

okay so you have one two three four five you

have six different shades of green between the

turtles the five turtles and then alopex i almost

said splinter wow alopex's uh new green bandana

it's fine it works it works for her i mean i'm

sure you know you know it'll you know whatever

it'll be whatever we go to the splinter dojo

or we're at the splinter dojo and You know, good

form, you guys. Leo is teaching, Jenny is there.

So they're teaching the young recruits, the weasels

and the young albino turtle, Lita. And we then

go to Mona Lisa and who is that? That's Don.

They're working on the electrical downstairs.

This is where I think, oh, are we going to have

a hookup here? Is it going to be Mona Lisa and

Donatello? She's like, you've been to college,

girl. Yeah. Again, I'm sorry, Sophie and Rhonda.

I'm sorry. The only thing is, at first, without

looking at the art, I didn't realize it was dawn

because That thing on his back and the the goggles

are blue banded. That's Leo's color. Make the

shit purple, please. Like, come on. And that's

just a small gripe. Of course, Mikey's in the

kitchen cooking up a storm with with pepperoni

and then the weasels and and and all that. And

I love again, Mikey, like like you said. Over

an hour ago Mikey is the heart of this family.

Mm -hmm. You're welcome mushroom Just don't steal

from clunk and pepperoni's plates again We promise.

Uh -huh. Yeah You guys are so funny finish up

almost time for bed, you know and Then we is

like at first I was confused with this the, this

next scene where it's, it's nighttime and, and

I guess I shouldn't have been because obviously

it's nighttime, but we, we see each of them in

their own kind of places and their own spaces

as far as sleeping quarters and things like that.

I think that is so cool. And then all of a sudden,

not this again, is, is playing the guitar. And

I haven't had a chance to practice and I don't

have human fingers anymore and and Then everybody

is up and it's a family party in the middle of

the night I Do have to say that there's one panel

in here. So they've got everybody up. They've

got everybody training everybody's there So many

new faces everybody ready? Yeah so they start

the training and before we go to the the wax

on wax off bonsai tree looking uh panel uh right

after uh they start the training two panels after

that we see alopex in the far left the farthest

part of the shot panel raf don mikey jennica

and I always love shots of the Turtles, of the

family like this, where we see all the characters

and all the colors of the bandanas. Love that.

Absolutely love that. Yeah. I'm actually, I'm

surrounded by, in my room here, several pages

of the Ninja Turtles comics over the years. Mirage

and the IDW and the Archie run. I know that a

page like that where they're all appearing in

the same panel, that's a very expensive page.

I don't know why I say that. I hope that Sophie

still has it and that it never sees the light

of day, but the chance, the opportunity to draw

something like that is so cool. Yeah. Like, I

mean, and this is just one, like you say page

and I know what you're talking about. The whole

page, the whole scene of each of the panels.

But like, all is I want is a framed picture,

print, whatever, of the very bottom panel of,

at least in the trade, page 110. That one panel

with all of them together, I would love to have

that on my wall. That would be amazing because

In the time since you and I recorded last, I've

done two things finally. Yes. So during the whole

time that Karen and I lived out in Washington,

at one point or another, I found this artist,

Camillo, I'm not, it's... It's Insta Camilo on

Instagram. I'll put his Instagram link in the

show notes on the website, folks, geekcastradio

.com. But I found him, him and his friend, artist

Jamie Johnson, did a Turtles in Time character

select homage. Now Camilo. Is over like literally

across like, like when we were living in Washington,

he was in like, I don't think he's in Japan,

but he's over like that side of the world. So

across the Pacific Ocean. So I bought this print

for like, I don't know, 50, 60 bucks a couple

of years ago. And I've just left it in the tube.

I haven't, I've never taken, I took it out to

look at it. And I've never taken it out until

I moved here to Indiana when I finally was able

to buy a frame for it. And I bought a frame for

it and it is framed. I don't have it on my walls

yet because I'm still working on where I'm going

to put stuff, but I have that framed. And finally,

I don't remember if it was you or if it was my

buddy Doug. I think we mentioned to him that

Doug to go get that print. That's right. That's

what it was. Okay. Cause Doug was going to San

Diego Comic -Con that year. Right. Got it. So

there's no other way I was going to get Bobby

Cournot's autograph. Not unless we fly to wherever

he's living. Yeah. No, but, uh, but yeah, we

each got Doug to get us, uh, the, the TMNT 44

to 50. print from Mateus Santalucco and Bobby

and Tom and Kevin Eastman, you know, obviously

Santalucco, you know, Mateus, they all signed

it. I finally just got that out of its tube and

framed. It's been so many years since we originally,

I don't even know what year of Comic -Con that

was. It had to have been 2014. When was issue

44? Probably five years ago. At least, yeah,

at least 2017, 20. Yeah. Yeah. At least that

long. But like I've had like my ultimate goal

obviously was to eventually get that. I now have

it framed and oh my God, that thing in a frame

and the one that I grabbed from, from Jamie and

Camillo is. They're both just such amazing pieces,

and I absolutely love them, which is going to

tie back into somehow, some way, I would love

to have this final, not final, but this final

panel on the page here. That would be such a

cool art print to have on a wall. That would

be amazing. You know, we have email addresses.

Yes. Feedback at geekcastradio .com. No, no.

I mean, we know other people's email addresses.

That's true. Yes, yes. Yes. But see, like, I'm

not like – and I don't mean to – I don't say

this to disrespect artists. I don't – like, I

wouldn't want the pencils of this. I want the

full color image. That's what I want. Oh, yeah.

I'm sure you could – we could – we'll see. Maybe.

I would like the – I love pencils, but that's

– Yeah. I mean, I like pencils, too, but like,

no, you need this is there's too much color going

on in that. Yeah. I mean, so many greens, red,

purple, orange, yellow, blue. God, I feel like

Gosling from the very first episode of Darkwing

Ducks. I am the ramrod saw. I wonder if I remember

the code from that to. Uh huh. Yeah. Hello. Yeah.

Oh God, the 90s are coming back folks, 30 years.

So we go on and we see that Leo is teaching the

bonsai class, the plant class. We see Mikey is

teaching them to use - Air quotes teaching. I'm

hesitating to say teaching but well, I know he's

doing a good job. It's yeah. He's all they're

just Those weasels man, and then Donnie and and

blood and not yeah bludgeon and no couple No,

that yeah, that's not bludgeon bludgeon is a

hammerhead. That's just a friendly. Okay. Okay,

and then Raph and the and the porcupine one and

Jenica and lead singer girl and the Lita doing

calligraphy. I love this because they're all

various different teachings. And I needed the

mundane. I needed the day -to -day. Yep. And

then I don't know what Alopex is doing with her

students. Oh, they're training invisibility stealth.

Gotcha. Hide and seek. Got it, got it, got it.

And then we get the panel with Leo and Jenny.

That went really well, don't you think? Yeah,

every day there's more people. It's great. We'll

have to split them into two classes soon. And

we get, you know, the kids kind of talking. You'll

never get. Oh, this is it. Yeah. Oh, this is

the bullying scene I mentioned earlier. No, no,

don't and stop. you know bullying must be stopped

no matter the cost and yeah that's just oh god

as much as i love sophie and and everybody else

tugging at the hard strings i do not like i don't

know it i mean this scene eventually goes okay

because you know you have the turtles there who

are who are helping Lita and you know it's Jenica

who says hey you those kids said I would never

be a cool ninja they said this they said that

and Jenny just says well that's not true at all

other kids can be jerks sometimes they made fun

of me too and you know really how come and she

goes into the whole reason and she's basically

helping Lita you know see you know essentially

see the light You know, I wasn't a turtle back

then sweetie anyway, you know She says Anyway,

the giraffe thing wasn't that bad but back then

it really hurt so I get it it I get how mean

kids can be But look at me now. I'm an awesome

ninja you know and It turns into such a bad,

it turns from a bad moment into such a touching

moment again. And I think there's, oh, there's

some symbolism here too. I think this is like

a nexus point turning point moment for Lita.

I don't know. Do we spoil the ending of this?

I don't know either. I mean, it's been out for

a while. They're on, they're on what issue? Like.

120 something, 130 something. But yeah. There's

so many important things happening on this panel

on the last page. On the last page. Yes. Yeah.

All right, everybody. If you want to be on top

of this, you should stop now. Yeah. You can fast

forward about three and a half to four minutes.

The adult Leda jumps out of a portal carrying

a time tuner staff thing like Rinette has. She's

wearing a black gi with the Splinter Clan logo

on it. She's got pink face tattoos. Yeah, that

whole part about her being a super awesome strong

ninja. I think that happens. And I think it happened

because of that conversation. Yep. To be continued.

Bum, bum, bum. Oh, God. I love it. I think it's

great. And I love all the variant covers from

all the artists. So yeah, this story, man. Yep.

I love it more than I did the first time. And

I enjoyed it the first time. I mean, I enjoyed

it so much. I know I have another letter in the

letters column coming up. Oh, really? Which issues?

I don't know. I'm going to have to find out when

I get there. Okay, good. I remember I read some

reviews when it came out and like, no, no, no,

they have this all wrong. And I wrote Bobby and

no, no, guys, we'll see. We'll get there. Yeah,

another goal I have for 2023, folks, as this

is the third week in January of the new year.

We have got to get Bobby on for a new interview

because holy crap. I don't think he, he doesn't

work for IDW anymore. Does he? I thought he did.

No. Really? No, no, I don't. With, um, when everything

started to slow down with the pandemic, they

canceled a bunch of titles and Uh, whether on

good terms or uncomfortable terms, they let a

lot of people go or probably encouraged some

people to go. Uh, and I think Bobby was a part

of that. I will, um, you know, I'm looking now.

I still would like to talk to him about, I don't

think we talked to him since before 50. Yeah.

Oh yeah. It was definitely before 50. Cause we

were leading up to that. Yeah, so we will find

that out and we will you know But yeah, I want

to talk to everybody again, it's it's time absolutely

Yeah, it's I want to talk to everybody we've

already talked to and I would be I've got to

find a way to kid We've got to find Rhonda, please

Please, for the love of all the colors in the

world, please, we just want to have a conversation

with you. We promise it will be fun. We promise

it will, no pressure. It's only audio. It's okay.

And Mike will edit everybody to sound really

smart and will take out all the ums because Lord

knows, we just, I would love to talk to these

people. Absolutely. And I think, I don't know.

Uh, we've, you and I have gushed on the colors

since the beginning. And I think it's because

I've never read a book where I've noticed them

so much. And so I feel like I want to tell Rhonda

how awesome she is and how much we appreciate

the incredible amount of work that it's been

to do. I like it's we're on a issue, 130 something

and she's never taken a month off. And like,

holy, I I hate to say this, but I'm looking at

Bobby's Facebook and it says he still works and

it still credits him as works at not worked.

It's not past tense. And yeah, his Twitter does

not have a website, but it says writer editor

all around standup citizen. Oh, okay. Well, as

of. Yeah, it hasn't been updated because his

Twitter says, as of January 12th of this year,

news after exactly 12 years and so on, and he

lists all the many, he has quit IDW publishing.

That was January 12th of 2022. Oh, man. Well,

maybe he has time then. He's not editing this

massive book with some... 100 page Bible of chronology

Yeah, I Wow, I I wish I kept up more but yeah

that oh god TMNT reborn volume one Issues 101

to 105 they were amazing Every single emotion

you can feel was felt with characters you didn't

know you were going to feel them with. Like I've

said in the last two hours that we've recorded,

never did I ever think I would have a moment

where Donnie and Raph were the two that had the

emotional moment or Leo and Mikey having the

emotional moment over the quote unquote loss

of the cat because Something going on with ghost

shredder like you said ghost shredder probably

did so he didn't do something to the cat But

he made the cat disappear or whatever and then

the cat really even though we didn't see anything.

That's your head cannon now. I think so I Think

so, I don't know But yeah, all right Oh boy Yeah,

we're gonna need a quick break folks. We're gonna

come back to give our rating and then close the

show after this Hello geeks and geekettes looking

for a podcast that covers a vast array of topics

Then check out altered geek unleashed where we

discuss our thoughts on this week's geeky news

tech gaming television shows movies cartoons

comics and more So, get altered, get geeky with

the Altered Geeks. Every Friday on the Geekcast

Radio Network. Hey, welcome to the last Comic

Shop Podcast! A comic book podcast that actually

talks about comics. Yep, each week we open the

shop up and read and discuss a comic. Sometimes

we pair that up with comic book movies or TV

shows. We're not, lots of times it's just comic

books and sound effects. Oh yes, definitely lots

of sound effects. So check out all the major

podcasting platforms, The Last Comic Shop Podcast,

or check out our library of evergreen shows at

www .lastcomicshoppodcast .com. to the MCU, to

pop culture, and everything in between. A new

show drops on Tuesday mornings on the GCRN website

and all of the major podcast platforms. So listen

to the Marku42's universe podcast from the universe

and beyond. Transformers! You are receiving this

transmission from the Rod Pod. Upload pending.

Standby for soundtrack transfer. I am Maggie.

And I am John. And we are trapped, hurtling through

space in a ship shaped like Rodimus' head. The

ship, for reasons we haven't been able to determine,

contains the entire run of the IDW Transformers

Phase 2 comic. Which chronicle the events following

the end of the war between the Autobots and Decepticons.

So we figure we may as well read them all in

order and report our findings to you. Stand by.

Stand by. Upload complete. Now. The Rod Pod.

Look for us at Married W Comics. dot libson dot

com at itunes at stitcher or wherever good podcasts

can be found so uh till all are one till all

are one oh hey I got something! Since 2009, we

have been the premier cartoon podcast here at

the Geekcast Radio Network. We are Tooncast.

From taking you beyond the cartoons we grew up

with to seasonal saucy toon talk, and now we

get the origins of toonstars everywhere as we

ask guests. 30 questions about their cartoon

watching experiences, plus so much more. Tooncast

is back, join me, TF2 and Mike and the rest of

the GCRN crew as we give you all the Toon Talk

you will ever need, only on the GCRN. And wherever

you consume your podcasts, we are beyond good,

beyond evil, beyond your wildest imagination,

we are all Toons, all the time, here on Tooncast.

Toy cast is back. We are talking toys once more

here on the geek cast radio networks toy and

action figure podcast From breaking into the

display case to our toy topic talk and the brand

new origins in toy collections where we get guests

to tell us their toy story of how they got into

toy collecting. Toycast is the only toy podcast

you will ever need. Find us on geekcastradio

.com and any podcatching client you choose to

use. Now go forth, transform and transcend your

toy collecting today while listening to Toycast.

Discover a world of vintage and modern toys that's

more than meets the eye with the Triple Takeover

Toycast. Hosted by toy writers and photographers

Toy Box Soapbox, Sixo and TF Square One, this

informal and chilled out series of discussions

cover everything from vintage Transformers to

Mask, Diaclone, Microman and more, be it nostalgic

or current. Whether you're a seasoned collector

or a casual robot enthusiast, all are welcome.

Triple Takeover Toycast. We are back here inside

the pull bag episode 507 it's a new record not

really but it might be and Issues 101 to 105

just overall the entire story zero to five for

me. It's a five five stars Yeah, there are of

like I said, you know and and like I said before

You know, kind of joking, I'm not serious about

the whole bandana thing, but please bend. And

luckily we have them back now. And I understand

this, you know, I understood the story initially

anyway, but like. That was part of my kind of

gripe was the, I don't know, especially when

it, when Rhonda throws in those colors for the

lights at the concert and we're like, which one's

which, which one is in which color? Cause I thought

they were all in their respective, but they're

not. Uh, but overall there is nothing wrong with

these five issues really. From art to colors

to letters to, to just everything. Story, character

development. Yep. All of it is so good. Five

all around. So Joe, this is the beginning of

2023. In the fall of 2023, you've got something

going on. I have another Geek Stuff Garage Sale

happening. Should be one of the first couple

of weekends in September. See what the con schedules

are for the surrounding area and then not double

book over them. Yes. Don't do that. That would

not be good. The one that we did coming out of

the pandemic last year was the largest one we

ever had. We've had 50 or so vendors, which is

just massive compared to the 15 that we used

to have. And this year though, we were close

to 60 vendors and we had people that didn't,

that couldn't set up their whole booths. So it's

a giant outdoor flea market where every booth

is a cool geek booth with stuff that you might

want. So it's a good day. Very cool. Look for

us. And the announcements are always made on

the Facebook page. So facebook .com slash geek

stuff garage sale. And that's us. Absolutely,

absolutely. That is so, so cool. All right, folks,

that's going to do it for us here inside the

pull bag. I don't know what's coming up next.

This is 507. I usually like to do something silly

with numbers. And 508 is a Massachusetts area

code. And I want to reach out to the people at

Newberry Comics in Massachusetts, but I haven't

yet as of this recording. Maybe I will, maybe

I won't. I don't know. I do know that hopefully

in February, at the beginning of February, episode

509, you will hear hopefully myself, Edward and

Kendra Hale talk about Batman, White Knight,

Harley Quinn. And then later in February, my

buddy JT from Saskatoon and I are going to be

doing Batman Beyond Neo year. We're going to

do it in two parts, issues one to three, and

then issues four to six will be episode five

11 and five 12. And then we will be transforming

marvelous March here in 2023. Steve Megatron

is going to join me. Uh, he wants to, he's been

wanting to do for years now, the, uh, the U S

Marvel transformers classics run. So we are going

to be doing volumes. two through seven that's

going to run transforming marvelous march and

it's going to run into autobotly april so that's

what's coming up here inside the pull bag for

2023 so far with a few exceptions as far as like

things being moved around and things like that

and i wasn't even sure we were going to get this

done because joe poor joe has been uh You had

a rough time not that I think you really want

to talk about this on air and that's fine But

but I kept asking you all last year. I'm like,

when would you like to schedule this? Would you

like to do this? Are you ready? Are you this

are you that and we're finally here and he's

finally ready and it's gonna be awesome and Yeah,

so is there I hope I hope I'm back. I it's it's

been you know, like like we've talked about during

all those issues. It's been mental health, just

not having the mental currency. I've had time,

but it doesn't feel like I've had time. When

I think I have time, I don't have the willpower.

I can't do people right now, and my kids are

exhausting, but at least they're ... They're

your kids though, dude. If they were annoying,

it'd be a problem, but I actually like my children

quite a bit. Well, I would think you would like

them considering you had them. Well, I think

some people think of their children as work because

they maybe have not molded them exactly in ways

that make them pleasant human beings. I think

it becomes a lot of work sometimes when they're

annoying you and making bad decisions. My children

don't make too many bad decisions. They're good

people. Oh, they're pleasant to be around. Yeah,

that's because they come from good parents. I

hope so. Ask them in 20 years how badly we messed

them up. We'll find out. Oh, come on now. It

can't be that bad. They were raised by a child.

I have more toys than they do. Neither of them

play with toys, as that goes. They don't have

imaginative play like I bet you and I did. Yeah.

It's been something that I'm concerned about.

That's a podcast in itself, in and of itself.

Oh, no, absolutely. Yeah, we can definitely,

I will definitely have you on Toycast to talk

about that because I mean, that's, that's just

the thing. Like, you know, this, okay. This is

comics folks. We got to get the heck out of here.

Yep. Look for us on another podcast. Have a good

evening guys. Yes, most definitely. Join us over

on podcast at some point here in 2023. Thank

you for joining us here inside the pullback.

If you'd like to get in contact with us to leave

feedback for the show, there are several ways

to do so. Visit the website geekcastradio .com

where you can listen to and comment on all of

our posts. Send us an email at the feedback at

geekcastradio .com. You can check us out on any

of the podcasting platforms you want to use.

Follow us on Twitter at geekcastradio and at

the pullback. I am at TF2 and Mike, do you have

a Twitter? I think you have something about a

hot shirt. No, I did have a Twitter, but I deleted

it from my phone because, you know, shenanigans

are afoot. Oh, yes, but let's not. I'll see what

happens. Yeah, I've said this for many years

now. Twitter's been a cesspool since 2014. A

billionaire buying it is not going to change

that. Anyway. Become a fan on Facebook, go to

facebook .com slash Geekcast Radio Network. You

can also check out the pull bag over there as

well. As I said, next time, no clue. It might,

could be your origins, could be anything. I have

not had time to plan yet. So for now, I am TFG

and Mike with Joe. As always, make your greatest

game to comics and eat that pizza. Ooh, I want

pizza. Don't we all? Check those dudes out! Dudes?

Nuts? They're robots! Robots? Let's rock! You've

just heard the latest episode of The Pullback.

the GCRN's first comic review and discussion

podcast. There are several ways to get in touch

with us and leave feedback for the show. You

can visit the website geekcastradio .com where

you can comment on the episode and all of our

different podcasts. You can rate and leave a

review for the show on iTunes. Be sure to leave

us feedback. Become a fan of us on Facebook,

facebook .com slash The Pull Bag. Send us an

email, feedback at geekcastradio .com, follow

us on twitter at ThePullBag and at GeekCastRadio.

So until next time, make your great escape into

comics and unleash the geek in you.