TMNT Reborn Volume 6: Game Changers Review

Hey, this is Tom Waltz, IDW's Teenage Mutant

Ninja Turtles writer, and you are listening to

the GeekCast Radio Network. Hi, this is Bobby

Kernow, Chief Turtle Editor at IDW Publishing,

and you are going to have a shell of a good time

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Don't worry, I came prepared! Put those away!

Hello and welcome to The Pull Bag! This is episode

576 and this is Mutant March here in the GeekCast

Radio Network's comic book and discussion based

podcast. We review comics here inside The Pull

Bag. I'm of course TfU and Mike. Joining me once

again as always is Mr. Joe Reed. Hello sir, how

are you? Hello, I am good. That's good, that's

good. Tonight... Today, whenever you find people

listening to this, this is TMNT Reborn Volume

6 Game Changers from IDW Publishing. And we're

doing this a little differently, folks. We are

screen sharing this. This collects this. So Volume

6, originally published as TMNT Annual 2022.

TMNT. Issues number 131 and 132 and TMNT free

comic book day issue one issue 2022 So the creative

on this Juni Ba for part one Sophie Campbell

for parts two and three Tom waltz on part four

for story For art on part one is Junie Ba, Pablo

Tunica on parts two and three, Sophie Campbell

on part four, Rhonda Pattison. Make sure I pronounce

that with my consonants, as Morgan Freeman would

say. Colors, Rhonda Patton, oh geez, I almost

screwed up, Pattison. On parts one through three,

Sophie Campbell did colors for part four. I find

that interesting. Interesting. Yes, yes. Letters.

Oh, this is interesting. Letters done by Mr.

Sean Lee for parts one through three, and then

Sophie did her own letters for part four. That's

interesting to me. Sean has always done the letters.

I'm looking at four single issues in front of

me. You're looking at the trade. Yeah, you should

just be looking at my screen. Which ones were

four and which did Sophie do? So from what I

can tell part one is the is the annual Parts

two and three are 132 and one 131 and 132 and

then part four would be free conflict day and

I'm interested in what is going to happen with

your free comic book day issue there because

The story itself in that is only five or six

pages and then it reprints Mirage issue one Yeah.

Or actually, it doesn't reprint all of it. It

reprints the first battle. Now that I look at

that. So they reprint part of it. And I noticed

that they're not exact. Yeah. Eastman and Laird

aren't credited in this book. So you might not

have that reprint. Story consulting Eastman and

Waltz is what I have for credits in the trade.

Covers done by Pablo Tunica, series assistant

edits done by Vanessa Reel. and Nicholas Nino,

series edits done by Bobby Kernow and Charles

Beecham, collection edits done by Alonzo Simon

and Zach Boone, collection group edited done

by Chris Simon, and the collection design was

done by Sean Lee. I think we mentioned this last

time in episode 575, Bobby Kernow, editor -in

-chief at IDW Publishing as of last year in 2024,

I believe. Congratulations, Bobby. Welcome back.

We know you're not just there for turtles anymore,

but welcome back. So yeah, back to form for annual

2022. Yes. I realized I've had this book for,

well, like two years. Three years. Two years.

Three years. No, three years. Yeah. I keep forgetting

it. Yeah. Until this. You would never. Well,

you know, this was this was where I started definitely

I was off the wagon I had fallen off and I think

between my old comic book store closing Miss

you outer limits and my new comic book store

picking up there were just issues that I missed

and I must have missed this and bought it Recently

enough that I didn't read it right away. Oh,

I see three variant covers in here that I need

I need at least that second one Oh, man But yeah,

it this is like a this feels like filler story

to me. I don't know what the purpose of annuals

are like I know every once in a while I'll see

a Superman annual a daredevil annual and yeah,

like yeah, I'm not just I'm not sure what they're

Why that's a tradition in the comic industry,

you know, I think it's I personally think this

story was to kind of launch and not really launch

but it was to get somebody new in it's to get

like if you look at this like we're gonna look

at this as i'm showing you my screen here so

listeners we're showing like i said i'm showing

joe my screen so we're actually looking at the

trade paperback together yeah so this to me reads

like volume one this to me reads like year one

of Turtles because it opens with Leo's monologue

and it opens with them going from rooftop to

rooftop and It opens with him having self -doubt

and and dealing with all of this stuff And the

only thing I didn't understand here. The thing

that confused me was the graves Yeah, I'm not

sure what the graves are for. I mean, okay, I

I know what graves are for folks, trust me I

understand that, but I don't understand who the

Marine Thomas Croft is. The green spooky gas

that's creeping around that second one on that

page, it's one of the reasons that they're at

a cemetery, but I couldn't tell immediately why

Leo was taking them on this mission to go to

the cemetery. Well, it's to it's to it's something

to do with the emotions or something or other.

I don't know. It's weird It's a thing. I like

this shot here on this is in the trade folks

this we're looking at page Almost thought that

was an 18. It's a 10. We're looking at page 10

I love this this middle shot here and this middle

panel is the gas is following them because it's

the four of them Donnie's leading Mikey's in

the second middle raff and Leo bringing up the

the back end of the group because Out of all

of them Mikey is the most colorful which shows

to me that the other three have way more Negative

emotions going on than Mikey does. Mm -hmm. Like

Mikey's gotten deep Obviously, we know Mikey's

a very deep character, but that coloring it's

it's kind of a telltale sign in my personal opinion

of where this story is going and what they're

gonna be dealing with very interesting noticing

and I chalked up and Yeah, because he's not that

way and some of the other panels, but that one

it's definitely heightened the designs and and

Junie Boz art is more reminiscent of the 2012

series. There's a lot of pullback from that.

They mentioned Rath, Leo, somebody when they

were jumping from building to building said,

Oh, it feels nice to be in the old gear. Yeah.

So they've stripped them of those of like kind

of the normal clothes that the turtles have been

wearing in mutant town. Yeah. So I think you're

right that this book is intended to tell people

where they came from and where they're at. But

to make it familiar enough for new readers. Yeah.

It's an original story where like originally

before I really noticed that I'm okay. I noticed

the green grass. Wow. The green gas. I noticed

the green gas. I thought the green gas was something

the rat king was going to start using. Like literally

these lines, your fear, your grief, your pain.

I thought that was going to turn out to be the

rat king. Obviously that's not what this is,

but essentially that's what That's what annuals

are usually for annuals and one -shots and spotlights

and things like that. Hell free comic book day.

Yeah I mean, I mean obviously this this is an

this is the annual here at the front of the trade

This is not a free comic day issue. But all of

that is to get the Person who isn't already reading

this into this which is more than fine and I

I mean I'm fine with this I love the story. I

thought this was cool. I thought this was interesting.

I thought this was great. And I mean, look at

these colors, man. Yeah. Fighting this. They're

trying to fight this demon thing. And it's not

working because it's anticipating each of their

moves. And this is... I owe it to the story to

go back and re -read it. Yeah. I think I missed

a lot. It's a good story. I only read it once

and I got it because the only reason why I got

it was because I was like, oh Okay, this is what

they're doing. So this monster thing this this

thing that Deals on their pain and their grief

and their their negative emotions They figure

it out that it it is getting them individually

and they have to work as a team. Well, what is

the one way that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

work as a team? What's the one way they do that,

Joe? They focus on the family and rebuild their

bonds. Okay, there's that, but what's the other

way? What's the physical way that we always tell

the... They go camping. No. Pow wow around a

fire. No Well, that's kind of what they're I

mean, I think they get their butts kicked by

this thing yeah, yeah escape to recuperate to

regroup and then They're dealing with their emotions

and talking to each other and right. You're you're

absolutely right absolutely But what's though?

So this thing went after them as individuals.

Yep This thing attacked each of their individual

negative emotions What is the one thing these

four brothers could do to confuse the hell out

of this thing? You're gonna have to say it man

cuz I my brains not lined up. I'm reading it.

I'm right here. I promise They're gonna work

together, but they've got a they're working through

their own stuff first, dude. Look at the screen.

Yeah Yeah, oh god, it's the one thing they can

do Oh my gosh, I I didn't notice they're all

in red again. They're they're all they're fighting

is one literally I My dad bought me a new office

chair for Christmas one. That's gonna last me.

Hopefully for the next ten years. I literally

had the absolute opposite add visceral reaction

to what I had Eleven years ago. Oh man It's so

ubiquitous to me to see them in red and in colors.

I'm looking at this page and I didn't even notice

When I saw it was coming after even though they

were working together It was attacking them individually

because it was looking at them as individuals.

It was looking at their Individual negative because

each of their individual negative reactions is

different from one another So what's the one

way they're gonna confuse this thing put one

color on and what's the one color out of? 41

years 41 years of history of turtles that they'll

put on to confuse the hell out of an enemy or

a reader Yeah Oh my god, and like it's pages

and pages of this battle. And I didn't even notice

because I still look at them. It's a blonde brunette

redhead. It's like I see the code. Wow. Well

done. Well, well done, Junie. That's right. Absolutely.

Like, literally, I, my reaction was. Oh, fuck,

yes. You're a convert now, Mike. No, I'm not

a convert. But in this moment, in this story,

because that's what they had to do. And it worked.

And it's awesome. Very cool. This is a good annual

story. This is a good way to. I still will tell

people to go back to. Oh, yes number one. Well,

you know always go back but To really like wet

somebody's whistle to get somebody interested

I would I would I would tell them read this absolutely

Because it's a nice little one -off story that

doesn't really need them to really read The last

11 years, but if they wanted to you always start

at the beginning and then look at the bottom

We're back in you know, we're back in the night.

Oh my gosh see Uh, I can't believe I didn't notice

that. And he calls himself a turtle fan, how

dare you. Oh, and this killed me. Yeah. This

killed me. So, excellent writing here. So, let's

go home. They go back to the sewer layer, which

apparently they haven't been back to in years.

And we see them in color with the orange and

the purple and the blue and the red. Oh, welcome

home my sons. And here we're thinking, because

we know that Splinter in the actual continuity

of the book, he's actually gone. Even though

in this he's gone too. That killed me. Yeah.

That just destroyed everything. Just crazy. Was

trying to see what this this stuff was this black

I was trying to see this black stuff was was

was something but I guess not Good. It's an interesting

change for that panel. There's got to be a reason

for that Yeah, I was hoping some sort of explanation

but it doesn't seem to be and I love how they

do the internal monologue with each turtle saying

something but it's yes throughout the Want to

hear that I think this this would be wonderful

animated Yeah, it would be and then hearing the

monologue in each of their different voices coming

through. Yep Absolutely. Okay now Is it just

me or are they isn't the line Strike hard and

fade away without a trace. That's the line in

the movie fade away into the night is the line

from the comic Okay, that's it's fine, but I

always hear the other line but anyway the car

the for those who have not read this Spoilers,

which you all should know by now if you're this

far into the podcast We are spoiling the hell

out of in this book. This comic is two years

three years old. So If you haven't read it yet,

you know So the the commentary here is the the

internal monologue strike hard and fade into

the night Father's mantra for ninjas, but there's

a reason why he wanted us to do it together always

Because as the world changes the night easily

can swallow you and you can lose yourself That's

what it is it's the night it's the night swallowing

them that's what it is But when you embrace change

together, you won't just emerge You won't just

emerge back from the night That's a great page

you will soar that's what it is. Yeah. Yeah Absolutely.

Oh, okay. So that's what it's just the night.

That's okay. Got it. Got it I thought it was

gonna be this week again Any time I see weird

mysticism things in these turtles books from

my first thought is Kitsune and Rat King. That

annual man, that was good. That was a good annual.

I will be re -re -reading that. I never read

it the first time until now. This has just been

sitting there, but yeah, that's way better. This

is why I love doing this with you Mike, like

I do read these books. You always bring another

angle to it for me and I so appreciate that The

fact that I'm the one that pointed out them going

back to the red is cuz I yeah, I didn't notice

at all It was like invisible That's a wait a

minute I just noticed something here. I'm not

gonna spoil it cuz it comes up later But I'm

on I'm on in the next trade the page one on my

So Leo and shredder, uh, yeah, so the last issue

That we read in the continuity shredder the spirit

shredder revealed himself and he says alright

boys. We're gonna go and and Jenica we're gonna

go out and do some training for what's coming

up because Saki knows that Armageddon game is

coming and he's gonna teach them some mysticism

And so this issue begins with them out in the

woods, which I'm pretty sure is Northampton Not

sure they haven't stated it yet. Well, they haven't

stated it yet But I think the farmhouse shows

up later. Yeah, let's take a look at what's on

Raphael's arm, his elbow. You tell what that

is. Oh, so. I don't think that's a green bandana.

Yeah, you know who wears the green? That's the

slash. No, no, he wears black alopex. Yeah, alopex.

And I don't know. Mean I do know because I read

it. Well, I don't know why he's got it on now.

So there's there's some stuff going on. Oh No,

I know cuz later it comes up that she's not gonna

be a part of this because it's shredder That's

why so I didn't I didn't notice that green bandana

until I opened it here. Yeah just now. Yep. Oh

It looked like a leaf So this so this actually

must not be the like this must be because OK,

so this this is probably the present. Yeah, like

right now and then as we go into this, this must

be. Yeah, OK, yeah, so they do say the first

page of 131 is the present and then this now

the second page is before. And I love Saki's

introduction. He's monologuing over them over

the front page trading something terrible is

coming. The splinter clan must be ready for it

I've been watching over you though. I would rather

leave you be I've done enough harm to you and

so this is sake coming to terms with his past

and trying to Make it right in whatever way he

can but alopex is not having it No, she's not

having it at all. She's completely done because

you redeemable Yeah, he's irredeemable in her

eyes, 100%. It is interesting to see the turtles

accepting him too. I could see them with the

same point of view as Alopex, but I wonder if

it's because of the things that they've seen

in their spirit journeys. Has that proven to

them that he is as trustworthy as he says he

is? Yeah. I don't... That's one good thing about

this, our IDW series here, is that we know, and

the people that have listened to us all these

years know, that this comics in general aren't

just villain of the week, aren't just shredder

scheme of the week. They have managed all these

years to turn sake into a character Especially

now. Yep with with Yoshi gone Like they still

needs they're still teenagers There's there there's

still teenagers that they're not adults This

isn't 50 or 100 years in the future where there's

only the last ronin left like, you know, whatever

I don't know how far flung ronin is and uh, whatever

but like, you know so they still need some sort

of guidance and and He's trying to do the best

that he can he's is he told so he told hamata

yoshi was going to do it. Yeah It I think this

or okosaki is is different from the Orokosaki

that was the shredder, the one that was around

for the first hundred issues, because that shredder

was the immortal one with magic energy of that

foot clan dragon inside of him, that kitsune

was a thing, and I think he's free of that demon

possession, whatever that was, so he's allowed

to be himself, where he never was, even when

he was being a dirtbag to Hamato Yoshi in ancient

Japan. Oh, so close high. I say, throw the bum

out. Sorry. Cartoon logic flowing through my

brain. What say you, old wise, honorable sensei?

Throw the bum? That's so racist now. I know,

I know. Sorry, sorry. Sorry, folks. They didn't

know any better back then. 1987. Yeah. And this

is where Alopex goes off on Leo. Yeah. And this

is where she says, Shredder brainwashed you,

Leo, and me. He burned down my home, Raph. He

had me experimented on. She just can't do it.

She's just not having it. And she walks away.

But does she? Wait. So my question is is that

we don't see her take off her bandana. And we

don't see where it is at all, so I'm only as

I can only assume. And those are pepperoni spot

green spikes, so it isn't on pepperoni's tail.

No, it maybe it's hanging from the coat rack

and she doesn't take that's fine. It's it's whatever,

but. Yeah. Oh, well, he's got in his hand. Where'd

it come from? Off -camera he found it Okay, so

Raph does what Raph does and instead of going

up to the rooftop and you know Teaching a bunch

of foot ninja the abridged book and ninja fighting

Or telling them that they learned from the abridged

book and ninja fighting he goes out into the

woods And he sees these glowing eyes behind him.

Oh, and there's the red creeping into that, and

he's facing some sort of demon, which is what

the turtles do. Bishop and Hobb? How does he

get Bishop and Hobb out of this? Bishop experimented

on him, and Hobb is the one who, like, trained

him to be a dirtbag and abused him. Took him

away from his family. I just wish the designs

were more... I understand the designs are supposed

to be nightmarish because it's a nightmare. I

understand that because this is Raph's nightmare

dream. I get it, but... And that's the baby bishop,

the one that was the piloting the bishop robot.

Alright, okay. That's very much too creepy. And

then we get... him dreaming of alopex or nightmare

alopex. And you never think that wasn't a win

for no. Oh, not at all. And Mikey facing his

demons, Mikey facing his demons. And it turns

out Mikey's demon is slash. Yeah, slash died.

Right. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep. Sacrificed himself

on burnout island. Yep. And the kids that he

left behind. I thought he saved the kids, but

I thought he did, too. I don't remember where

the kids wound up. I don't know. There's something

I have no idea. And we get all this. Oh, yeah.

Oh, shoot. That's gross. Oh. OK, which panel

is bottom left? Yeah, that's a little oh yeah

whoops Nope can't zoom in on that got to zoom

out on that next page bebop and rocksteady Oh

string him and they remove his shell again and

beat him up, but Donnie actually manages to do

the Do some of the magic stuff to defeat his

demons. Yes. Yep, but he's no chi Whatever he's

got Yeah, no, but that this one this one was

like yeah, I don't know what it is man I like

I I know I've said this in many of our other

episodes that we've done in the last 11 years

for this specific for the IDW TMNT books, but

Bebop and Rocksteady and Donnie like Donnie has

Donnie and Mikey have always been my two favorite

turtles Bebop and Rocksteady have always been

more Rocksteady than Bebop But those have always

been my two favorite I'll say sub villains because

shredder and Krang and all that and whatever

they're higher villains But like out of all the

lower tier villain like the second tier villain.

I'm you know what I'm saying Yeah, like the Bebop

and Rocksteady, especially with what they did

to Donatello in this series Yeah, absolutely

and Just actually watching IDW craft their Bebop

and Rocksteady's or Bebop and Rocksteady destroy

everything that was Amazing series. They got

their own series. They got their own origin in

this in this this universe Just absolutely love

it. But this this nightmare. Oh, man. This nightmare

gave me nightmares and Then we get Jenny dreaming

her night marrying I should say this was a whack

Yeah, this one was heavy. I think I know what

they were alluding to but they weren't saying

what they were alluding to Yeah, this is very,

very, very, very, very heavy. And then we get

everybody waking up and the only one that didn't

have a nightmare was Leo. I didn't have one.

Yeah. Which begs the question as to why. And

then we find out that answer later because of

a certain character that's residing inside of

Leonardo that I never thought we'd see again.

Dun dun dun! Yep. I didn't have a thin place

vision like the others. I know that must mean

something. I've been sensing much unease from

you, Leonardo. I believe you have a particular

capacity for black magic. Yes. No. And you're

fighting it. It's something you must learn. The

seeds of this magic are already in you, as you

probably know. And Leo says, you're talking about

my dark self that you and Kitsune created. Yes,

and I'm sorry for that. But you must do battle

with him again. Yeah, that can't be a weight

that Leo carries. Well. What yeah, I think he's

got to overcome it. He's got to move past it.

He can't be afraid of it Yeah, that's kind of

the point of where he's going with that and it

gives a good reason as to why Leo would Hold

back in certain ways involving that darker self.

So all of that is an obstacle that Saki I think

is going to help him with you know, absolutely

which again, I like that again we have It's not

a status quo It's a it's not the same status

quo as we always had because Saki is completely

different than Yoshi was obviously Yep, and Saki

is not their father Obviously, but that's a great.

Oh, yeah by Eastman as he taps through Yes, I

saw he's not the father that amato Yoshi is but

yeah No, it is really awesome to see him as a

father figure. Yes in this in this issue. Absolutely

and tea and again Teaching the turtles the four

brothers specifically as well as also teaching

a former foot clan student Now it now a turtle

like that. That's just so cool. And yes this

this This cover by Kevin is great. God, look

at that. Talk about a piece of art. That's amazing.

That is definitely one of his better ones. One

of his top ones, I'll say it that way. That's

a top piece. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. And,

oh God. Get out your tissues, folks. You heard

it at the beginning of the podcast. I put in

the clip of Put those away. Well, I'm gonna put

in the rest of the clip at some point around

here where we get to the scene of where Amato

Yoshi shows up because the cover for this issue

done by Pablo Tunica, he nailed it. He fucking

nailed it. Look at that. Now everybody close

your eyes and concentrate. Concentrate hard.

my sons. Tonight you have learned the final and

greatest truth of the ninja. That ultimate mastery

comes not of the body, but of the mind. Together

there is nothing your four minds cannot accomplish.

Help each other draw upon one another. and always

remember the true force that bind you. The same

as that which brought me here tonight. That which

I gladly return with my final words. I love you

all, my sons. In 1990 movie where splinter shows

up as the the forest ghost in the campfire. Yeah.

Yeah the fire spirit. Yeah, and He did such a

great job I mean granted this is more greenish

blue It's more greenish than bluish fire on splinter

on this cover But the way that he did the turtles

on this is great Absolutely love that the only

thing I'll say now about this is Clearly we can

tell that Jenica feels out of place you think

Yeah She when went after this event happens in

the issue She walks away like I don't know about

this Because I don't think she did she never

met splinter did she? Or did she I think so because

she worked for the foot clan when the foot clan

was handed over to Okay, okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah,

the new bow Hamato Yoshi the new master So I

think I think so any of us. Okay go for us. Yeah.

Yeah, that's a long time ago for us folks. Sorry

My brain doesn't work so good anymore Mine does

work and I still don't know So we open with Leo

and dark Leonardo I don't remember the story

arc for Dark Leonardo the first time around.

I don't remember how they captured him to brainwash

him. Yeah, I know it's dark magic and yeah. Yeah,

I remember, but I don't. I'll look it up when

we do the ad break, folks. I'll look up the Dark

Leonardo stuff so I'll have the answers in the

outro. If I remember, because I'm old and my

brain doesn't work. What are you doing here?

What were you thinking? How could you lead your

family into the hands of blah, blah, blah, blah,

blah? Of our, of your greatest enemy? It's what

our father wanted. So Leo is fighting with himself

between Leo and Dark Leo. And all that I like

the design of dark Leo. So that's yeah always

been cool Which whose mask ended up in the hands

of slash? No Absolutely, absolutely So we go

back to Saki and the titles and The trees and

the blades and the bees and all the other stuff

and they're in a weird spirit land. I think with

those mushrooms and flying critters mushrooms

flying critters and kryptonite rest in peace

gene hackman the five elements which the mystic

arts and nature itself are tied okay well there's

five turtles so yeah that makes sense five petals

on his little sakura leaf that they're drawing

I swear, that looks like the dragon heart thing

that's in the back of Venus. You know what I'm

talking about, the dragon scales. Except in this

case it's green, not red. The turtles are set

out to grab some of these green crystals and

make a little totem, decorate it, create it artistically,

and I love that My Michelangelo, who has no artistic

talent, has clumped mud and sticks and tied them

around the rock. Leo's is beautiful and ornate,

and Michelangelo makes a little doll -looking

thing. So you get to see the personality of them.

Yeah, absolutely. And then they plant them into

this Sakura leaf, cherry blossom leaf design

that Saki drew on the ground, and they turn into

these crystalline little totems. With a dumpy

looking one in the middle that I hope ends up

being rafts Well, you know Raph is a Humpty Dumpty

kind of guy Well, not all the King's horses and

all the King's men couldn't put raft back together

again Well done and all of these totems now grow

God Makes me think of Power Rangers Rita throwing

down her wand now make They're gonna fight that

little totem in the end of this That's right

Leo's back to confronting himself or inhabiting

his alternate self. Yeah, it's like the other

turtles are The next few pages are of the turtles

getting individual training. Yeah with sake Working

on that those crazy hand gestures that are going

to unlock their Magic powers. Yeah, which again,

I like I like Especially the Jenica stuff. I

like him. I like seeing this page with him and

Jenica next to the bar So the yeah, this is the

barn I'm assuming it's Northampton, even though

it never says it but I'm assuming IDW you can

tell us if we're wrong We'll admit it when we're

wrong or when I'm wrong specifically. Yeah, I

love seeing him work with her because again,

that's full circle She was a foot clan member.

She's now clan Hamato So that's good. Like you

said Dark Leo Leo I Like the conclusion that

they come to out of all of this Leo Dark Leo

stuff where it's like instead of you going in

to Possess him he has to come out and possess

you kind of I think that's kind of cool. I think

that's fun And I liked on going in and number

one, he knows the technical jargon of everything,

but he also is starting to understand all the

spiritual stuff too. Like he's not totally closed

minded to just figure out the tech anymore. So

that's very good. And then, man, you want to

talk about a breakthrough Saki and RAF. This

was cool. This was so good. I sense you just

do really want to help. I think I get it now

That was a nice page Yeah, I That's I realized

it with this page here Saki is targeting their

weaknesses and it's Donnie's analytical mind

Well, there's this world of spirituality wrath

you attack before you understand your villain.

I'm gonna teach you how to be receptive Yeah,

open yourself up to me. Oh, I sense that you

want to help like oh gosh. Okay And Leo's weakness

is dark Leo. Yeah Yep. Yep Mikey's weakness is

pizza Don't touch that Not in the books folks

and then with Leo he's you know, it's stuck in

the fever dream battling himself again and It

ends with Dark Leo in a hole and Leo saying you'll

stay there until I need you Yeah, which is that's

interesting. So he's not getting rid of them.

He's not destroying them not locking him away

Yeah, he's gonna use him. Yep when he needs him.

Yep and This pay oh man Cue the scene folks.

You'll hear the audio from TMNT 1990 right here.

Don't worry. I came prepared Put those away.

Here we go. Put those things away I gotta say

like if I It would take me a moment to focus

on it But if I could think of the sound effects

in the music leading up to that I bet I could

I bet I know Splinter's whole speech. Uh -huh

That's why I want to put the odd. That's why

yeah. Yeah, you do that. So I don't have to that's

why i put the audio in so we didn't have to worry

about because that's the thing i put the the

audio at the beginning of the podcast about the

put that put those things away at the very beginning

of the podcast i'm putting splinter's speech

in just people already just heard that so so

that way we wouldn't have to fumble around and

fuck it up yeah but yeah so i can't believe And

When did this original when did IDW originally

start doing turtles? 2011 2012 2011 sounds right

2011 That's when my son was born and that was

when the comic started Okay, I was reading that

as he was in his little car carrier 14 years

ago I'd never thought in 14 years That they would

do a splinter Fire scene from the movie never

thought they would ever do this Never thought

but it's here Holy crap there it is now I said

at the beginning of this that the cover or the

beginning of this issue here that we're talking

about That the cover design looked more bluish

green or more greenish blue and it is This here

in the interior is obviously blue splinter. Yep

the way you should be and damn I can't say any

of these were I I won't be able to hold it together

Just read this comic folks. This is tmnt idw

publishing teenagers journals issue number 132

Just read it. That's all there is to it Yeah,

you can watch the 1990 film. That's a great film.

Obviously. We love that movie But if you've been

reading along with this series read this damn

book because wow Because of how it ties it because

you think about this this issue this scene and

Everything this family has been through From

the time they were human to the time they were

mutated to the time to the reincarnated technically

But all of the stuff that this family has been

through to this point now Oh, it's so much fucking

emotion Yep, and it's it's you know, I say it

all the time the turtles are strongest when they're

together and absolutely and he's draw upon one

another even when you are apart and When they

forget to do that is when they fall apart and

it's super interesting to me to compare this

run to the Mirage run in volume four where the

four turtles are very clearly going off in different

directions. I don't think they're anywhere near

each other for a number of issues and it doesn't

look like they're going to get back together

and how that might parallel how Laird was working

alone without Eastman and they never came back

to that book together to bring the characters

back together. Right. They've done it other ways

in other stories, but not in that original comic

and how keeping them together despite how different

they are and despite their different personalities

and their different priorities, how important

that is to the core of who they are. Yeah. Totally

important. Yeah, absolutely. So we get this final

scene of Father, don't go. We miss you. I miss

you all as well, but never forget that I love

you all. And he goes, now this is what I'm talking

about. Look at them and look at Jenny. Look at

them. Look at all of their faces. Look at her

face. She's kind of sad. Look at this panel.

Mikey and Raff are hugging, Donnie and Leo are

consoling. Jenny is kind of standing off to the

side. I'm not saying she doesn't care. I'm saying

she doesn't have the same emotions. She doesn't

have the same time that obviously the four brothers

have had with their father. She doesn't have

the same, she has a connection to Splinter. I'm

not saying she never did. I'm just saying her

emotional reaction, I almost said baggage, but

reaction is different than theirs is. And rightfully

so, it just looked to me when I read this earlier

today to do the podcast, it just looked to me

like she was distant of it all. It almost makes

me wish that Ghost force ghost splinter would

have addressed that because well is a turtle

and Now the fifth turtle She's not Her she's

not his daughter. Yeah, they're not her brothers

but like how in How in do they pull her and how

do they include her? in that group And I yeah,

maybe maybe that is a legit criticism that they

they they aren't bringing her Into the family

and showing that the turtles have adopted her

as one of their own You know what I mean? Like

she's obviously a turtle, but she's not yeah,

so I don't want her to be othered I want her

to be brought in. Yeah Absolutely. Yep. I'm looking

back through this scene because I want to see

the full reaction and See look right here She's

just kind of awe inspired by it looks more almost

worried. Yeah Yeah, she's kind of got a shock

face here She's not like Oh faced but she's kind

of got a shock face in that one and Then we get

to the panel that I just mentioned the the end

panel and we don't we that's just the backpacks

come with them coming back And this is what she

says, the barn still isn't fixed. You know, I

still think about that day all the time. I bet

that was, I bet she attacked that, that was Koya

and... Yeah, Koya, yep, yep, back of the barn.

Yeah, my first mission and crazy, huh? So now

she's talking about her past. Yep. Yep. And yeah,

so we get to, it just takes some time to get

it all fixed. Are you all ready? And let's go.

It's time to gather the answers. Oh, you know

what yours doesn't have in the bottom corner

of that page? Mine says to be continued in the

Armageddon game number one. Yep, mine doesn't

have it. The trade doesn't have it. It'll be

interesting to see what the reading order says

is the next book. Yeah, because mine has this.

Yep. This was neat. The the free comic book day.

Yeah the front cover of that when you went to

the comic store and got this for free. It's a

An homage to the issue number one turtles with

four of them on the rooftop, but they're not

wearing masks. They're wearing Masks over their

faces there are and they're white and the weapons

are in different locations Like the one up front

that used to be Leo you're looking at a color

thing on your page The free comic book day has

the four. Oh Okay white turtles Oh, interesting.

I don't know what that issue is. Oh, that's probably

an alternate cover for the issue 132. Oh, okay.

That you're looking at. What's the next thing?

Oh, yeah, what is the next page? Oh, you don't

have a cover. So the cover of that book is the

homage to issue number one, but it's these weird

white turtles that we haven't seen before. Okay.

That they happen to elude. to the existence of

it. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's what this is. Yeah.

And this is art colors and letters by Sophie,

which this is interesting also for me because

this is not the familiar art that we have seen

from Sophie. She's deliberately duplicating the

style of the old Mirage comic, the heavy blacks.

Yep. And that's why this is lettered by her,

because these aren't letters typed onto the computer.

These are hand drawn letters. And she's duplicating

Kevin Eastman's handwriting because Eastman did

the lettering Yeah and so What I what this also

confused me here that the top panel that's that's

Venus with a stitched on mask Yeah, I think she's

watching this go down with these four turtles

in white masks. Yeah, she is Yeah, so that's

the whole thing about this Venus is watching

this alternate thing happen And right now we

don't know if this is alternate universe or what

like yeah, we don't leave me in the dark Yeah,

and so oh oh paragraph of this Leonardo holds

his sign a relaxed ready position to his left

Donatello Michelangelo follow suit with nunchaku

and katanas Raphael guards his right side I can

see his body quivering with tense energy waiting

to be triggered into a savage slashing release

So like their weapons are mixed up and their

names are mixed up that they don't look like

our turtles. No but it's The whole thing is a

it's a homage to issue one. Like these are panel

for panel duplication with these weird changes.

And yeah, that next two page spread. Oh, one

of the favorite drawings, the Ninja Turtles,

but done up with these new weird variations.

Yeah. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Campbell

and Waltz after Eastman and Laird. So yeah, the

yeah, they know what they're doing. That's a

nice credit. That's an awesome credit. That's

great. That's that's great. That's what I love

about this. Yeah, that's what I love. Stand down.

You're either in violation of the citywide mutant

quarantine or guilty of gross stupidity if those

turn out to be turtle costumes. Wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait, wait, wait He's about to find out

they're not wearing costumes. Love it. But no,

man, I was so... We all know that, and I've said

it a million times and I will continue to say

a million times, I was a cartoon kid, I was not

a comic kid. I don't know if you and I will ever

cover the old books because it's just not my

thing. They get weird too. It's hard. There's

an abridged list. That I would give to somebody

to say these are the issues that you need to

hit, right? I understand that and and I liked

Having said that though having said that the

up team time over the last 11 years of you and

I covering the adw books I like what they did

with this if If this is the way which I know

this is not the case if this was the way the

old books were done I would probably dig in.

Issue one is fantastic. Issues two, three, and

four are very familiar to anybody who's watched

the cartoons or read this comic or done that.

It's that story. Those are good and interesting.

You can see that Eastman and Laird were paying

homage to things. But as soon as the Turtles

took off in pop culture, they got They kind of

stepped away from the book and let other creators

take the turtles and there's like 50 issues in

the middle of that first turtle run that are

not in continuity and they're weird. They're

really weird. It was a bunch of black and white

creators that they liked saying, hey, go play

with our characters because our book is selling

50 ,000 copies a month and get some exposure.

Here you go. Because Eastman and Laird have always

supported the black and white movement. and indie

comics. So there's a bunch of indie comic creators

that did an issue of Turtles in the day. And

so it doesn't make any sense until you get to

like issue 50 where they jumped back on the book

to wrap it up. That's crazy. That's absolutely

crazy. But yeah, how do we want to handle this?

Because this was weird in a good way. I understand

they were homaging the old style. I'm not used

to reading Turtles like this. This is not, and

I understand just like the annual, it's different.

It's to get new readers in, but even on a free

comic book day issue, this is not what I would

have done to get new readers to, because this

is not how the standard IDW Turtles books go.

Yep. And you kind of got to be in on the joke.

Yeah, absolutely. You have to be in on the joke

and or you've got to be familiar with the other

series to know of EPF Wait, we know those guys

and we know Venus. So yeah, this is a little

confusing. It's a I love I love this book and

I want to find out about these white turtles

because I Think I know where they're going with

them, but I don't I've never I haven't read the

conclusion. So I don't know Where is the conclusion?

It's it's somewhere in Armageddon game. Okay.

Well, we'll get there. Yeah We will get there

I don't know I This is not my territory folks.

So I don't know how we want to summarize this.

Oh Well, it's only Okay, it's not that long It's

a free comic. I'm thinking too hard about this.

I'm thinking about this in the way that I would

think about issue 131, 132, 133, where it's a

28 -page comic. I'm not thinking where it's like

a six -page comic. Well, mine is a 23 -page comic

because after that page where Venus is done watching

this happen, I have a reprint of turtles number

one, right with the duo shade and it's It's not

the complete reprint but it is a reprint of the

pages that they just made fun of not made fun

of they Referenced so you can see the panel for

panel Thing that Sophie was doing so it's it's

like I'm not counting the pages But it feels

like a full -size comic the free comic book day

one, which is if you don't get it on free comic

book day They're gonna they're gonna charge you

money for it. It's it's obnoxious to me that

Yeah, this and other free comic book day issues

have been very hard for me to find because I

don't go out Saturday morning When I should my

comic book stores, it's not for me. It's for

the people that don't read books go there Well,

yeah free comic book days so that costs the store

money when they comes around They have to purchase

those books and they have to give them away Right.

So and so here's what you do. Yeah, go in you

get your free books. Uh -huh And then you buy

like three funko pops you're still there store

money I go I go on Wednesday and get my book

and say hey when that turtle book comes out Can

you for a free comic book day? Can you put up

my pull bin and then I just pick it up a week

later? Oh, okay, because I buy I do frequent

the comic stores for I think free comic book

day the spirit of it is that You bring your two

kids and their friends in who don't read comics

and you get comics together. That's like in my

In my fantasy land, that's how they should be

treated. And it depends on your comic book store.

Some comic book stores say, here, take all of

them, whatever you want. And some comic book

stores are like, which one do you want? And that's

always a little sad sometimes. In Grand Rapids,

Michigan here, we are blessed with having like

11 comic stores. And so there are some people

that hit all of them for free comic book day,

just to get the things they want. Yeah, I loved

this this issue. Yeah, it was very fun very very

fun And and honestly folks like getting this

digitally It should not cost digital retailers

You should not have to pay like if you were gonna

get this digitally. It should be a free digital

comic book Interesting. Yeah, that's the point.

I'm gonna when we take the ad break I'm gonna

go look this up on Amazon and see if it actually

is free, because it should be. So there's that.

We've got all the variant covers back in the

back of the trade here. I love this one from,

who is this? Able? Able, yep. Never heard of

this person, but I love it. Look, it's got Splinter

and Shredder with the turtles in the front. That's

very cool. So yeah, very, very, very awesome.

That's a classic shredder. That's a classic red

cape shredder. For $10 ,000, you can have your

own variant printed. A comic book store would

do that. They'd hire the artist and then pay

the money to print the minimum number that IDW

needs to print. And so comic book stores will

do that for special issues where they know they're

gonna make their money back That's uh That's

a little rough there It is well, but yeah those

those variants like that when when they are so

limited for a comic store You sell them for 50

bucks a piece. That's true because there's those

completists completionists out there Especially

with these turtle books that are buying every

variant. Yeah Sorry listeners, I have to open

my sticky bag here. Oh, it didn't make any noise.

Usually it goes Oh Boy they are sealed away for

posterity As for posterity he says right now

I'm gonna read him in trades from now on See,

I told you. They're going to go get archived.

Wait for the trade. You always got to wait for

the trade, everybody. All right. I think that's

going to do it for us. What would you rate overall

the entirety of volume six game changers? I after

these podcasts, I always rate them higher than

I would have before the podcast. So, yeah, thank

you, Mike, for helping me walk through these

books a second time and helping me notice all

of the things that I didn't notice. I'll help

you reference, I'll help you recognize the old

book references. You help me reference, recognize.

There you go. When I completely overlook an important

theme. Yeah, yeah. It's another five, I think,

for that wonderful standalone story. Yep. And

then Shredder being the father figure and them

getting to connect with Splinter again. And then

the awesome issue number one homage. Yeah. These

are not your usual filler issues. No. They and

they aren't even filler issues at all. They're

storyteller. Yeah, exactly. No, exactly No, this

were any other book. These would be boring filler

issues that don't matter Yeah, but never been

this moved by the daredevil annuals that I've

read The annuals are out there I bet I bet those

animals happen just to give the main writer and

the main artist a break Oh God, yeah, probably.

The budget deserved a break, don't get me wrong,

but I bet that's why. Oh man, and folks, any

time, any time this comment can make me stumble

and not even read from the words, you know it's

fucking good. Yeah. Anytime like there have been

time and time again in the last 11 years out

of the 12 years that we've been doing this podcast

out of the 20 or so or 22 or 24 or 20 however

many podcast episodes the turtles books that

we've been doing for the If it can shut me up

and Basically make me stumble over everything

and not talk properly You know, it's good If

it can reference any Anything and everything

from anything that I've known before in this

franchise, you know, it's good Literally, they

didn't do it word for word But literally they

brought in the movie scene of splinter in the

fire and the campfire and the marshmallows and

to put those things away I've said that like

I guarantee you right now, even though we're

so far into this podcast I guarantee you somebody's

gonna start a drinking game every time I said

put those things away So Next time when you hear

Joe and I in the next episode of the podcast

will be TMNT Reborn Volume 7, Isolation. This

collects issues 133 through 139. Thank you for

relieving me of the pressure of needing to read

Armageddon game between each issue. Oh, hell

no. I'm not doing that. I don't know how I'm

going to do this, Mike. I feel like I have to.

No, don't. No, don't and stop. Stop it. More

behind the scenes stuff, folks. We went back

and forth, back and forth, back and forth with

the TMNT IDW continuity over the link that I

have had for years that shows the continuity

of the story order of how the issues are released.

an Armageddon game fits in between each of several

of the issues. It started with this trade paperback.

Hence why at the end of this, it says that it's

going to continue with the Armageddon game. Hence

why Shredder or Rokosaki references the Armageddon

game. So we are not going to interweave the Armageddon

game. That would be stupid. No, we're not doing

that. No, you're not if you do I'm gonna I'm

gonna hail it. I'm gonna hail an uber to Michigan

make you pay for it I'm gonna stay with you for

like a week and a half We're gonna record all

these things in person and we're gonna not record

Armageddon game until the fucking end Yeah, cuz

I can't I can't be sitting here going oh, that's

the way they said that because are we getting

no don't you don't and stop Folks the way we're

doing this inside the pull bag which is exactly

the way we should do it. I agree with you, Mike.

Told you so. Next episode. I just don't know

if I can do it. Do it. Do it right the first

time. Yeah. Yeah. Episode 577 is volume 7 isolation.

Episode 578 is volume 8 damage done. I can already

tell you right now, folks, in episode 578 as

a lifelong born and bred in Boston Massachusetts

Red Sox fan I am gonna be saying do damage damage

done Red Sox rule throughout that entire fucking

podcast because as soon as I saw the title of

do damage done I'm like go socks go socks and

then episode 579 we're gonna do the Armageddon

game all at once yes and then in episode 580

we will finish The series with episode issues

144 to 150 with volume 9 first, last, and always.

Wasn't that the name? No. Yes, it was. The name

of the Power Rangers? Yes, it was. Oh, shoot.

Yes, it was. Man, you knew what I was going to

say. Yep. Yep. Absolutely. So that's what's coming

up, folks. That's what's coming up here inside

the pull bag. We are having a blast as always

doing these comics. And we're gonna take a quick

ad break. We're gonna come back with our ratings

for this and close the show right after this.

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I can't prepare Put those away. All right folks.

We're back here in episode 576 of the pull bag

and This was game changers TMNT reborn of volume

six zero to five with half points What are you

gonna give it? This one's a five. Absolutely

five all the way Any final thoughts from you

sir before I run through the closing? No, I got

everything out. I needed to before the break

I do, I love that free comic book day issue.

And if you can't find the original, they make

trades. They make trades. They make trades. We'll

find the trade. Always wait for the trade, folks,

which reminds me, I meant to look this up. Yes,

friends, it's the new Turbo Ginsu. It dices,

it slices, it makes french fries in three, two,

whoops. Whoops. Kids. Yeah, geez the Rent free

in my brain. That's right. I'm gonna have to

watch that movie tonight. I think if I didn't

have to record a third podcast after this Like

literally right after this but yes folks the

teenage Ninja Turtles free comic book day 2022

TSU Ninja Turtles Armageddon game Kindle and

Comixology is free on Amazon with that cool cover

with the, as Josso eloquently put it, the white

turtles, even though only their masks and bandanas

are masks and turtlenecks. Can a turtle wear

a turtleneck? Yeah, it's their COVID masks. They're

not actually COVID but they look like that. There

is a variant cover of the four turtles wearing

COVID masks somewhere. on the Kindle store, Comixology

store on Amazon. So it is free. You don't have

to go to eBay or wherever you can get your comics

at ungodly prices. The digital version is free

on Amazon right now. So there's that. And before

I screw this podcast up anymore, thank you for

joining us here inside the pullback. If you'd

like to get in contact with us, leave feedback

for the show. There are several ways to do so.

visit the website geekcastradio .com where you

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I am at TF2 and Mike. You don't still tweet,

do you? Nope. I figured. But I don't know how

to do that either. You can find me at facebook

.com slash geek stuff garage sale. If you message

the page, that's me. Or you can even message

me at my Instagram. My username there is MrReadsHawaiianshirt

with underscores in between each word. Because

I like colors. Yes, yes he does. Even though

he didn't see the red bandanas. Even though I

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You can also check out the pull bag over there

as well. Join us next time when we will be discussing

TMNT Reborn Volume 7, Isolation, covering issues

133 to 139 of IDW Publishing's Teenage Mutant

Ninja Turtles. For now, I am TF2 and Mike with

Joe Reed. As always, make your greatest game

in the comics and we will catch you next time.

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