TMNT New Animated Adventures #1-3 Review

Hey guys, Raphael here at the Teenage Mutant

Ninja Turtles! Did you say podcast? Dudes! Dudes!

You're listening to a podcast on the Gatecast

Radio Network! Cowabunga! Welcome to... The Pullback!

Join us as we dig out our latest comics and discuss

them with a rotating panel of the GCRN crew.

So sit back and enjoy! This week's pullback.

Hello and welcome to The Pull Bag. This is episode

51. I am your host, TFJoneMike, and joining me

is that guy who loves to eat turtle soup, JT

from Saskatoon. Hello. It's disgusting and I've

never had a bowl. He drinks it in cups, people.

Mike's lying to you. He's Canadian. He'll eat

anything. Well, I refuse to eat the shit you

shovel out every time we meet Mike so they're

gonna have standards Yes Yes, and we are here

to talk about something that has nothing to do

with a superior spider -man We're here to talk

about the turtles who are the Teenage Mutant

Ninja variety We're not talking about the punk

frogs Mike I've been lied to I said punk frogs,

not Battletoads. I know, but that's the first

thing that popped into my head was Battletoads.

Worst video game ever. And yet they did manage

to generate one episode of a cartoon. I've gone

and broken his mind. No, I knew of the Battletoads

cartoon. Yes, but did you know of the crossover

video game they had with Double Dragon? oh god

and not just any double dragon the bad 90s hey

we've got suits of armor double dragon oh i thought

you were talking about um ugly and homely yeah

i don't i don't care what anyone says i still

love that movie oh that movie's gold for so many

reasons And listen mono not notwithstanding.

Oh She makes everything better. Yeah. Yeah Alright,

so turtles before we get into this Back on track.

Yeah. Well, there's a Couple of I'm gonna start

asking this to everybody because there are questions

from our listeners superfilm fan asks What are

your favorite non superhero comics Well none

Hmm non superhero race right now the two that

come to mind right away are Any of the atomic

Robo comics from red five it's basically takes

the idea that Nikola Tesla Back in the early

did early days of the last century created a

robot with automatic intelligence And it's basically

more of a sci -fi action -adventurous comic by

way of Hellboy, where Robo has lived through

the decades and he's kind of seen it all and

done it all. And the modern -day stories revolve

around him and Teslodyne and his action scientists

solving one issue. They solve super science crimes

with violent science. Which is and it's just

it's a lot of fun kind of played for yuck. Sometimes.

I mean one of his villains is and super intelligent

Raptor called Dr. Dinosaur hmm and Another no

another one. It's and this is just a straight

-up great kind of detective story almost but

it's a little sci -fi twist is a title called

resident alien from Dark Horse, which is basically

a human -sized gray alien with spock ears crash

lands in the continental united states i forget

what actual state the story takes place and i

think it's like washington state where he basically

has this mind whammy that makes everyone see

him as human and he just fakes being a human

to just live out his life you know if his people

come to pick him up that's great if not he's

just killing time and in the first miniseries

he he basically has taken on the identity of

this deceased doctor and he gets roped into this

murder mystery in this small town near where

he lives and it's just a really interesting thing

because like he's never drawn as looking like

human he's always drawn as being you know kind

of purplish skin spock ears you know names harry

and his mind whammy just makes everyone see him

As normals and it almost doesn't matter that

he's an alien. He's just a huge fan of detective

fiction and detective noir And you know the fact

and he he purely gets sucked into this mystery

because he enjoys a good mystery so the fact

that he's an alien just almost doesn't matter

and A third one that I got into and I love this

comic just because of my love of John Carpenter's

The Thing is a Vertigo comic called The Wake

where a bunch of people are brought to this super

secret undersea laboratory in the Antarctic and

they've got this in a tube in this tube in this

lab there's this giant killer man like fish man

who's kind of got this weird siren whammy can

make people see things that aren't really there

and that he breaks out and they they try got

to swim out into the water and the end of one

issue and make it to this escape sub and then

there's like a dozen other of these murderous

fishermen out there and bump bump bump sort of

moment. So those are three I would recommend

right off the hop. And Plato's lament asks do

you use any database or anything to keep track

of your comics? And how do you store your comics

classic bag board long box or another crazy method?

As far as storage, it's just a classic, you know

bag and board I Have short boxes. I got out of

long boxes a while ago because it's just a pain

in the ass to carry those long sons of bitches

and As far as keeping track The only thing I

really use for a database to keep things if I'm

like or if once a year I'll go and try and like

just organize my comics if I haven't gotten to

it in a while, they'll use something like comic

vine is a great website where they They keep

track of like past and present series, and I

kind of use that just to Double check things,

but I don't really have any system or anything

like that All right, so We are here to review

the free comic book day issue of the Teenage

Mutant Ninja Turtles new animated adventures

as well as issues number one through three of

that ongoing series. Before we get into that,

Nickelodeon last year, or this, well, no, it

was last year in 2012, brought back the Turtles

with a brand new animated series. You've got

Jason Biggs, Sean Astin, Rob Paulson, and Greg

Sipes voicing the Turtles. You've got May Whitman

voicing April O 'Neal. I'm blanking on Splinter

at the moment. You've got Kevin Michael Richardson

as the Shredder. Clancy Brown as Dog Pound. You've

got a brand new series. What were your initial

thoughts when you first saw the pilot or the

first episode of the series? I fell in love with

this show from day one. If you've ever loved

the Ninja Turtles on any level, and you see this

first episode, if you don't fall in love with

this, you're not human. Like there's just no

way you can't love this show. I mean, and right

away my main love, you know, goes out to the

like the Michelangelo because Mikey has always

been my favorite turtle. And there's I honestly

and I'm just going to say this is probably my

absolute favorite Ninja Turtles series. Like,

don't get me wrong. I love the original 87 cartoon.

I've got the complete series in the party wagon

collector's box. I've got pretty much every DVD

that's come out of the 03 series. But this new

series, it's something about the animation style,

the designs of the characters that I just fell

in love with right away. And there's a certain

kind of magic to having Beast Boy's voice coming

out of Michelangelo's mouth. I'm not a fan of

Teen Titans. Teen Titans for me is not in the

DCAU company. Oh, yeah, yeah. No, I'm not I'm

not starting an argument, but it was like If

it's that voice coming out of Mikey with the

interaction of the other brothers and the other

characters it it works. Well, yeah Just the whole

fact of hey Beast Boy is nothing against Mr.

Sypes at all. He's an amazing voice actor I just

I just never cared for Teen Titans is all oh

yeah I like that series I'm a really big fan

of the new one Teen Titans go But I love the

fact that you know Greg Sykes himself. He's an

actual pro surfer And it comes across like it

comes across in the Beast Boy stuff But it just

it's so perfect for Michelangelo because he's

this laid -back Kind of guy, you know, and he

just hangs out And he's he's like a slacker without

really being a slacker because they've talked

and I think it was this series or the oh three

series how Mikey is just like this naturally

gifted athlete sort of thing. So That's why he's

so good at being a ninja without you know training

all the time and that but it's yeah it's just

Greg Sipes voice it's so perfect the way he does

Michelangelo with that kind of surfer dude in

his voice it's awesome um and the fact you know

you look he the man who made love to a pie is

Leonardo and he does it in his like Jason Biggs

does his voice in such a way that you don't realize

it's Jason Biggs It's no I even before I saw

the announcement I mean obviously I saw the announcement

but like I'm trying to think to myself after

I saw the announcement How was how is he gonna

modify his voice enough to for people not to

recognize it? And he doesn't at all and I still

recognize it even if I hadn't seen his name previously.

Oh, yeah And then then you got you know, mr.

Frodo Samwise ganji, you know Sean Aston Mikey

from the Goonies is Raphael. And I love how he

gives Raphael a distinctive kind of accent without

doing the hardcore, you know, Brooklyn accent.

And forgive me, I forget the name of the voice

actor from the 03 series. But, you know, because

Raph and the 03 series had that kind of hardcore

Brooklyn accent, you know, in the live action

movies, he had that accent. The 03 series, wasn't

that Nolan North for Raph? Or was that Nolan

North in the 2007 film? He did one of them. I

forget which one. I think he did the 07 film.

But regardless, I love him as Raphael. But okay,

we gotta give it up to the man, Rob friggin'

Paulson. Yeah. Okay, great as Raphael. I mean,

it's one of the most memorable voices of a cartoon

character of my youth. a little bit more so than

Animaniacs because I watched Ninja Turtles a

lot more than I did Animaniacs but I love the

just plain nerdy nerdiness of Donnie and how

he's got like the man has got this natural motor

mouth. I mean, you listen to the songs he did

in Adam Maniacs and how has Donatello, he just

goes off and like that 10 second rant of some

like useless scientific facts. And you could

always feel Sean Asted glaring at him in the

recording studio before he says, shut up, Donnie,

you know, and the whole thing with how he's got

like, you know, this oh, so apparent, you know,

crush on April. And actually April's probably

of all the characters in the new series. She's

probably one of my more She's right there number

two after Michelangelo and that's due to Mae

Whitton and so voice work Yeah, you know cuz

she's got that kind of spunkiness to her. Oh,

yeah 2003 was Raph was voiced by Greg Abbey Yeah,

I'm gonna have to look it up later. See what

else he's done cuz it Sigma Six, Giant Robo,

F -Zero GP Legend, Jungle Emperor Leo, Now and

Then, Here and There, Pokemon, Wings Club, he

was in Yu -Gi -Oh!, as Tristan Taylor, He was

in Ultimate Muscle, So yeah, he was in he's in

a bunch of stuff. Yeah. Yeah, cuz I love April

The actor is it Hoon Lee does the voice? Yeah

Hoon Lee for splinter. That's what it was. You

know, he was He plays this character named job

in this as I think it's showtime series called

Banshee which is It's you got to check it out.

He's been in archers stuff like that. I love

his splinter Because the way he plays splinters

voice I liken it to Morgan Freeman how he's got

that kind of winking a nod Quality in his voice

because you look at how they play splinter Like

any conversation he has with Leonardo. It's got

that whole kind of that Morgan Freeman s thing

to it gonna say right now like the Kevin Michael

Richardson this man can do no wrong in my eyes

no he can't I mean he was one of the standout

voices of GI Joe renegades you know he absolutely

rocks the show as shredder oh yes just the way

he drops his voice down Just this menace that

just echoes out of this net and then you see

an air view with them And he's just the friendliest

sob you could ever want to meet You know, yeah

he is he is so awesome we've been Attempting

to interview him for a number of years here at

GCR and we will soon hopefully But no, I mean,

yeah, look at that guy From 2010. I mean you

could even go back to was it Was it ex evolution

was it ex emo or was I forget which one it was

No, I think it was Wolverine and the X -Men.

He was Bishop and Wolverine in the X -Men not

evolution You know you look at that and then

you know since at least 2009 2010 he's got Transformers

Prime with bulkhead. He's got he had Roadblock

for renegade G .I. Joe renegades then he's got

panthro for thundercats oh i love that just i

swear like this guy he just names panthro in

that episode at the end where like it's just

the thunder take and he just lays waste i was

just like five years old i was like kicking and

giggling at the same time and and i okay we we

know a certain aficionado who did not like the

batman series oh god here we go and i'm just

saying i'm only going to mention this one thing

his voice is the joker i thought was great it

wasn't mark hamill but it was pretty damn good

yeah you know well and see that's the other thing

that i've noticed over time and this isn't just

for turtles or it isn't just for and this is

kind of going off topic which we tend to do um

but with animation what i've noticed with with

specifically to animation is sure we all want

kevin conroy to be batman no matter what it is

we all want mark hamill to be the joker no matter

what it is yet i look at a lot of the designs

like there's some of the dc universe from films

where i don't think Kevin Conroy's voice fits

Batman that well. Not saying that Kevin Conroy

is bad as bad. I would never say that. Those

words would never come out of my mouth. I'm just

saying for the way it's animated and the way

it looks, take Gotham Knight, please. Just take

it and burn it. Gotham night that animate that

one of those first animated features that they

did with the six individual stories I just don't

think Conroy's voice fit that and and with Kevin

Michael Richardson His voice it fits Every single

character he's done the man does has yet to meet

a character Where his voice doesn't fit? I mean

just looking on his wiki here you know he did

Shadow King and Bishop and X -Men and then he

skips over to you know Brave and the Bold and

he did my favorite character to show up on that

show and I totally didn't think this would happen

but wanna beast on Brave and the Bold like he

just brought this energy to it like just you

couldn't help but love this guy and it goes on

he was Nick Fury slash Scorpion superhero squad

He was Martian Manhunter, Doctor Fate in Young

Justice. He was through Bulkhead and Nemesis

on Prime. Yeah, you know, it's just Killawog

on the Green Lantern series. Like, oh, I almost

forgot about Killawog. That was when I was going

to mention. Yeah. And then like currently, like

I said, like I love Teen Titans Go. And he showed

up in an episode, one of the first episodes and

did the voice of Trigon, like, you know, the

Devil demon father of Raven and he's a recurring

character sheriff blubs in Gravity Falls You

know, it's just this dude like if I ever meet

him at a convention I'm just gonna like ask to

shake his hand and say thank you, you know and

Probably think we've been running a little bit

here one the last voice. I want to mention Before

we move on if there's anybody you want to talk

to is I totally didn't think it was kelly hugh

as karai Seriously, oh I knew it as soon as she

opened her mouth. Well it took me a couple appearances

before it clicked to me because uh What's the

name of the lady that does uh rc on uh? Simile

montano. Yeah, see for the first couple of times.

I thought that was her voice Because it did sound

kind of similar. I mean, but you know, obviously

I was hearing things, and then I was like, Kelly

Hugh, and I was like, damn. And again, like Michael

Richardson, Greg Sipes, you know, she just kind

of brings this energy and this quality to her

voice that, you know, however old she is, you

don't hear that. You hear this, you know, teenage

girl like that, but a teenage girl who's a complete

and utter badass. So I've seen Kelly who and

enough stuff X -Men 2 She was on a number of

Episodes of one of the seasons on ash bridges.

She's been on several different episodes of law

and order arrow Huh? Oh, she's like a recurring

villain on arrow. Yeah, she's a recurring villain

on arrow now She's been the voice of Stacy on

Phineas and Ferb the entire show. So I knew that

as soon as she opened her mouth Yes, you didn't

know that? What the hell is wrong with you? You

lose your geek cred card right now. Cut up. Cut

up right now. Don't be talking about that. Cut

up right now. Turn it in. You're done. What the

hell? I cannot believe you did not know that

Kelly Who was Stacy from Phineas and Verb. There's

something seriously wrong with you, JT. Oh, a

great many things, I'm sure. Although, before

we move on, we've got to mention one other voice.

This is the freaking Kurgan, the owner of the

Krusty Krab, Clancy Brown. That's dog pound,

yeah. And I love the fact that his character,

before he gets mutated, he is so obviously patterned

after Chuck Norris. Well, yes. Anyone that says

that he doesn't look like Chuck Norris is lying.

Yep. You know? Oh yeah, most definitely. Yeah,

that was so, so cool, but I mean, I wanna bring

up the fact really quickly, and I'm sure that

Steve, I know Steve Megatron is a huge fan of

the Turtle stuff, and I'm sure he'll talk about

it at some point, somewhere, to somewhere down

the line, and we're not trying to go in depth

on the cartoon at all, but I gotta talk about

Rob Paulson, because everybody was like, oh,

it's just, Rafa, it's gonna be the same voice,

it's not, it is Rob's voice? But it is completely

different tone. Raphael is more sinister and

dark, whereas Donnie is more light -hearted.

I wouldn't say Raphael was sinister, but he had

more of a - Like that aggressive attitude. That's

what I'm saying. Yeah You know 87 RAF is got

you know, the in -your -face wit and comedy and

character Whereas 2012 Donnie he does have certain

like oh god the the episode where he had to learn

to use his weapon properly Yeah, because his

weapon I forget which season one episode it is

his his weapon gets destroyed in one of the battles

Yeah, it's no is it no, no, no, it's not it's

not when it gets destroyed. I'm losing It's when

they get their weapons from splinter at first

and splinter gives him a stick and then later

in the episode he's like What am I supposed to

do with a stupid stick? Oh, yeah The delivery

that Rob gives, I mean, and we had talked to

Rob before the series, I think we have a 2012

interview before the series even aired, where

we asked Rob about it, and he said, yeah, they

called me back, they knew I was Raph, and they

wanted me for Donnie, because they wanted Donnie

to go in a little bit different. Route than what

has previously been done and oh, yeah, I've loved

I'm so like I just saw the first Episode of season

two this past weekend and man is it good. Oh,

yeah. No, it's definitely I think like one of

the reasons I love the new series so much is

the fact that Again Donatello, you know with

the whole Rob Paulson's performance is and it's

more of a natural Badass coming out of the Donnie

and this one because like the first one. It's

like yeah You know, it's like he's a turtle with

a stick Yeah, I think I'm not knocking the first

series. I wanted to see he was a turtle with

a stick You know, it's but and the Donatello

as smart as he was and badass as the turtles

were in the oh three series It just again. It's

just like he was a badass first and the nerd

second, but there's this more natural You know

sort of quality in this version of Donatello

and I'm just looking on the wiki of some of the

other voices I mean you got Nolan North's in

the show. He is the Krang Yeah Where are the

beings called the turtles are they being where

you know, just how how he doesn't break his tongue

talking like that I'll never know I and I was

surprised like this. Well, it was kind of stunt

casting and you got Roseanne Barr as crying prime

the season finale and I didn't find the way they

tweaked her voice. I really liked that. Just,

yeah, a lot of people are like, Oh, it's Roseanne.

Oh, it's, it's, it's horrible. And the way that

they tweaked it and the way that they didn't

splice her lines, but like the way the, the,

that the promos and the advertisements went with

the invasion begins now. Like that was badass

and cool and I was skeptical at first and then

I saw it and I'm like, that's pretty damn cool.

Yeah. And then of course, you got another workhorse

in the industry, Phil Lamar is in here as Baxter

Stockman, which until I read the Wiki after his

first couple of appearances, I didn't hear Phil

Lamar just because he's got that high pitch and

it's so unlike anything else he's done before.

I've been paying attention to these voice actors

way too long because I knew as soon as I heard

it. It kind of gave me pause, but his Baxter

is kind of a cross between his static and something

else that he does. Static from static shock.

Sorry, you go. I I knew that was that was Phil

as soon as I heard it I was like, oh, that's

so cool. Yeah, and I mean One of the crank voice

is like I didn't notice this at all until I was

looking at the wiki today In the episode where

April's almost kidnapped by this mrs. Campbell

Yeah, like a crank that's she's voiced by Elektra

Mistress of the Dark, Cassandra Peterson. I was

like, that's really cool. And you look at some

of the voices coming up for this new season,

you got Josh Peck from like Drake and Josh off

of Nickelodeon is going to be voicing Casey Jones.

The neutralizer, which is that giant salamander

mutant that you see in one of the last episodes

of the first season is going to be voiced by

Danny Effentrao. And they're bringing in the

mutant Ninja Turtle Slash. Yeah, and did you

hear who's what gonna be voicing him? No, Corey

Feldman. Oh Yeah, so we're getting it. Oh, it's

gonna be interesting You know what? I don't care

if it's even just one episode if you can get

the movie version of Casey Jones Elias Cody is

in to do an episode I'll die happy Because if

they're if because the whole premise of the show

is if they're you know if the Kranger from another

dimension Well, what if there's another Casey

in another reality? You could have the Casey's

meet up and team up and just have like this and

I've seen some of these forever You got the Casey

Jones from the oh three series you got the Punisher

like psychotic Casey Jones from the original

series I'm sure Captain America, Casey Jones,

Chris Evans would... Yeah, you could probably

have a Casey's Forever episode. My god, it'll

be glorious. alright so we've traveled on long

enough about the animated series the only thing

i'm going to say about the cartoon is that the

stories are damn good the writing is is amazing

the animation i love how the animation combines

with standard regular like western animation

and combines and like like when they do sometimes

when they have the steam coming off their heads

it's it reminds me of an anime Oh, yeah, they

have those little touch or if your eyes bug out

or if they if they draw it differently or whatever

else what I also love is they combine animation

anime and also comics because if you look at

the end of every episode it fades out and it's

it looks like a comic page because it fades to

black and white and it's also how they fade out

at the end like that and I love the Nod to the

cover of the first issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja

Turtles in the theme song like right at the end

there that's And the theme song's great, too.

My favorite is still the 87. I like the homage

that the 2012 did with the background stuff,

but I'm used to the rap at this point, but I

just don't think rap needs to be for cartoon

themes. It works for the Ninja Turtles. It doesn't

work for robot lions, and that's all I'm going

to say. We'll be back after this with the reviews

of the issues. Anything can be a weapon. Sensei,

you can't seriously send us out there armed with

nothing but a comic book. For a ninja, anything

can be a weapon. So what do you want us to do?

I want you to embrace the unfamiliar. Switch

weapons! Look, I'm Leo! Guys, shh! We have to

be quiet. Ninjas are quiet. Quiet down. I saw

nothing like that! Yes, that's why we're laughing,

because you sound nothing like that. Face each

other. Hajime! We are back, ladies and gentlemen,

and it is time to talk about Free Comic Book

Day now. Oh, it's like Christmas for nerds. Free

Comic Book Day 2013 happened, was it May 4th?

May 1st? It's the first May of, or first Saturday

in May every year. Go back and look and make

sure I get my date. Yeah, yeah, it was... May

the fourth be with you people It was it was Saturday

May 4th 2013 You know I've only been into comics

full -time since October of last year and You

know 2013 was my first free comic book day and

I was like, okay cool go cuz I wasn't sure like

what was gonna be free and what wasn't and everything

else and and some of the stuff is really cool

and well I always get excited in the early part

of spring like that you know when they start

showing like the comics they're coming out for

free comic book day I mean uh here in Saskatoon

uh the comic store I go to 8th street books and

comics uh usually get like a few cosplayers show

up uh Tom Gromit who's been this dude is in my

top five all -time favorite comic book artists

and he lives here in like in in and around Saskatoon

like he's one of the major artists of like the

death of Superman back in the day and he always

comes into the store and for a few dollars he'll

do like a sketch You know, I've gotten like the

Peter Parker, half Peter Parker, half Spider

-Man face. I got the classic Iron Man with the

horns on his helmet. You know, stuff like that.

It's just a fun time because there's so, you

know, you get a few free, you get one, the guy

that runs the store, Patti, you get one free

comic and for a dollar donation or per one dollar

per comic donation towards the charity, whatever

charity has that year. You can get all of them

and it's just such a fun day to go in and just

meet my people So yeah, but yeah, unfortunately,

I Didn't get there. I couldn't get the day off

to go to free comic book day this year So I ended

up paying for the free comic book date Ninja

Turtles I Hanged my head in shame and handed.

Yes. Yeah, but yeah Oh, yeah, there is a proof

of purchase on here. I didn't even see that on

the back. But yeah, the free comic book day issue.

The cover is New York with the four turtles and

Splinter. Oh, yeah. Well, the cover like that.

But I was just saying, just in general, comics

like this that are tied into an animated property,

they're usually the issues are usually take place

in between episodes. They don't specifically

what it just. Works and this one from the few

issues that are out so far. I just say right

off the hop work very well But yeah, just a very

simple but strong cover you know very much like

just a group shot with the turtles and splinter

and I Love the fact that splinter has like I

mean it isn't really this but he kind of has

a pimp came Because splinter in this show is

a pimp Yeah. And he's sitting there with his

staff and Donnie has his bow and everything,

Mike. He's with the Chucks. The art's done by

this Dario, and I hope I pronounced this right,

Brazula. Yep. The story's done by Eric Burnham.

Yeah. Dario's art is very evocative of the animation

style of the series, but it still makes it his

own. Yep. So, you know, it looks like a cartoon

and all the same without being based on the cartoon.

Although I think the turtles are a little more

fleshed out and look slightly more real in the

comic because you look in the show just how with

elbows and knees it just like there's more elbow

and knee pad than there is actual elbows and

knees so just my thing. Well they have to you

know they have to find a way to get the 2d the

the 3d stuff down to 2d so I mean And this is

the one where This is a story where they switch

weapons, right? Yeah, just yeah cuz my so funny

about this is I read this and Then like two weeks

later. They did the same thing on the show and

I found that I'm sorry to say the story in the

comic did it better than what happened on the

show Well, yeah, especially with that first bit

where you know, Mikey does this Weird ninja somersault,

you know obstacle course sort of flipping, you

know, he lands and then You know, he did it with

his eyes closed and then his brothers are just

ragging on and splinters like okay time to teach

Yeah, you know, he switches the weapons and he's

like, you know attack me and just the way Hoon

Lee like that's the other thing about this comic

like Like, I read the teenage, like, the Archie

adventure series that Ninja Turtles had back

in the day, but I never read that and heard the

Ninja Turtles, like, you know, like Rob Paulson's

voice is Raphael and all that. But reading these

comics, I hear that. So like, when you see Splinter

yell, Hajime, I hear Hoon Lee's voice, you know,

going off in my head. Oh, yeah, it's it's irresistible

because it is tied to the it is tied to the cartoon

and is the cartoon designs in comic form And

you yeah, I mean that's the same thing like you

know When you read certain Batman stuff you hear

Kevin Conroy or you hear Mark Hamill or you know

You know or you know if you read bad girls some

people hear Tara strong other people see other

people hear Mary Kay Bergman, et cetera, et cetera.

So, but yeah, no, the story is basically that

Splinter wants them to learn that a weapon can

be anything and they need to switch weapons.

Um, I love the art style in this. I do. Well,

especially in the, like the next page, like after

he's mopped the floor with them and he's like,

so you could go on your evening patrol or you

could clean the lair. And just the way Grisula

writes, he just puts that wink in a nod. Into

splinters face when he says you could stay in

and clean the lair. I love that. Yeah, it's so

awesome and It's yeah, like there's a fluidity.

I think would you know, there's just this very

fluids pace to Brazil's art you know, like we

see them running across the rooftops and they're

jumping across the alley and they run into some

purple dragons and One of the best things in

the 03 series was the fact that you know wasn't

just the foot clan You know it was eventually

the purple dragons became like the mate or not

one of the main enemies in the later seasons

And yeah, I love the bit where Leo reaches for

his swords and Mike he's like they're in your

belt, dude Yeah, I just this pissed off look

I know And it's like the purple dragons are like

they're stealing like stereo equipment and Musical

instruments and like hey, it's those lizard guys

Yeah, it's like really like I'm not I'm not saying

the gang members got to be rocket scientists

But did you not notice the giant shells? Yeah,

yeah really Is that is that supposed to be hon?

I don't think so. Are you sure? I don't think

any of them have really been given names right

no no I know but like the design on on the guy

ponytail with the purple headband the bald guy

it certainly got the size but yeah I think they're

just I think it's a I wouldn't I haven't heard

this in an interview but I think it's a hard

not quite a hard and fast rule with the show

but I think they're just keeping the dragons

nameless Yeah, no, that's that's fine. It's just

the design of the character. It does kind of

look like honey, you know, yeah And I love this

and I love this in the show too. Hey, look, it's

Banner Steakman. Oh, yeah, like You know, they

were the turtles. They'd find this little piece

of tech and they're like, well, obviously they

stole it from somebody else and you know the

stockman bought sessions I love how it I love

the fact that the turtles do it on purpose in

the show, you know, and because I Love it that

they do it here, too Well, yeah, no, but I mean

that's like they do it on purpose just to tweak

Stockman and yeah It's just that's one of the

best things about the show and eat and again

you I hear Phil Lamar's Rendition of Baxter Stockman

where he's like this high -strung nerd with delusions

of grandeur You know come out and and you hear

that when you read his words in this comic Yeah,

it's like it's not going to happen stackman Yeah,

yeah, it's just I love that they make fun of

his name because again It's something that with

this version of the character and I know that

this version is based off the original comic

version or at least As far as the skin tone it

is and the fact that he's not a fly yet We'll

see what happens in season two. Fingers crossed,

I'm hoping. I think, yeah, but yeah, I mean,

you know, it's a very different version of Baxter

than we've ever seen before, really. Sure, it

still has, he's had the mousers, he's got his

robots, he is tech, but it's... It's like he

took the best parts of the Baxter from the 87

series and the... scientific know -how of the

Baxter from the 03 series and you know brought

them together and that's one of the better things

about the show in general as well as the comic

is that there's kind of a very subtle blending

of a lot of things from the different Ninja Turtle

franchises so oh yeah and I can sew here I'm

kind of flipping through as we're talking about

it but there's a page where I think it's Raph

is egging Donnie on is like, you're not fighting

your dance. And I wasn't dancing. I can so hear

Rob saying, Oh, yeah, because, you know, they're

going through the fight and all that. And then,

you know, for and I love like, they have that

break it down where Leo's like, okay, maybe we

should do what Splinter told us to do. So they

switch, switch their weapons up again. And it's

just like and Leo goes Hajime and then Mikey's

like it sounds weird when you say it You know

in the the way lace yeah, I see that now is I

wasn't dancing And I love that because you can

hear Rob's like huh can't believe that worked

I mean I always knew spatial geometry would come

in handy Which is again one of the best things

about Donnie in this show is how he's such a

nerd And yeah, so they lay waste to the droids

and I Love how they're like trying to Baxter

tries to get away with the one robot. He just

goes face first into a fire hydrant and Pretty

much that's pretty much where they end the series.

I mean they go back to the lair They're like

you were right sensei. I know I'm always right

Clean the lair Yeah, I know. We're ready for

anything sensei. He's like Here's the mop. Here's

a bucket. You know what you do Yep And I and

I have to say again that one of the greatest

things what IDW is They do not have ads like

actual Hey kids come buy a spider -man backpack

They do not have ads in their books at all and

their solicits are at the very very end exactly

I Absolutely love that about them Alright, so

that's the free comic book day issue. I love

the story. I love the art I think it was absolutely

amazing. We will give our ratings and stuff when

we close the show Now this was a prelude to the

you know, it's kind of like an introduction to

the overall ongoing that's that's happening now

and Just absolutely awesome. The one thing I'm

kind of mad about and I'm not really that mad

anymore because let's face it. It's It's December,

and it's long past over, but IDW sometimes will

do subscription covers for first issues, and

for some stupid reason my shop didn't get one

for me, so... I missed out on I think it was

an Eastman cover. Yeah, there was the regular

cover by brazula there was a Subscription variant

by Kevin Eastman there and really it's up to

the shop whether or not they want to order in

the the variant covers So and I and I understand

that but I mean if you had If they see a solicit

and it says subscription variant and they look

at their list and they see someone that has a

pull list with them that is wanting to be subscribed

to the series, then they should order the cover

regardless. Oh, yeah. You look at some of the

other covers, there's kind of a group shot by,

what's the artist, Ciro Nellie. With the shredder

and splinter in the background. There's a San

Diego Comic Con variant where the boys are running

roughshod through the convention hall. There's

another one, Awesome Con, which I haven't heard

of before. Awesome Con variant by Steve Conley.

You see the four baby turtles about to take a

dip in some green colloidal gel. you see the

shadows in the background which I would have

if I could have got that cover or the Eastman

cover would have been cool I know at my store

they had the regular cover and the Ciro cover

but I went with the regular cover which is you

know the boys in April running through a junkyard

yeah I mean I like it it's it's a cool cover

it's just one of the it's just one of those things

that I'm sorry if if a comment company says hey

if you subscribe to this title You'll get this

and then I don't get it. It's like I feel jipped

Yeah, like I wasn't able to get the sound wave

Very subscription variant for transformers prime

beast hunters and that kind of pissed me off,

but I'll get it eventually No, it's like I know

what you mean like and I never cared about varying

covers in the 90s and I mean of all things in

the comic book world to come back again I did

not suspect this current renaissance dare I call

it of the alt covers and you know chromium I

mean look at stuff like the age of Ultron that

Marvel went through a few months ago with the

this chromium you know embossed cover stuff like

that like Alt covers have kind of been a thing

over the last few years, but just in the last

couple of years, it's really just gathered all

this steam. So, you know, if if you look at IDW,

they put out two for the Transformers books for

robots in disguise and more than meets the eye.

They put out cover A and cover B. They put out

a retail incentive. every month there are some

times with those titles specifically coming up

this month in December with Dark Cybertron there's

going to be various subscription covers for specific

you know more than meets the eye 23 24 20 you

know whatever you know and that's like generally

you're right I mean sure when I'm going through

the transformer stuff if I like cover a more

than cover B or vice versa I'll pick one of those

two because they're the same price It's really

with my shop. It's sometimes the variants are

like two or three or four dollars more sometimes

in the case of superior spider -man I think it

was number four that pissed me off that the variant

cover of it was yeah, because it was that dumb

Oh, it's a stupid guy's name the guy he shot

The guy he killed in issue five what the hell?

Massacre yeah massacre uh... you know they wanted

thirty five dollars for that number four variants

but i was like no uh... but like if it's something

that says hey subscription cover i'm going to

eat if i'm subscribed to it i'm going to want

it that's you know it's just or i don't want

the option to you know it's i don't know so anyway

the story for the first issue here uh... first

page we've got april basically spying on the

turtles apparently Or so it seems and then all

of a sudden sucker arrow to the head It's like

sucka and then And here's one of my favorite

things of Michelangelo in the show is how he

does all the naming of their enemies and stuff

like that Dr. Feinstein. Yeah, I still love The

little thing like where he names the shell raiser

they just all look at I was like that's pretty

awesome And then, you know, Raph's like, I can't

believe he found her before I did. And, you know,

it's part of her ninja training. And Donnie's

like, hey, you want to come on a mission with

me? Yeah. And of course, he's going to go check

out to like this, go to this junkyard for some

spare parts. And, you know, Mikey's teasing him

about a date. And again, how we talked about

how Rob Paulson is so awesome. Like, you read

this section where he's like, it's not a date.

If it were a date, I mean, I've never planned

it. It's a top secret military junkyard. You

know, you could hear Rob Paulson's voice there

and. Oh, yeah. And then what at what blanket

Leo's like, she isn't ready. So which is, you

know, a trope of animated series or comic books,

you know. So April's like, hey, I can do it.

Let's go. And, you know, and again, he says.

She uses her training and she disguised herself

puts on a wig dark clothes You know they get

in you see it's like this high -tech ex -military

hardware You know junkyard, and I love that bit

where April asks does any of it work? And they

just put this sly look on Dottie's face. It works

when I'm done with it It's just like you see

that that smirk in his face is like that is worthy

of Burt Reynolds, sir Yeah, it is and then very

much so, you know, they're going through and

I got to say Brazil is art in this one More so

than the free comic book day issue I'm really

digging the sequence where they're going through

the junk area because he plays with the shadows

very well He does the other thing we have to

bring up here is Brazil is still the artist Heather

Breckle is the colorist The difference between

the conflict day issue and this is Kenny Byerly

is writing this and I I'm one of those people

that when I see Okay, I will totally freak out

if by Nightwing number 28 Kyle Higgins name is

not on the writer cover or is not on the writer

credit and someone else's I will completely freak

out and I'm I'm that way with anything like When

it comes to comics if I'm used to a certain writer

or if I'm used to reading in a certain way I

get really skeptical. I don't throw it away I

don't dismiss it, but I get really skeptical

and really honestly Because I think I could I

could be wrong about this and maybe it's the

Eddie W guys that that that really wanted to

do it this way no matter who's writing it it's

still there's no real change here between the

writers they're really there might be a change

in how like monologues are done or how like the

city junk you know how how those layouts might

be done but as far as the personalities of the

turtles and april and splinter there's no real

change between the comic book day story and this

there really isn't oh no because i mean you look

and it's and it's great it's amazing but there

are times where You know you have a writer for

so long doing a book and then they leave to do

other things or You know heaven forbid they get

fired and someone else comes in takes the reins

and does their own thing with an it's like I

Can we go back to the other person, please? Yeah,

no, I didn't have that issue with this is what

I'm saying. It's always a very seamless transition

I mean, yeah, and I love the bit like April gets

snagged by the MP like the military police she

gets interrogated Donnie calls Leo you were right,

you know, and then they're all up in this roof

and You know rad they're talking about how they

face giant sewer monsters and if the government

season they're gonna want to know more about

us I love the line Mikey's like they'll just

have to read my blog and then Raph is like head

smack you have a blog. It's cool. I just talked

about TV shows And that's and that's the thing

like I don't know if the the writers in the comic

are writers on the show Or if they've just talked

to the writers on the show, but that is something

that would totally be in an episode of the series

You know I would I would assume I don't know

I'd have to look up the writing credits for the

show But I don't think that the writers on the

comic are the same I could be wrong I'm saying

that now I could be wrong, but I think what it

is is is that IDW? Just like they have a strong

relationship with Hasbro for Transformers stuff.

I'm sure they have a strong relationship with

Nickelodeon for the turtle stuff. Oh, I would

imagine so. They probably talked to... because

Ciro is one of the executive producers and stuff,

so I'm sure... Ciro Nellie, I'm sure they talked

to him. I'm sure they talked to the other writers

and everything else, so... Plus, I mean, if Eastman's

doing covers for IDW, I'm sure... because he

is... He's the one out of the two between Eastman

and Laird. He's the one that's really, you know,

pimping out promoting any kind of turtle stuff

and Laird's just kind of like, you know, we did

our thing and it's not, you know, nowadays it

isn't what I thought it was. It's not as important

to him today as it once was. I mean, yeah, it's

kind of like, uh, if you ever seen Jay and Silent

Bob strike back, it's kind of how, you know,

uh, was it Ben Affleck's character Holden? You

know sold off his rights to blunt man and chronic

like yeah, and he kind of regrets not hanging

on to a piece of that So yeah, but yeah, I love

what goes on like that, you know, the turtles

get in they cause a distraction I love the image

under the you have a blog panel I love the image

of who's there and I love the shock on all their

faces in the back And that's like something out

of the show how they have like those Yeah, where

they get that shock and they just get the wide

white eyes And that's the other thing just a

quick side to the show how when they're just

talking and some action sequences You see the

pupils and then when it gets into like a really

intense kind of thing You know their pupils they

become like Batman eyes and there's no pupils

and they're just all business but yeah, I'd like

the you know, the turtles take out some lights

and they turn on this like for some reason they

got like a stock race car in there that They

use a gun on the top of it. It looks I swear

to God It looks like something skids would have

used in Revenge of the Fallen. Yeah And then

it goes back to April being interrogated by like

this like lieutenant or general or something

and She basically bluffs him and sends all the

guys out and the turtles break into rescue her

What I love from this point on is how they're

all because there's have to sneak around The

comic is drawn with them all in shadow Love that.

I thought that was great. Well, yeah, even that

sequence were like Donnie's like perched up in

the corner of the ceiling You know, I love it

when they don't look up and you know April's

fighting these guys off and he's you know hacking

into the security cameras and everything and

yeah, it's just and again, like I said with the

Brazillas are just the use of shadow and The

perspective and all that it just works. So well

Yeah, it's yeah, it's so good, especially that

right towards the end where the lights go out

And it's like that where was it Mikey says It's

like huh, I was kind of hoping it'd be darker

and then April knocks the lights out my wish

came true now I want a skateboarding pony It's

kind of like God you keep mentioning J and son

Bob. I was like I can think of his friggin dogma

I would like for a million dollars to fall out

of the sky. Here comes a flaming black man. Yeah

chris rock lands Yeah, and I love yeah so like

they they bust april out and they get back in

the sewer and Okay, and I know it's a comic book

but the one It's not a big pet peeve or anything.

It's just in the show that Shellraiser always

looks like this badass ride worthy of a Batmobile.

And it just looks so plain and ordinary in the

two panels that shows up in this comic. And I

was just like, aw, man. Well... You know, and

it's such a nitpicky thing. One of the panels

you're talking about is where they say, April,

you're the best. And I think it's, you know,

I think it's the way it's... Because showing,

like... That panel where they're all stamped

before they get in it and drive off It does look

like it would look like in the in the show But

I think the motion of it and the way the light

the way that brazello had the light play off

of it That's why it may not look as cool as it

does because it's all It's not like the fully

colored one on the panel before it and then after

it It's all because it's all yellowish light

from the headlights and stuff in the in the tunnel.

I think that's why You might not like it is because

it's more of a motion shot and it's not It's

not a background color shot and a and a color

shot for the actual character that the shell

raiser is that's where the where the issue lies

there Yeah I mean all in all it's a great first

issue and like I said earlier like it could fit

between any one episode of the show Well, it

was directly supposed to Is it? No. Yeah, this

could, yeah, this one could fit between any episode

of the show. The one before it, the free comic

book day issue was meant to mirror, or the show

was meant to mirror the free comic book day issue.

Either way. But, absolutely amazing issue. First

issue was absolutely cool. The next issue, issue

two. also written by by early art by roosella

and colors by breccel uh... the cover is the

turtles versus stink weed snake weed isn't it

stink weed snake weed whatever they have any

of the the knockoff swamp thing yeah the i'd

like the uh... the regular cover by brazil is

great uh... wish we could have got uh... in this

at least in my store the Sec the variant by Ben

Bates, which is a subscription very see This

is pissing me off now because yeah, I got the

stinkweed cover as well Yeah, but no the baseman's

got this very kind of anim anime sort of feel

to the arts Yeah, like you know you got splinter

in April up top and April's got the fans and

there's the brothers down below And I just love

Mikey there with the nun checks his hands. It

got his tongue out Gene Simmons style You know

Mikey's a rock star Yes, yes he is and then they

got you know, we get into the first page and

we see one of the better things they did like

Leonardo Again in the 87 series he had a personality

But it wasn't as pronounced as this one like

Larry's this kind of uptight You know follows

the rules, you know does what he's told sort

of thing Like he's a good soldier sort of type

and then you find out he's also a huge nerd Yeah,

not only is he a huge nerd. He's a tricky Yeah,

or a wannabe trekkie because it's not technically

Star Trek, but yeah No, I it's it's mimicking

the and I'm gonna say this and I know I'm gonna

get a lot of heat for it from a lot of people

I've watched Star Trek the animated series on

Netflix. I it's one of the worst animated series

I've ever seen Outside of the voice actors because

the voice the voice actors are the original characters.

I'm sorry that show sucks in my opinion Say I

think they're watching was it space heroes. It's

was yeah, it's it's Let's see how many hours

are you gonna watch all of them the space heroes

marathon only airs and once a yes space It's

called space heroes Yeah, and then the cable

goes out and Donnie goes up to fix it and you're

gonna wonder how many people walk by this random

alley and just see like a satellite this little

wired into the wall and going into the ground

and you know storms coming in cables gonna be

out for a while and Leo's like ah Nature ruins

everything and I love the fact, you know Splinter

all of a sudden he's there and he's giving him

a lesson. He's like but oh sure I get that sensei,

but I wanna watch the Star Trek show, you know?

And then was it, oh yes, Carlos Gambe. I am not

gonna waste time in his middle names or make

the clicking sound with my tongue. You know,

and he's like, all of a sudden there's like this

sudden and mysterious plant growth. So what do

the boys do? They head out to find it and it

starts to look like something out of a horror

movie almost. This is one of the reasons why

like I love the start of this issue But as far

as the fact of pulling stinkweed from the show

into the comic This is basically a stinkweed

origin is what it is, isn't it? No, this is after

cuz It's like oh, yeah. Okay. Okay. I was gonna

say one of the reasons why I don't like this

is cuz it's stinkweed or snake snakeweed I'm

sorry. I keep thinking about I don't know why

I keep calling him Stinkweed. I keep thinking

of a pup named Scooby -Doo because that's where

Stinkweed was. Well, you could just call him

Not Swamp Thing. Yeah, there is that too. But

yeah, so like the turtles in April, and again,

I dig some of the perspective shots here that

Brazil is doing. They come out of the subway

and there's people in weird organic cocoons and...

You know, they're trying to find snakeweed and

then all of a sudden boom like the Hulk or the

Kool -Aid man before him through the wall Hey,

I did seriously when I saw that the first words

that went through my mind were like, oh, yeah

You know and I kind of dig the way Brazila draws

Snakeweed here and he looks more of a mutant

and again this is a nitpicky thing because when

you see him in the show and like his legs split

apart and you see like the meat and the bone

in there and it's just kind of like yeah no just

not not digging that uh but I do dig the uh I

can't remember the guy's name is Danny something

that does the voice For snakeweed on the show

for snakeweed. Okay, and Because he's got that

vid is very pronounced like your New York accent.

Mm -hmm. And So again, like I said with Donnie

like you hear the voice actors. Yeah, you know

doing this and I love the nod to the 87 cartoon

where he's the turtles are fighting snakeweed

and he starts You know wrecking shit and flipping

a cop car And you know, there's uh, you know

carlos gambes like trying to get interviews April

straight up grabs the mic. He goes. This is april

o 'neil channel 6 news. I was like, yes I know

it's so great And he's like hey dream on kid.

Yeah Well, it's kind of like when they they did

the uh, was it the episode where the in the 03

series where the turtles are trapped in the tcii

building and april You know fakes being a reporter

for channel six and she gets in the yellow jumpsuit

and casey is like Hey, you could have been a

reporter and she's like, yeah and another life

so So yeah, but when you get back to it, you

know the boys are chasing snakeweed and they

find some sort of flower bud and Donny goes into

nerd mode and he's like it's full of spores.

He's gonna conquer the humans Who knows how far

these things could spread? I love the fact that

you know Raph because he's you know talking smack

to Donnie Leo leaves him with Donnie and goes

Leo goes off with Mike and they start fighting

the tentacles and they're going up through this

building and I love like the action shots here

this giant plant tentacles like ripping the crap

out of this building and they're like so awesome

and it's like don't look now Donnie says but

the plants are getting mad yeah really and Raph

being the brain surgeon that he is really let's

see how mad they can get so he starts stabbing

it i was like do not stab the giant plant tendril

yes what i do like um i should have mentioned

this earlier when snake or yeah snake was talking

uh i like how instead of like when when the turtles

talk it's usually white Word bubbles word balloons

with snakeweed talking. It's a green word balloon

with blacked. I like how they distinguish that

Oh, yeah, I thought that was a really cool way

of distinguishing of how they got like that different

font almost like the It's almost like death of

the family Joker font a bit Oh, yeah, just to

illustrate well this guy his voice doesn't sound

like everybody else Yeah, which is one of the

few mutants that have shown up in the cartoon

that sounds different because even after you

know a dog pound became dog pound and Everything

else and you know when sever became fish face

Like they still have their their voices same

voices. Yeah Yeah, and so you so you go see yeah,

I Guess Leo and Mike you're facing off with snakeweed

and death I'm going to say death. Donnie and

Raph go after this spore bud. And he's like,

no, Donnie tags. I love Donnie tags. No, you

saving you from messing up. You can't just smash

the bud open. You'll release the spores. And

then these giant attack tentacles pop out. He's

like, how about those? Can I smash those? You

know, and that's one of the cool things. I like

how they go back and forth from Donnie and Raph

to Mikey and Leo. You see yeah, that's the cool

thing about having four characters But you can

and they and the other thing is both in the show

I think No in the show. They've mixed it up a

bit, but also in the show it the way I've always

seen it is Mikey and Donnie and Leo and Raph

Yeah, what split it's like let's split up gang

You go with you, I'll go with him. It's like...

It's Daphne and Fred and Shaggy and Velma. God.

That means Splinter is Scooby. And silence. Lovely,

ladies and gentlemen. But what I'm saying is...

Congratulations, you've broken me. Well, it's

not like it's not happened before. Yes, few and

far, few and far. So, but the way I've always

seen it is because, like, in the film, in the

90s film, and in various other animated versions

of it, it's always been Leo and Raph and Mikey

and Donnie. This show now, well, they basically

argue over who's going to go with Mikey, because

nobody wants to go with Mikey. But they mix it

up. And I like how they do it here, where...

It is Raph and Donnie and Leo and Mikey. I thought

that was interesting and cool in how they can...

Oh yeah, they mix it up a lot more often than

they did in the previous series. So yeah, you

got Leo and Mikey running through a zoo being

chased by snakeweed and they take cover in a

turtle pond basically and continue to whoop much

ass while Raph and Don are fighting the guard

tentacles basically. Love what happens like they

open up this cocoon in this spore buff flowers

about to bloom and they grab this convenient

tarp Yeah, and like cover it so the spores don't

spread. Well, you know, I Love what happens here

is like they're wrapping up snakeweed with his

own tentacles and I love how Mikey's Nunchucks

and nunchuck who have like the extendable chain.

He wraps them up like that And what they do with

snakeweed is they lash him to a tree and all

of a sudden lightning bolt Just you know fries

him to dust the spore bloom Dies snakeweed is

dust and and they didn't do it in the cartoon

Which I was kind of hoping they would do because

the couple of times that snakeweed has shown

up in the show and they take them out You see

the the heart it like the the corpse fades in

like it In color and then they go close in the

heart and it's like pop home pop home pop home

Yeah, he always comes back. He's a he's a bad

zombie plant is what he is there very much a

very cool touch to use like a horror movie sort

of cliche like that and I love what happens at

the end. They go back to the lair You know Leo's

yeah, I'm done with TV. He goes to meditate with

splinter and almost as soon as they start meditating

everyone else starts fighting over the remote

yep and then leo is like this is peaceful yeah

exactly you know i i love donnie because you

you know which uh you listen to speech blurbs

and Mikey wants to watch Home Dads, a Poughkeepsie,

Raph wants to watch the boxing championship,

and I love Donnie. Give me that. We're watching

science documentaries or I'm laying the smack

down. I'm sorry, that's just as cool as that

is. It's just not a threat, Donnie. No, that's

a threat when you hear Rob in your head. Well,

yeah. And I do like at least like on the back

page they've been putting out these small digests

of And and some and Disney's been doing this

with a lot of like the Marvel animated universe

where they putting out these small digests which

are basically two or three episodes of the show

and they've just taken stills and put in the

speech balloons of the dialogue in that scene

and They've been doing that with the new Ninja

Turtle series, which is a lot of fun to read

You know, because you still it's still it's just

Anna. It's just shots of the animation I thought

that was a really cool thing, you know, maybe

for kids who don't necessarily have access to

Nickelodeon or You know if it's it's definitely

done for younger kids So you get these younger

kids can get these digests and they can you know

take it on the road in that so you know All right,

so issue three is I think it's co -written by

Tipton and Byerly. Rizuela and Breckle are on

art. The cover is a Krang against the Turtles.

That and that's just a plain awesome cover. I

mean just the way that the Turtles are looking

like, okay, let's do this. You got this giant

Krang brain in the background and you look at

the there's kind of reminds me of the There were

red levels and turtles for The god I think it's

more so when you throw the foot soldier at shredder

and the screen goes red That's what this reminds

me of even though this isn't shredder. It's crying.

Yeah turtles in time No, I know what you're talking

about. Yeah as far as the the very Well, no as

far as the the people here. It's Scott and David

Tipton who did the story. The script was both

of them with Kenny Byerly. The art, as always,

is done by Brizuela, with colors by Breckle,

letters, Sean Lee, and edits by Kernow. The covers,

regular covers, what we have, cover, retail incentive.

I like that. It's cool. And just from the art

style by Tanya Roberts there, it's like younger

versions of the turtles on a prototype of the

shell raiser. No, I think that's a prototype

of what would be the multi go -kart thing that

they have. Oh yeah, I never remember what the

hell that's called. I don't know, if I could

find either of those for a decent price, I would

buy both just so I could have that set, like

the toys, because I've got all the figures, so

just have them sitting there. I think it even,

I'm not sure, but I think it comes with the...

Helmets for the turtles. I'm not sure and then

they got a retail exclusive from the Montreal

comic -con by Adam Archer and just kind of a

standard Looks like kind of a standard action

sort of thing. You see Leo is gonna face off

with his two swords coming from like off panel

and Rats checking the map and my I love the X

the freaked out looks on Donnie and Mikey Yeah,

I like that. I still think the the main cover

cover a or regular cover Whatever you want to

call it. I think that's the I think that's the

coolest one Although from what I remember reading

this story that cover is a lie They think the

crane only show up in this like twice if at all

they are more or less the main villain as we

go on I mean You open the thing and it's like

some dude running away from the zombies and you

see the turtles are watching a zombie marathon,

which kind of an appropriate issue for the series

this time of year. Yeah, it's December. Walking

Dead's been out for a while for season four.

I just... I don't... This is just a generalization

for me. I don't give a crap about zombie stuff.

I just don't. I like it in this with the turtles,

but in general... Not my thing. It's an acquired

taste, I will give you that. So, but you see

Mikey can't sleep because, you know, the other

boys go to bed and, you know, Mikey finishes

the marathon. He can't sleep. So I love the absolute

look of murderous rage that shows up on Raph's

face where it's two in the morning and Raph,

Mikey turns the lights. Hey, late night skateboard

run. And Raph is just like, F you. Yeah, and

not the part where he grabbed his alarm clock

and he's screaming just the look of like Rage,

you know where you just see the eyes. You can

hear the eyes snap open in the jaw set You know,

it's just awesome. He's still Mikey goes out

skateboarding with the new tagline for or the

new catchphrase for the series, which it initially

Booyakasha kind of annoyed me but You know as

time grew on it's it's grown on me I Don't know

how about you It's grown on me in the show it's

weird to see it in the comic because in the show

the one time I did like it is when Mikey pulled

one of his it's weird when he says it Donnie

had said it at first and then Mikey's like it's

weird when you say it and then everybody else

like it's weird when you say it too i'd just

and i think if they should have come up with

an original because that's not an original catchphrase

that's uh... i was necessarily has to be original

catchphrase but they could have maybe use something

else something with a cow and a bonga maybe uh...

story of the could have done that the which Again

first episode of the 03 series where Mikey's

about to yell it and then Raph just Pushes him

down the hole. I was like, oh come on Yeah, but

yeah, so back to the comic so Mikey wipes out

hardcore while skateboarding and Looks like they've

run into zombies and he runs for the brothers

and of course They don't believe him. You know

and raf has every right to not listen to a goddamn

word that mikey says at this point because hey

i love michaelangelo but if he woke me up at

two in the goddamn morning to go skateboarding

i would have kicked his ass too yep yeah but

it's it is so awesome they eventually do believe

him and they all go out and and again you got

donnie doing the dropping the info bomb and Well

splinter is like you don't know for sure it could

be true Yeah could be So and then they meet up

with this other scientist who they she explains

what what the process was and well after they

rescue her from the crank yeah, who apparently

have Mesmerized a whole lot of people are building

which looks to be a giant computer server of

some alien design and intent. And just for the

briefest of moments, they go into this building,

it's called the Sleep Research Institute, and

I was like, okay, where's the Freddy Krueger

reference, bring it on. And here's the thing

that, and it's not a misstep by Brazil, I wanna

state that, it's because when you look at the

crying droids in the show, You know, you can

see that it's these robots are wrapped in like

this weird kind of blue sparkly shell or some

type of covering and Just with the just being

like the dark and shadow like that. It just kind

of loses that kind of pop That it has in the

show, but you see this scientist, you know being

led away by some crane droids and she's about

to be executed and I love uh Leo's like, hi,

we're the good guys. Your turtles. It's a long

story. Considering how how strange my life has

become, it's not that strange at all. You know,

just the scene of uh you get the idea that in

the comic book, they're not gonna outright kill

the crying brains as often as they do in the

show. Yeah. Like how Raph, you just got that

smile on his face and it's like tentacle in a

drawer. Yeah, I know that was so awesome So and

the crying droids have again watched Nightmare

on Elm Street because they're trying to build

a machine that controls people's dreams and Really

you got a self -destruct in the form of a flash

drive That they get from the scientists well

It could be worse, it could be a self -destruct

button that Doofenshmirtz always uses. Yeah,

but it's not called the dream reading innate

order. Yeah, that's true. It's like, anyway,

and I didn't see a platypus running around anywhere.

Yeah, that's true. Well, you know, you'd stick

a beaver tail on Mikey, that might work. Could

be Perry, but I like that they burst back into

the lab to get to the machine and there's too

many zombies and Mikey's idea bash them in the

head Hey, whatever works Yeah, but you I mean

the arts not there, but you get an alternate

image could have been Leo facepalming Mike yeah,

they're not actual zombies. We can't hurt them

Yeah, to which Michael Andrew responds. Okay,

then the zombie expert says run Yeah, and you

see them and the I'll give it to Brazil or like

the way he draws the following chase sequence

It's not unlike that of an actual zombie movie

Yeah, no, I mean the chase sequence was damn

awesome. I mean the art in it is great, you know

because they're putting stuff in a way to trip

up the zombies and then they're they're getting

grabbed out of the crowd by crying droids and

they get swarmed and they climb up this You know,

I like they climb up this like cable or rope

or something and Mikey's like give me the flash

drive And you know, that's all you have to do

is plug it in I can get do that and Donnie's

reaction I should probably handle it could be

complicated and then Leo and I love how they

kind of almost have like a moral or some sort

of like that that moment of realization in most

episodes where Leo's like, you know what Mikey

was right. Let him do it. Yeah, and then So,

you know, he does the Booyakasha and he takes

out a Krang droid, plugs it in, machine just

like power down, and then everyone wakes up.

Movie's over. Yeah, pretty much. I love and I

know a lot of people that have watched the show,

maybe not us, but a lot of other people that

I know watch the show at first didn't like the

Krang with the whole Craying must stop the stopping

of the plan that has important to crying unplug

the device used by the ones who are called to

like I know a lot of people didn't like that,

but it's better than You know a weird gurgling

sound coming out of the brain's mouth Well, there's

that but I was gonna say it's better than what

we got in episode one with the Trade Federation

Oh God Because every time I see those aliens

I also hear the name of that annoying Asian lady

from dude. Where's my car and then? And then

I love towards the end there you see that they're

getting the people out like the scientists, you

know, dr. Annie's lead them all away And as much

Jar Jar as I'm willing to say out loud, but they

have that nice little three panel sequence you

see Michael Agile being an absolute badass and

and then they climb they climb up the server

and out the skylight and You know I can hear

Nolan's voice Nolan North's voice saying this

is what it's known as not good and Yeah, you

know kaboom I love the fact that, you know, that

Splinter is like, I was right about Michelangelo

being right. It's like, yes, we get it. You're

the all -knowing sensei. Shut up. Because he

always comes in like, again, I love Splinter.

I love Hoon Lee Splinter, but he always comes

off as like, see, I was right. I was like, well,

yeah, you're a ninja master. There's very little

you're going to be wrong about. And an even raffrelance,

you know, if it wasn't for Mikey's zombie obsession

and Donnie's away to go and Mikey's right back

and for the tube. Vampire movie marathon. Got

to study up. This stuff's important. Yeah. How

am I supposed to fight advanced alien technology

with a stupid stick? So, yep, that ends the story.

And then the cover for number four is Raphael

versus a foot soldier. And that came out back

in October. we'll be getting around issues four

and five and six and all that good stuff later

but one thing I want to say before you talk about

the art is I love how these stories even though

some of them are like the free comic book day

was a mirror image or the TV show episode was

a mirror image of each other I like how these

stories yes you're right they could fit in between

any of the episodes of the show but I love how

they just like I love how the writers are not

doing an overall arc yet They're not doing a

two -issue arc, they're not doing a three -issue

arc, they're not doing a year -long event. I

love how these stories are so self -contained,

and it's basically beginning, middle, and then

the end. Yay! Yeah, I mean, there's certainly

future issues we'll probably pick up in elements

from the show. But yeah, like I said earlier,

the fact that this is one of the better tie -in

comics to an ongoing series. Yeah, like and you

could pick two issues and Put this one or two

episodes. Sorry and put this issue of the series

right in between those Because unless it's a

two -parter, it's there's not gonna be a whole

lot of carryover. Oh Yeah, exactly. Yeah, and

this is like Brazil is art on this cover for

the were raft versus the foot soldier You know

what? It's it's kind of standard and the fact

is, you know hero versus villain, but it's You

know kind of day I see Raph coming in for the

kill and this foot soldier probably peeing himself

and No But yeah, no, I love that cover and looking

forward to see what other variants possibly come

out for that. I do like one of the last In the

ads in the back this like third last page Has

the event that's going on through this month

of the some of the IDW titles, which is IDW gets

animated So like the which was the artist Tanya

Roberts cover with like the slightly younger

looking turtles on the go kart contraption all

a lot of covers from a lot of idw titles this

month are having like animated style art so if

you look at the ad in the back there's uh like

the judge dread comics has got this weird peter

bag uh style like goofy style art. You got a

Scooby -Doo inspired X -Files cover, you know,

black dynamite. Well, it's not really all that

animated, but it's certainly a little different.

You got the almost Archie style art in the Danger

Girls. Probably my favorite, which I haven't

picked up yet, is the latest issue of Ghostbusters

where if they didn't get an, well, if they didn't

get an animator for the original series to do

that art, it's pretty damn close because it's

all It's yeah, because whereas the cause the

Ghostbusters comic they're drawn to look like,

you know, Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray right,

you know this one it looks like the 80s cartoon

and you know, look kind of looking forward to

that and then there's an ad for the I I kind

of had hope for this video game for Ninja Turtles

out of the shadows and I've listened to two or

three reviews now and not the least of which

was Michael Dodd's review on his review a day.

And I've played it at a buddy's place. It's like,

why did you have to suck this much? Yeah, that

game out in back in August. And it's just like,

why? Yeah. But yeah, no, it's, again, great issue.

Great artist. Brazula was on as always great

art and. Yes, I mean, there's not much pretty

much said everything I could say for it right

now Yep. All right. Well, that's gonna do it

for us. We are gonna go ahead and rank these

These comics these four issues Free comic book

day issue. I get to give a five star which is

a perfect. I thought it was great I thought the

the story was interesting. I thought it pulled

it off the weapons switch better than the end

than the show did um... issue one uh... what

what what what what what what what what what

what what what what what what what what what

what what what what what what what what what

what what what what what what what what what

what what what what what what what what what

what what what what what what what what what

what what what what what what what what what

what what what what what what what what what

what what what what And that might have been

an oversight on... Did Byerly write that one?

No, that was... Sorry, who was that? That was...

Eric Burnham. That wrote the free comic book

deck. Burnham may not have been aware of the

episode. There is no original thoughts some days,

but sometimes it's just a happy coincidence.

So, you know, I dug that story. The first issue.

Yeah, the art was on and I love I dug the story.

That was probably the strongest thing. Like Brazil's

art is great. But Barley's story of, you know,

April wanting to prove herself and just kind

of like and it's kind of that subtle play of

like boys can do it better than girls almost.

I mean, they're not quite saying that, but they're

kind of playing it up at the same time. Like

I dug that story and. You know, kind of, you

get a little idea of where does Donatello come

up with all these wonderful toys? And, well,

he rips this shit off from a junkyard. Yeah.

What about issue? Well, for me, for the first

issue, I gotta give it a five as well. It's a

great story. It's a great way to pull you into

the animated series with the characters and all

that. So, what about issue two? Issue two? Again,

good story. I mean, working in one of the main

villains, one of the mutant villains from the

show in Snakeweed, you know, really didn't mention

before, I really did dig the regular cover by

Brazula with, you know, Snakeweed tying the boys

up and they're trying to fight back and all that.

And overall, yeah, that's straight up five again.

And again, one of the best things about that

story was how they went back and forth from Leo

and Mikey to Raph and Donnie. And then brought

it all back together at the end and like I said

the only thing that It like is it didn't really

bother me I was just kind of hoping for is that

they would have done like that horror movie bit

with Sneakweeds heart at the end of it so Yeah

for me I like the character interaction between

the two team -ups with Leo and Raph and or Leo

and Mike Mike and Donnie and Raph and all I like

how they split them up I like the interactions

with splinter I'm just not a fan of Snakeweed

or Stink... Snakeweed, I just don't like... One

or two episodes of the show was enough for me

for this character. Oh yeah. I think that...

That... And I'm not saying that the story or

the art's bad, it's not, but I just... I just

wasn't in... Like when I first got this book,

I just... I read this right before we recorded

it, but when I first got it... I read it and

I was like... Okay. I'm gonna give it a three

and a half stars, which is a liked it. I like

it, but it's not For me, it's not unless it's

the interactions between the turtles and splinter

in April. It's not The it's not the best story

for me at all Alright, what about number three?

What are you gonna give that one? Number three.

I'm gonna give it a four You know, I really did

like the the art, you know, Brazil is really

good. I'm digging his style. The story was Okay,

it wasn't meh, but it just For because I mean

you got this thing with the crane You know the

zombie thing was cool because you know Mikey's

a fanboy But I think they missed the chance to

do a really cool even a two -part story with

the idea that the crane have this dream machine

You know that they want to rule and you could

have done You know ended the issue with the turtle

at least Mikey getting knocked unconscious and

getting plugged into the machine and becoming

a zombie and But yeah, it's uh, I think they

missed the chance there. But overall it was a

decent issue You know, the art was great. I just

wish they did they I think they could have done

a little bit more Yeah, I think they could have

done a little bit more too. I know you know Don't

think they did enough with the and I get that

the the comic is supposed to play towards kids

but the show plays towards kids too and yet the

show always shows the Little crane brains escaping

the bodies and all that I don't think they did

enough of that with the crane when the turtles

were fighting them of The actual brains escaping

the the body. Yeah the the androids For me number

three is gonna get three -and -a -half again

I liked it I like again I love all the interactions

between the turtles and splinter all that but

it wasn't like us a total slick issue number

one is a total April Donnie story and I like

those two characters I like how they interact

and then it was a total turtle story of how they're

gonna interact to make sure they don't get seen

and caught and whatever else and Yeah, basically

the conflict day and number one are for me are

the best and then number two and number three

there I like them. They're good. They're not

bad. Nothing makes me you know want to scream

you know turtle soup rage or anything like that,

but It just I'm hoping number four is is better

when we eventually get around to reviewing four

and five and six and all that other good stuff,

so All right. Anything you want to pimp out before

we close out, JT? Right now, I'm just working

towards maybe starting my own little YouTube

review video series, you know, by way of because

I just don't have the time to sit down once a

week to record with some friends here like we

were planning. So unfortunately, the podcast

is going on the back burner, but I'm going to

hopefully in the next few weeks start a review

show, you know, two or three times a week just.

Whatever is new and random that I have next to

my computer and go like that So we'll see what

happens coming up and other than that Just here

there and everywhere around the internet and

you can find me at at JT from Saskatoon on Twitter

All right, and of course you can find me at TF2

and Mike on Twitter as well you can also follow

at key cast radio And make your great escape

into comics and we will catch you next time.

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