IDW TMNT Issues #35-36: Slash, the Rat King, and Building Tension

Hi, this is Bobby Kernow, Chief Turtle Editor

at IDW Publishing, and you are listening to The

Pull Bag's TMNT Back Issue Classics with Mike

and Joe Turtle Power. Welcome to The Pull Bag's

Back Issue Classics. Join us as we talk about

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more. So open your ears to hear our discussion.

of the older continuities, as the back issue

classics are also what's in The Pull Bag. Hello

and welcome to The Pull Bag. This is yet again

another back issue classics episode, and it is

time to talk more turtles from IDW. I am your

host, TF2 and Mike. Joining me is Mr. Joe Reed.

Hello, sir. Hello. How are you? I'm well. That's

good. How's your shredder costume coming? I had

to put it on hold school started again. Yeah,

that's just true. That's true Where can people

find you online best place to find me still on

Facebook? Look at Facebook comm slash geek stuff

garage sale. I would love to hear from one of

you there Even if it's to say I hate the your

voice You can also find me on PlayStation Network

playing Destiny because that's amazing at www

.wildfire .com it's wildfire with two V's for

the W look me up there too oh oh and if you friend

me let me know who you are or else I'll just

ignore you and yes and we are here this time

around to talk about issues 35 and 36 from IDW's

TMNT main course series Cover A is Slash attacking

Mikey. Uh -oh. What's going on? Slash looks like

he, um... Maybe Leo gave that to him? But it

looks like he attacked the Shredder, which I

know never happened, because not to this point

anyway, because I know Slash has never met the

Shredder. I think... There we go. Leo gave him

the gauntlet on the mask. Yeah, well I knew Leo

gave him the mask, I guess I don't remember seeing

the gauntlet with the mask. Which is another

beautiful touch because Slash has always had

a wrist gauntlet like Shredder had, but now Leo

had it for I don't know how many issues and we're

watching it, we're looking at it, and little

do we know that that's gonna end up being Slash's.

I think that's cool. It's very cool. So that's

cover a cover B is done by Eastman and it is

Raph and Mikey Fighting slash in the Eastman

style. I Like this one, but I like cover a better.

Yeah, and I I like Eastman's covers, you know

last last episode we dogged on Eastman, but You

enjoy his art most of the time even even the

crazy fine art stuff. I enjoy his covers but

not his arts, not like looking at five or six

or seven different Eastman covers, I'm fine.

Looking at, you know, five panels of, well, 47

pages, but yeah. All right. Issue 35. Uh, the,

let me see if I can read this here. The story

so far the turtles are in the midst of reaching

out to possible allies in their war against the

foot clan Casey has rejected a plea from his

father Hon to leave NYC and protect himself from

shredder's wrath done done done Again, I cannot

say how good Eastman and waltz probably more

so waltz but I cannot say how good the the two

of them plus Bobby are doing with the story entwined

between Raph and Mikey old hob and all that between

Casey and all of that all of it is just so good

so Mikey and Raph go to Woody's and Woody's got

some pizzas for him And we kind of, but don't

really pick up right when 34 ended, because 34

ended with Hob taking Lindsay. That's right,

the girl who looked like Irma. Right. That was

the very last page of 34. So this one, it will

pick up and continue that part of the story.

But this one picks up like, hey, you're affing

Mikey out getting dinner. And they have a discussion

about Raph's hatred for Hob, which is interesting.

I love seeing these guys talk to each other.

It doesn't matter if it's, you could put them

in any number of combinations. It could be Leo

and Donnie, Leo and Mikey, Leo and Raph, Mike

and Donnie, any, it doesn't matter. I love seeing

the four brothers talk two on two. I really,

really do. Because you see so much of each of

their character personalities Like we've said

the entire time we've been doing these podcasts

Who knew Mikey was such a sympathetic ear and

and boy did the character need that just you

know He's always I loved him as a kid, but then

after I grew up he became annoying Now he has

a heart again, and that's who he is. It's not

his humor. It's his heart and I Love that they

gave that to him So we so as Raph and Mike you're

talking Mikey eventually says as it jumps to

the next page You know slash You know he's he

could be practically a good guy We cease or not

see talks about old. It's how about old hob not

slash. I'm sorry He's so about how I'm good practically

be a good guy now We see hob with a gun and slash

standing next to him and Lindsay tied up and

gagged All is we're missing in this panel is

some tar and feathers. Oh Well, the feathers

will come later because of who's introduced in

this issue We then go to Casey he is at his mom's

grave as we will find out later when a certain

nobody shows up that The two places Casey goes

when he's, you know, needs to think or feeling

depressed is either the rink or his mom's grave.

So he's at his mom's grave and he's, we get a

flashback scene of Casey actually getting to

college on a full scholarship. And you know,

his mom is so proud of him and everything else.

I love seeing this scene. I think this is great

because I think it needs, even though Casey's

mom is gone, For Casey's story in this IDW universe.

We need to see her every now and then we need

to see him remembering her Because it it's what

makes him at least in my opinion. It's what kind

of makes him grounded Thoughts yeah, it's It's

another attempt to or well a successful attempt

to give depth to a character who hasn't We don't

usually get to see have depth. Yeah, so I am

glad to see it and turning him into a full care

But I think we picked up here. This is immediately

after he and April came to ask how he was and

he kind of like freaked out at her for a second

many went away I think this is where he went.

Yeah if I remember last issue correctly. Yep,

exactly. Yep, that's what happened. And as he's

at the cemetery, guess who shows up? Hun and

the purple dragons. Dun dun dun. Casey... I don't

know where they're gonna take this storyline

with Casey and Hun, but they can't just have

him fight each other. the rest of the series.

Something has to... I don't want anything to

happen to Casey. I would rather see Hun in jail

for a few issues than, you know, permanently

taken out, but something's got to happen between

those two to where they don't keep coming back

to this. And I know the storyline is gradual

and as long as Hun is, you know, leader of the

Purple Dragons, he's always going to try to recruit

his son. But it's just it's never gonna work.

I think eventually we'll see hon redeem Redeem

himself come back to the right side, but I I

don't want to think any more about that and I

want to be surprised and go on that ride, right?

So Raph and Mikey sneak into this building they

knock on the door and Mikey says Well someone

from inside says who the hell is it? It's Mikey

and Raph. We're back bringing gifts. And slash

rips open the door. Breaks the chain lock. At

first I thought at first I thought he ripped

it off its hinges from the inside. Like like

we don't see it because his his frame is in the

entire door. uh... but then i realize i don't

know he he just ripped the chain uh... and mikey

is teaching him about pizza and they find out

that hobb has a mutant we'll talk about him in

a second hobb has a new mutant and he has lindsey

captive and and raf and mikey are like hobb what

the hell raf more so than mikey is like hobb

what the hell cuz mikey's more You know what

this scene reminds me of the 90 film Fight fight

kitchen kitchen Leo is okay I don't want people

to take this the wrong way, I don't want you

to take this the wrong way, but Hobb is basically

a stand -in for Leo here, for this argument between

him and Raph. And then Mikey is Mikey, obviously,

and Slash is Donnie. Oh god, this is so hilarious.

We have the introduction in the IDW universe

of Pigeon Pete. Who I don't know. I don't know

what he's from. He as far as I know he's only

been in the new animated series well cool I would

have to actually look him up to see if he was

in anything else I don't think so because I've

seen everything else except most of the 2003

series Yeah But I thought that was a nice little

thing That they that they did not very cool What

do you think of the story so far? In this particular

issue, I don't know if Hob might not be the best

one to be in charge of creating a mutant army

if his first attempt is to make Pigeon Pete.

And the fact that he hasn't killed him out of

embarrassment yet is interesting as well. Like,

why are you happy with this guy? But I think

I think that's going to get answered with why

he kidnapped Lindsay because she's gonna help

him out Gosh and that bottom panel where slash

is so excited to show him Pigeon Pete he's got

his arm over his shoulder. Look big smile on

his face. I like there and it's portraying slash

like he was in the the Archie series where he's

lovable and Big and oafish, but when he's angry

he you know just destroys everything like he

should but cool stuff Alright, so according to

the Turtlepedia Pete is the name of a couple

of pitching characters in TMNT franchise as well

as a human character He was originally in the

87 series Not as this mutated thing. He was just

a pigeon named Pete, I believe. I'll send you

this link in a minute. According to this, Pete

is a pigeon that Michelangelo befriends in the

episode, What's Michelangelo Good For? It was

nursing back to health in the aid of the good

veterinarian, Dr. Jane Goodfellow. When the other

turtles get kidnapped, Mike goes to the place

where the turtles were taken and finds Pete waiting

for him. Pete tells him what happened to the

other turtles. So apparently he's an old homage

from 87, according to this. In the Marauder series,

the character named Pete is a intrepid meteorite

hunter from the Turtles Soup Vol. 2. Wow, so

it has nothing to do with an actual pigeon from

Mirage, but But basically this pigeon Pete is

more so from it's homaging the 2012 I mean They

look like exactly alike between the 2012 and

the IDW designs You know how bad I want IDW design

Ninja Turtle action figures? I need a good shredder

Well, NECA did Mirage, I'm sure they could do

IDW, I don't see why not. So, we meet Pidge and

Pete, which is awesome. Again, it's like you've

said the entire time we've been doing these.

The characters that they can use... they've used

the characters that whoever knows whatever the

hell they'll be introducing in the future they'll

introduce them to touch every single piece of

turtles history that they can um so absolutely

amazing that that they're uh that they're doing

this uh we go back to uh casey and hun uh and

You know, Casey's pretty much fed up, and we

get a battle scene between Casey versus all of

the purple dragons and Han. And I love these

panels. This page right here, let's see here,

off the top of my head, page 11. When put into

the Comixology Guided View, it starts at the

top, batter, You have to arrow to the next panel

to see the up. Oh God, it's so fluid and it's

so amazing And Casey Casey basically whips their

asses for the most part Takes out one two three

Three guys before he takes his first hit. Yep,

that's pretty impressive I wonder if he's picking

anything up from the turtles or if it's just

incidental or if this is his natural skill. I

would assume now that he's living with them,

I would assume that Master Splinter is having

them all train. I mean, we don't see the training

in the books. We do sometimes, but we don't see

it all the time. I would just assume that they're

all training together. So we get to the next

page is back at Hobbs Take this line out of context

and who's the bird with the gun? Hi, I'm Pete

and he's pointing at himself with the barrel

of the gun Before you blow your own beak off

idiot So Raph and Mike you're introduced to Lindsey

Baker who's a former employee of StockGen. Pete

is basically a broken record. And Hob has, you

know, he wants to create the future. He wants

his mutant army. And through the course of this,

Raph does cut Lindsay free. And Hob lets him.

Surprisingly, Hob lets him. Is it just me, or

is the panel where Raph cuts her free when he

says negotiations my butt? I know he's squatting

down, but does he look smaller than he should?

Yeah, he's a little smaller than he should. I

like my turtles small, which is that 2012 series

where they're eight feet tall. No, thank you.

But no, a turtle is more than a chair height.

That's three feet off the ground. Yeah. That's

okay. I'll ignore it. Three foot five four feet

if you count the ears. That's an old Bugs Bunny

joke. So Hob goes to tell them about the mutagen

and why he needs Lindsey and what you know what

he's gonna be doing with it in the meantime you

know Slash is cutting up the pizza and pizza

good and everything else. And we find out that

Hobb has a sample of Splinter's blood. And he

has more where that came from. We then jump back

to Casey and Hun, and Hun's about to basically

beat the living snot out of him again. When Hun

gets the living daylights zapped out of him,

I can smell the smoke at this moment, like zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

And the other purple dragons were like, what's

going on with Hun? Like they've never seen a

Taser before, seriously. This kid that asked

the question never seen a Taser before, really.

And we see... We see nobody show up decked out

in the suit. And she's also arguing with her,

I mean, Kirby fan. Code names, damn it, code

names. And Hun is not pleased. And Casey even

asks Angel? You're dead. And she, she learns

tech pretty fast. I mean, she's on the ball with

all this stuff. It's awesome. I love nobody they

did this with her so glad they did this with

her She basically tries to Iron Man him because

that's what the the red blast reminds me of his

Iron Man You know and hon is like oh well you're

gonna get ready to die and then where They're

gone So we go back to Hobbs place and they talk

about the effects of the mutagen and the effects

of Splinter's blood and what it's supposed to

do but they need a test subject and Lindsey is

adamant about it being a controlled substance

slash is the only candidate and Gotta say is

as despicable as old hobby is at least he's gonna

stand up for For slash and not allow you know

he's he's not gonna allow him to do it, but Guess

what? Slash is like me and slash me and hero

now. It's like bizarro all you know slash hero

like Mikey And he injects himself With the blood

and he goes crazy Like I mean all kinds of crazy

the the panel where he basically Punches I think

is that Mikey or Raph I can't like it's all right

Okay, well, I don't know rat. I thought Raph

had a hat too at one. Yeah, they both are wearing

hats, but yeah, you're right Yeah, it's the other

hat. Yeah, it's the ear muff. Yeah uh... he basically

cold cox mickey i mean slash slash to be in this

series right now is what the big show is w w

e uh... you don't follow w w you know the big

show is the largest uh... athletes in the w w

he's seven foot something Or something or other

like that. I haven't free it out to all he is

and he's like four hundred and something pounds

But it's all muscle and he has like Basically

The size of Slash's fist right here is basically

the size of his fist and He you know uses it

to knock people out and that basically what this

panel reminds me of his slash is the big show

knocking Mikey out and poor Mikey Raph retaliates

And they ask they ask Lindsey. How are we gonna

stop the you know Hobbs like how are we gonna

stop this and she says Which what did she say

she says we always tasered him in the past And

Hobb tells her I swear you're dead if this doesn't

work egghead. We're all gonna be dead if that

doesn't work So Hob basically tasers him and

his entire voice changes and his head is clear

and, you know, slashes. He's basically Grey Hulk.

Yeah. And my memory is telling me that he was

more smart than crazy dumb in the Archie series.

So I'm wondering. What that is and how it's if

that's why they're doing this they gave us both

the slash from the cartoon From the 87 cartoon

and then they're also giving a slash from the

Archie comic Where he absolutely smart and I

need to go back and read those someday I'll get

around to doing that and and recording reviews

of those Yeah, absolutely, I mean I love this

I love the development between where slash started

to where he is now and And my favorite touch

is as he's freaking out its white letters on

black speech balloon and as he's coming out of

it It's a gray speech balloon. It's a gray speech

balloon that turns into light gray that turns

into white with black letters And so you kind

of see him coming out of that monster coming

into Wow, I actually have the English language

now Absolutely. It's it's wonder. It's absolutely

wonderful So Raph is like You know, you know

Lindsey says I was right all along great. You

were right whoop -de -doo My only question is

now where do we go from here? And we go back

to Casey and angel and This is where the comment

I made earlier about you know The cemetery or

the rink and she went to the rink first and wasn't

there so she figured He would be at the cemetery

So she goes on to say The way you stomped off

earlier. I had a feeling you'd find yourself

some trouble. You're good at that So I talked

to Harold into testing the suits radio. He's

probably gonna set it to self -destructive. I

don't get it back to him soon That guy She goes

on to say You gotta rise, you know, speaking

of self -destructing, I know this stuff with

your dad's eating at you, man. But you seriously

gotta step away before it kills you. You gotta

rise above it, Casey. Forget the losers in your

life and find your own way, a better way. That's

what I'm doing. And boy, do I hope she becomes

a police officer and a superhero because... Oh,

loving nobody. And for some strange reason, I

don't know why we go back to Splinter and Leo,

and it goes on with her monologue here. Just

remember, man, no matter how bad things get,

you're never as alone as you think. And... Oh,

I know why. Because Splinter and Leo aren't alone.

Aren't alone. That's... Who is that supposed

to be? Is that... That can't be. That can't be

who we're gonna meet in the next issue certainly

is Seriously, yeah Wow Well Overall, you know

this issue absolutely Well done the art spectacular

Thought it was absolutely great The story is

is very very well done And it's basically continuing

on with the overall continuity of this series

to this point. Do you have anything else you

want to say about 35? No additional thoughts,

but I can't believe how wonderfully that's segued

into 36. Absolutely. 36, cover A is... Dark Leo.

It's Dark Leo, running to face hands that we

will come to know well. Well, those are Splinter's

hands. That's true, yeah. Oh, I see. I thought

he was the other guys behind him. Yeah. Gotcha.

I love that cover. That cover's amazing. And

the Eastman cover, cover B, is... Kind of the

same thing, but Leo is basically surrounded by

rats and the Rat King is behind him. So we get

the story so far as the other turtles meet with

potential allies Leonardo and splinter plan the

family's next move in the lair little do they

know they're being watched and All as I can think

of is again a Bugs Bunny reference look out there

in the audience when he's talking to gossamer

the the big giant hairy monster look out there

in the audience ah people and the monster runs

away um so this one uh we have the introduction

of the rat king into this franchise what do you

think oh okay so yay yay is what you think i

like i like the rat king uh i We all know him

first from the animated series. I have gone back,

read the Mirage stuff, like I continually feel

like I need to say, because I'm obsessed. But

he was a character in the old series who was

invented, brought to the Mirage universe by Jim

Lawson, one of my favorite people in the Mirage

stable of artists. And so there's kind of this

affinity for him that I have. Yeah, I guess I

can discuss it here. There's this really strange

thing that happens with the Rat King and his

role in the Mirage universe He came out in one

of the Tales of the Turtles issues and Splinter

was exploring this abandoned kind of factory

thing. He fell down this hole and He's stuck

down there for a very long time. It's like a

nuclear tower there's no way out and the only

things getting in or out are these rats and Think

the hallucinations start to set in the splinters

hunger and thirst and everything are getting

the better of him and he broke his leg Falling

into it and the rat king starts talking to him.

We never really know who he is We're never really

sure if he's actually there, but the rat king

is saying look Hamato Yoshi you need to survive

and the only thing to eat here are my children

you need to eat these children and Splinter is

reduced to cannibalizing these rats these things

that he feels an affinity for and it ends up

saving his life and he eventually gets up enough

strength to climb out of the tower and go back

but Some of the things that got said between

the two of them are really really heavy and I

think one of the lines that gets dropped is You're

gonna see Rat King says to Splinter, you're going

to see me one more time right before your death.

And there's something that's going to happen

and I'm going to need to call on you. And three

volumes later, like 20 years of story later in

the episode where we get the death of Splinter,

he's at the house in Northampton making his breakfast

tea, goes out on the porch. It's a beautiful

day. He goes back. But wait, he grabs for his

heart. and he collapsed but as he turns back

into the kitchen there's a silhouette of the

Rat King looking at him and Splinter falls over

on the porch dead and like that's all we get

that's all we know that happened and there were

stories that came out in volume two of The Tales

of the Turtles that kind of explain what's going

on that these Rat Kings there are other spirit

animal kings of different animals and the Rat

King's reign was over and he came to splinter

to say you're the new rat king now that you've

died and splinter is still kind of they never

really tell us what that means or if splinter

accepted the job but he's been approached to

become the new rat king and it means something

more than what he's ever been portrayed as in

any of the books i really don't want splinter

in this series to turn into the new rat king

i really don't want that Tell you that right

now as much as I enjoy what we're gonna be talking

about for the rest of this issue I I don't want

splinter to be I don't think he will in this

series Yeah So the next page we get to Leo and

splinter talking about the plan and and Leo is

very unsure of the plan. He's he agrees and he

doesn't agree with splinter And he tells him

he's just not sure I think he's Agreeing with

splinter out of respect because he's his father

But really knows that maybe the technodrome is

probably the more pressing matter and he's pushing

it very politely and Respectfully as much as

he feels he can I think Leo's kind of gaming

Or at least politely and carefully dancing around

that topic Yeah, I mean should have jacked me

up jacked us up screwed our family over But that's

we're a small thing compared to this technodrome

terraforming the world Yeah, true Splinter goes

on to say come Leonardo. I'd like to stretch

my sore muscles He asks him where do you want

to go and he says let's further our explore our

home together As we further explore your doubts

and we go back to Casey and we we hear what we

hear and see These people arguing about something

and says I guess we're gonna have to try to get

through a window then Let's just hope no police

show up fine. Who's going to do it you or me?

And Casey nearly attacks April's parents Casey's

like, Mr. and Mrs. O 'Neil, what are you doing

here? April didn't tell you? We're moving in.

So it's nice to see that Casey, you know... I

love that they're keeping April's parents. I

love that they haven't done anything strange.

Okay, sure. Her father has, you know, the ooze

in him, but that's complete for healing power.

But I love that they haven't done anything strange

with him. They haven't turned her parents into

bats or anything like that. I hope they don't.

I don't think they will. I don't think they will,

but... So Casey goes on to say, you know, her

mother notices Casey's face and... You know he

basically says it's a long story about his dad

and She goes She goes I can see why come on.

We'll keep able out of this for now, but we really

need to get you some ice No, really, that's okay.

I'm fine. I should just get going and where to

exactly I don't know Well, I do you're coming

inside with us We'll get those injuries taken

care of and you can tell us what the heck is

going on with you So it's kind of like hey, it's

date night with the parents new mom and dad time.

Yeah We get back to Leo and splinter They're

still in an impasse And Leo asks him about his

mother. That's cool. It's very awesome. I love

that. And I love the the tale that Splinter,

you know, kind of tells Leo. And I think it's

good that they're talking about Tang Shen. I

mean, if we're still, which we are not saying.

they'll never forget to do this but since this

whole series is built upon reincarnation it's

always good to continue to bring her up and bring

the past life up and we get to a panel where

Splinter says my son at its core my promise to

your mother was to protect you our beloved children

and I intend to do so by all means necessary

I do not seek vengeance, Leonardo. I wish only

to fulfill my commitment to her and to you. And

we see the beginnings of the Cheshire Rat. Because

the next pedal down is him kind of smiling. And

then we see the Rat King. And the lights go out.

Dun, dun, dun. gotta say in the dark splinter

looks like a real rat yeah doesn't look like

a dog doesn't look like a cat he actually looks

like a real rat now so we get introduced to the

rat king lights come back on what do you think

of his design here not not not a big fan it's

Especially mostly the face. I like the wrapped

bandages But out of out of respect and fandom

for Jim Lawson, I want him to look more like

the old design but Yeah, whatever. Yeah You know

what I even I even like the the new animated

series version of him better with the hat And

this this looks this looks a little too Dracula

to me. Yeah, the new animated series version.

He's kind of like What if the Rat King and Freddy

Krueger had a baby? The new animated series version

with the hat reminds me of Freddy Krueger. I've

only seen the action figure, so that's all I've

got to go by. I'll grab you a picture later.

So the Rat King gets introduced. It's interesting

that he... You know, I was trying all this stuff

and I... I'm more interested to see what happens

with him after this issue because of what he...

what is revealed about him as we go through this.

It is revealed that he is Kisune's brother. And

that she would be like the Fox Queen he's the

Rat King and I'm assuming like in the Mirage

Tales series there's probably more of them around

and more or less kind of demigod like things

that are messing with humanity and I really wonder

you know in the Ninja Turtles things where these

weird spiritual things are happening it turns

out oh that was Krang with time travel doing

that it was technology I wonder if these things

may eventually Get revealed to be aliens or something

like that something more grounded in more in

reality than in magic or in I Don't know religion

is not the right word, but they're not gods of

any kind. They're not magic So, yeah, we'll see

So we get to The Rat King basically lets his

children cover Leo and Splinter. They're covered

in rats. And they basically look like two giant

piles of rats. You can't see anything of them.

I'm trying to remember. I'm flipping through

and there are flashbacks. I think the... Come

from the distant past when mortal mankind was

in its infancy and my family Mighty beings all

competed to rule. So he wants his rats to be

in charge of things I'm getting and it sounds

like he's kind of like Ra's al Ghul wants to

be about the downfall of society and so when

I came to Jacket and he marched his rats Pied

Piper style through the city gates and then stole

the children and took him to Took them over the

edge later. Yep But always in anticipation of

great game of the great game to come when my

family and I would again compete for the throne

of the world and they're showing a picture of

kitsune in the grave getting awakened by shredder

Yep, that is awesome And then after that panel

is where we start. Yeah, yeah, now we have covered

in rats. Yeah, covered in rats. Covered in rats.

And we go back to... They're in a flashback,

but they're not in a flashback somehow, because

it's what they're currently doing, but Leo is

Dark Leo again. I take this as Spirit World.

Right, right. They're all in their head again.

Yep. Which is interesting, to say the least,

that they did this this way. I like it, I think

it's really cool. The art in this is great though.

The contrast and colors, the backgrounds, all

of it is so wonderfully done. And then after

this Dreamworld sequence here, because the first

part the first part of the dream or the the spirit

world sequences what splinter is going through

because he's facing them dark Leo and then the

second part is what Leo is going through because

splinters part is like yellow background and

leaders part is blue background and Rat King

seems to let's see Leo says whatever you are.

I know you're not my father. I will defend myself

and he says prove it and You know splinter I

guess I guess the rat king is speaking through

splinter ungrateful. Well, you would wound me

your own father That was just a warning and quit

pretending to be my father, it won't work. It

seems that there's kind of a mirror image thing

happening that Rat King's playing them both and

that the actions are very mirrored in both hallucinations

and yeah, whatever happens. Splinter attacks

something which R Leo reacts to and defends himself

and cuts the guy and when they all wake up, it's

yeah, Splinter wounded Leo. Oops, I can't believe

I did that But I think in this in this one. He's

turning the rat king. He's figured it out and

has that yeah Yeah, he is because he's easy,

but he's about to chop his head off and The rat

king says and we shall see our children stop

Fascinating my sister exploited your doubts now

that doubt is gone not to be used against you

again You've turned that weakness into strength

and we return to the sewers And they are both

hurt And it says You know Leo's like how though

where did he go? Where's the red king? I don't

know A very important last line of the rat king

as they're kind of recovering You are like no

other creatures. I have encountered a rat It

was in a man and a father and a turtle who is

a child becoming a man and He goes on to monologue

a bit, but it says in a moment You will not remember

me, but know this I will not forget you and then

he's gone and they're back where they started

where they before they went on their walk and

Leo's looking at his sword like why is my sword

out you don't take this out unless you're gonna

kill somebody with it and Splitters going, oh

my god, I'm bleeding I'm cut and so Something's

up, but Leonardo manages to remember Yeah, he

remembers and he says that's it Father I know

now I know how to beat the shredder and we get

to a helicopter flying into a ship It actually

well it looks like in that In that, well, in

that second singular panel where it's whirring

around, it looks like it's about to crash, is

what it looks like, but it lands, Shredder comes

off, and we see a bubble from off -panel here,

well, at least I do in the comicsology gutter

view. The Shredder, I presume, indeed. The Shredder,

I presume. I wish Steve was here to do that.

General Krang, to be continued. Dun dun dun.

Yeah, that samurai jerk that stabbed me and kicked

me back through the hole. I've been waiting for

this issue for a very long time. We've been waiting

36 issues. Yes! You know, I don't need... Well,

to be honest, I don't need... crying in my series.

I like the utroms and their role in the turtle

verse and crying was always kind of the weird

thing from the cartoon that I watched as a kid.

And so as a result, I don't need crying and shredder

getting together. But oh, would it be kind of

a neat homage to watch that. And so, you know,

when when when Bobby dropped that this would

be happening during our interview, I was like,

OK, that's going to be kind of cool. And I won't.

Discuss that issue because we'll do that for

the next podcast. But yeah Yeah, I can't even

I can't even say what I was about to say because

it gives it away Go read that issue everybody.

Yes, go read issue 37 of TMNT The next podcast,

we're at this point, we're caught up. So the

next podcast won't be until for, for the, well,

the next episode for Joe and I won't be until

probably late October, most likely. Um, I'm going

to have to look at the schedule because I, um,

one of the things I love about IDW, uh, you know,

you can email them and ask them a question and.

They'll email you back and give you an answer

kind of thing. Uh, I actually had emailed Bobby

with concerns to the, how we were to review the

story between the annual, between these two issues,

between 37, 38 and turtles in time. And I, I'm

going to have to go back and look at that to

see what we're doing. I know we're going to be

doing 37, 38, but 38 as of this recording has

not come out yet. I don't think it comes out

until October 1st. Oh, which way too long. I

know wait. Well it It's kind of weird to me.

I mean that's what it tells me in in Comixology

the the subscription that I have there the next

time a turtles issue will drop For the main series

is October 1st according to Comixology. We will

have the next issue or the final issue of Turtles

in Time this month. I believe that's on the 17th.

So maybe that's why they didn't want to put out

38 this month in September because of Turtles

in Time wrapping up. Maybe that's the only thing

I can think of. We're going to take a quick break,

come back with final thoughts and ratings after

this. It's Decian, the superhero webcomic. Decian's

got superhero antics and sexy girls. Read it

now at Decian .com. D -A -S -I -E -N dot com.

So let's say you're looking for a podcast of

your favorite 80s comic books. G .I. Joe, Transformers,

Ninja Turtles, He -Man, etc. Where are you going

to go to find this? Welcome to Star Joe's Podcast.

I'm your host Ryan. And I'm Chuck. That's right

everybody, we're the Star Joes. We host a podcast

called Star Joe's Podcast, where we talk about

your favorite comic books, your favorite toys

of all the 80s properties. Star Wars, G .I. Joe,

Transformers, Mask, Thundercats, Voltron, you

name it, we cover it. If it's in the 80s, we

cover it at some point. Yes, so what you want

to do to find us, you can go to iTunes, you can

go to www .starjoes .com, and remember, the force

will be with you, because knowing us is half

the battle. Alright, we are back and it is time

to give final thoughts and rate these two issues.

Final thoughts on these, sir? I think these two

issues and the one after this that I've read

were at an interesting part in the whole overarching

series right now where things are starting to

build up. These issues feel like they've lost

focus. They feel like there's a strange tension

over everything. unpleasant to read, because

it's not contributing to a resolution yet, but

I know better. But it's leading to it. Yeah,

and it's leading to something awesome. Yeah.

I mean, I don't see these issues as bad. No.

I see these as continuing, like... We can't always

have every single issue be action We can't all

we can't always have every single issue have

you know multiple fights even though issue 35

had multiple fights But you know in issue 36

had you know the rat king and mind games and

fighting between Leo and splinter We can't all

have like a giant, you know, the turtles on this

side and everybody else on this side, and you

all come in the middle and fight each other.

We can't have that every single issue. And I

love how the threads of the storylines are all

coming together. Like, did I ever think we would

see April's parents again? Not this soon. Not,

not, not this soon. But I like that, you know,

again, At its core, you've said this many times,

at its core, this book, whether it's the Turtles

and Splinter, whether it's the Turtles and Splinter

in April, whether it's the Foot Clan, at its

core, this book is about family. And it was great

seeing April's mom basically want to take care

of Casey. Oh, beautiful. Just sent him a wonderful

moment. Absolutely. I'm trying to think, was

there anything in... Five that I didn't like

No, 35 gets five stars Absolutely loved it all

even the art. I didn't even Dislike the art.

I love the art. We're back to Santa Luco Yep

Yep What about you for 35 for reading? I I can

I can give both 35 and 36 a 5 as Even though

they're uncomfortable, but it's a it's a good

kind of uncomfortable. It's that kind of uncomfortable

that says This is about to pay off and everything

and it's gonna wrap up so much so I it's just

gonna be Wonderful, I think and and when we finally

get the payoff it we get a small payoff next

Next issue, but but man the technodrome stuff

is coming that I think that's gonna be the next

moment where it's like, okay I need to change

my pants. Yeah, I'm wondering what's gonna happen

After the technodrome stuff, I mean not that

I want Bobby to tell us I'm just saying that

I'm wondering like Is the technodrome all there

is what else are they gonna go into after the

technodrome stuff that's What do you think will

happen? That's the thing. I don't know I don't

know which like I know we've been building from

issue one to the technodrome. That's what I know

And I know it's coming soon, but... Don't know

what to expect after that honestly in my opinion

where I would like them to go after the technodrome

Whatever however that decides to resolve I want

an issue or three where the turtles are actually

left alone where they get what they've been wanting

the turtles You know we've talked about it before

they're not superheroes Maybe they'll stop the

occasional bank robbery or something But the

turtles just want to be left alone and the foot

clan and shredder and crank and every Everybody

just screws with them. I want to see an issue

or three where they're allowed to be teenagers,

where they get to relax and they're left alone

and everything's happy. After that, I want to

see them go to space. Oh, really? Yep. You want

to see them go to... Okay. I do. All right. I

do. All right. I have no idea what's coming up

next in the pull bag. I'm honestly not even sure.

No clue what the next coverage is gonna be from

any of the titles that I read and that any of

the other hosts that I have on read. I am trying

to get a Origins episode together with Jim Warner

and Eric, oh god what's his last name? I can't

think of it off the top of my head. They run

Weird Science of DC blog. So, I'm trying to get

an Origins episode done with them. Other than

that, it'll just be a mystery. So, make your

great escape into comics, and we will catch you

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