TPB – Back Issue Classics – IDW TMNT Issues #45-46 – Prelude to Vengeance!

Hey guys, Raphael here at the Teenage Mutant

Ninja Turtles. Did you say podcast? Dudes, do

this! You're listening to a podcast on the Gatecast

Radio Network. Welcome to The Polebags Back Issue

Classics. Join us as we talk about comics from

yesteryear. From DC, Marvel, and more. So open

your ears to hear our discussion. The older continuity

as the back issue classics are also what's in

the pool bag? Hello and welcome to the pull bag

this is yet again another back issue classics

and The last two times or the last couple of

times on back issue classics. We've been kind

of going back and forth between two of IDW's

best series the brand new Jim and the Holograms

comic and of course Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

I am of course TF2 and Mike joining me is Joe

Reed. Hello everybody, hello. So this episode

of the pull bag now last episode an episode 109

I had I my mom had just passed away I had recorded

a little clip at the beginning of that saying

I wasn't sure When the next episode was going

to be of the podcast at all because I just at

the time I recorded that Wasn't too sure in my

living situation. That's kind of changed. So

living situations kind of even doubt It's no

longer being in the red and having to move and

live in Joe's new basement But so we've got this

going on we've got Jim holograms we've got turtles

going on the back issue classics and You know,

I have no idea where I was going with this. Oh

This episode will actually be out June 17th of

2015, which I believe is the week right after

Geek Stuff Garage Sale. I think so. I think so,

yeah. I think that's right around BotCon. I managed

to go to that too. I will have gone to that by

the time you listen to this podcast. And I'll

have looked at Frank Welker from a distance because

I'm not paying $500 for his autograph. Yeah,

that's a topic for a completely different show.

That's a soapbox for a completely different podcast.

But yeah, go check out Geek Stuff Garage Sale

on Facebook. You can actually check out now,

I'll have to get with Mike on the actual link,

but you can check out Geek Stuff Garage Cast,

the Geek Stuff Garage Sale podcast. Both of them

are dot coms now. You can actually follow links

to the Facebook page because well, I'm low -budget

the podcast is slightly higher budget than me

But yeah, the geeks up garage so you can find

us there We're Midwest Michigan kind of like

art called it a farmers market that only sells

nerdy geek action figure movie stuff And he's

like that's really accurate. That's more accurate

than flea market, but totally free come check

us out Look at the pictures on Facebook. See

what you missed. We'll do it again the end of

the summer, too. Oh Really? Wow Yep run two of

those a year and maybe even three if they start

letting us do the indoor one for Christmas so

Yeah, but you guys have also launched a geek

stuff garage cast you want to talk about that

a little bit I am the the fourth wheel on the

new podcast thing We we kind of like It embodies

the spirit of the geek sale and that we just

kind of talk about anything and each shows got

a topic and and that's posted on the website

and Or I think we just finished recording our

second episode So check that out and by the time

I think on the 17th, we'll have a third maybe

even a fourth maybe But but check it out. Go

look at their geek stuff garage cast calm Alright

folks so it is time to dive back into TMNT and

a lot has happened since the end of attack on

technodrome A lot of people's predictions kind

at least a lot of people that predicted that

what happened to actually happen did happen That

makes any damn sense, but I remember a lot of

people, because I fully believe that Donatello

is not dead. Unless Bobby Kernow, Tom Walz, or

Kevin Eastman actually sit there and leave a

voicemail on my phone number saying, yes, Donnie

is dead, I do not believe that Donatello is dead.

No, I believed it for all of a day. kind of just

letting you know and and not really wanting to

think about the comic book fact of yeah he's

comic book dead i i lived in the fact that they

killed you know one of my my characters one of

my childhood characters um and and that was enjoyable

it was interesting to have those kind of feelings

go on but once you you sleep on it wake up like

no no no no he's just comic book dead a b and

c can happen and he's fine but but that was you

know We couldn't have asked for less. How do

you say that? I think that's right Yeah, something

like that see a lot of people predicted and my

good buddies or syndicated partners for GCR and

Rob and Josh over at turtle flakes they Said

one of them said something about and I think

even you said this and other people I've heard

other people say this but I think I heard it

from them first Oh, what if they just take his

consciousness and put it into metalhead? and

I'm like, oh, when I first heard that, I'm like,

oh, God, this is the worst idea ever. Just give

him CPR and pound on his chest to make him be

alive, but they've actually done that. They've,

in the process, since episode, or since issue,

I should say, since issue 44, issue 45 and 46,

which we'll be getting into here in a moment,

essentially the plot line is that, Donatello

is now in metalhead his consciousness is now

in metalhead the issue the biggest issue that

I have with this is something similar to this

happened in the image series that Was volume

3 but Peter Laird ready later said no. No, we're

not gonna count it and it was just weird It seemed

like a ham -fisted attempt to make the turtles

different and then after lambasting that idea

He went and put Donatello back in a robot suit

in Volume 4, legit, you know, in continuity.

It's still actually Donatello, he's just shrunk,

but is piloting a large turtle -shaped robot,

a la the Uttrams made for him. And I'm just kind

of like, you know, you don't have to do that

to the turtles. We're not so bored of them that

we need them to look different. And I think there's,

of course, because it's IDW, there's more than

that to this. It's not just a way to make him

different. This is story wise what they had to

do Story wise it was the only way they could

save his life and the only way that they could

kill him and show that There are stakes the turtles

can lose Watch and yeah, they lost big And if

you think about it, and I pointed this out again

to my buddies Josh and Rob over at Turtle Flakes

when I emailed them about, because they did a

little mini -sode when the news, before anyone

really read issue 44, when Donatello is killed

by Rocksteady or Bebop or whichever one actually

did it, they put out this little thing as soon

as the news came out and all the news sites were

like, oh my god, IDW killed one of the turtles.

They put this news thing out and they put all

these speculations out there and I emailed them

and I'm like, look, if you look at the four year

history of this comic series, and I have, and

we have, every turtle, every character, every

major character has been put in traumatic points

in the series. At first it was, the series started

out. Raph was homeless. Raph was on his own.

Raph wasn't a part of the team at all. They were

looking for him. And then the whole City Fall

thing with Leo. And now we've got Donnie. And

really, the only one out of the four brothers

that hasn't really been affected by a major thing

is Mikey. Mikey has always... This is the same

thing I'll say about... the Justice League in

general when the Justice League has either it's

Barry Allen or Wally West whoever you choose

to put in the flash suit when it has the flash

the flash is the heart of the team Mikey is the

heart of the team and yeah sure there was that

little drama thing where you know his pizza buddy

said oh no don't come around anymore blah blah

blah and all this and all that and Mikey had

a little emotional thing in the Turtles in time

when he you know met his mom and all this and

all that But if you think about it, you know,

Mikey really hasn't they haven't really done

anything To my I think he's gonna be next Yeah,

well Obviously, I mean that kind of goes without

saying especially with some of the crap some

of the stuff he says in this issue So getting

right into it issue 45 The main cover is Casey

the Purple Dragons, Alopex and Ange or Nobody,

Harold, April and Fugitoid, Casey and Hunter

facing off, you got Metalhead in there and you

actually got, and I'm surprised they put this

in, oh no, that's a, I'm sorry, that's a foot.

I thought it was a mouser. But that's cover A.

What do you think of cover A here, the regular

cover? I like Santalucco's art. I especially

like it when he takes his time and does beautiful

cover like this. I like the different segments

in it. Like the main body of it is Casey versus

Han and the Purple Dragons, but like all these

side things in red are really, really cool. The

B cover is Eastman. and Casey watching over a

second time around. I like the new version of

Casey that Kevin Eastman's been drawing. He's

not like the 80s punk guy that he usually draws

and looks good with the shorter hair and that

outfit. Yep. Alright, so for those that don't

know or haven't been reading this story, this

series... the story so far the technodrome has

been shut down and crying imprisoned in dimension

x but not without a cost shredder has been injured

and presumed dead by the foot clan though he

was saved by baxter stockman meanwhile the turtles

return home to find donatello's lifeless body

the victim of a brutal attack by bebop and rocksteady

and we open up with a beautiful first page of

Donnie's dream sequence And I love the way that

they handle these dream sequences. They've done

similar things before It's drawn in a unique

way this there's no black ink. It's not that

the drawings haven't been inked, but they're

fully colored I almost won no no no I was gonna

say that maybe Rhonda Pattinson colored it, but

then they turned off the ink line layer I know

there's too much rendering happening with pencils

underneath it, but it really gives it that different

look. And because those hard blacks aren't there,

it has that kind of foggy, distant look to it.

So big fan of that. I love how she's color coded

this, obviously. Yeah, on the purple. It's Donatello.

And the purple and the green. That just hit me.

Like, I thank you for saying that. Like we know

which turtle it is because of the background.

Yeah, uh -huh. And at the bottom of the page

we get, please stay a while and visit with me,

my son. And we see Teng Shin. Purple kimono.

Uh -huh. It's all green and purple for the most

part, until Splinter comes later. The fugitoid

returns. Essentially, Krang was put into Dimension

X successfully. He comes home, finds Splinter,

kneeling beside Dantel's body. Everybody surrounded

him. He's like, what has happened here? The bastards

killed him. You know, something like this. This

is the most emotional thing that has happened

in four years. I mean don't get me wrong The

Leo thing was emotional Raph not Raph I'm not

taking away from any of the Leo or the Raph storylines

at all But this is the most heart -wrenching

thing that they have done in four years and it's

gonna be really interesting to see how each of

the turtles deals with this and the first thing

I flashed to is that friggin April O 'Neill voiceover

in the movie You know Donatello's found someone

to latch on to when when when Raph was injured,

you know what I mean? It's like they're doing

that kind of here and it's gonna be really interesting

to see how all four of the turtles or three I

should say the three brothers React to it. And

I mean, obviously Raph is you know Raph and he's

gonna react in anger But what do you think of

the emotional context here I Okay, I know what

happens in this issue in the next issue I don't

think they left him dead dead for long enough

to really get to see that because okay, you know

Fugitoid says quick get him to the lab and we

can and starts his thing and Very soon he's back

and so we're seeing the turtles deal with the

fact that their brother is now a robot But we're

not seeing them deal with the loss long enough.

Yeah I'd have liked to have seen that go for

two or three issues. Really see Raph get in trouble

because he flies off the handle, really see Leo

struggle to keep it together, and then Michelangelo

is just a balling mess in the corner. Yeah, I

mean, I agree with you, but I didn't want Donnie

to become a victim of, you know... A victim of

the Wayne's yeah continuity or or or or even

uncle bet like I didn't want Donnie to become

You know the ghost of himself. I just did I This

is why I said I wish it instead of I I appreciate

all the all the things with you know his mother

that we're gonna see in this this issue in the

next one and all I appreciate all that but Kind

of wish somebody would have just beat on his

chest or something to get his heart back up or

you know I know they can't take him to a hospital,

but maybe go steal a you know an EEG machine

or something Because having Donatello of the

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles be comic book dead

and have it be like a long time comic book death

It just takes away from the team way too much

Well, I think that's the point that would have

been the point of it Is to let them lose it,

but you know, it's it's we're sitting here nitpicking

It's already written and it's still the IEW team

that we love so much. They're gonna do it, right?

They do do it, right? And we do see the strut

turtles struggle in their own ways even Donatello.

Oh my god. I'm a robot now. I don't know We'll

get to that we'll get to that listeners And I

love part of the story here where we get to splinter

and you know He says Donatello still alive and

We see him meditating and I think actually screen

cap this is all on Facebook. I Had I didn't realize

it was a fuller image when the when that when

the panel came up So I only took a screen cap

of the and I only put it on the one of the small

But it actually pulls out is the full panel of

him sitting there and he's got all you know the

whole universe behind him and he's got this like

Electro looking stuff on like electricity on

the floor and he's got these psychedelic arraignments

It's like splinter. What did you turn into an

80s album cover? Yeah Oh god, that would be so

off. Oh man, that would be so awesome. But yes

So He ends up in the purple and green place And

he What do you think of what where he says? I

know you still live. What do you think of his

design there? Splinter is a hard person to draw

Nobody looks at pictures of rats when they draw

him. I've learned that like Well, except except

maybe san deluca. I think he's looking at mice

because he has the round ears Which don't look

right because that's never the way splinter has

been drawn, but that's what rat ears look like

so Hey, he's got round ears So he um, we see

him in this this maze kind of reminds me of that

old episode of batman the animated series maze

of the minotaur oh that was a good episode and

we see the little garden of eden at the center

and the light and all that um we then cut to

bebop rocksteady and the foot clan and the foot

clan is not doing so well folks shredder is supposedly

dead according to them And, you know, Koya says,

oh, well, we left him, and, you know, we're so

ashamed. You should be. Yeah. They look ashamed.

That's impressive. That kind of gives them a

little bit of character that we haven't seen

them, you know, that there's actually regret.

Yeah. They'll get one shot someday, I'm sure,

both of them. Yeah, Koya and Bludgeon. When they

first appeared in Northampton, I wasn't too big

on them. I mean, Koya, she's got a nice design,

but I just, I don't know. Bludgeon just seems

kind of useless. They need to flesh them out

and they haven't gotten them. They haven't got

there yet. Yeah. Which tells me if they're not

ready to tell us who they are, what's going on,

what their motivations are, I think it was too

early to introduce them. Yeah. Who else do we

need one shots on if they ever do one? Oh, they

have all the new mutanimals could get one. That's

yeah, that's true. That's true So, you know Karai

goes on this whole tyrant and tirade and whatever

else and she says my grandfather may be gone

But know this the foot clan is not I Honestly

think that the foot clan is probably in better

hands with her I don't think she's, now she's

crazy, she's insane, she's violent, but I don't

think she's as megalomaniacal as her grandpa,

as her pretend grandpa Shredder is. I'm sorry,

I keep connecting it back to Volume 4 and Mirage

Run anyway, at least. Karai is not a bad guy

in that series. She is just, she's... Runs the

Japanese wing of the foot clan comes to the United

States to pick up after shredders mess and She

kind of like meets the turtles and yeah, there's

an uneasy thing because the turtles are like

foot clan bad We're gonna kill you all and and

she's like, no, we're not exactly we I'm sorry

for shredder He was not supposed to do what he

did with the vengeance thing and your master

We're sorry, but so there's this weird uneasy

alliance between the two of them and she's actually

kind of a good guy And I think they could turn

her that direction pretty easily. She still needs

to be tough and as at large and in charge as

she acts in this, just because of her previous

role as being the second. But I don't think she's

gonna be as hungry, power hungry as her grandpa

was. What I'm wondering, after I've read the

45 and 46, is how long it's going to take Shredder

to come back from where he is. And we'll get

there. I'm excited to talk about that. Yeah.

So we get to the local street corner, and the

Purple Dragons are back. I'm so happy to see

Purple Dragons around. We get a panel where Jason

show I'm sorry The panel where it's it basically

looks like a scene from the old cartoon series

where it's got that that moonlight or the streetlight

and it's basic it just The way that it's done,

the way the shadows are done in this, it reminds

me of that, and it reminds me of frigging Jason

Voorhees in the hockey mask. I'm sorry, Casey.

I know you're no Jason, but that's what it kind

of reminds me of. Casey comes in kicking ass,

taking names. What I'm loving about this issue

and the upcoming issues that we're going to talk

about is... how well they are balancing multiple

storylines in one. Normally, in the past, I have

complained about the jumps. We went from the

whole Karai thing to the Purple Dragon's thing.

Normally, sometimes when I would read them in

trade, I would complain about the jump cut there.

But here, it works. The creative team on this

book is firing on all cylinders. And I like seeing

Casey get some love. He's found his role as the

superhero. Keeping the streets clean, keeping

his his neighborhood clean. I'm just so glad

they have none. I hope they never put him on

roller skates. Don't get me wrong. Don't get

me wrong. I love the Casey and the Dick cartoon

series, but thank God they don't put this guy

on skates in this book. I think it's too serious

for that. He ain't sure. So, you know, Casey,

you know, saves the day and helps the owner get,

you know, everything back in the work, you know,

all that stuff and. You know as Casey waves and

is walking away says oh and be careful. There

was another one with them a really big scary

-looking guy Big scary -looking guy. Oh hell

no Entering second time around antique store.

Yeah We go back to Tang Shen and Donatello It's

always been interesting to me to see how each

of the turtles interacts with her because obviously

they haven't seen you know She's gone. She's

technically dead. I mean technically and this

is you know a spirit world, but It's you know

when when we were in turtles in time and in the

past and Mikey was interacting with her I really

enjoyed that when I don't remember did had Raph

interacted with her I know leo did a little bit

but not separately no Yeah, that's maybe that's

something that'll come up eventually, but I just

love the way that She is their mother is really

still guiding them And that's something that

really hasn't happened in any previous continuity

They've never addressed their mother and it's

so nice to see her being a character and I almost

wish they could bring her back but this is this

is how it needs to be done in these small doses

like this so yeah don't don't change that just

because i want the turtles to have a mommy yeah

um so we have that scene with beautiful art once

again like this this whole flashback thing and

normally i'm not a fan of having the turtles

without wearing their masks because it just looked

it's always looks kind of weird to me like if

you look at donnie's face when he says yes very

i've never seen anything like it i know i should

be freaking out right now uh i mean this is just

this doesn't seem logical at all but you know

it's normally i'm not a fan of them being maskless

but it really works here and i think it works

in this scene especially because the mom Tengshen

is a human but these turtles Well, they're they're

weird kind of deformed man turtles and without

having that mask it really drives home their

mutant side They don't look as cute and so we

get to see this weird thing Relating equally

with his mom and his mom doesn't seem to be bothered

by how kind of weird and lumpy he is And that

that I think is also Deliberate in and how it's

put together We get back to honey cut and trying

to transfer Donnie's consciousness and That's

all interesting I Just I love you know we haven't

gotten much in the way of Harold's Characterized

I mean we know his character, but we don't let

you know we don't you know like like Donnie said

I think Donnie says later at some point you know

Harold you know puts on a you know puts on his

own mask but deep down he really does care and

it kind of does show when in the panel where

he says please be right we get to alopex raf

leo mikey and and i'm just gonna say angel i

which doesn't have the mask on it just weird

it's just weird for me to say nobody um so they're

all all talking and hoping that donnie's gonna

come out of this and Here's where Raph starts

going off the handle. And his wife, Alopex, I'm

sorry. Can we please just say that they're in

some sort of relationship? Because they really

are. Yeah, they're gonna be. It'll be official

soon. Yeah, let's hope. And this is where Mikey

loses his cool. And we've never seen Mikey lose

his cool. when he does you know it's serious

and you need to stop acting like a weird person

because if Mikey thinks you're behaving in a

in an inappropriate way you probably are. What

is so cool about this scene where because Raph

has gone on and on and on about how they screwed

up and you know how father was right we should

have taken care of shredder and blah blah blah

and this is where you know we we see it off panel

And then it brings in, you know, Mikey's whole

thing about just shut up. We saved the world.

Donnie would be happy. He, he was awake, happy.

We stopped the technodrome just like he wanted,

et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And he says,

you're only making it worse. And then he gets

to this panel with all five characters here and

each of the looks on their faces. I mean, well,

obviously we can't really see Leo's looks as

he's looking at them like we would be. And it

just, I mean, between Angel, Mikey, Raph, and

Alipax, it's like they're all just defeated.

Well, there's the interesting panel after Mike

says there's nothing we could have done better.

You're making it worse. There's a panel of Raph

looking like, yeah, Mikey, you're right. I am.

But then that next panel, now he's he's angry

again and going to do his Raph thing and leave.

And, you know, Leo actually says Raph's right.

We may have stopped crying, but we have no clue

what's up with Shredder. And this is where we

get to Shredder. So what are you thinking so

far to this point with the storylines here in

this issue? It's a jumble of how they're all

reacting, and we don't know that Donnie is safe

yet. They don't know that Donnie is safe yet.

So we're kind of just watching them react as

things are coming in. It hasn't settled enough

yet to really let them, I don't know, show how

they're gonna end up ultimately reacting to the

death. So we get to Shredder, and he's... laying

in bed uh resting this is something that i would

have never yeah see shredder doing uh obviously

i mean i know he needs i know he needs to rest

he nearly died thank god he doesn't have his

snuggie with him um and do you notice what's

over to the right on the nightstand oh yeah all

his all his hardware i guess all that hardware

is from making coleslaw You know Baxter says

home sweet home. I'll drink to that and You know

shredder attacks him they have an argument here,

you know Baxter is basically playing him Trying

to get him to come around to his side and I think

this is gonna be I think what's interesting about

the whole series at this point is When we got

to eat way back when we got to issue 37 and we

we thought that it was just gonna be, oh, Shredder

and Crane team up. Obviously it wasn't. Issue

37 was essentially an all -villains issue where

Shredder and Crane almost fought to the death

for the first time. You know. The only logical

way that could have happened with the way that

IDW's built them. True. And here now we have,

you know, that old kind of, not really a standby,

but that old staple of... Baxter and Shredder

teaming up, you know, we saw it in the old cartoon

series We're going to see it in probably the

new the next new Turtles movie at some point

It's it's going to be really interesting and

what it's interesting here to see Like we're

just at the beginnings of this new team up and

Baxter reveals to him his fly boards And Shredder

sees that he really at this point in his weakened

state doesn't have a whole lot of choice but

to basically just go along with Baxter. For now.

I don't know why he doesn't just uh like okay

so long Baxter I'm headed to the foot headquarters

because they think I'm dead. I don't know why

he's why does he stay in here? I'm sure there's

a reason. Yeah some sort of partnership um with

the two of them. We get back to Splinter, Tang

Shen, and Donnie. And as we go through, we see

Splinter in the bushes. I love this panel, where

the narration at the top says, but underneath

it all, invisible to our eyes are the mighty...

Roots that are the true foundation for the beauty

above and he says I will not give up. I just

I love You know, we always complain about how

splinter is really not drawn as a rat well While

he's camouflaging himself in this tree or bush

or whatever. It looks like a barren stain bear

You know, and his mother, Donnie's mom, goes

on to talk about how it's a mysterious balancing

act, above and below, and the seen, the unseen,

just like the dark and the light. One does not

exist without the other. And this is where she...

This is interesting to me. She leaves him with

these words, and then splinter off panel. Splinter

himself is off panel and he says Donatello she

is gone and splinter is there I Don't remember

when we I don't think splinter and her have ever

been on the spiritual plane at the same time,

correct? I don't think so. The only time that

it might have happened was when the rat king

was jerking with his head But I don't even think

that that happened then I'll have to ask Bobby

You know so splinter comes in yes, my son. I'm

here. It's time to return home You know so they

You know they return home essentially splinter

brings Donnie out of his I'm just gonna call

her I mean, that's really you know because we

get oh, I think it's working and we see the the

red Targeting thing and whatever for for metalhead

and Donnie says he feels weird and we get the

to be continued for the fact that he's now his

consciousness is now in metalhead It took me

till the next issue to make the connection that

you know fugitoid just absolutely immediately

knew what to do to save him like oh wait, it's

because He put himself in a robot body at a point

So he would he would know exactly how to do a

donatello and get it to get it to work perfectly

Yeah, so that that made that made more sense

After I realized that okay. Yeah, that's right

alien guy who's already put himself into a computer

You know absolutely Overall issue 45 was really

interesting it really melded all of the storylines

that have been going on The only thing it didn't

really pick up on, and it will pick up on in

issue 46 here, where's April in 45? She's, like,

nowhere. Yeah, it wasn't... Where was she? She

wasn't in 45 at all. It was Casey and Hun, Angel,

Alopex, Raph, Leo and Mikey, Splinter, Donatello

and Tang Shen, Shredder and Baxter, and Karai

and the Foot Clan. I'm trying to she's on the

cover, but I'm trying to remember what she's

doing right now in the book Where was she during

attack on technodrome? That's yeah, that's a

good question. I honestly don't remember it's

been so long since we recorded that I think they

forgot about her Maybe she's tailing that foot

Professor guy at the college. Yeah, that's what

happens in 46 But and we know we're going to

get into that in a second. But overall, when

you first read, I mean, I know, you know, you've

said this many times, you know, you go to the

comic store, you buy the book and you sit in

your car and read it. But what was your, you

know, going back through it, what is your overall

reaction to 45? I think they they had to pack

too much in this issue and we didn't get to linger

with any of those moments or time is moving too

quickly for the Turtles for them to really adequately

cover it in. You know 24 pages of a book. So

This one left me hungry for now needing to read

that second one I think if you save 45 and 46

and read them at the same time, you'll be much

more satisfied They're essentially kind of not

not I don't want to say the same issue, but it

it covers As much as you need to know and it

doesn't leave questions Absolutely So issue 46

The main cover is Baxter, his fly borgs and the

mousers on top with, um, with, uh, is that, that's

not, is that Raph or Mikey in the middle on the

left? That looks more like Donnie. It could be.

You got one of the turtles, you got Koya, Bludgeon

and Hun in the middle. And then you get Karai

and the foot at the bottom. What do you think

of this main cover? Get more santa luco wonderfulness

the both covers have been fairly vague and actually

You know what? I think they were vague on purpose

so that they didn't blow the death of Donatello

in in Solicits that's probably why these are

kind of not telling you what's going on inside

the book in any way That and the whole next storyline

before 50 is the stockman swarm and that's kind

of hinted here at the top Mean I like the main

cover. I think it's really cool The Kevin Eastman

cover is angel Casey and alopex Angel doesn't

look like she's in her nobody armor She looks

like she's in she looks like she's in some sort

of battle suit or some sort of battle gear, but

she doesn't look like I Could be wrong. Hey,

I bet Eastman's probably drawn in the old -school

nobody armor. That was just kind of a black suit

Yeah, she wasn't quite nexo skeleton. Yeah So

we started this one out with Donatello going

over all the medical needs his body is going

to need I can't even do this beat by beat I Just

can't it's just too funny Well, they're smart

enough to mention the the catheter like oh poor

Donnie yeah, I Don't want to know where that

cords going You know I ought to go online and

find one of those daytime commercials about catheters,

but I'm not going to You know the ones I'm talking

about right yeah, we deliver clean ones to your

door yeah So we get Angel Leo Mikey Splinter

and metal Donnie Surrounding wait, where's Raph?

Raph checked out. He got pissed in luck. Oh,

that's that's right. That's right and You know

Donnie's just saying you know about you know

be able to take care of the body while his mind's

in metalhead and Splinter is praising him. You

know Mikey's trying to trying to be funny and

it just just doesn't work He says well even spit

shine our midst if that's what it takes no spit

please Mike soap and hot water are fine And all

is like like I don't think this was Tom or Kevin

or Bobby's intention But the spit shine thing

all as I can think of is friggin space jam Michael

Jordan goes into the Looney Tunes gym this place

is a mess and Daffy's like are you kidding me?

It's a little spit shot in this place will be

looking like new and they actually start spitting

all over the All over the gym and then Taz comes

in with a broom and a mop and just does his Tasmanian

devil thing and it turns out to be an immaculate

thing It's weird it's I agree with Donnie, you

know You know Leo asks him You know Yeah, Don

you sure you're okay, and he's Donnie says honestly.

Oh, no. I'm not no matter how it seems this all

of this is Just really freaking me out, and I'm

really kind of freaked out about this because

I don't know if they are Eventually going to

put him back in his body. I'm sure they will

It might be after 50, but they will Yeah So,

um You know splinter goes on and says indeed

the turmoil your brother must be experiencing.

It's unfathomable I wish more than uh Nothing

more than to give him comfort, but how And you

know he goes on he's definitely not the only

one freaking out right now and we go on a date

with raf and alopex and you know i i'm glad she's

like i wasn't sure like with with koya and bludgeon

i knew i didn't really care for them right away

because they weren't really explained to us but

since alopex and her whole storyline is already

been flushed her whole storyline of where she

came her whole origin has been already been flushed

out I'm really loving alopex, especially because

essentially she is, you know, she is essentially

Raph's Tang Shen. I mean, you know, you look

at Raph and Splinter, they are or they were at

one point both very similar because Splinter

used to have all that anger that Raph has now.

And I just I wish. Coming up we're gonna be getting

the the next mini series after mutanimals Called

Casey and April and they're gonna focus on Casey

and April in that and it's gonna be Casey and

April I think versus the rat king. Yeah. Yeah,

that's right. I've heard that yeah, um, I Honestly

wish and I don't think they'll ever do this But

I honestly wish at some point before the IDW

series ends Not that I wanted to end but at some

point before its lifespan is up I want Raph and

Alopex to have their own little mini series.

Find some adventure to put the two of them in.

I know this is going to sound cheesy as hell

and it's going to sound very 90s when I say this,

but at this point they could have their own Holocoon

romance novel series. She is becoming Ninjara

from the Archie series and they don't have rights

to that character. They belong to Chris Allen

and... the other guy. They own them. But I think

there was a small series with just Raph and Ninjara

called Moon Eyes through the Archie series and

it would not surprise me if we do see them become

a couple. She becomes like the fifth Ninja Turtle

and they go on adventures together and eventually

they have their story arc, their mini series.

So I think it'll come. We'll get to really see

her fleshed out and what she becomes. Yeah, it's

gonna be really awesome and The coolest thing

about this scene is once Raph and I'm sorry not

Raph once Mikey and Leo show up You know as they're

all leaving because well Raph Leo and Mikey are

leaving, you know Raph turns around and says,

thanks Alopex and she says what our friends for

right? Yeah Friends, huh? Angel says, yeah. Angel.

What? Oh, nothing, friend. And, see, art like

this is why I want so many things out of this

series. I want so many other, like, yeah, I want

to wrap an alopec story, but I also want... And

nobody an alopec story. Yeah, I want them on

the town. Fightin crime kickin ass cuz look at

this panel the two of them look amazing That

is well -drawn alopex's pose makes me uncomfortable

because nobody jumps like that and heads forward

Okay, that's okay because it looks cool Yeah,

and is a little strange, but it looks really

cool. Yeah, that's that's a convention print

That's what that's what he uh as a santa luco

prince and sits on his table Yeah So Was it the

beginning of this issue or was it the end of

last issue? It was in last issue with us in last

issue. Oh hell no So we find that Hun is that

the second time around shop harassing mr. And

mrs. O 'neil and Casey barges in Are you still

Not a fan of the Hun character? Not a fan of

Hun being Casey's dad, but I can't legitimately

gripe about that because it's been done well

and it makes interesting dynamic. It's not the

direction that I would have gone with Hun, but

it's not a problem for me. Alright. And this

whole scene, they're essentially reenacting history

here. with hun you know having the bottle of

booze and you know talking about and you know

shredder got ended by them green freaks you all

been chummy with lately too and and everything

else and he's like oh we can go back to old times

there's no more bounty on my head there's you

know the Jones boys back together again and I

understand that hun is a drunk And I understand

that alcoholism is a very horrible disease in

a lot of people There are a lot of people that

contract it, but it's one of those things where

It's just like Hun wants it to go back to the

way it was Now I don't know if he wants it to

go back to the way it was where he was just beating

Casey every single night or if he just wants

to like wants it to go back to actually having

his son by his side and maybe that's what it

is, but I'm really glad Casey is not falling

for any of this crap. Ah, there's no chance he

is. He's been beat up too many times. And, uh...

So, April's father, what is his first name? Is

it John? I think. I could be wrong. Anyway, Mr.

O 'Neill. Yeah, he's wielding a staple gun. Wait

a minute. I know what that is. Patoom -patoom

puts two in his chest like I don't feel that,

buddy. You know, an off -panel we get. Well,

look at that, would ya? Looks like showing up

in the nick of time has become a thing for us

alapex. Get lost, Arnie. That is a beautiful...

illustration of alopex that is awesome this needs

to be a convention print that needs to be a convention

because again how far these characters all of

these characters have come in four years of publishing

this book it's just so amazing so Hun leaves

dejected as always the names hung girl more like

lush And he basically breaks the bottle and walks

away And mr. And mrs. O 'neill get to meet Angel

and alopex they met the turtles yet. Yes, they

have I think yes, they did when they left Northampton

they had to have I'm not sure that they I could

have sworn they did. Well, I have all the books

here, but I don't feel like making all the noise

to get to them. I'm pretty sure they did. Again,

it's something I can ask Bobby and find out when

we can correct it next time. But I think it's

really cool how they're finally introducing all

the characters to the O 'Neils. Because they

got to bring them into this somehow You know

You know we get back to this and and Karai is

now talking about you know the foot clan and

and everything else she's talking to bebop and

rocksteady and bludgeon and and Koya and I gotta

say the foot clan members that have the red masks

or the red Helmets or whatever the hell. I wish

they'd change that because it makes me think.

Oh, hey, look, it's the Red Hood gang When the

fuck is Batman gonna show up? You know, it's

like I don't mind the guys that are in the masks

with the teeth and whatever else but Guys in

the Red Hood. It wouldn't hurt to go and explain

the The rank so we know why they're wearing those

different uniforms like what's their role? What

are they what are their specialties that kind

of? You know So cry is essentially saying the

same thing she said last time our master is dead,

but our clan lives on they all yell We get some

more characterization with Donnie and Fugitoid

with, you know, Donnie saying that, you know,

all this data is flowing so rapidly and I'm able

to keep up. I just don't understand how that's

possible. And, you know, I love this characterization

between. And it's really weird to see the two

robots interact with each other. Like, I'm used

to watching giant robots and Transformers and

comic, you know, in the comics with them and

all that stuff. But like Metalhead and Fugitoid,

it's really weird to see. It's weird because

they're humans in robot form and they can both

talk about what that's like. And that's kind

of, that's fun to see. Like, wow, I can, I don't

have to sleep. I don't have to eat. You eat?

I get fake hungry, but I don't need it. yeah

data in my brain and that's just it's a neat

perspective to get to hear a writer put characters

in that spot and this is the scene where you

know herald comes in and you know talks about

you know phantom pain sensation uh where he says

it happens to a lot of amputees your and your

hunger and tiredness or just your biological

clock ticking at you and He has a really nice,

you know a little moment with Donnie and fixing

the arm that got shot off or destroyed in last

issue And then as he walks away Future is like

your friend is your friend always so disgruntled?

And only Harold fool you professor he puts on

a grumpy mask but underneath it all he's really

a good guy And it's been a long time since we've

seen Woody. We got Mikey and Woody. I love this.

Like this guy is, this guy Woody is essentially

a complete stranger to all of these people. I

mean, yeah, Mikey knows him and he gives Mikey

essentially free pizza. And that's awesome. But

it's like. What I like about this it's not that

I don't dislike I don't dislike anything with

Woody It's just it's so weird that they have

a character in the book that has really nothing

to do like he's He's a fresh set of eyes and

ears for this team specifically Mikey obviously

because Mikey is sitting here venting to him

and explaining to him and talking with him and

he really does give Mikey some really good advice

and When I first read this issue it was like

When did this come out last week No wasn't last

one last week it was You know this Wednesday,

but the Wednesday before maybe Maybe maybe maybe

When did this I'm sorry listeners when did this

come out this came out? May 27th, so this came

out a week Yeah, it came out a week after my

mom passed away and When I read the next line

that's about to happen between Mikey and Woody

at the time I was like, wow, that is so me right

now. And I'm not talking about, you know, the

micster like a boss. I'm not talking about that

at all. I'm talking about where Woody says, you

know, Mikey says, thanks, man, I needed that

and this. Now I got some mutanimals to find.

And Woody's like, no worries, bro. Just remember,

tough as you ninja dudes are, it's okay to ask

for help from your friends sometimes. And that

just kind of really hit me, because obviously,

you know, some people that don't know, I'm going

through a hard time in my first life. Obviously,

my mom passed away and all the financial burdens

that that brings and whatever else. So we know

this is a cut that I will complain about. It

didn't really hit me at first because of that

line. The narration line where where woody is

ending this conversation, but we go to the New

York tech staff parking lot And we see the professor

dude that we saw took me a while to figure out

who that was whenever the Cripes Miller Whatever

you've gotten yourself into and we flashback

to early. It just says earlier. It doesn't say

a day ago It doesn't say how long it earlier

it was but we see april talking with professor

miller uh... at least we know where april's been

i guess you're sad yeah i guess uh... and they're

talking about these giant scrolls and everything

else and by the end of this conversation uh...

april essentially takes the scroll from him and

goes off on her own And he you know goes you

know we've so that's the end of the kind of earlier

flashback we go to the present and You know he

says stay safe she says yeah, right And there's

a red hood gang member sitting in his backseat

And I don't know why they killed him. I don't

know what they achieved by doing that. I don't

know either Maybe it's keeping the foot clan

secret. Maybe that's Karai's new prerogative.

I don't know Potentially because now they have

no way to ask him You know where the book is

if there are other prints of it if that you know

the foot clan book that they were after for a

time And I'm just now realizing seeing a more

developed version of this foot clan character

He's a Red Hood gang with a Freddy Krueger claw.

Yeah, but yeah, I They've been around with those

claws for a while. That seems like it was something

I saw in the Mirage run, if not earlier in this

run. They're all blending together now. So we

then go to Baxter and Shredder. Really glad to

see TCRI show up. Yes. Ah, TCRI. I remember the

big stink back in, was it, 91? When in the second

movie it was TGRI I see for me That's all I knew

at that time as a 10 as an 11 year old and that's

really what I wanted to see happen But obviously

I know that I know that's not the proper term

But you know at least it's here It's kind of

cool. Yeah, the well, I think they changed it

in the movie because they weren't going the uterine

direction for it to be a cosmic research institute.

It was it was global. So, you know, and humans,

although in my imagination, Professor Perry was

an uterine and it was global or was in a. interplanetary,

but having the original T .C .R .I. back is nice.

I'm sad to see that it's not connected to benevolent

utroms, but, you know, who knows? Maybe that'll

come. Well, that's what the tech... See, that's

the thing. They kind of switched all this around.

If you look at, and we have, if you look at the

way that this whole series has unfolded, The

ootroms and all their stuff happened on the technodrome

The mousers and Baxter and the fly borgs and

shredder and all that apparently are gonna be

happening at TCRI They basically reversed the

cartoon series Where you know originally it was

Baxter and the mouser in the in the cartoon series

specifically in the original 87 shredder was

paired up with Baxter first right and Well, he

was paired up with crank too, but You know you

had the the mousers and all that coming out of

the technodrome So I mean, I don't I don't think

they came out on sector drone. They were they

had a building It was the building that flooded

and Michelangelo surfed and said Cowabunga for

the first time yeah, but the No, it was the old

mansion, but yeah, that's right They were still

working out of the technodrome because I remember

the mousers coming out of it out of the okay

I believe you because that because I remember

this giant shot of the technodrome's foot or

mouth or whatever the hell or the door opening

and They released the mousers into the sewers

to go after the sewer dead Sorry, you're right

So at CCRI we see this giant production line

making mousers and making flyboards What do you

think of the whole mouser flyboard? Slash upcoming

main storyline for the stockman swarm I really

just want to see what shredders getting out of

this and why he's playing back and why he thinks

he's dependent on Stockman, I mean there's money

here, but Don't know I think shredder's stronger

on his own and he knows that he can't trust Baxter

he just knows this isn't gonna end I asked to

know but but that's the that's the fun part of

Wanting to read next month's issue already is

how does this turn out? How does this happen?

Yep So we have the final scene here is we're

back at April April's parents house With them

Casey alopex and angel and you know her mom says

oh, it's been an eventful night and You know

angel makes the comment to Casey that you know

you got yourself into something really good here,

and he's like don't I know You know he says speaking

to April I need to give her a call to see how

things went at her school tonight And see if

she knows about the Donnie and the others. Oh,

man What are they gonna do in for April doesn't

know yet? She didn't she wasn't at the April

wasn't at the the reveal of Donnie dying was

she I? Don't remember how I got to go back and

read 44 again damn it Huh, I'm not sure I don't

remember I'm getting too old for this shit The

issue ends with yo losers, what the hell and

The purple dragons are gonna teach them all a

lesson. So we so we end on your losers and what

the hell and It ends with Han and the purple

dragons getting ready to take back the neighborhood

for the purple dragon. I'm so excited to see

this fight. This is going to be kind of what

I wanted to see with Nobody and and alopex and

then then Casey getting to do his thing I I wonder

how high they're gonna raise the stakes with

this fight. I mean our Mr. And mrs. O 'neil gonna

be in danger and legitimate danger Here are they

gonna be able to hold them back do they are they

gonna have to call the turtles in to stop this

but This is gonna be the tense amazing stuff

that I was excited to see Absolutely Overall

issue 46 really digging it the art I Love the

art, but I wish that they would stick with one

person style II The flashbacks, I completely

understand you getting a different artist because

you need someone different on the flashbacks.

I get that. But going from the various artists'

styles, not too... I don't know, I'm not too

keen on that. It doesn't upset me because they've

managed to stick with it during particular story

arcs that this arc will end and then the new

artist will pick up. And they do have their stable

now of... Santa Luco, and they've gone back to

Duncan for one of the, what was it, one of the

Turtles in Time issues. Gosh, all those names

are, I'm losing them now. Duncan, Ben Bates,

Corey Smith, and now Sophie Campbell. So as long

as they keep it kind of within that family, I'm

cool with that and everyone's still out of mind

when they throw somebody in but they they just

can't do it like the animated series comic is

where it changes halfway through the book just

because they're trying to get that book out quickly

and so they put two artists onto that once and

they just one does the beginning one does the

end and I put it together but you know I don't

mind it doesn't doesn't bother me so much I mean

I guess I'm just used to it well the other series

that I read after every Five issues when the

new writer takes over for the next art the artist

changes to it's okay All right, folks, we're

gonna take a quick break come back really quickly

and kind of give our final thoughts and Kind

of also we're not gonna go in depth on the free

comic book day issue because it essentially is

a recap for any new readers But we are going

to talk about it just a little bit. So we'll

be back Alright folks we are back and it is time

for the prelude to vengeance Now off -air Joe

and I have talked about this I don't really make

a big day out of a big deal out of it But I know

a lot of people do I know a lot of people will

go to as many Comic stores as they can to get

as many of the free comic book comic books as

they can But for me if a if there's a title That

I know that I'm gonna want to read on free comic

book day. That's what I get excited for this

year I was excited for the turtles book that

we're gonna talk about here in a minute Transformers

robots and disguise number zero, which is the

new comic series based on the new cartoon series

that just came out So that's really what I get

excited for when I asked you on Facebook about

free comic day. You're like, yeah It's whatever

it's well, I've learned to not be excited Anymore

I got bit on one of the other issues That I that

I got and free comic day weird thing I it's been

around for years But I've really only been aware

of it for maybe three or four years like what

you gave away comic books And you know I found

out that oh, okay It's these certain issues that

you come in at least I wasn't ignorant enough

to walk in the store and say is everything for

free because that happens my my buddy or the

people that I know that own the stores in the

town like yeah that happens all the time people

come in they make a stack and say I'd like these

for free no no no that's not how it works but

uh the the point of free comic book day is that

if you you go to your store you see the poster

oh okay i'm gonna bring in my girlfriend who

doesn't read comics i'm gonna bring in my friend

who uh is a music person and not a nerd and he'll

pick out a free comic i'm gonna bring my little

kid and and he'll pick out his first comic it's

to get people in the store who haven't read anything

before to start reading comics. This year, I

would like to wager, and I'm sure listeners will

call me out if I'm wrong, that this is really

the first year where there were issues that people

reading the books currently needed to read to

kind of not just get caught up, but to have a

piece of the story. And I think the one that

I'm thinking of is the Marvel convergence. I

don't know. What the heck is Marvel doing right

now? They're ending the ultimate universe and

putting everything together. DC. DC is Convergence,

Marvel is Secret Wars. Yeah, that's right. There

was the Secret Wars prelude and I picked that

up and the Ninja Turtles issue and I had to ask

to get more than one book very nicely because

the store that I go to gives you one. It's a

small store and your comic book store has to

buy those issues. They don't get them given to

them. They need to buy them and I love my guys

there. and they are a small store they're not

making that much money they're not rich people

so you know I asked nicely I spend a lot of money

there but I know that there are other stores

where you walk through the line and you can pick

out you know you're allowed to get 10 books and

they have everything there and the line is out

the door and down the street I don't I don't

get that and So, yeah, I picked out my issues

and I sat down in the car and I read that Secret

Wars thing and I'm like, okay, I have no idea

what's going on. I just took this free book.

Now, and somebody else wants it more than I do

because I don't get it. I thought maybe I could

read it and get interested in it. But no, that's

not what the point of that book was. And I don't

know what I expected from the Turtles book. You

know, I got it because I collect Turtles books.

I want every Turtles book. but this book the

Ninja Turtles book that I'm holding in my hands

now that you all should go find a copy of listeners

if you haven't been reading the book because

this is perfect for getting you perfectly caught

up with the series this covers everything up

to right now you could go out by this book and

issue 47 and you'll be perfectly set I've said

perfect too many times That's okay. Now, I said

earlier that this is essentially a catch -up

for everybody, but it also does have a bit of

a story in it. It does have the whole thing with

Hun. It does have, you know, Raph, Mikey, and

Leo. It does have Splinter by Donnie's Bedside.

Now, at this point, let's see. That forum site

I'm gonna have to well they say that it comes.

Yeah, they're right This issue comes the continuity

of this comes after 46 because in 46 they mentioned

or done until the very beginning of it says You

know you can eventually move me to the layer

They've eventually they've moved him to the layer

in this issue Because if you look at that page

was you know you look at that page with splinter.

He's not in Herald's Lab anymore. He's not in

Herald's Lab anymore. So while Prelude, because

that's the name of the title of the book, is

TMNT Prelude to Vengeance. While it is a catch

-up issue for most people with a lot of the internal

monologues, it is also a fresh story for us in

between 46 and 47. I absolutely love the art.

I love how they do the Mighty Mutanimals. That's

awesome. Because like I said, we're not going

to go through this bit by bit. You know, but

I love how they do kind of like the mug shots

of the Mighty Mutanimals on the page, or it's

like, Hob is, you know, like the upper left circle,

Herman is the upper right, and Slash and Gecko

are bottom left and right. I'm surprised to hear

you say you like the art in this, not like...

like the art they're all beautiful drawings but

because this is a flashback issue they're actually

pulling from the the old issues they're they're

using panels from the art that they've already

put in the books you've got the dan duncan stuff

you've got the weird i think it was santolucco

yeah did the the foot clan flashback stuff and

yeah and uh there's some uh who else is in here

Well, that's why I like it. I mean, it's because

it's already stuff we've already seen. There's

some late stuff there. Yeah, I mean, it's not

like they got, you know, another new artist to

add to the team and just had a whole other, you

know, because this is a catch -up issue and because

this is a individual story, not individual story,

but you know what I mean, it's a story for the

book, you know. Yeah, I really dig it. It's stuff

we've already seen. Anyone that didn't read Northampton's

run before it, was it 29 to 32 of the series?

They didn't get to see Alopex pouncing on RAF.

We get to see that here. We get to see right

now. Whatever the hell her name is You know we

you know just everything about this Really made

me happy. I just wish that 46 would have come

out before this did Like I know they couldn't

have probably done that but Just because of where

this ends up and brings us into 47 because we

read, you know, we kind of read this beforehand

before 46 I think Yeah before 46. So I don't

know it The story seems vague enough to that

it didn't the continuity thing Didn't cause me

any problems and and now as I'm flipping through

it again when the flashback stuff ends and they

catch us back up with whatever is current time

in this book Mikey, Leo, and Raph are kind of

checking out some purple dragons. They decide,

okay, it's time to deal with them. And so Hun's

down here at the purple dragons. And I'm going,

okay, wait, wasn't he just with, if this was

supposed to come after 47, is he, this is before

or after he visits the antique store. He's fine.

He's not bruised. So it's probably not after.

So that, you know, I don't think it matters.

And I don't think... No, there's not a lot of

story things. Oh, yeah, and bludgeoning koya

show up. So apparently foot clan are nearby Yeah,

Donnie shows up as Robo turtle starts kicking

tail Yeah, I Just I really enjoyed this I thought

it was really interesting because I just I always

wonder now what IDW and what the turtles team

is gonna do Every year for free comic book day,

and they have not They have not wasted this opportunity

not at to to you know if you want a jumping on

point folks Jump on here, but you should still

go back and read the last four years of the book

Yeah, it's easy to pick them up in trades nowadays.

Oh absolutely, but that's what I was doing for

the first little while you know and just really

really really dug it now with the pull bag kind

of getting into a little bit of a issue with

obviously my mom passing I had to keep bringing

that up but I wasn't sure if I was gonna be able

to do the profiling preview stuff in a Timely

manner, and I believe I said on one of the profiling

previews episodes where we go over solicitations

and stuff that because Joe and I really only

do the turtle stuff that I was going to save

the turtles Solicitations for when we do turtles

episodes, so we are going to give you the solicitations

for 46 well 46 is already out, so we don't need

46 we can get the solicitations for 47 48 and

49 We're also going to talk about Casey in April

1 2 and I believe 3 And some other stuff. Before

we get into that, overall, just a final thought

on the FreeCom Book Day story. Say, what's that?

Final thought on the FreeCom Book Day story.

It does its job ideally as that jumping on point,

and I like to see the flashbacks. Good to get

reminded what happened in what order, but yeah.

This is the issue you go tell your friends to

go find, buy digitally, and then start reading

the book. Absolutely. All right. So coming up

in the, uh, you know, in June here, we've got

turtle stuff. IDW is releasing color classics,

volume three, number six. They are starting the

brand new mini -series one of four. Teenage Mutant

Ninja Turtles, Casey and April written by now.

I, you know, you're, you're probably going to

have to help here. But written by Mariko Tamaki

and art and covers by Irene Ko. It says introducing

a very unique TMNT tale starring Casey Jones

and April O 'Neill by acclaimed indie writer

Mariko Tamaki who wrote Skim this one summer.

The couple take a road trip to the southwest

to dig up more clues about the mysterious Pantheon

that has seemingly been pulling the strings on

the turtles lives from the beginning. Casey and

April will find even deeper mystery, unexpected

danger, and start a new chapter in their relationship.

Yeah, I've said it before the last time Casey

went out West he came back with a kid Too young

Okay, so we've got TMNT 47 Tom waltz Kevin Eastman

Bobby Kernel Mateus Santaluco The stockman swarm

engulfs NYC, searching high and low for the turtles.

The turtles are on the run and desperate. Will

they be able to find sanctuary before it is too

late? The race to issue 50 accelerates as two

turtle foes join forces to overrun New York.

Not even gonna try we have the continuation of

the Of the santa luco main cover with the whole

red background thing here you know, I I like

this. I actually like the how he's got the turtles

and facing the mousers and all that I like how

metal they look Yeah, it's really super gloss.

I noticed this in the in the back of 46 they

showed this cover some Ronna Pattinson probably

colored the cover. She went all out on this.

Yeah And Rand Raph's arms look roided out. But

I like the speckled texture on the arms and legs.

That's kind of a nice look. Yeah, absolutely

love that. So that's what's coming up in June

for Turtles. So 47 will be the start of the Stockmann

swarm. Also, coming up in... July we have Casey

and April number two of four Casey and April

struggle to keep their relationship afloat as

they look for answers in the desert someone is

striving to cut their journey short the rat King

done done done Yeah, I'm really digging how they

are Don't know what Casey he looks a little too

young in this but I'm really digging how they're

doing April on on this cover on the main cover

here I don't know that I've seen this Her oh

Yeah, that looks like an indie book to me It

just it looks so like April looks really like

With this new mini series they're going to start,

April looks really good on the cover. Casey looks

like miscellaneous Japanese man from an anime.

Yeah, that's what I don't like about it. He doesn't

look like how we've, it's like, you know, I understand,

you know, artist take and everything else, but,

um, um, um, oh wow. There's a, um, There's gonna

be sub covers for this mini series and the sub

cover is one of the turtles holding holding a

picture of Casey and April says wish you were

here and they're tied up That's a beautiful cover

JL Meyer That's a beautiful cover. Yeah, I just

wonder whose hand is that? Is that Raph or Mikey?

I don't remember who's got the black wraps. If

I had to guess, it's Raph. Yeah. And then they're

throwing spikes back there. Lots of crows. I

will be buying that cover. Oh, look at this.

Look at where their heads come together and their

collars. It makes a heart. Yep. totally on purpose

that's beautiful I really want that cover I gotta

go call my comic store tomorrow that's yeah that's

a subscription cover so obviously you have the

you have the book on your your your pull list

so they should be able to get it for you they

don't that doesn't matter they don't get them

shipped fairly so we've got okay so we got issue

48 comes out in july tom waltz kevin eastman

bobby kerr now korey smith is back on art uh...

menteus santa luco and eastman are on covers

the turtles take the fight to baxter stockman

as both karai and shredder plan their final moves

and it has uh... it says on here for the the

solicit book uh... under the Under the subscription

cover it says Actually, it says EC Comics subscription

variant. So It says unstoppable action part of

EC Comics cover month homage covered by Ryan

Brown ran covered by David La Fuente This main

cover Looks really badass. Santa Luco is still

kicking ass with this Wow, yeah Yeah, he is really

kicking ass. I mean look at those mousers. Look

at that. Look at that red laser You know what

it is santa luco is able to spend the time on

these drawings because he's not doing the interior

art Yeah, that's what's going on Or no, he is

doing the interior art. Nobody else is listening

on the cover not on 48 It lists Corey Smith as

the artist in the interiors. I bet you that,

but that's probably why the last couple of covers

have really been done well. I think it started

with that one with Raph's arms looking textured.

That's beautiful. Absolutely. So we've got coming

up in August... We've got Timothy those covers

fit together Yep, they do all of them do. Oh

my 45 to 48. Yep They fit they do They should.

Oh my gosh, they do Yep. Oh, man That's cool

So we got issue 49 coming out in August of this

year Tom Waltz Kevin Eastman Bobby Kurnow Mateo

Santaluco on art and covers on this one. A final

battle looms as Karai decrees a gauntlet battle

between ancient foes Splinter and Shredder, but

first the turtles must defeat the foot mutants

Koya, Bludgeon, Bebop and Roxette. With Leo making

an unimaginable battle gamble, a second turtle's

life may be on the line. Wow. You bastards, you

better not kill any more of them. the penultimate

issue leading to the double -size TMNT number

50 variant cover by Jason Howard the cover that

is shown on comicbookresources .com is the retail

incentive cover so it's not the I think they

wanted to keep the oh yeah the main cover probably

secret I like the retail incentive cover, but

I want to see the real one. I want to see the

regular cover So we also have Casey in April

number three Coming out this month, and this

is a four issue mini series like I've already

said and Wow Casey Casey in April versus the

rat King Wow Casey April number three of four

Casey in April are separated by both must face

the rat king's maze alone clues to the pantheon

await just out of reach but casey and april may

not be able to find them if they cannot find

each other oh okay um at this point in august

so We don't really talk about this because my

buddy JT and I usually were doing this. We kind

of stopped doing it, but we used to do the new

animated adventures book on the show. They are

rebranding that, and it's becoming TMNT Amazing

Adventures Number One. It's going to be Landry

Walker and James Kachalka on writing, Chad Thomas,

Kachalka on art, and John So Maravia uncovers?

It's some sort of... I don't know what's going

on with this. I know exactly what's going on

with it. Have you been reading the animated adventures?

No. Okay, the animated adventures as it's been

so far up to this point has been... Standalone

stories. They don't go from comic to comic that

happened in between episodes of the TV show So

they're not dependent on each other and you don't

need one or the other to get the one They're

just standalone little adventures that happen

What what is occurring now in the animated adventure

series with this change in the new rebranding

of it? Is that it's going to be its own? Ongoing

storyline. I think they're going to mostly keep

each comic tied together but there will be some

kind of continuity that goes through them and

just knowing how writers like to write and how

these things usually end up happening going how

they usually end up changing evolving is that

this will turn on to turn into a very sequential

uh flow and the way that i'm looking at this

is kind of like the archie turtles series that

started out following the cartoon very closely

relying on it and then it started to branch off

but still reference to the cartoon and the same

characters showed up and Then about 25 issues

in it took a right turn and went on its own in

its own way and its own story It's his own characters

got introduced and so I'm glad to see this happen

The the style the sensibilities of the animated

series is not my favorite iteration of the turtles,

but I think by letting a writer take those sensibilities

and tell His or her own story with it is a good

move and I'm going to actually be more likely

to read this series now that it's Rebranded and

is going in that kind of continuity Direction,

I will eventually read all the animated series.

I've been ordering them. I will never not order

a Ninja Turtle book ever again After finally

finding my issue 29 of the Mirage series never

again while I go But, you know, it'll be a year

at least before I go back and read animated adventures.

But this I might jump on, you know, when it drops.

The one thing, like... May add this to my list

just to get the first issue because that first

issue subscription cover is awesome It's I assume

that's all foot clan members in the background

with the red eyes For sure. I assume that yeah,

but but you know and you got the four turtles

in red purple orange and blue I Love that they

did that so cool for a cover. Oh so cool Absolutely.

Also coming out this month, we're not going to

go too much into this, but also coming out this

month is the trade for Mutanimals. If anyone

hasn't gotten the Mutanimals Forestry miniseries,

you can get it in trade in August. So yeah, that's

our episode. I think the next one for Back Issue

Classics that we're going to do is probably going

to be Jim and the Holograms number three. I could

be wrong about that. I don't know yet. But no,

turtles, ugh. The road to 50 is killing us. It's

awesome, but it's killing us. Because 50 is their

first double -sized issue in four years, I think.

I can't recall one. The annuals have been big,

but this is going to be good. Yeah, but that's

the annuals. That's nothing. But yeah, I mean,

I cannot wait for 50. It's gonna be awesome.

It's gonna be amazing. At this point after 50,

I just want to see him get to 75. If we can get

past that evil number 73 we're good. But then

I then I like to throw in the things well if

you add in the tails of the turtles, it's really

a hundred and sixty, you know I Want to find

out because when we interview Bobby kernel again

I want to drop that number on him and say well

when you get to this we'll talk because I don't

want it to end and I honestly with how well they've

done this without all of it not just the main

ongoing, but you know The little side story,

Turtles in Time, and Secret of the Foot Clan,

and Mutanimals, and what else? I know I'm forgetting

one. I can't think either. I don't know. All

the little mini -series. The one -shots need

to really return. I know we need to get a few

more characters together before we really do

more one -shot series, but I hope those eventually

return. I honestly do not see unless IDW loses

money on this book, which I don't think they

are. They wouldn't do it if they were, but this

series could go as long as Bobby and Tom and

Kevin come up with amazing stories or an amazing

way to take our overall continuity. This book

could never end. I don't want it to end I Out

of all the books that I read out of all the books

I look at this is the one that would suffer most

from renumbering somehow They just should this

should continue to go IDW to my knowledge in

a couple of years that I've you know Dealt with

them. They're not DC and Marvel. They're not

just gonna renumber just to renumber Well, but

then I think of Transformers and how many times

that's rebranded and renumbered. I mean, it's

done it for story reasons, but oh Gosh, I don't

want them to have a story reason to renumber

turtles. I Honestly don't think that because

I think that you know, they've created such a

story that and nickel if Nickelodeon wasn't on

Bored with it. They will we wouldn't have gotten

this far but Nickelodeon apparently has one on

board with this You know, they haven't taken

any missteps There may be certain things that

people don't like about art styles me included

and I've mentioned that in many of our podcast

episodes that we've done but you know, I Just

don't sleep when transformers got rebranded it

was because of It was a different slate. Well

the team split you had the the guys on Cybertron

the guys still on earth Well the team split but

yeah, but it's one of those things where there

was a Transformers ongoing by Mike Costa at one

point with IDW I believe it was with IDW and

then that ran its course And then they started

what they currently have been doing for the last

Two three four years, whatever And I don't see

IDW as a rebranding, renumbering company. I just

don't see that. You look at everything that they've

done. If they can't fit it into the main ongoing

for Turtles, they make a miniseries out of it.

It'll be a good question for Bobby. Oh, absolutely.

We're ready to talk to you. Sir? Yeah, I don't

know if IDW has finished moving their offices

yet. Yeah, and he's got to be a busy guy for

all the stuff that's going on. Oh, yeah, absolutely.

Well, I mean, you know, we may not be able to

get to talk to him until after 50 releases. I

don't know. I don't know. I haven't emailed him

since the last time. But yeah, Turtles 45, 46

in the free comic book day issue. If you're not

reading Turtles, folks, please start. If you

are any kind of a Turtle fan, if you grew up

on the cartoon, if you grew up with the Mirage

books, if you, you know, if you grew up, you

know, finding out about them with the first,

you know, 90s movie. If you want something really,

really good, unlike that Venus de Milo crap,

if you grew up on that, you know, get that taste

out of your mouth by reading this book. So yeah,

absolutely. Like I said before, Gem of the Holograms

number three might be coming up. Other than that,

I'm not sure. I will say that I'm in the middle

of reading Xenoscope Entertainment's Robin Hood.

R -O -B -Y -N -H -O -O -D. It's probably my favorite

book. about the rob it's probably my favorite

comic that has nothing to do with superheroes

or turtles or 80s 80s properties at all it's

it's a new fresh take on the Robin Hood legend

and it's female centric they basically made Robin

Hood is a girl and You want to talk about a story?

Oh, man the continuity that this thing sets up

is amazing so I'm in the middle of Basically

blasting through reading that and you know kind

of just sitting back and taking a breath and

kind of quote -unquote enjoying life With what's

happened in my life in the last month or so?

You know so just like you know most of us me

included Always complain about how Hollywood

doesn't have an original bone in his body. This

is something that Is very original except that

it's about a middle -ages Tail yeah, but I mean

it's It looked just from the covers it looked

gratuitous to me in that kind of extreme It looked

good to let's show cleavage and now it's it I'll

say this, the cleavage stuff is really the covers.

There's not... We'll talk about this off air.

Alright folks, make your great escape into comics.

Make sure you're checking out Geek Stuff Garage

Sale on Facebook as well as listening to the

Geek Stuff Garage cast. I will have links to

both in the post. And we will catch you next

time! Just heard the latest episode of The Pullback,

the GCRN's comic review and discussion podcast.

There are several ways to get in touch with us

and leave feedback for the show. You can visit

the website, geekcastradio .com, where you can

comment on the episode and all of our different

podcasts. You can rate our show on iTunes. Be

sure to leave us feedback. Call the voicemail

line, 502 -526 -5821. Please remember to tell

us the show you're leaving the message for and

your name Become a fan of us on Facebook by searching

a cast radio network Send us an email feedback

at geek ass radio comm Follow us on Twitter at

geek ass radio So until next time make your great

escape into comics and unleash the geek in you