IDW TMNT Volume 2: Enemies Old, Enemies New & Micro Series Volume 1

Welcome to the pull bags back issue classics

Join us as we talk about comics from yesteryear

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hear our discussion of the older Continuities

as the back issue classics are also what's in

the pull bag Whoever you are Yep, so we are.

I can't handle this. Oh, she's no fun. She faded.

What the devil? Where am I? Some hot tea? Hello

and welcome to The Pole Bag. This is yet again

another back issue classics. I'm your host, TFJone

Mike. Joining me once again is Joe Rideau. Hello,

hello everybody. Yes, and this time shredder

has not miffed with Joe's signal or static or

no no no static this time around Thank goodness.

Yes, I I did I don't know if you've listened

to the the the first episode we did for volume

one, but I did Work in some some shredder magic

because I dedicated the episode to the memory

of of James Avery Oh excellent. I did it to where

I said it to where This episode is dedicated

the memory of James Avery most people know him

as uncle Phil or you can call him and then I

cut around Where he just says the shredder? And

then I found What was the other clip I used at

the end of the episode when we when your connection

had broken I? Used this I use something like

you would be wise to lose your flippant ways

Yeah, oh man. Alright, so we are here to talk

about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 2,

Enemies Old, Enemies New. This is IDW's Volume

2, Collecting Issues 5 -8 of the Ongoing by Eastman,

Tom, uh, Kevin Eastman, Tom Walz, and Dan Duncan.

Uh, I, you know, I gotta say, I was really...

You kept teasing me in the other episode, the

first episode about, oh, just wait. With the

bandanas, just wait, just wait. And I was like,

oh crap, I can't believe they just did that.

That's, it's so awesome. Some of the best storytelling

ever. So how we're gonna do this is, Joe gave

me a list of how the IDW continuity is supposed

to be read chronologically. And I think we should

link that to our listeners in the show notes.

Yeah. When we get a chance. Will and so he sent

me this list and I'm like, okay, but I'm getting

these in trade and it makes it a pain in the

neck to read and and I I have to wag my finger

at IDW for doing it that way just mostly because

it there are things that are Oh, yeah one thing

that I wish IDW would have done with the series

since It wasn't such a big issue as we were reading

these and I read them single issues in order

but it really does matter these micro series

eventually they are really cut into the story

and by either separating them in trades or the

issue that's that I've had the problem with here

is just the numbering because the we're reading

five six seven eight and then the micro series

are individually numbered one two three four

and then it continues with villains later and

other such things but that's making it a pain

in the neck for us to do this in chronological

order because you're eating them in trades I

have them here and I must have that story in

order but That's yeah, we'll deal with it Yeah,

and we'll make it we'll make it easy on you listeners.

Oh Yes, most definitely and see my thing was

I don't want to have to track down and pay whatever

ungodly amounts of money To get all the singles

I love I love reading trades. It's such a better

way to read comics. It really I have decided

I am going to Convert my ultimate spider -man

and walking dead to trades just to get rid of

the room. I I'm in a major comic sort in the

middle of it right now and I'm up to nine short

boxes of comics and I you know what that's about

six long or six short boxes too many I need to

fix this and the biggest culprit so But I'm not

getting rid of my Ninja Turtles never again.

I always I regret stopping these the series anywhere.

I've done it Yeah, and it's It's funny that you

know what they've done see IDW I love IDW publishing

don't get me wrong I do but how they're marketing

the micros and the ongoing is two separate things

because the first four micros Raph Mikey Leo

and Donnie or Raph Mikey Donnie and Leo One trade

issues one through four for the micro series

and they go on like micro series volume two is

Splinter April AC and Casey and fugitoid. Yeah,

that's right And then you've got the villain

micro series that's going on now So you've got

all that going on and it's the same thing when

they get to trades They're gonna put those, you

know, they're gonna put Let's see, they're gonna

put Crang, Baxter, Alopex, and Old Hub into probably

one, and then they'll put Karai, Hun, Bebop and

Rocksteady and Shredder in the other, when they

collect it and trade. I don't know. I usually

can follow along, like today, when I read volume

two. And then I read Micro Series Volume 1, which

is, as I mentioned, The Four Turtles. It has

read Volume 2... Go see issue 6 of this book.

Yeah, it kind of refers you to where they're

making a reference. Yeah, which is always nice.

So we're gonna take a quick break and we're gonna

come back with Volume 2 after this. Did you say

clang? Check those dudes out! Dudes? Nuts? They're

robots! Robots? Let's rock! Alright, well, we

have Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 2. Enemies

old, enemies new. The front cover is Splinter.

with the turtles in the background and some humans

and I like the front cover I will say right off

the bat that I'm going to if people want to bitch

about me bitching about something or that I constantly

repeat myself I'm gonna warn you people now I'm

going to constantly complain about Splinter's

design I always complain about Splinter's design

he always looks like a dog to me it's not so

much okay on the cover of the trade it's him

with a side profile so he it's like he's walking

down the street in front of a window so the side

profile is not bad but when they go like for

a head shot on him it just looks weird he just

they always draw him like a dog and i've actually

i've tried to tackle this problem i've gone online

and found pictures of rats and pictures of japanese

men and i've tried to make Good splinter that

looks like a rat and it's really difficult. I

mean the the big thing is that rats have round

ears just like mice Splinters always drawn with

pointy ears and whenever you put those round

ears on them He starts to look like a mouse guard

character. He starts to look small And it's just

it's a nightmare and I guess I understand why

they end up doing it this way like, okay Sure

rats are hard to draw But the But the beautiful

thing about this cover and actually this issue

issue five if you're following along singly is

that There are in this book. There are two illustrators

Sam Toluko, I believe I'm saying that name, right?

We'll get into the content of the issue, but

both artists, Duncan and Santalucco, the covers

fit together. And it's on one side of it. It's

a human Hamato Yoshi with panels of his background

in Santalucco's style. And then at the spine,

it crosses over into Dan Duncan's familiar turtles

now and the splinter. And you're looking at these

mirror images of where the story goes inside.

I will say I'll start off in talking about this

issue. This is my favorite issue. This is the

one that told me that I was not going to ever

stop reading this version of The Turtles. Now

why is that? I guess, well, getting into the

episode, the issue, episode, listen to that like

I'm watching a cartoon. Yeah, exactly. Splinter

is is sneaking around New York City in the back

alleys he's headed somewhere and as he's kind

of taking out old Hobbs thugs that are wandering

around he kind of says this is this is familiar

to me I remember doing this kind of and then

it flashes instantly next page to 16th century

Japan with Hamato Yoshi running around and immediately

we with that one single turn of the page we see

how this turtles. world this version of them

is going to happen that The 80s cartoon or even

the old series Hamato Yoshi and and shredder

were Contemporary people they came over here

and all of a sudden. It's the 80s and 90s and

but they're still ninjas well, no way Hamato

Yoshi is 16th century ninja in this and So it's

setting up just this whole beautiful picture

of how where these how the turtles relate to

splinter and how splinter relates to shredder

Aye, aye, aye, this is where it started. This

is the point. One page, we turn the page, and

it's the different art style. It's the Santolucco's

work. Kind of anime -bent to it, the eyes. It

looks like, oh, the manga series, oh, Schneike's.

It'll come to me. Sorry, you don't get to hear

what I'm talking about in my head. But I'll come

to you. Yes, I love the dialogue in this. The

art is amazing, but the just the story like we're

only like two and a half pages into this and

the story just the narration from Splinter and

it's just it's just amazing and it gets better

from here. And I like how he constantly flashes

back and forth. And how, you know what, like

you said, he's going around picking off all of

Old Hob's men so he could, he's trying to get

home is what he's trying to do. And then we get

the flashback with him and the Foot Clan, or

what would become the Foot Clan. It does remind

me a little bit of the 87 series, the pilot.

the back with the with the backstory of oh If

you're if you're not going to follow my orders

and blah blah blah blah, you know, I was in the

in the the Cartoon I think the the head of the

clan came and yeah Hamato or a Rokosaki put the

knife in the back, he couldn't bow, disrespect,

he pulls the knife out, and oh, throw the bum

out! I remember very clearly the accent. And

then, I wasn't sure where this book was gonna

go, and then we get the next page, where you

have Tang Xin and the four sons, and immediately

before they even - Oh my - And before they even

threw it out there before they even said it later

on in in the later issues in this volume I'm

like It's going to be reincarnation This it I'm

jumping ahead to the strongest feeling that I

got from this book happens later. We'll spoil

that when we get there, but In in any of the

incarnation of the turtles before I've never

Felt even the slightest inkling to sympathize

with splinter or or Hamato Yoshi whichever version

you're talking about I never felt the connection

to him as I read this when I first read this

I was a new dad and As soon as Hamato Yoshi and

had had children and they become the turtles.

I Felt I was splinter now. I am splinter now

as I'm relating to the book, to seeing these

children here. And it made a much stronger connection

for me to sympathize with Splinter and to care

about his development and his motives and what's

going on with him. And that's incredible. And

this is the first time we've ever seen that.

This is the first time Yoshi and Urokosaki and

the turtles were ever in 16th century Japan.

And I think it makes a lot of sense. Yeah, cuz

in other continuities all as it says is they

were in Japan They had these, you know Japanese

traditions and this and anything and then all

of a sudden all the stuff happened Then he had

a government come to America. So it's never really

been stated What time frame Amado Yoshi and Rokosaki

are really from until this the story so we've

been forced to assume that or either they pretend

that it's ancient Japan, but then all of a sudden

it's 1980s and 90s New York. And I was like,

what was the Foot Clan doing in contemporary

Japan in the late 70s and early 80s? Were they

just a mcdojo where they taught ninjutsu to businessmen

or were they yakuza? They never exactly go into

it. But this explains where the Foot Clan went.

Yeah, or where they exist how they worked and

and I'm sure there's something going on contemporary

that they haven't exactly gone into in the book

yet, but Not yet. No So we get the flashback

and sadly Tang Shen is slain Yoshi and his four

sons escape and and you know All that and then

we we flash to a present day a hockey rink where

Casey is sidelined talking with his coach and

apparently Casey needs to get his grades up or

he can't play anymore I could have done without

this story because it interrupted such a beautiful

story but it did but I do like this because it

sets up Casey and April like I've never seen

before so that's the one reason why I do like

Casey's story arc at least with this yes you're

right it does interrupt a really beautiful story

but this part needed to get done yeah to tie

their picture together and I also Interesting

to note rereading this Since reading this the

Nickelodeon series has started. This is Nickelodeon

series Casey Jones and April O 'Neill story.

He's going to get her She's tutoring him rather.

Yeah in school Yeah, so I wonder if they got

the idea from this I don't know I Don't know

I know that The next new episode of the show

comes up February 2nd, I believe. So it'll be

interesting to see, because I think the last

one was... I think it was the slash episode.

That's the last one I remember seeing. My DVR

refuses to record it reliably, so I've given

up and just have to watch it streaming, so I'm

missing it and seeing it out of order. It's very

clear because we flashback again to Japan and

Shredder shows well he's not shredder now, but

He's definitely decked out in armor. That looks

peculiar Lee. How do you say that word anyway?

He's got a whole bunch of you know salad making

accoutrements all over his body. Yeah The panel

on the opposite page where and that he that he

would once again be able to face a Rokosaki warrior

to warrior the four sons you can easily tell

Who's who their kimonos are appropriately colored

they have all the weapons they're getting trained

by who Mata Yoshi when shredder shows up and

in the next panel, we've got a Well, the Japanese

samurai firing squad. What do you call that?

They're trying to assassinate the children and

Hamato Yoshi. And this is the moment where I'm

splinter watching my children, watching my child.

And by this point, by the end of this page, I'm

bawling the first time I read this. Like, oh

my god, I can't believe it. And anything, video

game, comic book. television show that makes

me cry you have me for life I am totally committed

emotionally and financially yeah so we have that

and thus Hamato Yoshi and his sons were no more

yet their tale does not end it has now become

one of new hope so Splinter gets home and This

is by far the best explanation that I could ever

think of. You could ever want for all that red

and then now you have the colors. You wore this

color, the favorite color of your brother who

was missing in honor of him. It's kind of like,

I don't, I hope people don't get insulted by

this, but it kind of reminds me of when police

officers put a piece of black around their shields

for one of their fallen. Comrades like an officer.

That's what it kind of reminds me of It's one

of the best explanations ever But it also raises

a question. How did you know his favorite color

was red and it's kind of bringing in the whole

reincarnation thing and and everything else and

as we go along we'll see that that Leo is the

one that Is one with the force And Raph gets

his weapons. Very, very cool. And yep, there's

the shot. That face shot is splinter. He does

not look like a rat at all. And we flash for

half a second to Casey in April for some reason.

And then it goes back to Splinter, another face

shot where he doesn't look like a rat at all.

I wonder if that's the same drawing mirrored.

Probably. It is. Because the spots are the same

in reverse. That's the point. Well, you know,

saving time, I guess. Okay? I guess. And, you

know, I'm looking at this page and I'm seeing

the Casey reference and the April reference.

The movie, the original movie, live action, Jim

Henson. The theme was family and you know, they're

meditating in the woods and you know, we're family

That's why we have this connection. This is the

first time where splinter actually is their real

father and then we flash to Casey who's Missing

his mom who's dead and is the reason that he's

staying with his abusive father and April who

has her mom and has her family together and it's

essentially Very soon going to be all of these

people becoming one family one and it unites

that theme I think that... It does, yes. Comes

together with these guys. And issue five ends

with a Christmas celebration. Because there is

a Christmas tree on that final page. I think

that was thrown in there as, alright guys, it's

December, this issue's gonna come out, let's

throw a Christmas tree in there. Yeah, it's thrown

in there. Because they're probably Buddhist,

I don't think they'd have a Christmas tree. It's

a Saturnalia tree, surely. Yeah. Well, did you

see the lights? Yeah, yeah, the four colors.

Yellow, red, orange, and blue. Yellow, orange,

red, purple, and blue. There you go. There we

go. That's right. So issue six starts with Creepy

Ninjas. I'm glad that I came back and re -read

these because I'm getting so much more, I'm catching

so much more. Yeah, the Ninja Turtles chasing

down two Foot Ninja. And it's, how do we know

we're Foot Ninja? Well, because Splinter says

they're Foot Ninja, we've described them to him,

he knows what they look like, and they have an

argument, because they don't, the Turtles don't

remember 16th century Japan, they don't remember

it yet. So they're kind of going on faith and

Donatello's being analytical. Reincarnation,

there's no proof. It doesn't exist. Leo's getting

spiritual about it, but how do we know? He's

our father. We should honor him and honor what

he says and believe it, even if it's not real.

And Mike and Raph are like, meh, whatever. Let's

go bust skulls. Yeah. Oh, man. And again, the

art style change, it's not like the background,

like the color change is what I'm talking about.

It's nice, but it's a little jarring to go from

something so bright to something so dark. Like,

I mean, I guess it probably wouldn't have happened

for someone like you who read it singly, but

in the trade going from the lightness of like

the light colors of the of the of the layer to

nighttime in New York and I love the four of

them arguing. It's so awesome. What'd you say

Leo? Nothing genius. Come on guys. So this kind

of sets up a little bit of a mystery because

they're chasing these two foot ninja who are

chasing this other guy who is against - He looks

like Naruto. I have a problem with that because

Naruto's not a real ninja. Real ninjas don't

run around with their arms behind their backs.

It drives me nuts. I can't even stand it. So

then you must hate the cartoon series. Oh, yes,

I do. Especially because when they're training

in the dojo, the martial arts are real, the wrist

locks are real, the throws are real. They call

them by their real Japanese names that I know

because I take Aikido. And then they go run around

like, you know, Naruto. Like, dang it! You're

not more aerodynamic that way. You're turtles.

You're big and round. You're running into the

wind. It does not... Ugh. Anyway, the foot ninja

are chasing this guy that looks like Nerudo.

We find out that he's a French ninja, French

martial artist. Savat, I think, is the name of

the martial art, or the group. I haven't... I

don't know French, so I don't... I think it's

the name of the martial art. I think Donny finds

it out that that's the name of the style that

he's using. Which is a real martial art. Go look

it up. My favorite, I don't have a page number

in front of me, my favorite panel that stands

out is where the four turtles at the top of the

page and all we see are the top of Leo's eyes,

the top of Raph's eyes, the top of Donny's eyes,

and as they're watching the ninjas fight and

then there's Mikey sticking his head up looking

at the interesting, amazing fight that he's witnessing.

Like, thank you, Mikey. It's cute. Oh, yeah I

can hear that in the dude's voice from the movie

and that's where it I Would give anything to

interview Robbie wrist, I really would that's

the voice actor from the movie. Yes Man. But

yeah, that's pretty awesome. So we have the fight.

We have a giant explosion. The French dude is

dying. And apparently the message that he leaves

behind is that war is coming. Holy crap. I didn't

realize it until you just said it. That's foreshadowing

City at War that happens like 20 issues later.

You mean City Fall? Yeah, City at War was the...

Yes. That was 80's comic. But yes, City at War.

Where these French ninjas are, they play an important

role. Interesting. Yeah. So then we go to Old

Hob and Baxter Stockman for a page. And Stockman

is basically insulting him the whole time. Old

Hob being charged to get Splinter's blood back

because they need to extract that. brain chemical

that made him smart as a rat and uh setting up

again oh you know it's just it's amazing going

back through this realizing how much they do

set up they they aren't um what's the the literary

term gardening where you leave little bread crumbs

but you don't exactly know where you're putting

what they're going to connect to as the author

These guys are settin' it up and they know what's

gonna connect with it. I think that's exquisite

because it's been happening for a long time.

And how many breadcrumbs am I missing now that

are gonna show up in the 50s and the 60s of this

comic if it goes that long? Well, we're already

up to 32 at this point or 30 or 30, yeah, somewhere

around 30, 32 issues, so who knows? I mean, they

could go anywhere. uh... so that we get the place

that we get the one page of the whole problem

and stockman and and then we switched to kc and

his joker of a father uh... he's basically uh...

insulting him because he doesn't think you can

actually hold the job uh... we see that casey

is gonna call april because he has he basically

grabbed a whole half a year she could have he

took the whole thing It's the only way you can

get this chick's number. And then we go back

to the lair with the turtles, and they're explaining

to Splinter what's going on. Again, the art style

is so great, and I'm so happy they have their

actual colors. And I actually tell them apart

now. Mikey French dude rockin French food makes

sense And here's where Donnie kind of Admits

that he doesn't go for this whole reincarnation

bit It's just it's interesting to see that I

mean and you would think that it would be done

until that would do that because and again When

I was reading this I'm thinking Okay Nice nod

to Turtles 2 people. Which one? Turtles 2. Donnie

was really skeptical and wanted real answers

about where they came from. The 91 film. Yeah,

yeah. So it kind of makes sense that Donnie would

be the skeptic when it came to this kind of stuff.

So Splinter tells them the story of how they

became... the rat and the four turtles and and

how evil Stockton is and one day this Eventually,

there was one who came to work at the laboratory

who possessed an aura of goodness And I did my

best to warn her of the dangers. I believed surrounds

us all Please do not tell me they are thinking

about making April The now life of Tang Shen.

Please tell me they aren't gonna do that. It

doesn't seem like that. No, yeah, I know. I'll

give you this, they have not done it yet and

it does not seem like they will. So I think we're

safe. Yeah. And Splinter still looks like a dog.

Come on artists, fix that. So he explains that

whole story to them. We then switch to New York

Tech dorm hall H in case he believes that That

what he's doing is a mistake is no one's gonna

hire him and He knocks on the door and he's got

this shocked look on his face because there's

April you like whoa Do you think he knows he's

gonna marry her yet? Wait, they get married?

Well, yeah, they were married in the in the computer

-generated movie No, yeah, that's okay, and they

do get they got married in the 80s as well. I

do and they had a kid Shadow I Think Shadow was

their kid So we then switch back to stock Jen

and old hob and stockman and Here's where the

mousers come in This is interesting I'll say

that I'll say the least for that you have a cat

working I Didn't see that before going after

a rat. Yes The What's another neat thing about

the comic and it probably comes from maybe comes

from having Eastman on it as how closely this

parallels to the 80s series in the 80s series

the mousers showed up relatively early in the

story with Baxter and at about this time their

one -shot issues started sprinkling in and being

a part of it and I I think that's It's such a

nice throwback, a nod of respect and an acknowledgement

of what came before them, but at the same time

doing amazing, beautiful, artistic things with

the story, changing it in ways we wouldn't have

expected them to. I'm impressed. Throughout both

of the volume one and this volume here, I'm really

impressed with the storytelling. The art I might

have issues with here and there, but... Overall,

it's really great now that they have their true

colors. It's even better so I can actually tell

them apart And I mean, you know, you've said

it already. I mean it can only get better from

here and Issue two ends or not issue two issue

six ends with Baxter saying I call them mousers

for sure. Oh, well, yes, I I kind of rolled my

eyes at this point. These crazy things, as you

describe them, have a name. They're for demining

minefields. They go through, chew on them, and

destroy them, and they're disposable. Their long

form is minefield ordinance unarming system enhanced

robots. And they're mousers. It sounds like somebody

just really wanted our initials to spell out

shield. Sounds like somebody really wanted their

initials to spell out mousers. Yeah, I wish they'd

have not done that but I can I can ignore that.

That's a insignificant worthless gripe. Well,

it's a nice, see, I wasn't sure where he was

gonna go with that explanation and then and then

I get to that final page and I'm like, oh, that's

kind of cool. And I like the idea that they were

minefield ordinance. Disposal units that makes

a whole lot of sense too for why they're designed

that way it made it logical kind of in comic

book land, but Better than being mobile mouse

traps that kind of didn't thank you. It'll chew

up your apartment. What are you doing? Imagine

if it was the mousers instead of the foot clan

in the 90 film It would be a lot more damage.

I wonder if I don't think this is structurally

speaking such a nice time for your friends to

drop in. Do you think we could recite that whole

movie if we sat down without without warning?

I seriously doubt I'd be able to even keep my

mouth shut if I did a commentary because I'd

be saying the words along with it as it plays.

There's so many good lines in that. Oh my god,

yes. Alright, so issue seven. Yes, you said it's

see that's the other thing about the don't get

me wrong. I love trades It's weird how IDW is

doing the trades for this because in the trade

it's called chapter 3 not chapter 7 So issue

7 starts on the planet neutrino They couldn't

use dimension X really they couldn't say neutrino

is in dimension X Okay, you're safe It's real

Okay, I mean I like the See again me coming from

the cartoon is the only place I've ever seen

the neutrinos because I haven't watched all of

the 2003 series Yeah, I don't think the neutrinos

are ever in anything else. I think there might

be Well like honey cut Fugitoid I think might

have been a neutrino, but they didn't I don't

they didn't go into a much so when when they

dropped Planet neutrino and they're pulling all

these references from comics and cartoon and

all these other things I think hey, we're gonna

get those teenagers. What do they call them the

rad bad teenagers from dimension X or something?

Yeah series And we get general Craig Who I'm

just waiting just waiting to see the brain at

this point because I know it's coming Well, I

will say one thing about this design of crying

at least his his Compartment is on his chest

and not his stomach almost in a garage. Yeah

So at least there is one good thing. I will say

that the drawing for Trag Doesn't really fit

to me. He doesn't look like he's made of stone.

Does he know? Did you catch the the? where the

What are they? Stone soldiers? The rock soldiers?

What do they call them in the cartoon? Where

they came from? These are, they're humans that

the research that the turtles gave StockGen was

growing shells on other organic things. The stone

soldiers are terrapin. They're turtle skin things.

And so they're the product of the turtles research.

Humans that have been given Stone skin bulletproof

skin because they're growing that so there's

a Nod for you to how the stone soldiers came

to be in this world I love the quote from crying

because it it comes out of the first part of

the quote comes out of his his humanoid face

Tell my pilot to get my plane ready. I'm going

to pay the doctor a visit. It's high time he

and I Get together for a little face -to -face

and then you see the brain! And we go back to

New York. And Mikey apparently has made a friend.

I'm so glad Mikey... I'm kind of wondering if

Mikey ever tried to bring a girl here because

all I can think of this entire scene is Lady

and the Tramp. If it is if they reference it

I'm totally out lady in the tramp there's a scene

where lady and the tramp The girl dog and the

boy dog go to this back alley spaghetti Italian

restaurant and they eat. You've seen that classic

scene, right? With the spaghetti. Yeah. That's

basic. That whole scene is basically what this

is reminding me of. With Mikey taking Raph up

to the pizza place. I know. I make weird alliterations

sometimes. Hey, that's the point. That's the...

That's how we bring part of ourselves to these

comic books. Yes, exactly. You know, I bring

my being a father and loving my son and crying

over the death of his children. You bring Lady

and the Tramp to the table. Sounds so wrong,

doesn't it? Oh, boy. So, they basically get a

couple of free... They basically get a free pizza

and salad from the guy. And Mikey is just...

He's just being himself. He's like... Did I tell

you how awesome this guy is? Did I tell you?

Did I tell you? Did I tell you? It's kind of

like that kid. I'm not touching you. I'm not

touching you. I'm not touching you. Mom, he's

touching me. So we then cut back to Splinter,

Leo, and Donnie. And what is Splinter doing on

that panel? Is he praying or what in the heck?

He's meditating, I'm sure. Okay. Yeah. And Leo

and Donnie are having a conversation and about

reincarnation and Donnie still doesn't buy it

Yeah, and then Leo has a vision of his dead mother

Beautiful. Oh my god. Oh my god, and and it it

I don't know why that this didn't affect me reading

it the first time it didn't trigger that Leo's

starting to remember and He knows this is real,

but not only does that this is also It connects

to something that happens later. Again, Leo remembering

his mother. Oh, gives me a whole other reason

to actually really love Leonardo. Thank you for

the turn, IDW Comics, and everybody who has anything

to do with this book. So... Donnie kind of asks

Leo in... in a monologue what do you think is

gonna come here for us we live in a sewer and

all of a sudden the mousers crash in nod to the

cartoon yay and then we have uh april punching

the punching bag um how old how old is she supposed

to be in this their college so 20 21 22 Gonna

say cuz um that bottom panel there. It's a little

swept up on her Boy so basically the Casey and

April storyline is she's gonna tutor him and

he's gonna teach her Self -defense because she

wants to be able to take on the ninjas next time

they break into stock gen except she doesn't

work there anymore Yeah Yeah So we go back to

the layer and Splinter and Leo and Donnie are

having major problems combating these things.

Donnie and Leo are cutting them and smashing

them with their weapons, Splinter's bare -knuckle

brawling these things, shattering them, because

he's Splinter and he can do that. Very, very

cool. and we eventually figure out that it's

old hob who's controlling these things and we

see that and hob eventually starts making the

mousers knock the place down and he then so the

place is getting ready to get knocked down and

Raph and Mikey are just now getting to the sewer

to go home with the dinner We then have See it

now that I'm going like when I read this it read

really well when I'm going back through it I'm

like Wow, we're changing scenes so fast Yeah,

I think it just takes that time to read it that

that softens the blow of these scene changes

and then we also have that We're missing when

we just review this we're missing the the the

links that the dialogue might make you know where

it travels from one page to the next or Yeah,

yeah So we then go to the upper west side of

Stockman's Apartments where apparently somebody

it looks like somebody's broken in And Stockman

meets General Trag. I keep wanting to say General

Trag because he was a general in the cartoon

too. General Crang. I'm really surprised that

Crang has not revealed his true self to Stockman

yet. I kept sitting here looking at that and

I'm like, the page where he's like... For which

I immediately resupplied you with ooze, the ooze

components you said you needed to get the things

back on track. That panel there, where you can

clearly see that there, the way it's drawn it

looks like something is trying to reach out from

underneath the black panel. Oh yeah! You can

really see that he wants to reveal his true self.

So basically, Stockman tells him that you shall

soon have good general. I've initiated a plan.

And we switch back to the sewer and Raph and

Mikey see the destruction of the lair, which

is not a good thing. And they Get back damn it.

I can't believe they cursed Oh, I remember ten

-year -old me going oh my god, they said a curse

word the raft when he's coming in losing a sigh

I Don't know what's um, I don't know what's worse

the long damn when he loses it or the short one

when it goes into the lair. In the last page

of this issue, we can see that Donnie's been

incapacitated, Splinter's been incapacitated

and it's only a beat up looking Leo. I don't

know how much longer I can hold him off. Beautiful,

that's one of my favorite illustrations that

I can recall immediately. Yeah, it's it's very

very cool And it's just one of those things where

So we get to issue 8 chapter 8 So hurry guys

father and Donnie are down these damn things

are everywhere or curses yes, I Don't mind it

No, me neither. I think it's... I mean... They're

teenagers. Of course they swear when Splinter's

not around. Or when he's incapacitated. You gotta

get him in sometime. Yeah, that's true. So, Old

Hob is... It looks like he's hiding behind...

Well, he's hiding behind the damage wall, since

now half the place is torn down. He's hiding

behind the damage wall and he eventually... Mikey

can't handle the mousers any more than Leo can.

And we then go back to Stockman. Yeah, I don't

like the scene. Like I said, when I read it,

like just to read it, it was fine. It didn't

bother me, but the scenes are changing way too

quickly. They really are So we have more of Stockman

and Crang and they mentioned This other Experiment

that's loose in the city this giant white alley

cat looking thing Which comes up? I miss the

reference, but they did have it on the next page.

Yeah Yeah, well She comes up in the Raphael micro,

so we'll We'll get to that And this this answered

questions for me, too I wasn't sure how she tied

in or what the ninjas were trying to do with

April in the first issue This is it they the

the the foot whatever whatever incarnation. They

are happening right now They were trying to get

the mutagen to make their own mutants and this

white cat looking thing that we found out what

it is later and you'll all find out too, is their

first experiment, their first product. Yep. So,

um, Old Hob has made off with Splinter. And Raph's

like, I'm looking, Leo, but I don't see him anywhere.

So Old Hob has basically rat -napped Splinter.

Nice. Yeah. Good try. and they eventually do

kill all the mousers we then this is so awesome

we then get to the next panel oh no no no they

don't kill the mousers yet because Donnie has

come up with a plan or they all get in the single

file line in that that stops that's where that

page stops and then the next page is stop here

april in a van much like the 90 film yay same

color and everything i know and it's kind of

a reverse of the film if you look at it because

casey is taking her to them and instead of Casey

in the film saying nice place guys you coming,

dude First the farm that time forgotten now this

The part of the what's going on why Casey's taken

April here now is she mentioned he asked her

why she's taken self -defense she mentions these

ninjas and this really smart rat and Casey's

going wait a minute I have some friends that

you really should meet and this is where he's

taking her to them to make the introduction Exactly

and we go back to the the the plan of Donatello

where they see him as one all the mousers see

him as one turtle and then they Flank them and

spank them. And it was a really cool plan. That's

how they work with teamwork. That's simply amazing.

So they figure out that Hob must have taken Splinter.

Holy crap Casey, you're just bringing random

girls to the lair. Not cool, bro They don't actually

say that but they're a little more preoccupied

with splinter and those are four giant turtle

men I can't deal with this crap and she thinks

Again it's kind of similar to to the 87 so I

ever dream of Harrison Ford Wasn't thinking of

the 90 movie. I was thinking of a the Yeah, you're

right. I was more so thinking the five -episode

pilot of the 87 series, but yeah, you're right

I need to rewatch that I think to make it fresher

in my head all I remember was those five episodes

were where the animation was really tight and

beautiful She basically Human bebop in Rock City

trapper in the sewer and the turtles come in

save the day they take her to the lair and It's

nothing like the movies. I don't think she screams.

I don't remember. Yeah, so issue eight ends with

I'm Pretty not happy that I taught her to punch

cuz I'm pretty sure when she wakes up. She's

gonna break my face Oh, man. Overall, I'm still

really digging this story. I know a lot of people

are saying, oh, you should go back and read the

originals and this. Right now, for me, IDW with

Turtles and Transformers, that's my continuity.

People have told me the same thing with Transformers.

Oh, you should go back and read the Marvel stuff.

I can't read that Marvel stuff for that. I have

several of them in trade and some weird reprinted.

Large format things it just it reads like 1970s

spider -man for me No So we we have yet another

art gallery in the trade here we have I want

that art gallery So jealous We have one page

with art by Kevin Eastman, it's basically a Raphael

snowman with the four turtles. It's kind of like

them in Central Park the bridge and they're looking

at a Raphael snowman with his tongue sticking

out. The only reason why I say it's Raph is because

it's the red bandana's on the snowman. The art

was done by Eastman and colors by Rhonda Patterson

on the next page is the turtles and Casey surrounded

by foot. The next one is really cool. Opposite

in this page are done by Dan Duncan this page

colors by Rhonda Patterson the the left page

here is basically a point of view from the mouser

Kind of like if you think of Terminator 2 when

he turns his HUD on or when you think of Iron

Man To be more more current. Yeah. Yeah, he turns

his HUD on it's basically that it's it's it's

the mouser's POV of the turtles with four threats

Actually, that's the cover to issue 6, I think.

Is it? Big red dot. Yep. Threat 1, 2, 3, 4. Alpha,

0, 0, 1. Primary mission destroyed. Yep. Yep.

Yep. Very cool. Very cool. The next one is General

Kerrang standing over the four turtles, which

he has never met them to this point. Yep. That's

issue 7 cover. Cool. OK. So you got the covers.

Yeah. Yep. very very very cool foot oh foot territories

keep out that's awesome yeah no I really love

these covers I really love the the mouser cover

that's an awesome cover and then the back page

just kind of advertises the ultimate Collection

volume one the volume one trade in the micro

series volume one trade Overall volume two story

is just progressing so well. Yes, I mean It really

really is just progressing so so well Absolutely.

Love it And yeah, I was a little I was kind of

like, hey, who is that white fox? I guess I will

find out as I read the next thing here. So overall,

I really enjoyed volume two. And like I said,

this story is so good. So good. So we're gonna

take another quick break, you're gonna hear some

audio, and we will come back and talk about the

first Micro Series issues after this. It's drama.

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

Decian has superhero antics and sexy girls. Catch

updates weekly at Decian .com and NoSuperPants

.com. Hey GeekCast listeners, do you ever listen

to Punisher Body Count and think to yourself,

this show would be awesome if it had less toilet

humor and was not about the Punisher? If so,

join me, Emily Williams, as I class up the Punisher

guys on Dane and Jake at Classy, or like the

Oprah Book Club of comics. You'll hear us discuss

famous works like The Dark Knight Returns and

The Grove, along with graphic novels no one else

is talking about, like Blue Monday and Blankets.

Hamato Yoshi was their Shidoshi, teacher of the

warrior ways of enlightenment. Yoshi was a quiet

man who loved art, but one student sought to

usurp his leadership of the foot clan. Oroku

Saki. Then one day, a master sensei, a teacher,

visited the foot school. And Oroku Saki made

his move. Impudent dog! Bow before our beloved

master! So, you plot to kill our honorable Sensei?

Disgraceful! For this misdeed, you should be

banished from the Foot Clan altogether! What

say you, all -wise Sensei? I say, throw the bomb

out! So we now move on to Teenage Mutant Ninja

Turtles, the micro series. I have volume one.

Joe is reading these singly. The funny thing

is I should have known this when I was looking

at the images for this online for like the cover

image for in stock trades where it specifically

shows. the regular bandanas. Oh yeah. I should

have known that ahead of time. I didn't think

about it when I was reading that first volume.

I was very excited to see these microseries come

out with cover art by David Peterson of Mouseguard

fame. One of my heroes met him at Comic -con

several times real friendly nice guy and and

it's just neat to see him draw something that's

not a mouse and I love his turtles and Yeah,

yes, well You know I just noticed looking at

the covers That I have in my hands their bandanas

are very very muted In fact Raph Don and Mike

all look like red bandanas And Leo is his Cover

is in a strange light where his banana kind of

looks dullish purple Could have been read in

dark environment, and I think these like the

the preview Comics were coming out and you got

to see these covers before they gave them out

the bandanas and so I'm thinking in this Old

you know that they did that on purpose so they

wouldn't blow the secret that they were colored

right, but when they put them into the collection.

They're colored different. Everything looks different

on your trade cover. I looked up a picture of

that. Yeah, they did put the colored bandanas

on there. Ah, you sneaky people. And I love how

these are written. I really do, because we have

a constant narration from Raph. In case he says,

hey, Raph, I think this guy's crying. He's a

good kid from a bad part of town. I'm Raphael,

Teenage Mutant Ninja. I love how they did that.

Oh man, that is so cool. And it's a throwback

to the 80s. They did the same thing with those

one shots. It's I Am and then the title of the

comic. Very cool. So basically the Raphael one

shot is Raph and Casey. On a comic book night,

because it is a Wednesday night that Raph goes

out with Casey, goes out basically saving people

from the scum of the universe. Wait, I don't

think Agent J and K would allow. Giant Ninja

Turtles running around New York City. Casey looks

awfully menacing on the next page Because of

the Jason his uh his man, okay? This is the first

time we saw him with a hockey mask. No they went

out and busted skulls Yeah, they want us to go

yeah a couple of Back in issue three or four

I think The mask didn't look this cool back but

But yeah, so the basic gist of this is they're

going out having fun, busting skulls, you know,

beating up bad guys and saving people. And then

they see this one person who's in trouble. And

it looks like a giant mummy. And it's being chased

by these other two guys who, one of them, if

you look at the page in the trades says it's

page nine. I don't have any page numbers over

here. Yeah, it's the one where she the mummy

jumps over the fence that panel right there.

If you look at that upside down, it kind of looks

like the guy kind of looks like a a very criminally

insane Geordi from Star Trek. Yes. But if you

are well -versed in your 80s cartoon, 90s cartoon.

This is, that's definitely Bebop from the animated

series. Unmutated, pre -mutation, and his army

bucket helmet goggles wearing sidekick looks

a lot like pre -mutated Rocksteady. When I first

read this, I wasn't sure if they were going there.

No, I knew. As soon as I read it, I knew. And

they never call them by name in here, but I wasn't

sure if this was just a nod, just a handshake.

Hey, you guys, you remember this? And they gave

it to us. Well, we've already said it, and it's

in the trades or in the reorder issues. They

have a Bebop and Rocksteady one -shot. It is

them, and I'm just so glad to see all the different

versions of Turtles coming together into one

big pile. As soon as I saw Bebop, I was like,

yep, that's gonna be Bebop because you had said

earlier in this episode when we did the Volume

2 that they're looking for people to, they're

looking to make mutants. So it's only obvious

that they would eventually make a Bebop and a

Rocksteady. And this is another point where I

can't wait for you to catch up and read the Bebop

and Rocksteady trade and then the issues of the

book where they're in because Oh, by golly, they

make Bebop and Rocksteady cool, which I think

would have been, you know, given to anybody else,

it would have been very difficult to make them

cool, readable, fun, interesting, but they do

a good job with them. When we get to see them

here, get the snot beat out of them by Casey

and Raph trying to save this mummy critter. Yeah.

And it turns out to be a fox, quite literally.

Who we saw earlier. Yes. In the, um, was it issues

6 or 7? I forget. Sure, I believe you. I forget.

Yeah, something like that. We saw it in the Volume

2 trade, because it was mentioned that they had

had a mutation beforehand. So this is their first

experiment, and she's really living up to her

name. as we go along here I love the design on

her though that's an Eastman design yeah it's

very very cool I was just waiting for the hound

to show up which hound? the fox and the hound

ah yes I haven't seen that movie since I was

a child but I know it made me cry every time

I watched it So we So she tells Raph her Raph

and Casey her old story and Raph's gonna take

her to safety and Casey's gonna call the cops

and Disappear while they basically pick up bebop

and rock steady. I don't care what their names

are I'm just, they're gonna end up being Bebop

and Rocksteady, so it's not like it matters what

their real names are. So we have Raph jumping

across roofs, and he gets about, I don't know,

four or five blocks away, and he's doing all

this monologuing, and he realizes, professional.

Damn it! What is it? He realizes that the fox

is... pulling one over on him he's taking her

back to the base because she's a mutant and he

wants answers wants her to talk to splinter but

he realizes that she just she kicked too well

she did all the right things and he knows that

she's pulling one over on him so he stops drops

her off her roof he basically put rafael in this

in this issue is basically batman he basically

drops her off her roof And I love the dialogue

when she says when did you figure figure me out

his internal says seconds ago And he says to

her the moment I laid eyes on It just biggest

tool is deception. That's that's very true So

we basically have a fight between him and her

Some really cool design. The panel where he's

using his psi against her, that's really awesome.

That's a really cool image. Hey, there's some

Photoshop going on there. Real sparks. Yeah,

yeah. How is that sparking? That makes no sense.

She has very special claws. Oh, yeah, cuz she

she caught the building she drove her nails into

the building to stop herself from falling So

they must have some lady deathstroke stuff or

go late. Yeah Yeah, I don't read Marvel. Well,

I don't read that Marvel. I'll be honest So,

yeah we She basically disappears after the fight

Raph goes back and tells his brothers about this

ninja fox he just fought and does leave out the

part where he almost led her back to the lair

Yes, which at this point is not destroyed yet

Chronologically speaking, but yeah. Yeah, it's

not destroyed yet, but it will be later And Leo

basically gives him two orders would she broke

later that night To thugs or cowboy problem was

they never made it to the police station cops

cop car two bad guys missing dumb dumb dumb Let's

see so they eventually So the bad guys all get

away bebop rocks day and a little pecs. I don't

know if I like that name, but okay I bet it means

something in like Alaskan Wait, they speak English

up there inuit. Yes. How about that? That's what

I meant to say Yes And basically this page basically

ends with silence cretin you will be changed

And I think that's our first look at Shredder.

He doesn't have his armor yet. Still a generic

-looking ninja, but the ominous shadow behind

him. Yeah, that's true. Very, very cool. And

I guess I've got some variant covers or something,

because there's a cover of Raph by Franco Yuro.

Colors by Fabio Montalvani, I believe that's

how you say his name. And then the next issue

well for our listeners who like words a Lopex

Lagopus is the taxonomic synonym for the Arctic

Fox There you go There you go Why can't they

just call her snow stalker? Lady Death Fox So

the next one we have is Mikey and the art is

by David Peterson on the cover and All as I can

think of when I see this cover is oh fellow chucker,

eh? I watched that scene in slow motion So many

times with my foam padded nunchucks that I learned

to do those katas I can look terrifying with

a pair of nunchucks, but if you tell me to do

anything with them beyond those katas, no, I'm

gonna hit myself in the head. When I was, I was

10 when that movie came out and until I was probably

about 21, about 11 years, it took me to realize

he said foul or fellow checker, not foul, fellow,

fellow chucker, not foul checker. Watching that

as an adult, I realized how many lines I didn't

understand as a child. Like, oh, hey, I understand

it now. What are we on? Uh, gee, you got it,

Gackface. Holes brain. So Mikey starts, and he's

out to have a party, because Mikey's a party

dude. He looks weird without his bandana. They

all look weird without the bandanas. I'll say

that now. but I understand why he's not wearing

it because hello orange would really really reveal

him and again the the the internal dialogue it's

it's really awesome times running out it's almost

midnight and I have no plans not at all just

once I want to take a break from being Michelangelo

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle I love how different

between And I'll say this when we get to Leo

and Donnie as well. I love how all four of them

are different. Where the design is different

of the introduction and it's a really great way

to lay out and tell people who they are. So Mikey

finds this New Year's Eve party and it just happens

to be a costume party. I don't know of anyone

that does costume parties on New Year's Eve.

Well, apparently these guys did. Apparently.

But, like, seriously, listeners... In a post

-9 -11 world in New York? Doubt it. Yeah, true.

True. Seriously, though, listeners, if you're

listening to this and you know of anyone or you

are someone who went to a costume party... On

New Year's Eve, any New Year's Eve, either comment

on the post or email me tftmike at gmail .com.

Let me know. Email us. Send pictures, please.

No, no, no, no. You know, seriously, I would

like to know if anyone has been to a costume

party on New Year's Eve, because I've never heard

of this. I mean, I'm not complaining as far as

the story goes, because it fits in with what

the story is. But it's just weird. And apparently,

the green T -Rex can't go through with the plan.

I guess he was really Denver the last dinosaur.

That theme song's in my head now, oh no. I won't

sing it, not for you guys. So, we've got um...

So Mikey basically takes his place. And this

cat lady is basically thinking he's the same

guy, but it's a totally different costume. You're

not a lizard. You're a turtle. And my favorite

line from this book, thank you for saying that.

Some people generalize and that hurts, says Mike.

And I'm thinking, but turtles are amphibians,

right? That's... They don't mention I don't there's

a point where another joke like that is made

and I don't know if they get it Right if the

book gets it, right So we have this Crime in

progress that Mikey is supposed to be tagging

along with which he so totally doesn't well he

does to a certain extent I know I cuz yeah, he

does to an extent because he's the only one that

can make it through the the lasers Well that

the beautiful story thing that this one does

I don't care for the overall story But as they're

going through this heist and they're trying to

steal this rock this gem that they're referencing

this Dresden diamond they'll encounter a problem

and Something that the other brothers contribute

to who Mikey is. He references it to overcome

the challenge. He's the laser beams crisscrossing

the room. He thinks back to Leonardo who takes

him out on patrol and makes him run courses and

then do it again at twice the speed. And so now

he's able to flip through the things. And when

they have to hack into the computer thing and

he's the hacker, the dinosaur guy that he replaced

was supposed to be the hacker. He's looking at

it and he doesn't know what he's doing with computers,

but he just starts repeating badly. humorously

some of the things that he hears Donnie say And

they buy it like oh, I can't hack this the kernel

level system application created threat mash.

I can't do it And so they have to find the other

way through I think that those little twists

are I think what Mikey would do as the youngest

of the turtles that he most The least ninja like

of the turtles he would Reference What they're

doing he would mimic what they're doing to to

be what he has to be and he's good at it And

I think that's why he passes as the ninja Especially

in this story. Yeah, especially in this story

and we get to the point where he's He's passed

all the lasers and he's like Well instead of

hacking this maybe an alarm is what we need Because

you know Mikey's a nice guy. He's not gonna steal

this diamond for him. So he totally Smashes the

thing trips the alarm on purpose Yep It's very

very very cool And again he flashes to Raph with

the taunting And it doesn't really work out so

well for him I mean granted he's a turtle he'll

land on his feet but Still So the heist ends

up getting broken up come to find out the cat

lady is a cop Let's The lady dressed up as a

cat for the costume party I when we talk about

animal things we're gonna like wait a minute.

Is that a mutant? No, no Yeah, yeah, the cat

lady that's in the cut the costume cat lady I

do like I Do like what Mikey does to her though

She's okay, why don't you steal my gun when you

were talking I think it was between you and idiots

Again it shows that well Mikey is it the Smartest

bravest most in -your -face ninja he can still

get away with stuff on his own terms So the the

lady dressed as a cat is uh tells him that she

is a police officer Trying to infiltrate this

group and so Mikey gives her this big turtle

shell shaped Jim. I think that's just coincidence

yeah yeah pretty much and then it basically ends

with how long are we supposed to wait down here?

the other two heist people waiting for their

cut and I think that's a dog peeing on his foot

yes yes it is The alternate cover for this, I

assume it's an alternate cover, art by Andy Cunn,

colors by Bill Crabtree, the Dresden heist. It's

really interesting because it's basically Mikey

in the... It's basically if you've got a tattoo

of Mikey on your arm, but it's a shadow of an

arm, so it's basically a black arm with Michelangelo

inside of it picking up the... The Dresden diamond

or whatever it's supposed to be in the back of

the single issue There are beautiful sketches

by Andy Kuhn the guy who did the interior art

that are kind of throwbacks to those heist movie

posters Really simple line work, but they're

gorgeous sketches worth trying to track down

online to look at Yeah, and the next one cover

by David Peterson, which is Donnie's and I didn't

notice this when I was first reading this to

record this podcast, but um He's got a Chinese

lantern on his bow And it basically starts out

with I am Donatello teenage ninja turtle Then

he goes into his monologue again. I like how

different they all are I think that's interesting

that they're not all the same style as far as

how they introduce themselves And Donnie is the

tech guy Donnie is the guy who Is good with computers

who you know always does the tech support and

It's very very cool Love the first panel of that

where the four of them are fighting the thugs

Yeah, the lines the angles the composition. That's

a beautiful panel. Yeah it is And after that

we we get more of Of what Donnie likes and that

he's online he playing MMOs Well, he doesn't

just play video games he visits a variety of

forums as does machines 84 Not to the first year

of Turtles publication and the cartoon theme

song yeah This on these forums they're they're

showing what Donnie's typing and what some of

his fellow people on there are typing and this

Hit me Reading this rereading this the One of

the people talking to him is Kirby fan. Oh one

who will meet in real life later in the story

I Seeing that and then seeing some of the art

that happens later this entire issue is a homage

throwback nod to the Jack Kirby and even some

of the illustrations later when we start seeing

some of the science things go off the glowing

light black spackled texture is Kirby Crackle

from the old comics that he would draw in there

and one of the characters in here who we'll get

to has his stuff stolen and the other people

make the money off of it and he's kind of relegated

to the shadows like Jack Kirby where Stan Lee

stole everything he did and other folks I think

that was Of course now, although we all respect

Jack Kirby because we know better, but I wonder

if there are more nods to that whole story that

I don't know because I'm not as versed as I should

be in those classic comics, but I thought that

was neat. And I'm gonna ask you this, also on

those forum pages, Professor J. Perry? Professor

Perry, Jordan Perry. Yes, from the movie, too.

Ah, and Timutagen. Yeah, oh man, that's so awesome

so awesome So they basically show Donnie this

new world expo thing That sound come on. We all

know it's the stark expo I Don't know I think

it was before that movie or no is after but anyway,

it's not really I just yeah, yeah, it's it's

you know it would have been would have really

given it away or it would have been really it

would have been probably a cooler name is instead

of new world expo new stock expo since it's put

on by stockman so we go to the new stock expo

and we see this professor who has a bunch of

wildly colored buttons all over himself and he's

putting his hand into this giant um war machine

-like weapon and he basically tries to pull a

hot dog cart into the building with with delicious

kirby crackle all over it yeah i like that i

like that nod Lilja Harold Lilja just kicked

gravity's butt I Didn't notice this at first,

but Donnie isn't wearing his bandana either.

I mean it makes sense like I said before I'm

not gonna complain that they're not wearing it

when they're out in public, but I Don't know

it's still a little strange So basically Harold

is shunned by these people He tries using his

stealth mode wristwatch. And that doesn't really

turn out too well. But Donnie's like, whoa, he's

a genius. My question is, how do they not see

this giant green guy? Wearing a trench coat and

a fedora. Yeah, but it's like he's got green

face green hands with only three fingers How

do they not realize this isn't this isn't a human

is it really not? It's really hard for them to

wear pants apparently with this big green legs

to get out in green feet like wrap up your toes,

dude Your ankles just keep going help the illusion

Yeah, really and then all of a sudden we get

to the point where the Stockton people are basically

kidnapping Harold and Donnie basically sheds

his trench coat and fedora and puts his bandana

on and goes after them running up the stairs

we see Stockman Stockman gives apparently a very

lazy summation of his life. I Don't believe a

word of it. No And and Donnie with his Spying

on him. He's basically saying not liking this

at all What's this giant red button do well?

It's gonna set off a bomb that destroys the entire

city And it's a button that pretty much detects

the turtles, apparently. Yeah, Stockman recruited

this Lilja scientist who's actually pretty ability

to track down the turtles so they can harvest

the pure mutagen that's still left in their bodies,

because he needs it back for Krang. And so he

gives this guy the device that will track the

turtles, which leads to Donnie, who's in the

room with them spying on everything they're saying.

And so now he's very... In trouble as they all

know where he is everybody pulls guns on him

Yep, and then we get down And everyone is armed

doesn't that seem off to you? Maybe right you

obtruse is hell, but you got a point Thank you,

sir, but that's not even a word Which is a conversation

they had before on the computer screen and they

realize that each other is each other from the

forums doesn't seem to be for arch nemesis you

know uh... as well of the story as well of the

stories it's so great uh... and then all of a

sudden uh... uh... curvy fan goes all ballistic

You're secure at this distance, sir. We need

backup. You've already got back up and he goes

crazy He throws poke balls at him that explode

yeah, yeah No Pokemon are coming out of those

things So these two have to team up because Donnie

keeps trying to Talk him into doing the right

thing and then Donnie might say something that

sets him off And Donnie even says mental note

try not to say stuff that's gonna piss him off

So cool so cool, let's see where do we go from

here we go to more fighting and apparently this

this for lack of a better term this Nintendo

Entertainment System power glove runs on power

of the person he's like why don't you just get

a battery backup for it go that'd be easy yeah

Yeah, so Donnie's like, let's see how it runs

on turtle power. I love that line, too. I love

that line. It's so awesome. So very, very awesome.

So they end up teaming up to escape and Stockman's

pissed, of course. Yeah, because he can't harvest

any of the technology at this point. So Stockman's

pissed. We we wrap it up with Donnie back at

home Father's not too happy about risks. I took

of course, but he's happy. I'm okay and appreciates

the valuable Intel I was able to gather risk

and reward yay me I'm a gadget geek a tech nerd.

I know machines It's cool Leo. We can run drills

tomorrow instead. You know I know you dig that

fortunately I'm not too bad with people either

because he has a request from Captain Obstruse

yeah Friendly yeah friend request yes, that's

what they call those yeah the game request from

him and Which obviously it's it's the professor

there And the alternate cover in the trade is

basically Donnie with the power glove on with

his bow on the ground. You know when I just made

the I just made that connection the original

Donatello one -shot cover he's got that power

glove on. Oh does he? I haven't read that yeah

there's the the original 84 85 version is a drawing

of it's a Jack Kirby homage issue. It is I oh

my god They totally tied it get together with

with the old series. It's a drawing of Donatello

on a paper with a mini 3d real Donatello on top

of it wearing the power glove. I think it's about

a a scientist or an artist who whatever he draws

comes to life and he's drawing this drawing donatello

and so he pops off the page and that's kind of

what the story is about in that old series very

cool i didn't there you go listeners go read

that old series and see how it compares i have

to go read that now thank you and finally we

get the the leader and you are right the colors

on the covers they are very muted Leo's is a

muted purple. You're right because I because

I don't think the reveal was up yet Yep, and

I think but in the issue it is So yeah, it's

it's probably a solicit thing. Yeah where the

covers came out. Yeah. Yeah So we get Leo and

this I remember this also this is very very close

to The Leonardo single issue from the 80s again

the story anyway very cool so we get leo he's

uh he's basically searching every place that

they've fought or been or all that good stuff

uh he's looking for answers he's heading back

to stockman's lab hopefully gonna find answers

there This is where we see him consistently having

flashbacks to his former life Which is very very

very cool You know I People always mention reincarnation

to me sometimes and you know you you'll always

hear people oh when I like it When I die and

come back and get reincarnated, I'm gonna get

reincarnated into this just so I can piss this

person off and this, that, the other thing, and

everything else, and it's like, you know, I kind

of, I don't know, I kind of don't believe it

in general, but in the purposes of this story,

it's very believable. It's, I think it's, it

makes it. Don't want to say it makes it believable

But it it justifies a lot of things and I think

it paints that complete circle that has up until

now I mean 25 30 years later that was missing

from the turtles Yeah So I'm totally down with

that Yeah, very much so So Leo is out looking

for answers and he finds them in the form of

the foot clan and the first page where he fights

one of the foot clan members Leo says, nice try.

The swords, the wording for the sword sound is

clang. And all I can think of is Raph in the

87 series in the beginning. Clang? Did you say

clang? And dudes, nuts, they're robots. Robots,

let's rock! Just so they could actually hit them

with their weapons. Yes, yes. So, basically what

you're getting here is a reverse of what happened

in the film in 1990. Instead of Raph getting

ganged up on by the foot, it's Leo. Because they

are everywhere. I love it when these things remind

me of things. The movie is very much a almost

scene -for -scene port of the of the original

comic book and that scene with Raph getting beat

up by the foot soldiers was that you're right

Leonardo was that happened in the comics and

it was Leonardo getting beat up by them and then

dropped through the window that was kind of cool

I didn't make that connection before but it was

so close to the comic books that Eastman and

Laird were actually fighting to get a writing

credit on the movie, and they ended up not giving

it to them, which probably would have meant some

kind of union money for them, or a residual check

from a different union, but they didn't get that.

It's okay, they're both probably millionaires

now. They would have to be. Well, I know Laird

is for sure, Eastman probably. Laird made a lot

of money selling them to Viacom. Yeah, yeah.

So Leo is severe like I mean to say he is severely

outnumbered is an understatement He is like Overwhelmed

there's hundreds of them in these panels, and

I think that's well not literally hundreds, but

they are so outnumbered. It's beautiful There's

at least 50 or 60 of these guys at least Do you

think he's killing them No, I don't I think he's

knocking them out. I don't I Don't think he would

kill he doesn't like that's not his part like

that's not his personality Like it is the they

do it in the 84 willy -nilly they they're they're

just they're murderers. They're cutthroat That's

kind of what made that it's a much darker comic.

Yeah, they kill left and right They might maybe

they stop off later, but and yeah, they're just

Anyway I think you're right. We don't see blood,

we don't see gore, we don't see katanas plunging

through chest cavities. Yeah, I think he's just

knocking them all out, or he's incapacitating

them to the point where, sure, they're still

alive. They're gonna limp away. And he does say

that he's trying to leave one of them conscious

so he can knock them out and drag them to the

lair and get answers. And see, that's the thing.

He says... Got a brother who is gonna love squeezing

you for information See that is like I could

see if this was if the roles were reversed and

Leo was at home And this was Raph story I could

see Raph killing them because Raph Raph would

in this instance where it's kill or be killed

I think Raph would have taken the path of least

resistance Yeah, and chance these guys not waking

up and coming to get him again Yeah And then

we run into the old lady because they barge into

her house get out of my house Why is it every

time I see a late like a pedestrian woman? I

keep flashing to the 87 series you Monsters,

I'm going to hit you with my Tommy gun the old

lady that The art in this I need to double check

and I can't right now because my chair will squeak

a whole lot, but I think this is the artist who

is currently on the book now. The turtles are,

they're different, but it's similar. The body

proportions are what's similar. Okay. I love,

I love this art. I love the art. I think it's

great. And I love how in the ongoing, I expect

a certain, I guess now that I've read two, you

know, eight issues of it. I'm fine with what

it is Going back and forth between kind of like

the dark tones of like the city life and then

the kind of like the bright tones of 16th century

Japan, but if you look at these four issues The

tones the background tones fit the situation

for all the characters For all four of them and

this really fits with them and Leo, as he's doing

this fighting, he flashes back to his mother

again. And that's what gives him the strength

to kind of overpower all the foot soldiers. Yeah,

he recognizes the foot soldiers for what they

were the murderers of his mother. And yeah, the

bottom of that the bottom right panel of that

is another that's one of my favorite illustrations

from this particular book too. Yeah. Very very

awesome And he's basically saying no one gets

away now I'm feeling now he's killing them Probably

This one ends with what I assume is the same

guy that we saw before Where he says I am unimpressed

and he basically throws Leo off the building

Yeah, so Leo's thinning out the crowd and then

there's the one on the roof with that peculiar

scar over his eye Which I think splinter might

have done that Yeah, that was shredder that answers

my question now I get it and so they have a one

-on -one here and and Leo gets trounced and yes,

I've seen enough and then drops him off the the

roof that is definitely Orokosaki before he decided

to get his armor out of wherever it is. He limps

home, he tells his brothers about the ninja army,

but he doesn't tell them about the final battle.

I don't know if they were with Hob or if they

were with someone new. And this issue takes place

immediately after issue 8. the ongoing because

you see Casey and April there with no splinter

We fight Mike we keep fighting no matter what

until splinter is back with us. We're never losing

a family member again and it says the end which

obviously we know it's not but There's another

cover on here art by Ross Campbell. It's Leo

surrounded by the foot soldiers And then there's

some pretty cool drawings of Alopex. Very cool

there. We have the Dresden Heist, an alternate

cover for black and white alternates for that.

And the final one is Art by Ross Campbell. It's

renders of Leo in color and just drawn. Overall,

I gotta say that these are some really badass

stories. The only one of these that has not,

that I don't think has popped up again is the

Michelangelo one. I don't think it will. I think

it will eventually. I'm thinking maybe I have

Sarnath. Okay. I don't know if it will. I mean...

I can see Raph, Donnie, and Leo's do it. I mean,

Leo's, obviously. Yeah, the rest of them do.

Yeah. Or have already, I mean. Yes. Yes, I know.

I need to catch up, damn it. That's okay. I won't

ruin anything major for you. Not at all. Well,

now that my most... Pressing concern between

this back issue classics episode and last time

is has already been taken care of with the bandanas.

I'm good. I do have questions about the guy with

the scar, which we kind of figured. I mean, you

got to figure it's got to be shredder, but I'm

kind of wondering why now he's at this point

going around like this versus just. Showing up

and being there. I like it that he's doing it

this way, but it's gonna be interesting to see

how How this plays out in the future which is

good because I don't remember how He makes the

trade. Well, I cuz I wasn't sure this was shredder.

I don't think anybody was sure that this was

shredder until I Think I will find out Come the

next come volume 3 because volume 3 is Shadows

of the past and the volume 3 cover is shredder

proper on the cover so We'll find out the next

time we do one of these We're gonna take a quick

break. We're gonna come back with final thoughts

and ratings after this inside of you you know

that someday it's got to come through that's

why we're here and we're telling you to we got

started we knew that we scored learning the music

and finding the cards we just keep practicing

we stayed underground So we are back and it's

time to give our final thoughts and ratings on

volume two and micro series volume one of IDW's

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Issues five to

eight, really enjoying it. Didn't see the reincarnation

angle coming in. I kind of saw it and I was like,

are they really going with this? Okay, I can

kind of get behind that. It kind of makes sense

now that Leo is kind of remembering stuff. So

I liked it for me volume 2 is only gonna get

an almost perfect That's four and a half stars

The only reason why it gets a half star taken

off is because splinter looks like a dog not

a rat What are your final thoughts on volume

2 I have to break it down into issues issue number

5 where it's the flashback between old Japan

and present day with the death of his real children

in ancient japan that gets a five star because

of what it did to me you know maybe maybe maybe

cry like a baby thinking about my kid uh on the

whole uh the rest of those get a four and a half

uh so you know four and three quarters but four

and a half generally speaking i think so too

um but but that issue five if you if you own

one issue of that book that's going to be the

one to get and after rereading this I think I

need to go back and get those alternate covers

for that. The trades. Well, I'd go back and buy

the single issues with the mirror cover and have

that. Someday I'll have the trades because I

want that art. But not yet. Not yet. And all

right. So the first four in the micro series.

I. They're all four very different tales because

they're all of the turtles are very very different

personalities and different writers different

illustrators For each of those it's hard to look

at those together, right? I'm Lynch Lynch Lynch

Lynch. Nope. Yep Lynch wrote them all never mind.

I take that back. Sorry for interrupting and

waltz had a script on on donnie's um no the writing

is consistent but each of the stories because

you're writing because he's writing from the

pov of that turtle he ties into their personalities

so well and it doesn't take away with what eastman

and waltz are doing in the ongoing at all it

if anything it adds to it because it's showing

you their individual personalities without having

to take up a whole issue of the ongoing by saying,

this is Leo, this is Mikey, this is Donnie, this

is Raph. I am glad that they ordered them the

way that they did, because like you said, Leo's

basically leads into the next part of the story.

So I like that. The Micro Series Volume One,

I'm gonna give it a five. There was little nitpicky

things I could pick out of it, but it wasn't

like, there wasn't a moment where I'm like, yeah,

I need to stop reading this. You know For me

those books I think Reading them the first time

They seem except for Leo's which obviously leads

and they were so disconnected that they weren't

as satisfying as the main story Like what they

did with the perspective and being able to spend

time with each turtle learning about them and

who they are and what their characters What they

really are? their essence But Reading it the

first time because it's so disconnected. It didn't

jive with me Months later these things are starting

to pay off which make it important to have gone

back and reading them But I think because of

that disjointed thing and the taking away Taking

that step outside the story that I had been loving

so much as good as they did I will give that

four of our stars, which is still good. I think

it's still good All right Have no idea what you're

gonna hear inside the pullback next We will most

likely be back sometime in April to do volume

3 and potentially volume 4 which is Let me look

here. I think it's we are not doing infestation.

No, we are skipping that night. We're skipping

an infestation 9 10 12 13 Basically volume three

is shadows of the past volume four is I would

have to look it up and find out but we'll be

back with bag issue classics and just to let

everybody else know more than the TMNT coverage

will be happening in back issue classics we have

a whole in July we're doing a back issue classics

month for Green Lantern so I think we're having

like Eight or nine episodes of Green Lantern

coverage Starting with I believe the Sinestro

Corps war then rebirth and then going forward

from there So that's gonna do it for us here

in the pull bag you anything you want to pimp

out Joe I'm gonna pimp out geek stuff garage

sale find us on Facebook searching for that without

any spaces If you're in the Midwest Michigan

area It'll be fun to drive by if you're in Indiana

and you make that drive. Congratulations, man.

That's awesome Very cool. Very cool. All right.

I am of course to if Joe and Mike he is Joe Reed

Make you a great escape into comics and we will

catch you next time I'm concerned about April

What is it Raphael a threatening note worse than

that it's the check You just heard the latest

episode of The Pullback, GCRN's comic book review

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