TMNT Issue #50 Review

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

Ninja Turtle Rider, and you have jumped inside

the pull bag. Welcome to The Pull Bag. Join us

as we dig on our latest comics and discuss them

with a rotating panel of the GCRN crew. So sit

back and enjoy this week's Pull Bag. Hello and

welcome to the pull bag. This is episode 118.

I am your host TF2 and Mike and It's more turtles

folks last week We had the giant size episode

of 116 and 117 where Joe and I talked about 47

or 49 leading up to TMNT issue 50 four years

in the making for IDW and Joe Was it worth it

it was worth it and my favorite I guess the best

part about it is that I didn't see it coming

I Knew where I thought I wanted 50 to be at 30

I do I think I knew what I wanted to happen But

indeed it did not and and that's okay, and it

was good. Yeah There are I believe Because I'm

not actually gonna look up any info. I usually

pull up comic vine or something and I forgot

to I'm sure you've seen all the covers for this

issue, but there were at least seven or more

covers for issue 15. One, two, three, four. Well,

hold on. I can count. Three, four, five, six,

seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,

17 covers. Oh my God. Okay. Well, 17 covers.

Okay. So a lot of them were comic shop exclusives.

Like you have to be at the yesteryear comic store

to get it. You have to be at the convention here

to get it. There are a lot of convention -exclusive

covers too, yeah. In the digital version for

Comixology, I actually have the... I actually

have the print versions of 47 to 50. Like I said

last time, you know, I came into a little bit

of money and I figured, oh well, why not actually

have the print versions while we're doing this?

But I figured, oh, I don't want to be sitting

here flipping through a comic. I'd rather just

be sitting here... clicking the right arrow button

or hitting the right arrow button. But it's one

of those things where I got the subscription

cover, which I think it's just the turtles on

it. I guess I'm not looking at it. The digital

version has the regular cover, which is part

of the Santa Lugo aisle together. Oh my God.

I really got to contact IDW, I really want that

print. I don't know if they still, I pretty much

bet they sold all those at New York Comic Con.

It also has one half of the Eastman cover where

it's Leo and Raph on one side. And then I have

the turtles running away from Shredder. It's

almost, well, they're not running away from Shredder.

Shredder's in the background and then the foot,

they're facing towards the foot. I don't even

know where that... I don't even see that cover.

It's a red background with blue lettering. With

Shredder. Okay. Yeah, that's cover A, B, and

C, those three. Be prepared, folks. We're going

to spoil the hell out of this issue, and I know

at least I will end up crying once. I'm not afraid

to admit that, because, oh my god, not only did

the... Kevin, Bobby, and Tom just destroy our

emotions in 44. They did it again here in 50.

They better never do it again ever again. Oh

man, no. They'll do it again. The story so far.

Long ago, Rokosaki the Shredder killed Hamada

Yoshi and his sons as retribution for Yoshi's

defiance now in present day New York City. all

meet again for one final fight the gauntlet the

TMNT must defeat the foot mutants to join their

father splinter in combat against shredder dun

dun dun and this basically picks up right where

obviously 49 Left off right in the middle of

the action to right in them. Yeah Well, well

it kind of left it on a cliffhanger in 49 as

well. So I mean it this is kind of picking up

right there They made a turtle soup joke folks

And it had to be rock -steady to say cuz soups

We still have because Joe and I have already

read this folks, so we know what happens So this

is why I'm saying we're going to get emotional.

We still have metal Donnie and You look at the

writing here. Okay, and I you know, like I said,

I don't want to sit here and read I'm not gonna

read every bit of this but it's one of those

things where in the very beginning panels here

Roxie says Yoko and bludgeon The way you two

are always talking about eating your kills, I

hope you're real hungry right now, because soup's

on. And then Metal Donny is like, can it, jerk?

And I'm like, oh, god. The puns are just so punny.

And Metal Donny with the flamethrower. Wow. That's

a metalhead that I wish they'd make a toy out

of. You know So we get the we get the Leo Raph

and and Mikey You know Arguing back and forth

back and forth and Splinter's like listen to

your brother and and Donnie's sitting there trying

to hold them off and he's like no time like the

present guys cuz yeah, let's I see splinters

off to the side doing the mr. Miyagi roll or

or like the Cobra Kai guy sweep the leg he's

shouting from the sidelines I How big a fan of

you are those movies? I was a big fear original.

I'll be our original three watch Really for you.

Well, I watched this I watched the one YouTube

documentary about how they kind of took a step

back and looked at it and made realized or explained

how Daniel's actually the bad guy he comes in

there like abuses her and picks a fight with

the guy and the guy doesn't want to fight because

he's on the right path blah blah blah blah blah

yeah so it's like yeah that kind of made me rethink

it all but it's a good movie it's a cute movie

that got a lot of people in the martial arts

so I'm okay with that But yeah, this is this

this issue even starting with the last issue

is one giant fight scene Which I think it would

be why it's hard. It would be hard for us to

kind of go through it page Oh, no, no. No. Yeah,

I mean, no, no There's absolutely like I'm already

up to the point where they're in the middle of

the fight after they after after they do the

charge, you know for father the interesting thing

with interviewing Tom waltz last week is That

they had put themselves in this position where

rock city and bebop were so unstoppable that

they didn't know how the turtles were gonna beat

them at this scene and what inspired them to

do what they did was the old video game where

you could run them into each other and they would

take damage from Jumping out of the way and then

they butt heads and the fat was how they started

to win. They started to take each other out that

way. And that was really clever. Something else

that is happening around the fourth or fifth

page here is that Hamato Yoshi is sitting down

to meditate and remembering the past, looking

for, I don't know what he's doing, why he's...

He's looking for an answer of what he can...

He's looking for answers as to what he can use

against Shredder, because there's nothing...

like he's looking for an... you know, it's kind

of like that... that old Beast Machines slogan,

the seeds of the future lie buried in the past.

And it's one of those things where he's going

back and remembering and trying to figure out

what would Saki's Achilles heel be. He has to

find that in order to find a reason to be able

to reason with Shredder. Most of the time you

can't. My favorite thing about these flashbacks

as he goes into this dream state and crosses

time to remember what's going on is that Cory

Smith comes back to do the ancient Japanese thing

which has been he's done the the ancient Japanese

drawing the the back in the past Hamato Yoshi

and the turtles before they were turtles since

issue four. and that kind of, I don't know if

it's, it's not really continuity, but from that

stylistic choice, that is just such an awesome,

brilliant thing. And he did, did he do follow,

uh, or uh, history of the Foot Clan? I'm not

sure I'd have to do that. I will, I will look

while you continue on. So we get into the flashback,

and it's to the point where Saki is going to

basically kill Hamata Yoshina's sons. And I've

mentioned this before. And I think this is really

cool how we see the suns and they're all, and

of course, you know, they're all going to be

different personalities and whatever else. And

this really informs us as to how the turtles

are in the present. But I love the aspect of

the color kimonos. Oh yeah. The color. Oh, God.

Anybody knows from that very first episode when

I was complaining to you about the Red Bandana,

anybody that goes back and listen to that almost

two years ago, for me, just seeing them even

reference and do that is awesome. And I love

how Shredder looks because at this point in the

flashback, he's become the Shredder because he

has an ancient Japanese version of... The shredder

helmet. Yeah, which is oh, it's that was something

that not really I don't bothered me as a kid

but something that I was aware of is that Shredder

being Japanese that helmet was only vaguely barely

Japanese in any kind of way and I would love

to see I always wanted to see like what would

that armor look like if it were actually built

by a Japanese person and I think they They they

capture that really well here. It looks like

that old Shogun samurai with the mask helmet

That you usually would kind of well stereotypically

see who knew if that was accurate, but I've seen

them at museums and yes, it looks more like that

looks more Japanese than the modern -day kind

of yeah So I do love those I I know the IDW shredder

and at this point by the end of this issue It

won't matter anymore. I really wanted them to

do an homage to the movie Shredder the 90 movies.

Yeah, they're there because that was just oh

There are a couple lines in this movie in this

book rather that almost came from the movie and

I I kind of wish they'd have They'd have copied

the line and I almost wonder if maybe they they

couldn't Because I know they don't have rights

to certain characters from the movies But you

know death comes for us all a Roku sake like

would that have been so hard to put in there?

But I don't think they They could. And so as

the flashback kind of continues here and Splinter

is still looking for answers, we go back to the

fight and Raf's like, come on, Mikey, we should

probably bring flowers for the date, dude. I

love Mikey and like, I know a lot of people are

not, you know. huge mikey fans i've always been

a huge mikey fan ever since the cartoon and the

original movie and then as i've said before in

like i said a moment ago in almost two years

of you and i reviewing this series he's just

so he's not just the party dude he's not just

one aspect or the other but he's always that

happy -go -lucky kind of kind of turtle like

he's supposed to be um It's just awesome some

of the lines they come up with for him. That's

You know, it's a testament to what they've achieved

with this book as are many other things But that

they've given Mike more of that complete personality

I liked him as a kid growing up during the 90s

cartoon but growing older he annoyed me as the

childish one and and Even in the Nick series

he's the one that's freaking out and he's almost

so dumb in that show that he can't he's not even

realistic anymore, but I Through the IDW book

through the lens of the IDW book and what they've

achieved with Mikey making him not just the party

dude But the heart of the team and I look at

the Nick series and say Mikey's just playing

a character. He's smarter than that because when

he gets serious he can be serious And so I've

accepted it through that. I think with the Nick

series, it's more so that we have a new era.

Sierra O 'Neilly and all those guys are doing

with the Nick series, what they're doing is they're

not recreating our series, our cartoon series,

but they're creating a cartoon series for kids

today. So, you know, like your son, like, you

know, your son's going to grow up and he's going

to grow up quoting Bu Yakasha and all this stuff

and everything else. And, you know, he's just.

you know he's just gonna be like you know what

like you were when you were a kid loading cowabunga

and all that he does a really good Megatron impression

from G1 we watched that a lot and Mikey here

you know he has a really genius idea and this

is what we were you know what you mentioned earlier

when we talked to Tom Waltz Mikey's the one that

says we should just let him beat each other up.

We get to Brno Island and we, I'm trying to think

if we actually see him or we just see the, no,

we just see the hand. We see that Leatherhead

is here, but he hasn't made his full debut, just

like last issue when we talked about issue 49.

He's helping, he's there, he's with Fugitoid

and Harold's on the monitor. they're trying to

do something with Donatello's body. I don't want

to really reveal right away what they're, you

know, what they're going to be doing to his body,

but because that emotional impact of what comes

later, oh my god. So we get back to the flashback

in Splinter. Ever since it was either Matthias

or Cory, I forget which one, but the the panel

where uh where it says you waste your time and

it's splinter in the astro oh god i ever since

they started doing that when splinter meditates

i love those backgrounds those backgrounds are

amazing those look like they might be drawn with

thumb prints with dipping the finger in the ink

and then pressing i i see a couple things that

that look like that but uh that's that's very

cool David Peterson does thumbprint stuff with

mouse guard smoke is done with thumb prints in

his mouse guard series But I'm glad to see other

people kind of picking that up So we have more

conversation between sake and Yoshi and see You

you were saying earlier that with the turtles.

It's one big fight scene, but this is where I

don't want to say exposition, but this is where

the story really takes place in this issue, in

this double sized issue because this issue was

a, if any of you are like Joe and you want covers,

this issue was very expensive for you people.

This issue was a double -size issue, which means

it was $7 .99. So yeah, do you want to hear what

I did? I got cover A, B, C, the sub -cover, and

then I paid 15 bucks to get the retailer incentive

because nobody in my town ordered enough. So

8 times 4 is 32, plus 15 is 30, 40. Yeah, so

I spent close to 50 bucks. On issue 50 And yeah

Tom Watson, don't you don't you hate those people

who are like multiple covers and collecting everything

and driving up the price? He's like no when we

do multiple covers. It really does good for us

Well, yeah, no joke because one guy in Michigan

spent 50 bucks on one issue of this book Because

I'm a nerd and a completionist and have every

other turtle book on the face of the earth I

needed to have all of these but It's I'm very

happy to give them money, especially having interviewed

them and spoke spoken spoken with them You know,

they're they're human beings with lives families

children jobs desks And I'm very happy to give

them money Absolutely The one thing I won't spoil

I guess if you want to like give a general description

of the story here in the flashback I really don't

want to spoil that because I want people to be

able to find that for themselves I just like

talking about the fight scenes but if you want

to summarize what Saki and Yoshi are essentially

fighting about in the flashback here when he

says It's not often I hear such palpable irony

from your lips brother I'm trying to figure I'm

trying to remember what was going on with That

I don't know why splinter was really looking

there For this and you know, we don't I don't

have time on the air to to really reread it,

but i'm flipping ahead um, I think the last one

is them as children and kind of dealing with

the anger that hamato yoshi had at that point

and Kind of really coming back to the fact that

they were they got along they were brothers right,

uh and and they Discuss that they talk about

that, but we I don't know. I still can't forget

that Rokosaki at this point was that reincarnated

maniac Yeah, that's true that that did something

crazy. He was doomed to to be what he became

Even raised incredibly. Well, I think he was

he would have defied that and become this evil

Evil power hungry thing And then we have the

scene where, you know, speaking of something

totally crazy, what are you waiting for? Yeah,

we're standing right here. We're right here standing

still like two insane people. Kill them. I love

that panel. The flip out. Oh, God, the flip out

and they just... It's like Raph and Mikey are

playing rock -em -sock -em robots. It's so awesome.

We have Koya versus Leonardo, and Leo... We know

he's still a good guy, but he really does a number

on Koya. He cuts her wings off. Look, her wings

are part of her arms, but he is demolishing the

feathers, which I don't know if there's feeling

in those. Maybe as deeply as he's cutting they

are. There are, but he's taking them off. I think

Leo's still gonna be death -averse in this version,

which is, I'm fine with that. I'm cool with that.

He's not gonna kill anybody, but yeah, he is

demolishing her. He's demolishing her, and then

Bludgeon wants to help her. Except he gets, you

know, heat vision to the face. I'm sorry. That's

not Superman. Laser vision? He gets cyclopsed

in the face with... Okay, there they go. Well,

heat vision, cyclops, whatever. Cyclops is kinetic

energy. One's an alien, one's a mutant. I know.

I know that. One's an alien, one's a mutant.

It doesn't really matter, honestly. No, I'm a

nerd. He's kinetic energy. He has heat vision.

There's no heat there. it's like where's gambit

when you really need him and donnie basically

shines a light and this oh god this fight is

just so awesome raf making faces come and get

us tweedle dweeb and tweedle duh I don't think

I've ever seen Raph make a face like that. That's

just funny and scary all at the same time. We

don't usually see the turtles with canine teeth,

which is part of their mutation. Yeah, that's

true. I was wondering if the Ninja Turtles were

warm -blooded because they do have the human

half. I think they are because there are scenes

with them in the snow and they're not dead. so

we then get to where kitsune is still controlling

alopex or It seems like she's going to be controlling

alopex and we get to angel and and kitsune and

all that and I like these characters. I just

wish there was like more I don't know they haven't

had time yet. This is I know I know and I mean

I know I know alopex already had her her one

-shot and that's fine We got her origin story

and that and that's great. I can't say it enough

folks Bobby Tom Kevin listen, we need a raff

and alopex honeymooners type miniseries. Come

on a retreat which is is begging to be made because

it happened in the Archie series. Moon Eyes was

the miniseries where Raph and Ninjara in that

version, because they can't do Ninjara in this

book. It would have been if they could have.

They went off and went back to Ninjara's people,

which were like mutant fox things, and they had

an adventure, and this is begging to happen.

I want to see a Raph and Alopex, and I want to

see an Angel and Alopex miniseries. Where they

go out crime fighting. Yeah, I mean, I think

Angel at this point, we got enough of her backstory

throughout the series since she was introduced

that we don't really need a one shot for her

origin. But yeah, you're right. We so need. Yeah,

that would be awesome. So we get to the point

where Metal Dawn is like, you know, we need a

new plan and something happens where he has to

interrupt Leo, and he says, wait, hold that thought,

Leo. Yes, I'm listening. Now, you're sure? You

don't sound sure. He's having a conversation

through his head. He's having a conversation

through his head. Who's he talking to? Well,

yeah. Yeah, we know. How much time? OK, should

be enough. Good luck. And we have. You know,

we have bebop and rocksteady. It's like what's

this tin can do and commit suicide? No, that's

gonna take something a bit more drastic Bye fellas.

It's been a blast and I'm sorry folks I don't

know if I can continue through this because holy

crap that panel kills me He's looking back over

his shoulder and he says bye fellas. It's been

a blast It's beautifully colored and the next

panel On the bottom brings us back to one of

the earlier covers when metalhead first showed

up Where it's all red and there's kind of the

cursor the the crosshairs over it Floating over

and the turtles are looking surprised with big

white text self -destruct activated and on this

page I had we had no idea what was coming next

except that Donnie was going away again and the

next page Badoom Yep, and they're all like Donnie.

Oh, what is this? Oh, not Tenno. Oh, no. Yeah

Stupid robot thought he could cough blow us because

they're still not dead Yeah, and oh I I have

to read Rox today's thing is it ties into into

into what's coming next Yeah, cough now his stupid

brothers are gonna need a cough veteran to fix

them up when we're done with them. It's veterinarian

stupid clang. And this is the panel right here

that I put on Facebook. No, all three turtles.

No freaking way. Man, that felt good. And I literally

I couldn't stop. Like I had to just sit here

and just look at Donnie reborn as himself. Oh

my god, folks. Like I said, they tortured us

in 44 when they killed him. And when they bring

him back, it's even worse because he's back.

It's, you know... Mikey, whoa, Kettle Drum. And

that was the shell that Fugitoid or Harold or

whichever one was working on in the previous

issue. I don't know what they said they made

that out of, but it's something different. It

looks the same. Donnie does now have a metal

staff of some alien metal that they don't explain

just yet, but it's kind of cool. It'll be interesting

to see that coloration stay. I wonder how long

that'll be that way. Don't well, I'm not sure

it should stay this way because I don't I think

Donatello would move up from just a wooden stick.

Oh Yeah, the coloration on the staff should yep.

Yeah should stay so We get the rooftop battle

Since since everybody's defeated now, yeah, the

Masters get to go at it and so splinter and Saki

are headed to the roof Yep, and I really wanted

something and I know they probably couldn't have

done this but I really wanted something with

the It wouldn't work with how Leo is drawn here,

but I really wanted that rooftop battle to be

at least homaging the film where shredder has

this the The oh yeah that he brought the staff.

Yeah But we get the rooftop battle between Yoshi

and and Saki First the turtles kind of try to

defeat him, but obviously that's not gonna happen

This fight is just so intense and just hearing

some shredders Guilelessly following your father

to his doom. I mean just I Can hear the guy from

the movie. I can't even hear James Avery with

this like during these scenes I hear the guy

from the yeah. Oh that voice. Oh that voice Yeah,

I know but I'm trying to remember I know the

speech from when he, the shredder reveal in the

movie when Tatsu takes the blades off his shoulders

and it's just so creepy. I mean, that is my shredder.

Yeah, oh absolutely. Money cannot buy the honor

which you have earned tonight. You make us all

proud. So this is where we get the flashback

of them being boys, and this is where Splinter

realizes what's it gonna take. And he basically

gives Shredder a choice, pretty much. See, I

thought we were gonna actually see Splinter and

Shredder fight. Most of the fight here is the

turtles and Shredder. Yeah, I think that's the

advantage that they won. That whoever wins fights

the master first gets to beat him up and then

win lose is basically get two chances It was

it was a contrived situation to see the fight

scene But I'm not gonna ask too many questions

because fights are hard and they did well Putting

putting two issues together to do that and it's

not boring in it This is way better than any

fight scene. I've seen in a Marvel comic book

ever Yeah so Yeah, and it gives splinter the

issue that at the time rather to go back and

and figure out How he is going to defeat him?

You know and we do see a fight between splinter

and shredder and man is it awesome Between the

panel where he says I learned something else

today, too and he swings at him and he ducks

out of the way and then shredder does some sort

of leg sweep and Oh my god, the way the art is

done here. It's so good. I see why Santalucco

needed a break coming up with issue 51 and 52

because, man, he put everything into this book.

One of the things that I admire most about Santalucco

and especially this issue with all these motion

blur things, one of my first exposures to manga

through a friend was Blade of the Immortal and

he let me borrow that one trade and I didn't

even leave his house I'm flipping through it

going this art is amazing the way that they capture

motion that this artist because it's the same

artists for all the books captures motion blur

with black and white and no color I gave him

back his book in his house went on Amazon can

I borrow your computer went on Amazon and bought

it and I see a lot of those sensibilities in

Santalucco's work and my favorite thing about

noticing that is that the rest of it is not that

obnoxious uh uh formulaic manga these are not

manga turtles these are not manga splinter but

the the the good parts About manga that are not

formulaic come through in his art the the negative

space Motion blur lines the way that the ninja

stars are drawn when they're thrown. It's it's

brilliant It's really good and this is some of

his best work so far this this last issue here

and this part of the book when splinter gets

up says I know how to defeat you now I Every

strike every blow that the shredder deals. I'm

thinking holy crap Splinter's gonna die That's

what I thought was going to happen. And so, you

know that the page 37 for me is slick suffering.

Yeah shred a splinter getting Yeah, just totally

gnashed in the chest with those blades and then

the kick to the stomach. I thought oh Frick we're

gonna lose splinter and In the next panel where

he says death awaits us all and that we have

no choice Where you see the marks on his nose?

Might be the first time in two and a half year

two and two years or so folks that I will not

complain about how the rat is drawn because that

looks like a humanoid rat right there um I mean

he just looks so amazing and you know we get

this big thing of of uh of what splinter is saying

and You know, he says, unlike you, death is a

thing I have come to respect, and I am unashamed

to admit for the safety of my children to fear.

But in your blind confidence, you have forgotten

Narukosaki. I have never feared you. And he strikes

him down. The panels to follow where Shredder

says, you know, but how. We switch between the

shredder the turtles alopex and angel the shredder

again just You know kitsune and and karai and

then shredder just you know falling down. It's

like oh my god The way they've settled that the

way they did that was just amazing And I like

that they did it at this whole like rooftop night

battle scene I like that. They didn't go for

the cheesy. You know Don't get me wrong. I love

the line, death comes for us all or Rokosaki,

but what comes for you is much worse. I love

that. I'm so glad we don't have a dumpster in

Casey right now. Yeah. And we have this final,

you know, kind of makeup thing between the two

brothers here and something that Apparently,

the writers and Bobby and Kevin and everybody

had in mind since before issue one was released

that in his dishonor, the shredder Orokosaki

commits seppuku, kills himself, and Splinter

is his second who takes his head off. And that

is just such a brilliant stroke. Literally and

metaphorically. It's just so emotional and just

seeing the two panels after he does you know

and I'm sorry folks It's emotional here, but

when I see this the swipe I know this is bad

and I'm gonna get a lot of groans for this but

all second thing of it is with one swipe of his

katana he sliced off my ear and I'm like no no

no that's not what's going on here but the panel

at the two panels after that was splinter up

against the moon that would make an amazing desktop

background oh my god just the emotion on his

face and this is where we see Mikey have this

shift like he's just probably witnessed his first

murder, killing, death, and he's not okay with

it. And that's the first of a few blows to come

up with Mikey that he's just not okay with. Yeah.

And he and Karai have some words. You know and

she's gonna basically basically she says and

I understand now that I must look to the past

if I'm ever to attain those same attributes To

where it all began to Japan. So apparently she's

leaving she's gonna go back to Japan and She

gives over her grandfather's sword to master

splinter. I love the four Because on Comixology,

the four turtle panel is just one giant panel

of all four of them and just their reactions.

And then you have Kitsune's reaction and she's

not exactly thrilled with this. I can't read

that face. Is she pleased? Is she disgusted?

She's disgusted. Ever since Shredder died, she

just doesn't... She's gonna be up to stuff. She's

probably gonna outside a crank She's probably

gonna be and I know from reading 51 and 52 that

she she's gonna be kind of the next kind of not

hidden villain, but Like villain to come out

of the shadows, I guess you could say so You

know, this is where you know splinter accepts

her sword And this is where Mikey's like, nope,

I'm done. I can't be a part of this, not anymore.

Not if this is what all the fighting turns us

into. The fighting turns them into the thing

that they fought against for a very long time.

Yep, and Mikey essentially leaves, and this begins

the journey of Mikey. I'm just so... Interested

to see what is gonna happen with Mikey and how

it's all gonna Play well, we know where it's

gonna play out because I've read the next couple

of issues. Well, yeah I mean, I mean, no, I know

but I'm saying like in the moment of reading

50 and going through 50 You just wonder what's

going to happen with With Mikey and what's gonna

happen? You know, we have a very small epilogue

because the final scene is Now we can embrace

our destiny and we have this beautiful panel

of Donnie, Leo, Raph, Alopex, and Angel looking

down over the... You know this actually mirrors

when Kitsune and Shredder did this. After the

city fall. He was resurrected. It was a flashback.

He was resurrected. We get this city. And then

we get an epilogue back in feudal Japan and Krang.

Oh boy. And that's how it ends, is with General

Krang. In the past, the Uttrams were off in the

distance watching this assassination of these

four children and Hamato Yoshi, and their...

saying, wow, whatever just happened there required

the direct attention of Hiroko Saki. Who were

those four? And Krang says, go get their DNA.

We might be able to use it against him later.

And it kind of explains away, you know, it starts

to explain away. I don't say it all the way explains

it. The reincarnation of the turtles. How did

that happen or why did they come back and? I'm

kind of I don't know. I don't I didn't need to

see that I'm happy with there being a small amount

of spirituality and religion in my turtles But

this is this gonna make Donatello very happy

that that oh no the utrums reincarnated us They

brought us back because of the DNA So yeah, Donnie

and his scientific mind for me issue 50 was amazing

on all fronts, but for me the one scene for metalhead

blows up and Donnie is bad that just That just

about killed me Yeah, it's gonna be so awesome

don't get me wrong I like what they did putting

Donnie and metalhead's body and I like all the

cool things that he did as metalhead but I'm

so used to metalhead being a separate character

and Seeing metalhead go from villain to good

guy and whatever else and but now that we have

Donnie back They'll rebuild him No, I'm sure

I'm sure Harold's got you know, metalhead 2 .0

or 3 .0 or whatever Overall, what are your thoughts

after reading 50? I was supremely happy that

they did not kill the shredder I'm sorry kill

the splinter because I was so worried about them

killing splinter especially during some of those

moments, but This is this is the best part about

this is that they're taking it in a direction

that no Previous version of the turtles has gone

before they've done such a wonderful job one

through 50 paying homages and inventing it in

new ways But always kind of referencing something

that came before we've never seen The shredder

defeated and the turtles and Hamato Yoshi take

it splitter taking over the foot clan Like this

is the logical step. This is the only time it's

ever really made sense that yeah Splinter would

still be loyal to the ideals of the foot clan.

He was a member at one point and now that he's

the master he can Bring it back to being the

honorable organization that it was always meant

to be we've never seen Good guy foot clan. I

guess it with the exception of the TMNT Computer

-generated movie because karai was in charge

of it It's gonna be interesting to see how the

foot clan goes forward with with splinter and

but part of me Still and I know this is the you

know seven eight -year -old me saying I still

want the guy. What say you honorable sensei?

hold on hold on hold on hold on hold on hold

on hold on hold on hold on hold on hold on hold

on hold on But just having them basically smothers

brothers that are or or Abbott and Costello it

up where they just try to beat you just have

them beat each other up was just absolutely hilarious

I There have been two times in this series where

I absolutely love bebop and Rocksteady their

origin for their one -shot and This I mean I

love them overall in the series But like just

those two issues were the moments where I'm like

these guys are awesome They just are so awesome.

What would you, and I know this is gonna kill

you for me to ask this, on a scale of zero to

five, what would you give issue 15? That's entirely

too simple to give it a five. I was surprised

at every turn. It's it's so nice to see something

from my childhood treated with such adult love

and respect So, you know, I remember when I first

when I first got the the preview copy of 50 off

the IDW servers because I'm on their media list

and I mentioned that every episode but And I

read through it and I got to the page where we

had the explosion and apparently you read faster

than I did and you're like, oh Splinter of the

Foot Clan. I'm like, I'm not there. Oh, sorry.

Sorry, sorry, sorry. I was like, it doesn't matter.

I'll find out eventually, but I'm like, I'm more

emotionally rocked that Donatello came back.

Okay, Splinter ahead of the Foot Clan. Sure,

great. That's, you know, it's a great alternate

timeline we're living in, you know. but uh we're

gonna take a quick break we're gonna come back

and give you guys the solicits for well 51 and

52 are already out but we'll i'll find the solicits

for 53 through i think 55 i think that's how

many are already i don't know i could be wrong

we'll be back after this hello geeks Want a podcast

that covers a vast array of topics with no rhyme

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We cover media news, TV, our favorite geek products,

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And I'm Brian Ward, nerd. And we want to invite

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And geeky... Analysis of Batman the animated

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the writers and the stories of the animated series.

While also exploring the very real psychology

behind Gotham's robes. And maybe even its heroes.

All of this and more each week on the Arkham

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say you're looking for a podcast of your favorite

80s comic books, G .I. Joe, Transformers, Ninja

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

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

I'm your host Ryan and I'm Chuck. That's right,

everybody. We're the Star Joe's. We host a podcast

called Star Joe's Podcast, where we talk about

your favorite comic books, your favorite toys

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

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

we will cover it at some point. Yes, so what

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

you can go to www .starjoes .com. And remember,

the Force will be with you. Because knowing us

is half the battle. How am I supposed to fight

advanced alien technology with a stupid stick?

Alright folks, issue 51 has already been out.

Issue 52, as of this recording, is about to come

out. Actually, when this releases, issue 52 will

come out that same day on November 25, 2015.

Wow, I almost said 2016. First of all, you know

the pull bag wants to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving

since this episode is gonna go up one day before

Thanksgiving And let's get to some solicits.

So issue number 52 which comes out the same day

obviously Tom Kevin and I'm sure Bobby We have

a new art guy on this arc Ken Garring A new faction

within the foot colludes against Splinter and

the Turtles as they struggle to deal with new

threats to New York City and where's Michelangelo?

Dun dun dun. Bullet points for this one. Basically

a new era of the TMNT takes a bold and unforeseen

direction. As I said, we have Ken Gehring on

art. I believe Rhonda's still doing colors. Another

part of the bullet points for this issue. Apparently

there was a variant cover by Abraham Mustafa?

I've never heard that name before, so I'm sorry

if I'm ignorant about it, folks. Alright, let's

see here. We got 4 December. Coming in December

is issue 53. Tom, Kevin, probably Bobby. We have

another artist on this. Michael... Dial -ness?

I don't know how to... I will put this name in

the window and see if you can pronounce it. No,

I'm looking at the cover right now. Okay. D -I

-A -L -Y -N -A -S for those playing alone at

home. Yeah, dialiness? I don't know. Let's go

to Google. D -I -A -L -Y -N -A -S for don't see

it. While he's doing that, Michelangelo is warmly

welcomed when he visits the mutanimals, but...

The hospitality may be cut short when he discovers

what Hob's new plan is, dun dun dun. So they're

bringing back Hob finally and figuring out, you

know, what's, um, what's going to go on with

him. Uh, bullet points for this one. Michelangelo

strikes out on his own and there's a variant

covered by a Teo Rojo. Google says dialenus.

Dialenus. Okay. That works. That's for December.

In January, we're gonna hit issue 54. Again,

Tom, Kevin, Bobby. Again, Dylenus is on this

one. Michelangelo versus Hun! Ooh! Startling

revelations will have lasting effects on the

Mutanimals and Mikey's path. What side will Hob

take in the coming conflict? Probably on the

side of mutant kind. Variant cover by, ooh, Transformers

cover artist and other artist, Andrew Griffith,

that's gonna be awesome. A fateful reckoning

for multiple characters. Dun, dun. That purple

dragon on that cover would make a fabulous tattoo

for somebody who does tattoos. Oh yeah, that

purple dragon is awesome. And I just realized

the... send you know the whole because we hon

has essentially joined the foot clay away did

before he kidnapped or rescued by by the channels

but in all that we've seen of on yes he was a

part of the purple dragons is a leader of the

problem is the problem is really haven't been

mentioned hardly at all this last few issues

last few months kind of thing Yeah, the last

we heard from them was when Hun went to Casey

and April's dad and mom's house to threaten Casey

and then they had the big fight there and that

was over when the law picked him up. Yep. So,

for February 2016, we got two additional things

other than issue 55 in here. I thought it was

pretty cool to bring these up. Teenage Mutant

Ninja Turtles number one IDW's greatest hits

edition. Kevin and Tom, Dan Duncan, introducing

IDW's greatest hits, $1 versions of key issues

and launch points from your favorite IDW. Wow.

First up, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles of

course. Yeah, anybody that wants to start with

turtles from the beginning in February of next

year? Go get the greatest hits edition of number

one It's a buck people. I mean come on We also

have coming in February February February. Thank

you Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the IDW collection

volume 2 hardcover Eastman, Waltz, Costa, Ben

Epstein, Barbara Randall, Kessel, Paul Aller,

Josh Williamson, all the writers. IDW Collection

presents TMNT stories in recommended reading

order. Volume 2 collects issues 13 to 20 of the

ongoing series. The Casey Jones, April Fugitoid,

Krang, and Baxter Stockman microseries, and the

entirety of Secret History of the Foot Clan series.

Hardcover full color 49 99 416 pages Now the

49 99 price on this thing these are hard covers

people I can understand that especially with

everything that's in these so I can understand

that price But I'm sure if you go to your local

comic shop and ask them to order it for you Some

comic shops offer discounts some don't but usually

like my shop on trades and stuff they offer 25

% off so It's still a good buy. Even full price,

if you consider $4 a book, if you were smart

enough to get on board and buy them originally,

it's still an incredible deal. If you went back

and tried to get those issues now, the collectability

of them, you're paying way more than $50. It

hurts to do it all at once, but in the long run,

it's cheaper and those collections are beautiful.

I just recently picked up the first one. Because

I have every Nintendo Turtle book ever, and I

have to buy everything. I'm surprised you'd never

got the trade collection. I think it's out. I've

been working on it. There was a thing where they

were going to release all, I think, five, the

first five volumes in one giant trade paperback

collection. It's basically just the five volumes,

but it was like, Think of Devastator gift set

It's that kind of thing. So But yeah, and I mean

honestly, I looked at this on Amazon the Amazon

pre -order price for volume 2 is like $20 less

than the MSRP. Yep. It's like 33 or 32 something

or other on Amazon if you get it there Alright,

so issue number 55 Tom waltz Kevin Eastman. I

Forgot Michael whatever his name. Yeah there

we go recent events have strained many relationships

amongst the TMNT and their allies many must decide

whether to trust or to betray to separate or

to stay and to love or to hate time takes its

toll but where do the turtles go from here variant

covers done by ben bishop bullet points a poignant

one shot that sets a new course for many characters

Done done done. Yeah, it's I'm hoping that one

through fifty was a love letter toward past I

kind of am it looks like I'm you know We have

no idea but that fifty through a hundred is going

to be here's your new turtles. Here's things

you've absolutely never seen ever seen before

and What an elegant beautiful way to do that

That cover A for 55. Oh my god, the cover A for

55. It's a purple background with pink leaves

or something. It's got Casey and April in the

background, and it's got Alopex and Kitsune facing

off against each other. Oh my god, that cover

is amazing. Those are cherry blossoms, by the

way. Oh, cherry blossoms, okay. It's a Japanese

thing. Yeah. So that's that's the next few months

of TMNT folks That's you know like I said issue

51 is already out as of this recording issue

52 will be out so we got December January February

53 to 55 plus the The next volume of the the

IDW collection hardcover series It's a great

time to be an IDW TMNT call hall. There's just

so much Going on and it's absolutely amazing

ladies and gentlemen So we're gonna get out of

here Like I said before happy Thanksgiving everybody

next time you'll hear us. It'll be Ryan Dross

and I from Star Joe's Talking the throng trilogy

and episode 119 and then we'll do Dark Empire

in 120 We'll take a quick break for 121 where

Steve and I will do that third trade for Batman

Beyond and then we'll come back and talk about

Shattered Empire leading up to Force Awakens,

all done by Marvel. Well, the first Thrawn in

Dark Empire, originally Dark Horse, but whatever.

Make your great escape into comics and we will

catch you next time! You've just heard the latest

episode of The Pullback, the GCRN's comic review

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