Leo'Jet Ski Fuel'nardoA) God, what a perfect TMNT's NYC building that is. Could be a set from the first movie.
B) Okay, so putting aside the fact Hob is most probably firing Diamond because he's a paranoid control freak who doesn't like people he can't control; all we've seen of his Mutanimal cops is them oppressing other mutants and Raph beating them for it. What the hell kinda lines was Diamond crossing that -Hob- considers her a loose cannon? And where exactly is he drawing his line?
So fucking glad Campbell doesn't buy into Hob's bullshit. This is a guy who spent a hundred issues and Christ knows how many miniseries justifying everything he does in the name of mutant rights, and now that there's a couple blocks worth of them we see how he actually treats them. Diamond's a bully, but she was a person with a life until this asshole holding her at gunpoint turned her into a walking weapon and set her loose on his (also coerced) people.
1) So Hob, Mr. Bigshot mutant rights activist, is trading with the Foot clan, giving them mutants in exchange for supplies. Weaponizing his own people. Classy.
2) Koya! She's a mutant falcon who hates Leo, because he cut off her wings! She has ghost ones now! I have absolutely no strong opinions on her! (Even though she gets the best line in the run.)
Just everybody's favourite "complex" character selling mutant child soldiers. No biggie. There's been a lot of repetitive shots of Diamond following this attempted send off, and I think the one at these last two would be the only ones you'd really need.
TMNT is one of those IPs that's defined by a lotta noise and also hit hard and deep when it does something in complete silence.
Pretty sure I must've made the "why nerdy men hate this" joke before now, but seriously. Raph, surrounded by women trying to do something productive and being told to sit down and contribute. C'mon.
A) Raph, friend of a vigilante, asks why their cop friend doesn't just tell everyone to knock it off, because yeah, that'd work.
B) Sally Pride's response is to get into how the TMNT and Mutanimals have actually worked up 'til now. Small groups of friends and family pursuing their own agendas. And that blatantly isn't going to work anymore. Which is neat. Hob and Splinter had their ideological war, Hob won, and the results suck.
More like "Mood", amiright? Anyway, these're the Weasels, Zink, Zanna and Mushroom. They're adorable. If Lita is the ultimate question of the TMNT's family theme, the Weasels are a further question of the boys, Hob, Aloplex and the whole Mutant Town era.
They didn't ask to be here and their guardians don't know what they're doing. The adults of this series need to step up for these girls, and none of them other than maybe Al are gonna pull it off.
♫Carefully on tip-toe stealing, breathing gently as we may♫ but for real, Campbell has a great gift for motion and personality. Not only can you see exactly how the Weasels would move if this was animated, you can discern their personalities even when they're in full shadow.
Eh, what the hell, for completions sake. Do have to figure out how to get more concise, though.
Gotta wonder if Diamond's go-to insult of other mutants being "ugly" is projection. She seems the type.
Gonna try to remember to post covers for each issue, help break things up.
Love for this to be just a random nightmare, but pretty sure what Donnie's having here is a flashback to his brutal death (as in meaningless comic book death) at the hands of Bebop and Rocksteady in the lead up to issue# 50.
His soul was rescued because of the whole reincarnation deal and temporarily placed in the IDW version of the Metalhead android, before being returned to his mostly healed original body. Ever since, he's had to wear a synthetic shell.
Point being, I grok with Campbell's portrayal of a vulnerable Donnie not only coping with this soap opera shit that happened to him but the -actual- consequences of it. Barometric pressure means his shell hurts, and he isn't conveniently "over" what happened to him.
TMNT is great because you can have all this '80s dinosaurs and lasers bullshit and then someone will draw the most mundane, lonely in the woods comic panel ever, and this will make total thematic sense.
Canadian and or Scottish followers; this is how I shall visit you.
Hate traveling, but nothing gets to me like fictional characters meeting up after a long absence. That kinda "Caught up in the moment after a shitty vacation" feeling is a running theme in Campbell's work. Storywise, sure, but also damn if the lady can't draw a run down apartment.
♫Donatello, home invader♫
TURTLE POWER
For real, Campbell TMNT has such great, cozy vibes. It's nice when this goofy ass franchise feels like it was written by an actual human being.
Ready for things to get more painful than any Raph and Leo spat?
A) Some of the background mutants, like the hippo, dog man and the rabbit-mum and bear(?)-child are background characters in the first issue, dining at the tables while Raph and Al talk.
B) Love how Mushroom's all normal when she's darting inside and immediately turns demonic in the presence of stew.
Seriously, the Weasels have a surprisingly consistent amount of personality for characters that've been on less than twenty pages worth of story so far. Zink being a hellbeast trying to take Jen's head off, Zana just eatin' and eatin' and eatin', Mushroom having the foresight to grab some cans.
Also, that's Alopex, their future mum, hurling bowls at them.
Mushroom is my favourite and I feel sorry for the lift she's been born into and the two idiot sisters she's been saddled with.
Huh. Noticed this after finishing dinner and an episode of Benson, went back to check. Yeah, the Weasels do have little ear tags. Wonder if that means they might've been lab animals before being mutated, like the TMNT and Splinter in this continuity.
The following is one of the most heartbreaking sequences in Campbell's run so I'm gonna cushion things a little by pointing out that Mikey wears a custom Superman hoodie, and he's not wearing it back to front, he made sure to sow the S on the back so it'd be on his shell and it's so good, you guys.
Every night I go to bed vowing this thread'll become more concise with less page by page screencaps, and every second of every day Sophie Campbell's stupidly gorgeous art makes a liar out of me.
Would love to hear TMNT 2012 composer Sebastian Evans score Campbell's writing, especially the sort of tune he might use for the Weasel's popping up like this.
They make friends and it's great! Not coincidentally, the four standard Turtles aren't present. Do wonder about that, given how everything shakes out.
Also this issue's been a good showing for Sally. She's worried about her place in the new status quo, but she's constantly acted practically even under stress, like stopping Jen charging in and possibly ruining the kids' budding friendship. Foreshadowing!~
You're a two faced, self righteous piece of shit Old Hob and I hate you for it.
Filbi
Charlotte Ariel Finn