Leo'Jet Ski Fuel'nardoGonna 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.
Donnie's "death" is one of the major points where I realised I just do not mesh with people who think those first 100 issues are peak TMNT, because next to not finding it at all emotional...c'mon, this is just cape comic shit. You knew this wasn't going to be permeant. Even the overwrought mourning and melodrama were entirely stock for both the series at that point -and- the worst habits of American comics. Drama isn't derived from theme or character, it's just a big, loud thing that happens.
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.
It's almost as if, uh, writing about stuff characters go through has more weight than just TELLING US HOW SAD AND BADASS IT IS, huh?
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.
brb, joining Sophie Campbell's patron exclusively to commission pages of the Ninja Turtles walking sadly through the woods.
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
Probably a coincidence, but the Rise cartoon Donnie was depicted as a soft shelled turtle, compensating for it with a metallic "battle shell" that could fly on turbines and had Doc Ock arms and all sorts of other stuff. The show woulda been going off the air when this was coming out, but yeah, wonder if there's a connection.
And of course, there's Image Comics Donnie, who was dropped out of a helicopter after being blown up with a rocket launcher, and was turned into a cyborg after one fell on him. A fascinating experiment in determining what's too much even for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
(Might do that one some day, if there's ever a scan where the black and white art is legible, but don't hold your breath even if there is)
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?
Question to anyone scrolling; did you spot this the first time you looked at the above scan?
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.
Oh, also, dunno when it comes up in-story but Jen was either wrong or just speaking in general terms, the Weasels are all female.
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.
Surely we ALL remember where we were when the New Mutanimals graduated, forming Mutanimalx-Force, adding a third title to Uncanny Ninja Turtles and Turtle Factor.
Although, suppose you could make a case it's weird how little X-Men actually influenced TMNT outside of Raph and Leo's spats.
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.
Share my fanfiction of the TMNT teaming up with Jimmy Olsen to get into whacky scrapes and try to stay one step ahead of the "far out" forces of Jack Kirby's Project Cadmus? I'd love to, except I haven't written it yet.
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.
Something I didn't realise until looking that page over to make sure the alt-text fit; Donnie's wearing a tool belt. Excellent touch.
Speaking of alt-text, since this has a couple of followers who use it, how am I doing with it? Any improvements you think could be made?
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.
Can't get over Zana's =O face.
You ready to see why Sally, despite being sadly side-lined as this run goes on, becomes one of my favourite non-Al IDW characters?
There's a comic by Christopher Cantwell and Luca Casalanguida about the JFK assassination called "Regarding the Matter of Oswalt's Body". Buncha outsiders with espionage experience, criminal records and shady pasts are blackmailed by a US government agency for a simple mission: extract Lee Harvey Oswalt after he's shot JFK, dump a lookalike so the feds have a corpse, and smuggle the read Oswalt out of Dallis.
It's great, you should read it.
It's relevance to this thread is that the fourth issue is the cast being subjected to an almost full 22 pages length monologue from Oswalt about what a world changing fucking big shot he is, and that's what I think of when reading Hob talk about Mutant Town.
TLDR: Fuck Old Hob.
Issue #104, the cover of which makes ya think Sophie Campbell probably understood exactly the kinds of audience for her storytelling.
It's cold and there's nothing good on TV, just like Mutant Town, EEEEEEHHHHYYYYY, let's go.
Sally keeps kicking Hob's ass, very here for that.
A) Love how Campbell keeps the Weasels constantly distinct through expressions, posture and body language.
B) I empathise with Koya here, since if -I- had to live through the first hundred issues of this series I'd be done with fighting, too.
Part of why not-asshole fans slowly lost enthusiasm for this period of the comic, I think, is because it does put more of an emphasis on family and emotion. Often fighting really doesn't have much of a point or accomplish anything.
Claiming nothing really -happens- is objectively stupid, though, since we're going to have a full on riot a couple issues from now and a large part of where the book really begins to drag is when Waltz's whole Armageddon Game thing eats up a couple issues. Again, I think they really should've/should now, right now, just give Campbell her own TMNT continuity and let her do whatever.
Like these panels. The gang's first victory, as Mutant Towners, their own entities separate from the original four, rescuing the next generation of mutants from the petty mistakes of the original, and Hob fucking off for a while. What's not to like?
We've reached the Adopted Lost Urchins stage of the comic. Also, Jennika's a big Lita Ford fan.
Love how constantly Campbell keeps up a character's body language.
There he is! I like Donnie's upcoming role, Mutant Town's handyman.
Cannot get over Raph's fucking Dave Lister looking fits.
For real, though. I recall enough about the first 100 issues to know Raph's thing was helping Alopex break away from Shredder and start healing, and I'm glad that roles reversed a little with their relationship.
(For real though, Raph's fucking clothes, he looks like he should be calling Leo a smeg head, it's amazing)
For those of you who have lives and didn't memorise the title of ever single piece of James Newtron Lewis' 1990 score:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmJEr1M7p3M&ab_channel=Audio-Video-Retro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmJEr1M7p3M&ab_channel=Audio-Video-Retro
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1990 - Message From Splinter
Wasn't sure about including these panels, but what the hell, I like Raph and Jenny's dynamic. The bros fighting is old hat and Raph does need someone who understands him well enough not to put up with his crap. The older sibling dynamic you can't really give him and Leo.
Filbi@LeoJetSkiFuelnardo Northampton, Massachusetts?
@filby Yep! Where Casey's farmhouse is.