Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW, Comic, 2011-Ongoing)

[Zaysho]

#37 is indeed the first issue of "New Mutant Order," but it focuses on Shredder and Krang, as well as a bit of Alopex. It's been a while since I read that portion of the comic, so I don't quite remember all the events, but I don't think Donnie has that big of a focus bar when he goes to see Harold, meets Metalhead, and Angel becomes Nobody during the "Mutants, Misfits, and Madmen" story. I imagine the next volume will include "Turtles in Time" and maybe everything through #44, at least, so Donnie will definitely get the spotlight then.

 

There's a part of me that's considering double-dipping and getting these hardcovers at some point, since they seem like really nice books. Might wait to see if they go on sale and maybe pick up the first couple. Probably easier than going back to my individual comics (which I did arrange in a big pile in, roughly, the correct reading order).

[Ryannumber1gamer]

8 hours ago, Zaysho said:

#37 is indeed the first issue of "New Mutant Order," but it focuses on Shredder and Krang, as well as a bit of Alopex. It's been a while since I read that portion of the comic, so I don't quite remember all the events, but I don't think Donnie has that big of a focus bar when he goes to see Harold, meets Metalhead, and Angel becomes Nobody during the "Mutants, Misfits, and Madmen" story. I imagine the next volume will include "Turtles in Time" and maybe everything through #44, at least, so Donnie will definitely get the spotlight then.

 

There's a part of me that's considering double-dipping and getting these hardcovers at some point, since they seem like really nice books. Might wait to see if they go on sale and maybe pick up the first couple. Probably easier than going back to my individual comics (which I did arrange in a big pile in, roughly, the correct reading order).

Trust me, they're the best way to collect the books. I have the first two volumes which covers up to just before City Fall and it's some really damn good quality.

It's odd though because all of the covers til now focused on an important character:

Volume 1: Raph due to the main plot being tracking him down and then getting him used to being a family

Volume 2: Splinter due to the introduction of the Foot Clan, and his teachings on revenge to Raph

Volume 3: City Fall with Leo, nuff said. 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Gotta say, the Christmas issue of TMNT is one of my favourites to date. It's kind of cool seeing all of the characters coming together for a night of fun considering how much they've been broken up with the Chasing Phantoms arc.

[Echidna Adventurer CC14]

Agreed. Really put me in the Holiday spirit and even made me tear up a bit towards the end.

Was especially nice to see Slash following his fallout with Hob. I'm glad he's still on friendly terms with the other Mutanimals.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

So, how do you guys think the story arc involving Foot!Splinter is going to go?

Also, in GN news, certain story arcs are getting new printings with new covers, such as Enemies Old, Enemies New. Furthermore, for those who want a snazzy collection but don't wanna go the option of the IDW Collection, there's a second, cheaper collection coming out of the main series. Volume 1 is called Shell Unleashed, and has the first twelve issues of the series.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Read the newest issue and it was really damn good seeing Alopex 

Spoiler

destroying Kitsune once and for all.

Also, official confirmation of RaphXAlopex. ye

[Zaysho]

Been catching up with the series since I've been out of it for a while. Was a bit eh on the last story arc, but the Christmas issue, and the most recent two issues were quite good. I also have the first six issues of TMNT Universe, but I've been so burned out on spin-offs for this book I've sort of just been collecting them and not really looking at them. Might change that soon (maybe I'll skip the first four and go straight to the new arc since it's focusing on Leatherhead).

With the new arc giving some focus to the Mutanimals and Agent Bishop, I'm definitely looking forward to some of the new stories they've got planned this year.

On 2/13/2017 at 11:14 AM, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Read the newest issue and it was really damn good seeing Alopex 

  Hide contents

destroying Kitsune once and for all.

 

It's more like

Spoiler

Alopex has purged Kitsune's influence from her mind, similar to what Leo did when he fought the Rat King. Though, agreed, it was quite satisfying. And I loved the visual of her face mask/markings changing to show she's put all that behind her now.

Makes me wonder what Kitsune's next plan will be. Since, if I'm remembering correctly (it's been a while), didn't she flee the Foot Clan's base after failing to steal Shredder's head?

And Campbell's art and layouts were gorgeous in this issue.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

1 minute ago, Zaysho said:

Been catching up with the series since I've been out of it for a while. Was a bit eh on the last story arc, but the Christmas issue, and the most recent two issues were quite good. I also have the first six issues of TMNT Universe, but I've been so burned out on spin-offs for this book I've sort of just been collecting them and not really looking at them. Might change that soon (maybe I'll skip the first four and go straight to the new arc since it's focusing on Leatherhead).

With the new arc giving some focus to the Mutanimals and Agent Bishop, I'm definitely looking forward to some of the new stories they've got planned this year.

It's more like

  Hide contents

Alopex has purged Kitsune's influence from her mind, similar to what Leo did when he fought the Rat King. Though, agreed, it was quite satisfying. And I loved the visual of her face mask/markings changing to show she's put all that behind her now.

Makes me wonder what Kitsune's next plan will be. Since, if I'm remembering correctly (it's been a while), didn't she flee the Foot Clan's base after failing to steal Shredder's head?

And Campbell's art and layouts were gorgeous in this issue.

Spoiler

Yeah, pretty much. She attempted to brainwash all of the Turtles into killing each other as well, but when that failed, she fled, and was trying to force Alopex to commit her plans for her.

 

[Forte-Metallix]

Bump. Image TMNT coming back, this time in full color and with a proper ending:

https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-long-unfinished-image-tmnt-comic-is-finally-getting-1823171674

Looking forward to finally reading what's been described as the darkest iteration of Ninja Turtles.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Just now, Forte-Metallix said:

Bump. Image TMNT coming back, this time in full color and with a proper ending:

https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-long-unfinished-image-tmnt-comic-is-finally-getting-1823171674

Looking forward to finally reading what's been described as the darkest iteration of Ninja Turtles.

Is IDW being cancelled or will it still run?

[Forte-Metallix]

Just now, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Is IDW being cancelled or will it still run?

It's still going.

It's just that IDW is bringing the Image comic back to run alongside it.

[Echidna Adventurer CC14]

It'll still run. This is a conclusion mini-series combined with a bunch of color reprints.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Remind me, is the Image run the one that had Shredder Raph and such?

[Forte-Metallix]

The new Rise show is getting a tie-in book:

https://www.cbr.com/rise-of-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-comic-books/
 

Spoiler

 

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #0
Matthew K. Manning (w) • Chad Thomas (a & c)
A new age of mutant madness begins with the Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! This special zero issue is your very first look at the new adventures the guys in green will be getting into this fall! Will the TMNT be able to master their new weapons, or will the weapons master them?!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Excited for the new upcoming TMNT new animated series Rise of the TMNT? Catch the comic first!
New characters, new weapons, new attitude!
Hilarious action and adventure for all ages!

 

Issue 0 drops in July. 

[Zaysho]

I haven't read the main book or its sister series, TMNT Universe, in almost a year (though I have a big stack of issues to read), but I just found out TMNT Universe will be ending with issue #25 (due out August 1) according to this solicit. This is pretty surprising to me, though I admit I hadn't really kept up or read it despite owning the issues. I wonder if it'll be replaced down the line or if IDW will be settling into regular mini-series to accompany the main book (which they were constantly toying with anyway--in fact, there's another weekly Bebop and Rocksteady series slated for August as well)?

 

That aside, I might try to get back into this book soon. I only started reading comics and stuff again this year, so I'd like to see how it's been since then and if it can still hold my interest. I lost track after the Bishop story (when Slash is brainwashed and weaponized), and while I've enjoyed some individual arcs like Mikey teaming up with the Mutanimals and Leatherhead's story, it doesn't feel like the book has hit another high point since #50, which was a great conclusion the book had been building up to since the first issue. I dunno, it hasn't really felt the same to me since then.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

On 6/18/2018 at 3:38 AM, Zaysho said:

That aside, I might try to get back into this book soon. I only started reading comics and stuff again this year, so I'd like to see how it's been since then and if it can still hold my interest. I lost track after the Bishop story (when Slash is brainwashed and weaponized), and while I've enjoyed some individual arcs like Mikey teaming up with the Mutanimals and Leatherhead's story, it doesn't feel like the book has hit another high point since #50, which was a great conclusion the book had been building up to since the first issue. I dunno, it hasn't really felt the same to me since then.

Late response, as I've only just caught back up about a week or so (actually just marathoning the Slash arc you mentioned right up to the latest issue). To be honest, the book has been managing to pull itself out of the "same spot" it's been in. It sort of ran into an arc of Bishop doing whatever and Leo having issues leading the team, but things seriously got good during the Triceraton Invasion arc, right down to finally giving us a confrontation between the Turtles and Splinter. Things are also currently building up to deal with Kitsune and her family for Issue 100.

[Zaysho]

4 minutes ago, Ryannumber1Scarer said:

Late response, as I've only just caught back up about a week or so (actually just marathoning the Slash arc you mentioned right up to the latest issue). To be honest, the book has been managing to pull itself out of the "same spot" it's been in. It sort of ran into an arc of Bishop doing whatever and Leo having issues leading the team, but things seriously got good during the Triceraton Invasion arc, right down to finally giving us a confrontation between the Turtles and Splinter. Things are also currently building up to deal with Kitsune and her family for Issue 100.

I haven't gotten back to it yet, but the Triceraton stuff looked really interesting to me. I was waiting since "City Fall" for them to show up when they were introduced in Krang's backstory, but I hadn't read anything since I last stopped. I've been hearing similar things it picks back up around or after "The Trial of Krang", and recent announcements like #100 going into a "City at War" style storyline and the "Shredder in Hell" mini-series look like they'll be more up my alley compared to where the book was the last time I read it.

I still haven't touched the Universe series either, and at this point I don't really have much motivation to, so hopefully I can just burn through the main book (when I get around to it) while ignoring it.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Just now, Zaysho said:

I haven't gotten back to it yet, but the Triceraton stuff looked really interesting to me. I was waiting since "City Fall" for them to show up when they were introduced in Krang's backstory, but I hadn't read anything since I last stopped. I've been hearing similar things it picks back up around or after "The Trial of Krang", and recent announcements like #100 going into a "City at War" style storyline and the "Shredder in Hell" mini-series look like they'll be more up my alley compared to where the book was the last time I read it.

I still haven't touched the Universe series either, and at this point I don't really have much motivation to, so hopefully I can just burn through the main book (when I get around to it) while ignoring it.

I've only read through the first arc of Universe, but while it's neat to have the additional stories (the first arc goes in-depth with Raph's insecurities and fear that he'll lose his family and return to being alone and forgotten again like the beginning of the comic), you don't really *need* them to figure out what's going on in the main series. The only major detail brought up in Universe that you need to know for the main series is Stockman has become the Turtles' new tech ally which is explained in Universe in the first arc after Bishop leads an attack on Stockman's main building to capture the turtles.

The Trial of Krang is a pretty meh arc IMO. It's alright, but doesn't begin to compare to the Triceraton invasion which is done really interestingly, ties into the arc with Splinter's leading the Foot Clan, and the Turtles' loyalties and insecurities as a whole. I'd still recommend reading through the Trial arc as it does set up why the Triceratons are on Earth in the first place, but things (thankfully) do begin to really pick up.

[Zaysho]

25 minutes ago, Ryannumber1Scarer said:

The Trial of Krang is a pretty meh arc IMO. It's alright, but doesn't begin to compare to the Triceraton invasion which is done really interestingly, ties into the arc with Splinter's leading the Foot Clan, and the Turtles' loyalties and insecurities as a whole. I'd still recommend reading through the Trial arc as it does set up why the Triceratons are on Earth in the first place, but things (thankfully) do begin to really pick up.

How important would you say it is to read the "Dimension X" mini with the Trial arc? I know it ties in, and while I own the issues, my eyes glazed over because I didn't really want to read an accompanying mini-series. I'm sure I'll just toss it on my reading pile (and it seems I can move Universe to a lower priority if that's all I need to know), but it was kind of annoying they did that at all, honestly.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

10 minutes ago, Zaysho said:

How important would you say it is to read the "Dimension X" mini with the Trial arc? I know it ties in, and while I own the issues, my eyes glazed over because I didn't really want to read an accompanying mini-series. I'm sure I'll just toss it on my reading pile (and it seems I can move Universe to a lower priority if that's all I need to know), but it was kind of annoying they did that at all, honestly.

Not really important. It covers a "part" of the arc, mainly the Turtles gathering the witnesses for the Krang trial before an assassin hired by Krang can kill them all, but the main series just cuts to their escape attempt with the last witness and continues from there.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Thought this might be important to bring up to anyone who is either reading the series, or is catching up - read the current Macro-Series.

The issues seem to be setting up important details for Issue 100 and wrapping up various loose points. I've currently only read the Mikey one, but not only is it by far one of the best stories in the entire comic series to date, being an important turning point with the current Foot Leader Splinter arc and the growing anger between the Turtles and Splinter, but Donnie's (which I'm still waiting on) confirms to be his first attempt to reconcile with Harold and get him back on board for the Turtles' upcoming battle, as well as repairs to Metalhead iirc.

Leo's story involves him returning to Northampton and an upcoming fight against Koya and Karai, which definitely sounds like we might be seeing him trying to deal with Foot Leo from City Fall, as with the Rat King's return, we got glimpses of him once more. Finally, Raphael's story is going to be focusing on him being split up from his brothers and forced to deal with an all-out assault from Bishop and his team.

[Zaysho]

Starting to catch up with this series bit by bit. The other day I reviewed #70 (end of the Bishop arc I mentioned I stopped at a couple years ago) which got me pumped up to read the series again and tonight I blasted through issues 71-75. So the two part story about the Pantheon and the Trial of Krang.

I thought the Pantheon story was alright. The first part reads a hell of a lot like an issue of Fables (at least really early Fables) and that is probably the most entertaining aspect about it. Rat King in particular is a highlight in this story. He's a fucking troll who seems to have a quip for just about everyone in the room, and I honestly don't think this two-parter would have been anywhere near as entertaining without him. The newer Pantheon members (so Toad Baron, Gothano, Jagwar, and Manmoth) don't leave a very strong impression at the moment, and most just seem to fill in personality types. Toad Baron is a hedonist. Gothano a mysterious creature from the deep. Jagwar, humorless killing machine, whose only point of interest is that she is a new incarnation of a character from Archie (and admittedly one I don't remember a lot of besides his design). Manmoth is the wandering hunter. I like these characters by design and I know with the way the book is structured, they'll eventually get their time in the limelight, so introducing them in a big group isn't a bad thing (and I'm aware the Turtles will face Manmoth relatively soon) but they don't do much but rely on well-established personalities to bring them together (so Rat King, Kitsune, and to a lesser degree, Aka). Gothano in particular would be an interesting foe, but he seems like the least likely for the Turtles to ever face off with, and if they ever do, it'd be at least after another thirty or forty fucking issues at the rate this book goes sometimes.

I thought it was pretty fascinating seeing that Kitsune is not only the youngest, but that she's certainly treated like it. It's a complete 180 from her focused and cunning personality, probably one of the Turtles' most dangerous adversaries, treated as little more than a child by everyone else. Her finally revealing her plan for Shredder and bringing back the Dragon Warrior to unite the family (which is probably not even entirely accurate, because of course it isn't) was interesting. It makes me want to pick up "Shredder in Hell" when it's finally collected and while I'm not currently buying the book, I know I'll probably grab another batch of books when Shredder inevitably returns because I honestly think this book is feeling the loss of his presence finally.

I also hated how many footnotes needed to remind me to read TMNT Universe. Maybe I will some day, but sure as hell not now. I'm grateful I can glean just enough from character dialogue that sounds normal and one can assume it happened in the space of time where the Turtles had to work with Hob to try to rescue the Mutanimals in the previous storyline.

Then we have the trial of Krang. I skipped the "Dimension X" mini which details the individual stories of the key witnesses, I really didn't want anything to kill the momentum, and to be honest, I wasn't terribly interested in that stuff. The characters are fine and serve their purpose, so while it might be fun to know the details of how they're involved in this stuff, it's also all established in their testimonies. So while the details are lost on me, I thought it was a fun read primarily because of Hakk-R running around and the sub-plot with the king and the Triceratons. Maligna is kind of just a footnote (and probably feels that way moreso because I didn't read the mini) and doesn't seem to really do much other than give a backdrop for the Triceratons and their upcoming conflict. If she wasn't there, they wouldn't, and there probably wouldn't be much else that can really be done with them. So while she seems necessary, she's also a pretty unimportant threat that I don't expect to see unless the Turtles get dragged back to Dimension X--so not any time soon. The ending was one part expected, due to Krang pointing out that the king's hands aren't clean either (and it's hard to say if he's actually aware of how destructive his decision at the end of the story is) but what I honestly didn't see coming was Leatherhead dishing out justice and killing Krang himself. Unlike Shredder, you know he's not coming back, and the story seeded that Ch'rell (named after the character from the 2003 series) will be his successor. Now that's going to be interesting. I vaguely remember he was brought up during the Leatherhead arc a few years ago, so knowing he's going to show up is pretty exciting. Will he end up being possessed by the spirit of the Shredder? Or is Ch'rell just going to be there to fill in IDW Krang's shoes?

I might actually go back to the "Dimension X" mini but I feel pretty satisfied with how things ended up that it feels even less pressing or necessary.

And that's about that for the night. I might be a little too critical right now, but since these two storylines rely heavily on reading extra material I don't care about, it admittedly sours the experience just a bit. With this stuff out of the way, I'm going to pick up with the Triceraton invasion tomorrow. I'm definitely looking forward to that.

[Echidna Adventurer CC14]

As far as I can remember, you're REALLY not missing much of Maligna's role by skipping the mini. I don't even remember her being a part of it. (Hakk-R is the primary antagonist of it.)

[MetalSkulkBane]

I read all IDW Turtles (Archie and Mirage as well), so I can tell you right now: Dimension X mini is one of weakest stories from IDW TMNT. Not as bad as Casey & April or both Annuals, but still.

Turtles go from one strange planet to the other, meet new quirky witness, spend some time with him and then Hakk-R shows up for a fight. That's about for the plot. Not bad, just generic. Art ranges from average to kinda ugly. 
Even continuity/lore wise it's not that interesting. Dimension X is like any other space you seen and witnesses aren't much more than what you seen in main book (and I doubt we'll see much of them in the future). Maybe if someone reeeeally like Archie TMNT, then seeing Ace Duck and Stump-Sling duo is kinda cute, but still.

If you want opinions/ quick summaries on any other side stories, let me know. (Bebob/Rocksteady ruuuuules)

[Ryannumber1gamer]

I still cannot recommend the new Turtle Micro-Series enough though, they're some of the strongest issues to come from the series to date IMO.