November 2020 Solicitations

[Sophie Campbell]

Originally Posted by Princess Anri

Sucks. Not everyone feels that way.

I know! The vast majority of response has been super positive, it's been great and I couldn't be happier. But you can't please everyone and that's okay, it's just how it goes.

[AquaParade]

I wouldn't be surprised to see the book get an Eisner this year, by the way it is being received in some circles.

[TigerClaw]

Originally Posted by Sophie Campbell

I know! The vast majority of response has been super positive, it's been great and I couldn't be happier. But you can't please everyone and that's okay, it's just how it goes.

Don't let the negativity out there get to you. What you been doing as far as Mutant Town has been great. Keep up the good work.

[ChosenOne]

This is why we can't have nice things. I for one will be sad to see you go, Sophie.

[Sophie Campbell]

Originally Posted by ChosenOne

This is why we can't have nice things. I for one will be sad to see you go, Sophie.

Thanks! I'm sure I'll be back eventually, though, and I'm already getting to write almost twice as many issues as we'd planned originally! I'd love to keep on writing the series but I can't hog it forever, I have to give someone else a shot at steering the ship sooner or later.

[Zog The Magnificent]

See, I think Mutant Town is fine. A change like this one was inevitable. This is the only TMNT anything that has gone on this long. It's moved far beyond the familiar story beats that we find in every incarnation, and is one of the only ones to truly shift the status quo long term. Honestly, it had to, or else we'd be stuck in a stagnet story that never really changes. It seems that many aren't as keen on this because we are all genuinely unused to a TMNT series going on long enough for something like this to happen in the first place. In life, you have to change or die.

Sidenote, I keep seeing references to this being "kiddified" due to Nickelodeon. I'd like to bring up that the Turtles kill Shredder in that series, and that it was treated as the right thing to do and not demonized at all.

[CyberCubed]

The Jennika mini-series also seems to explore mutant town so we're already going to get more of that there.

[hypered1]

Originally Posted by Shedder

Was it ever revealed what exact stories would be in the best of Raph, Don, etc books?
Is it just the stuff IDW has already published?
Will there be Tales Vol 2 stuff?
The Vol 4 mini series (Bad moon, Brain Thief, etc?)

Bit of a late repsonse, but this was attached to the Raphael solicitation:

This issue launches a new series of TMNT reprints that showcase the best stories of your favorite TMNT characters! Featuring tales from different publishers, this first issue showcases the ever-surly Raphael! At almost 100 pages, this is your one-stop-shop for all things cool but rude!

Still nothing specific about the individual stories, but it's not restricted to IDW material only at least, although at 100 pages it would mean that it'll be 3 - 5 stories maximum depending on the length of each one.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by hypered1

Bit of a late repsonse, but this was attached to the Raphael solicitation:

This issue launches a new series of TMNT reprints that showcase the best stories of your favorite TMNT characters! Featuring tales from different publishers, this first issue showcases the ever-surly Raphael! At almost 100 pages, this is your one-stop-shop for all things cool but rude!

Still nothing specific about the individual stories, but it's not restricted to IDW material only at least, although at 100 pages it would mean that it'll be 3 - 5 stories maximum depending on the length of each one.

One Archie, one IDW, one Mirage... that leaves 2 slots up for grabs. Thoughts?

[hypered1]

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

One Archie, one IDW, one Mirage... that leaves 2 slots up for grabs. Thoughts?

Had a moment of inspiration and I checked over the 30th Anniversary special from 2014; there are 5 shortish stories in the special over it's 50 page run and they took one from each of the following:

Early Mirage (vol1-2), Archie, Image, Later Mirage (vol4) and IDW.

So the best of issues could follow a similar pattern.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by hypered1

Had a moment of inspiration and I checked over the 30th Anniversary special from 2014; there are 5 shortish stories in the special over it's 50 page run and they took one from each of the following:

Early Mirage (vol1-2), Archie, Image, Later Mirage (vol4) and IDW.

So the best of issues could follow a similar pattern.

That sounds about right.

[Wentos]

Originally Posted by neatoman

Changes that hinder development and puts everything else to a screeching halt are worthless because they cripple the potential of the series, it would be like a Star Trek show where they went to Vulcan and stayed there for at least an entire season while still having gaul to use "Strange New World, New Life, New Civilazations, where no one has gone before" as the tagline.

If you want to reinvent TMNT, then Fastforward and Rise were actually going in a better direction, because almost anything is a better idea than "locked off quarantine slum".

The original Mirage run wasn't exactly known for being super plot-driven. Like most of Volume 1 takes place on the farm in Northampton. It had a very 80's slice-of-life indie comic vibe to it.

I personally find Mutant Town really interesting. Every since the Viacom buyout it feels like the vast majority of TMNT material has been remixed and regurgitated versions of stories we've all seen already. Mutant Town is different. It's new. I don't know where it's ultimately headed. And I have no interest in getting back to "business as usual".

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Wentos

The original Mirage run wasn't exactly known for being super plot-driven. Like most of Volume 1 takes place on the farm in Northampton. It had a very 80's slice-of-life indie comic vibe to it.

I personally find Mutant Town really interesting. Every since the Viacom buyout it feels like the vast majority of TMNT material has been remixed and regurgitated versions of stories we've all seen already. Mutant Town is different. It's new. I don't know where it's ultimately headed. And I have no interest in getting back to "business as usual".

There is a structuaral difference that makes one OK and the other not.

Because Mirage volume 1 was largely episodic in nature. Issues 1 and 2, even if 3 picks up the plot from where 2 left off, are mostly self-contained. Issue 3 may give the turtles a mission to find Splinter and a cliffhanger with the Utroms but the story itself is mostly it's own thing. Raph Micro is self-contained even if it sets up Casey. Issues 4-7 are serialised but it's short and the story concludes in 7. 8, 9, Mike Micro and Don Micro are self-contained. Leo micro until 11 are serialised but only for three issues even if the question of how Shredder returned lingers. 12-18 are self-contained (16 is officially non-canon). 19-21 is another short serialisation with a clear conclusion. 22-47 is a long stretch of self-contained stories, some are obviously non-canon. 48-62 are a pretty hefty 14 issue serialised story but it's over after 14 issues. You're generally not worried about the plot because it typically doesn't linger.

IDW is different. The plot has been going since the very first issue and we're well over 100 issues in. Hell, there's about another 100 issues in side-books! There are plenty of plot threads still left hanging. What's going on on Burnow Island? What is going on with Krang in Leatherhead's body? What of the Orphans in Dimension X? What is Null's client up to? What was up with Krang collecting data off the Hamato corpses? How are the Pantheon dealing with the changes? What is Shredder up to now that he's alive again? What about the EPF researching Time Master tech? Most of these questions don't seem like they're going to answered as long as the POV characters huddle away in a quarantine zone.

And I'm just going to say it again, Mutant Town sucks. Just because it's "new" doesn't mean it's automatically a good idea. It's a new idea to make a litterbox for human use, doesn't mean it's a good idea compared to a toilet, it still stinks far worse.

[CyberCubed]

I'm working on the assumption that unless IDW TMNT somehow goes on for 200 issues, that it's not going to be able to wrap up every plotline they introduced. And that's ok, as long as the "big" stuff is handled I don't mind a few loose ends here and there.

No TMNT comic has ever wrapped up all their plotlines perfectly and I'd expect the same here.

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by neatoman

Just because it's "new" doesn't mean it's automatically a good idea. It's a new idea to make a litterbox for human use, doesn't mean it's a good idea compared to a toilet, it still stinks far worse.

Wow, that's fantastic.

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I'm working on the assumption that unless IDW TMNT somehow goes on for 200 issues, that it's not going to be able to wrap up every plotline they introduced. And that's ok, as long as the "big" stuff is handled I don't mind a few loose ends here and there.

No TMNT comic has ever wrapped up all their plotlines perfectly and I'd expect the same here.

That's not a good look, though.

Obviously "stuff happens" for business reasons and books get cancelled without getting a chance to tie things up but it's bad/lazy writing to introduce a bunch of plot points and then shrug and go "Maybe we'll get to it, maybe we won't."

Just sayin'. It illustrates an overall lack of care when you operate like that. Things they had no intention of ever resolving or "didn't think were that important" shouldn't have been introduced at all.

[wyze2099]

Honestly, I?ve liked the Mutant Town setting, not only for the possibilities it presents, but because it?s been a relative breather, storytelling-wise. By the time #100 rolled around, every subplot was crashing into every other subplot without a moment to breathe. And that?s fine as a culmination of a lot of events, but it became a chore to follow who was where, and who was doing what to whom.

The storytelling of the post-#100 issues has been slower, and I like that because it hasn?t been as frenzied. Characters actually have room to be themselves for a change. They can actually have a cathartic laugh or a prolonged conversation without feeling like we have to interrupt that to peek in on the latest Foot Clan or Utrom plot.

I figure the dangling plot threads we haven?t seen revisited so far have just been percolating in the background, and they?ve had like eight or more months to build. The subplots haven?t stopped because we?ve stopped looking at them for the time being. All it takes is a subsequent writer picking them back up.

[Teddygaming reviews]

I wouldn’t be surprised in the best of books we see the micro/one shot of the characters only because it’s a story that’s the main focus is on them