TMNT #87 Preview and Discussion

[Utrommaniac]

Spoiler:

Well, Ch'rell only ended up bookending the issue, but boy did he close it on a line worthy of an 80's action flick . Amazing.
He can take down tanks!

So cool that Don is actually on the island for the Big Fight this time.

The start of Bishop's backstory here is just barely qualifying for Loss.JPG . With implied 60's Cesarean...I'm surprised Mrs. Bishop is even able to sit up, considering how massive those kind of surgeries were during that time.

Now, some here may think I might be wigged out by the Utrom autopsy, but I'm more crying out "give me the forbidden anatomy!"
It's a start to how they manage to fit everything in with their weird body shape, but they're probably not going to say too much that doesn't involve how it's going to fit into Bishop's exosuit creation. From the way things are going...he's probably going to end up a little more human-cyborg. I think eventually someone's going to realize that Bishop is basically just bastardized Utrom tech and will be able to bring him down from there. But...where did they get the exo-suit from? Was it inside the ship?

But wow, Bishop Sr, "We'll have a prototype of an exo-suit soon" is not the same as "We have one now". Yeah, the baby is dying, but basically kidnapping him before your guys have anything substantial would have been a really dumb move if it didn't work out in the end. At least we know now that he was born human. From there, things are probably going to get really weird...and really sad.
(It's already pretty sad though, considering everything Bishop's did to save him from a very early death, only to be turned on in the worst way. An addendum to that, pretty messed up that if there's a certainty the baby won't survive the night, that the hospital isn't ensuring at least a little time for the family to be together...then again, that does seem like a 1968 thing to do.)

The stuff with the turtles and Mutanimals seemed to be business as usual; Bishop pretty much took back his spotlight. But, if we're getting City At War later on, it'll probably be a while before we see Ch'rell again. Maybe.

The issue had some cool moments, not really blown away by Bishop's backstory yet but I like what he's been doing nonetheless. Ch'rell stole the spotlight for me easily, there were some cool moments but overall I'm really just waiting for something big to happen. VERY excited for the Michelangelo Macro and #88

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

I wonder what Sally's secret mission is...? Last some mutants were left behind on a secret mission, Donatello got cracked open like a pinata.

[ChosenOne]

Gotta admit, I was a bit underwhelmed by this issue. Feels like we've seen the best bits in the preview already, and Bishop's backstory is still murky to me.

#88 really will have to pack a lot of stuff in to close out this arc...

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by ChosenOne

Gotta admit, I was a bit underwhelmed by this issue. Feels like we've seen the best bits in the preview already, and Bishop's backstory is still murky to me.

#88 really will have to pack a lot of stuff in to close out this arc...

That's kinda how IDW does these things. Great overarching premise, first issues are a little slow... then BAM! Wrap that crap up! BOOM!

I liked it. Though Bishop was kinda... not as badass as I was hoping for. Like you, I really wanted to see the IDW equivalent of Bishop versus Karai, Hun, and all four Turtles. This wasn't it.

[ChosenOne]

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

I liked it. Though Bishop was kinda... not as badass as I was hoping for. Like you, I really wanted to see the IDW equivalent of Bishop versus Karai, Hun, and all four Turtles. This wasn't it.

The moment he needed to be in charge of Slash to be more useful in the battlefield than your average grunt, we should've known that wouldn't be the case. 2003 Bishop would've gladly included Slash in his list of ass-kicking party guests along with every other single named character in that battlefield. Him taking down Ray isn't that impressive of a feat. I'm sure he can solo one Turtle, but not all four.

Can't wait to see how the first encounter between the Turtles and Ch'rell goes!

[Powder]

Maybe I'm off base here but the implications of the flashback are pretty freakn' insane.

For starters, that blonde, was it Ravenwood? Sure looked like it. Could it be they used Utrom DNA to alter her genetic structure? She sorta has tentacles, after all. Yowza!

Aaaand Bishop Jr. is/was a fetus in an Utrom exoskeleton? Holy f**k?

I am thoroughly intrigued. & this artist is by far one of my favorites of the series, he consistently kills it. So dynamic & detailed!

[ChosenOne]

Originally Posted by Powder

Aaaand Bishop Jr. is/was a fetus in an Utrom exoskeleton? Holy f**k?

I thought of that, but then he bled as he was struck in the shoulder/chest, so I dunno... Whatever he is, it's guaranteed to be freaky and out of left field.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by Powder

Maybe I'm off base here but the implications of the flashback are pretty freakn' insane.

For starters, that blonde, was it Ravenwood? Sure looked like it. Could it be they used Utrom DNA to alter her genetic structure? She sorta has tentacles, after all. Yowza!

Aaaand Bishop Jr. is/was a fetus in an Utrom exoskeleton? Holy f**k?

I am thoroughly intrigued. & this artist is by far one of my favorites of the series, he consistently kills it. So dynamic & detailed!

I didn't think of the Ravenwood connection, but you're probably spot on right there!

And yeah, fetus in an Utrom exosuit is what I'm expecting, too... but that's pretty freaking dark, so I'm not entirely sure IDW is going to really go with that. We'll see in a month!

[Utrommaniac]

He wasn't THAT premature guys . Sure it was harder to save preemies in the late 60's, but it was still a premature birth, not a miscarriage.


That got dark real quick .


I never made the connection to Ravenwood myself. If only because they didn't quite have the same face shape. If they were going to establish her now, I think they'd put on at least a little more spotlight. Especially since she seemed to be part of the command chain right off the bat and that lady was probably a secretary. She was absolutely infused with Utrom DNA, but I question why the decision to do that would have been made. "HM let's inject this human woman with DNA from an alien creature we barely understand the basic anatomy of! What could go wrong!?"


Wow, this backstory is going to be IDW's most unsettling


Of course you know, this probably means Ravenwood is a good deal older than Bishop. "I have the authority to stop you! I put a diaper on you once!"


But yeah, I feel like I liked this issue more than others. Mostly the Bishop backstory and Ch'rell's introduction closing off with blowing up three tanks in less than ten seconds.

[ChosenOne]

But if Bishop were a fetus in an exo-suit, why would he bleed from the shoulder? That bit really threw me off after I thought I'd already figured him out.

[MikeandRaph87]

I am left unsatisfied, but for one reason, the fact we jump right in the middle of the action and it stops right in the middle of another situation. Its the negative side of arcs in modern age comics. It also means I am hooked on the plot too. What kind of alliance will Chr'ell make with the TMNT and Mutanimals? Where is Sally Pride?

[AlZarkovski]

Great issue! So many action and story! Yes, I also thought that this woman could be Ravenwood. It was the 50s, I doubt that she immediately became an agent.

But there is one thing that confuses me. Flashback takes place in 1968. However, the Roswell incident was in 1947. Did the EPF conducted research of the Utrom's ship and the pilot for 21 years?

Eisenhower also spoke about the dangers of the military in 1961. Maybe I'm wrong, but did the EPF receive funding after that?

[MikeandRaph87]

Originally Posted by AlZarkovski

Great issue! So many action and story! Yes, I also thought that this woman could be Ravenwood. It was the 50s, I doubt that she immediately became an agent.

But there is one thing that confuses me. Flashback takes place in 1968. However, the Roswell incident was in 1947. Did the EPF conducted research of the Utrom's ship and the pilot for 21 years?

Eisenhower also spoke about the dangers of the military in 1961. Maybe I'm wrong, but did the EPF receive funding after that?

The dialogue did suggest while they do not understand the physiology of the utroms after dissection and they need to provide answers for funding answers would come so yes I believe it would drag out two decades.

It is also interesting to see Agent Bishop is not a contemporary of Andrew Jackson,but a Generation X baby that would be fifty years old now. I guess we can assume that he has had just one body albeit enhanced?

[Utrommaniac]

I looked back at the previous issue and yeah, they have indeed been studying for 21 years.



What kind of preservation did they put that Utrom under if they were still able to study it for that long ???

[MikeandRaph87]

Originally Posted by Utrommaniac

I looked back at the previous issue and yeah, they have indeed been studying for 21 years.



What kind of preservation did they put that Utrom under if they were still able to study it for that long ???

Comic book logic cryogenics or maybe ooze.

[Utrommaniac]

It's pretty unlikely they had ooze.

I would think formaldehyde, but that can be unreliable if you're trying to do research and dissection for the long term.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Thinking about it in retrospect, IDW kinda took the 4Kids route with this.

Just like Oroku Saki, we thought Bishop was going to be (mostly) human, and then he gets sliced up and--BOOM. Exosuit robot of some sort!

[Utrommaniac]

At the very least, they didn't wait until three or four seasons in to tell us. And that he was pretty likely human to begin with, and still retains at least some biological stuff inside all that metal.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by Utrommaniac

At the very least, they didn't wait until three or four seasons in to tell us. And that he was pretty likely human to begin with, and still retains at least some biological stuff inside all that metal.

But does he? I mean, I assume he does. But it's hard to tell. It SEEMS to be blood, and it probably is, but I can't just take that for granted.

Is it a squishy human eyeball or a robot eyeball? Etc, etc.