TMNT #102 Preview and Discussion

[TigerClaw]

Looking forward to this issue. The eventual meeting between Raph and Mona Lisa. I wonder how its going to go down.

Probably not much. But Mona Lisa will freak out when she finally meets Raph since she's kinda his fan.

[Rooish]

Originally Posted by TigerClaw

Looking forward to this issue. The eventual meeting between Raph and Mona Lisa. I wonder how its going to go down.

Probably not much. But Mona Lisa will freak out when she finally meets Raph since she's kinda his fan.

Apparently Sophie Campbell is a fan too.

So 6 months from Splinter dying, Raph is out fighting crime, Leo is gardening, Don is writing a journal, and Mike is... lying in bed cuddling a cat?

After SIX months none of the others are doing anything? Not sure I love the route this has gone.

[daggio]

Originally Posted by ChosenOne

I took that to mean they just patrol the perimeter wall and capture any stray or escaped mutants outside. Inside Mutant Town, it's every mutant for himself.

Just like "Escape From New York" from the 80s. I guess Raph is Snake Plissken and Hob is the Duke.

[lonewarrior20]

Originally Posted by daggio

Just like "Escape From New York" from the 80s. I guess Raph is Snake Plissken and Hob is the Duke.

i'd love to hear Kurt Russel do Raphs voice. maybe raph has to do the basketball scene and meets halfcourt there.

[TobeyP]

Did anyone mention in the corner of the cover where they're playing the video game. It looks like a copy of Shadows of the Pat miniature game, not the works edition. Guess they couldn't get kickstarter to deliver to a sewer.

[AlZarkovski]

Full preview.

[lonewarrior20]

Damn, That's gonna leave nasty scars.

[Mutant Ninja Anole]

Uh yeah, that’s nasty, unless her new turtle scales accommodate healing better, at the very least it’s a lot thicker and dense.

I’m a bit disappointed in Sally here. It’d be one thing for her to say she was trying to do good from the inside, and perhaps she is, but surely she can see there are more options than Hob’s gang.

[neatoman]

So did Hob mutate the ferrets himself for the purpose trading them off or did he just snatch some up? Because what he says seems to indicate the former.

On the topic of Diamond, I kinda like her so far. What she has to say about wanting to keep her position and what she does in retalliation does actually give insight in how Hob is perceived by the mutants he created. It's good to have a little more understanding of this. However, I still don't think it's enough. I still don't quite understand why nobody just tries to murder him, he is responsible for their miserable state of being and revenge would make more sense than just going along with him. But at least now I get that they actually hate him, are willing to undermine him and would probably do anything better if they could.

[Cloudrunner]

Pretty sure Hob created them himself. It's possible that all Hob's enforcers are converted animals rather than recruited humans that got mutated. That would fit with his original ideals of only recruiting pure animal mutants. And would also sort of explain the resentment and hostility they have towards the other people in Mutant Town. However, he was pretty quick to just throw Diamond out so if those are his ideals, they're pretty ****ing flimsy. Could be he's just a jackass.

[ChosenOne]

Wow, great issue! Even better than #101. Koya's return was unexpected, as were the implications of her dealings with Hob, aka, Karai's still in the game.

The scene with Jennika trying to regroup while having the quills removed from her face (IRL, porcupine quills that big on a head that small would probably be a death sentence) was gold! I actually didn't realize that Diamond is a female at first, guess we got an Ocho thing going here.

Was that Saki outside the farmhouse, keeping an eye on the boys?

[Allio]

Originally Posted by lonewarrior20

I think this is the first time we've seen her with out shoes.

That’s kinky

[ChosenOne]

Originally Posted by Allio

That’s kinky

Found the Tarantino.

[daggio]

Originally Posted by ChosenOne

Was that Saki outside the farmhouse, keeping an eye on the boys?

I noticed him too. My first inclination is that it is Saki since, for me, the implication has been that he has to make up for all the nasty things he did before. But it could be Casey or Angel, both of whom we haven't seen or heard of since 100. I doubt Angel since she would probably have her suit on, but you never know.

It was nice to get info on what happened to the core Mutanimals after 100, but Sally didn't mention what became of Pete

[ChosenOne]

Originally Posted by daggio

I noticed him too. My first inclination is that it is Saki since, for me, the implication has been that he has to make up for all the nasty things he did before. But it could be Casey or Angel, both of whom we haven't seen or heard of since 100. I doubt Angel since she would probably have her suit on, but you never know.

It was nice to get info on what happened to the core Mutanimals after 100, but Sally didn't mention what became of Pete

I think it's definitely Saki, because of the figure's build and choice of clothes. They look very much Foot ninja-like, with the added cloak, and it seems like he (definitely a man) is wearing a mask like the Shredder's. It's not just some random ninja... How cool would it be if Saki were the one to pull Leo and Mikey out of their funk and back in the game with their brothers? After Koya's unexpected appearance in this issue, I think the gloves are off in almost any regard.

And yeah, I noticed there seemed to be one Mutanimal off in that count but I was too into the scene to really stop and think about it. Poor Pete, he's never really counted, even by his peers... I guess he stuck with Hob or just didn't care about the conflict in his usual adorable way.

Nice to see all the food lugged around by Mona also serve a purpose, namely as mutant bait, and not just as an informed character trait of hers.

[daggio]

That would be great if he was the one who got all of them back in the game. Tho, admittedly, I'm more curious about what happened to him (and others) after 100. I guess that Annual later this year will answer those questions.

[Mutant Ninja Anole]

I will say it’s interesting the problem of Hob’s Mutantimal police being thieves and bullies seems less an intentional choice on his part than the realistic consequence of him having very little experience in how to actually run an accountable police force.

That said, are we going to acknowledge that Hob was low key involved in human, mutant slave trafficking there? Those weasels are sentient and he was literally selling them to the Foot against their will.

I feel about this issue almost the same way I felt about the last one. Some really good moments, very interesting concepts and sloppily executed ideas.

I'm just going to get my main piece of criticism out of the way, something that I've mentioned several times before, the dialogue is not great. Good dialogue should give you an idea of what the characters are feeling and thinking without outright saying it, whereas here, they're entirely upfront about their feelings without a hint of subtlety. The parts where this stands out the most to me are conversations between Raph and Sally and the short interaction between Donnie and Leo.

On that note, outside of that little exchange, I think the Northampton segment was great. Sophie's art really carries it. The little piece of foreshadowing at the end is super intriguing and I'm excited to see where that whole thing goes.

What I also really like about this is that it doesn't struggle with scope at all. It lowers the stakes, slowly introducing us to this changed world, focusing on the characters rather than the events they're getting caught up in. The amount of restraint Sophie has shown so far has actually impressed me. I genuinely expected the story to immediately answer all the questions regarding the Foot, but instead, it's only been feeding us small bits that're enough to keep us interested, but don't take the focus away from the main plot. I adore that the main antagonists of this arc seem to be mutant weasels. There's just so much good stuff in here that I feel bad for criticizing it.

I'm quite happy with how this is turning out, but God, I pray that the dialogue improves. It's heavily dragging this arc down for me so far.

[AquaParade]

Originally Posted by Igglet

I feel about this issue almost the same way I felt about the last one. Some really good moments, very interesting concepts and sloppily executed ideas.

I'm just going to get my main piece of criticism out of the way, something that I've mentioned several times before, the dialogue is not great. Good dialogue should give you an idea of what the characters are feeling and thinking without outright saying it, whereas here, they're entirely upfront about their feelings without a hint of subtlety. The parts where this stands out the most to me are conversations between Raph and Sally and the short interaction between Donnie and Leo.

On that note, outside of that little exchange, I think the Northampton segment was great. Sophie's art really carries it. The little piece of foreshadowing at the end is super intriguing and I'm excited to see where that whole thing goes.

What I also really like about this is that it doesn't struggle with scope at all. It lowers the stakes, slowly introducing us to this changed world, focusing on the characters rather than the events they're getting caught up in. The amount of restraint Sophie has shown so far has actually impressed me. I genuinely expected the story to immediately answer all the questions regarding the Foot, but instead, it's only been feeding us small bits that're enough to keep us interested, but don't take the focus away from the main plot. I adore that the main antagonists of this arc seem to be mutant weasels. There's just so much good stuff in here that I feel bad for criticizing it.

I'm quite happy with how this is turning out, but God, I pray that the dialogue improves. It's heavily dragging this arc down for me so far.

I share a lot of your thoughts.
In fact, dialogue has always been a point of separation between this series and I. Yet, I'm appreciating how brisk it is here. Feels like less exposition overall.

Sophie's art just keeps getting better though. A pleasure to "read".

I'll also say I'm still having trouble adjusting to all the mutants running around. I don't mind the idea of other mutants, and I could even handle it in Mirage Volume 4 when the whole earth was cohabited by aliens. It's just something about the execution. The transition from human to mutant always feels all too easy to me.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Diamond is a stripper's name. Just sayin'.

Interesting seeing Koya and Hob. I don't think Shredder would want more mutant soldiers right now... is Karai striking out solo again? What's going on with the Foot?

Also having a hard time buying the OG Turtles are THIS emotionally distant from each other.