Mirage Vol4 Issue #11 Discussion [spoilerz]

[HorseTechie]

It's not out yet, but I thought to get a discussion thread for it going. For starters, here's a sneak-peek that the offical site had posted!

http://www.ninjaturtles.com/comics/mirage/volume04/11/11.htm


[edit: garrish typoz fixed! :goofygri: ]

[Karpo_007]

Vol 2 issue 3? Well from the preview it sounds like it will be very intresting issue. Splinter's burial reminds me of Saki's.

[Skeletoncrew]

You drinkin' too much HT? I believe you mean Mirage volume 4, #11. :P

Or maybe your brain is as fried by Splinter's demise as mine is. :dead:

[Aztec General]

Vampires? I wonder if they are the same ones from Vol. 1 #29 (which is going to be included in the canon)?

Wow, the Vol. 4 storyline is getting more and more bizarre and huge by the minute. There's terrorists, talking dinosaurs, alien monsters, Utroms, superheros, and now vampires. Well, they've gotten my attention, I'm ready for #11.

P.S.
HT Vol. 2 #3? I've just been through a day and a half of blackout, but that's not even close dude. :lol:

[HorseTechie]

*eyeshift* Gah.. really, I dunno what is wrong with my head today! That happens to be one of many brain farts I had already... :dead: :lol:

[Aztec General]

Vol 4 #3? Well at least you're gettin closer! :lol:

By the way it's Vol. 4 #11

[HorseTechie]

Gar.... *decides to blame this on Dreamwave* :P

[Karpo_007]

After countless races of aliens, Vampires doesn't sound like to much to me. And yeah, they have been in Mirage TMNT before, Canon or not.

[Skeletoncrew]

Gar.... *decides to blame this on Dreamwave* :P

SUUUURE HT! You just don't wanna share whatever it is you're drinking. :P

Just kidding, I know the feeling.

[Jephael]

I'm anxious to see this issue when I go back to pic it up. I belive that there's another fan mail I've written in it.

[Sparvid]

So, who's that visitor? Someone we already konw?

And a great cover!

[Nturtle]

*writes a note about HT being crazy*

You know what would be crazy? If the turtles got some mutagen from the Utroms, mutated another rat and called him 'Splinter Jr'?

[Karpo_007]

*writes a note about HT being crazy*

You know what would be crazy? If the turtles got some mutagen from the Utroms, mutated another rat and called him 'Splinter Jr'?

:o

[Dane E5R]

Not so sure I like the vampire idea, but I'm really anxious to see the funeral. Still can't believe he's gone. The pencils look a little nicer than the last, too, so that's a plus.

[XERO]

Plus, Leo even cries.

He NEVER cried before... :cry:

[Kid Icarus]

Should be a good issue. I love the cover art for this one, really noticable. Should be easy to spot on the comic shelves when ever it comes out.

[Stefano]

love the cover. vampires. cound cool

[Nate]

Take a gander at the art.. looks like Lawson really did think about everyones bitching about his art. It looks much closer to his Return To New York work.

[Karpo_007]

I noticed that the art looks much better compared to previous issues, but I'm not sure weather or not it's because of the small thumbnails. Have to wait untill the issue comes out before we can judge the art.

[Dane E5R]

Return to New York is REALLY stretching it.. It doesn't really look like any of his older styles. Just a better version of his current.

[splint]

is this out now? or next week?

[Skeletoncrew]

The release date is the 20th.

[splint]

thanks.

[Raven]

holy crap lawsons art actulley looks good :o this actulley looks like a good issue!

[Jephael]

I think I might go back to the mall tommorow evening to get the issue. I can't wait to read it!

[Aztec General]

Well I've read it and it was quite good. Most of the issue was devoted to Splinter's funeral. Special guest appearances by Renet, Radical, and a demutated Leatherhead.

I also liked the ending of the issue with the introduction of the strange character that beat the crap out of the Foot Ninja.

Who is he? What happened to Leatherhead? As usual Volume 4 leaves more questions than answers. At this rate Laird will have to go up to issue 100 just to close out all of the storylines :lol: .

Oh, and if anyone has ANY doubts that Laird reads this board, read the first few paragraphs of his statement at the end of the issue.

[Leo656]

Haven't read the issue yet, just the first part of Laird's statement. I think it would have been even better if he'd used one of my quotes regarding Lawson's art, seeing as how I'm probably more vocal about it than most. That woulda been funny. :P

[Taloniss]

Good issue. The part where they cremate Splinter was very emotional.

[Roseangelo]

Having been disappointed with issue #10, this was the issue that would settle my feeling on Splinter's death. And in the end I find myself at peace with it all. I liked the issue, although the beginning and end were quite odd and it's unclear how these events tie into our green heroes.

I'm guessing Don snipped a piece of Splinter's fur.. but why?

And I loved the inclusion of Kevin and Peter at the funeral. How perfect.

[Leo656]

I wondered why Don did that too. It'd be hella-gay if he did something like try to clone Splinter from his fur or something (if that was indeed what he took).

Overall, an ok issue. From reading the lettercol though I'm becoming more and more convinced that PL takes himself entirely too seriously and can't handle the slightest bit of criticism or fun being made at his expense from anyone about anything, but maybe that's just the impression I get from his replies to fanmail and his little stories he tells. It seems lately that the majority function of the lettercol is to "prove" to people who criticize that they're wrong. Almost every letter this issue was sure to mention how "Lawson's critics should shut up, people who don't like how things are done in the book shouldn't read it"..... it seems like Laird and Co. are insecure, the way they constantly feel the need to address the critics they claim to not lpay attention to. I don't think they understand that the reason people criticize (and there's a difference between "criticizing" and "bashing", and they ought to understand that too) is because they only want things to be better. Sigh.

Decent issue overall. Hopefully some of the plot threads that have been introduced so far will be cleared up before they introduce too much else into the story, it's getting a little bit cluttered story-wise. Lawson's art looked the same as always to me, no better or worse. Glad to hear some more news about Tales From the TMNT, I'm looking forward to that.

[Roseangelo]

Concerning the letters, I think you just have issues with the fact that there are people who hold different opinions than you. Peter didn't just pull out random letters to back up Jim's art. A lot of those letters are not from first time writers, but rather from long time fans whose names I've come to recognize (among them some personal friends). One does not "rig" a letters collumn by publishing letters from longtime readers.

[Jephael]

Man, I was so excited to get this issue tonight! I started skimming through it, and was in shock to see all the special guests that showed. From Renet to even Eastman and Laird themselves.
I'm quite curious as to who the furry creature was standing near Renet. I almost had this wild hunch it was a mutated version of the original Klunk.

[Leo656]

Well, I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that one, Rose, for whatever it's worth. Ever since the lettercol a few issues ago where Laird first started tossing the "moron" label around to stick on people who send in what he feels to be unarranted criticism, every single issue (starting with that one) has been full of letters with nothing but gushing praise, and maybe I'm overly cynical, but it really smacks of "See? I told you so!" I think, if anything, it's Peter Laird who has "issues" with anyone who doesn't agree with what HE thinks. I mean, sure, not everyone who sends in criticism is likely to be intelligent about it, but the way Laird replies to people is so condescending it aggravates me. It's like he generalizes ALL the people who disagree or criticize as "morons", "idiots", or whatever else he feels comfortable with, and it aint right.

So now, instead of printing ANY criticism, he prints letters of nothing but praise. Which I can definitely understand... why bother replying to someone who says the same things he's heard over and over again and is obviously sick of hearing? But at the same time, it seems like the most recent lettercols have been about "proving" to the naysayers that their opinion is "wrong" by showing how many people disagree. And there's nothing exactly wrong with that, it's certainly his prerogative, it just rubs me wrong because by going so far to prove how much he doesn't care about the criticism, he does a 180 and proves just how much it DOES bother him. Which is a shame, because someone who's lasted so long in the industry and made so much money and had so much success really ought to have a little thicker skin.

He should be glad he's not Mark Waid. HE's getting eaten alive by a large portion of the Superman fanbase over the "Birthright" mini-series he's doing...

Regardless... there's little else I can say on this, aside from the fact that your statement of me having "issues" with people who disagree with me is, with all due respect, patently ludicrous, since unlike some people around here who I HAVE had issues with, I don't call people who disagree with me names, or call their opinions stupid. I simply state my opinion, or reiterate it for the sake of those who may have missed it the first time, and if someone disagrees or questions my logic, I explain my opinion to them. Based on that, they can then either agree to disagree, or else be persuaded to my way of thinking. But that's up to them.

And if you think that it's outside the realm of possibility for a publisher or company to only print positive reviews of their product, well... I have two words for you: WWE Magazine.

[Stefano]

who is klunk. renet and the cat person are gonna attack it looks like. ANd i hope don doesnt clone

[Tetsu Deinonychus]

What excactly did Laird say that would settle any doubts that he reads the forum?

[Aztec General]

What excactly did Laird say that would settle any doubts that he reads the forum?

He pretty much quoted word for word one of the Anti-Lawson diatribes from this board.

[Nturtle]

*writes a note about HT being crazy*

You know what would be crazy? If the turtles got some mutagen from the Utroms, mutated another rat and called him 'Splinter Jr'?

If donny clones Splinter, ten I get kudos for closest theory!! :P

[Jephael]

What happened to Leatherhead?

I don't think anything did, because we didn't see enough of him to conclude if he's been de-mutated. Besides, Leatherhead's always looked like a regular alligator. Remember when he was mutated in the cartoon and he stood up on his hind legs? His physical apperance was never really altered since he was already the same size as a regular human being.

[Aztec General]

What happened to Leatherhead?

I don't think anything did, because we didn't see enough of him to conclude if he's been de-mutated. Besides, Leatherhead's always looked like a regular alligator. Remember when he was mutated in the cartoon and he stood up on his hind legs? His physical apperance was never really altered since he was already the same size as a regular human being.

Leo (or maybe Don) said "Somehow he knows". As if for some reason he was not capable of understanding. Which if he was still mutated he would be able to. Besides, he was just swimming in the water like a regular Alligator instead of paying his respects with the others. So I'm deducing that he was somehow demutated and the TMNT brought him up to Northampton to live in a nearby lake. I'm sure it will be further explained in Vol. 4 or Tales Vol. 2.

[Roseangelo]

"Somehow he knows" implies that somehow he knew that Splinter had died and he had come to pay his silent repects. He wasn't invited, but he showed up anyway. He was not demutated or anything silly like that.

[Jephael]

That is an interesting theory, but it's hard to tell just yet because all we can see is his head. Just because he's in the water doesn't mean he's been changed back. As you may or may not know, he had been a loner his whole life and being so probably made him anti-social beyond any sort of phyciatric means of help.

[Leo656]

What excactly did Laird say that would settle any doubts that he reads the forum?

A while ago, someone (I forget who) posted that they showed someone Lawson's art and they replied that it looked like a ten-year-old drew it. Laird quoted that person in addressing the critics.

And in the event that Mr. Laird does indeed monitor (or have someone monitor) these forums, I would like to reiterate the fact that I do have a lot of respect for him (despite my criticism, off-color jokes, and other nonsense), and that I am sincerely glad that the TMNT have been brought back, and that I hope very much that they stick around for a long, long time... BUT if I see something I don't like, I'm going to comment on it, be it Lawson's art or the way Laird replies to people in the lettercol. The reason I and others like me criticize is because we CARE, because we see areas of the product which may (or may not, depending on your p.o.v.) have room for improvement, and we want things to be the best they can be. It's not out of disrespect (though to be fair a great many people's comments are rather disrespectful). So if Peter Laird does indeed check (or have someone check) this forum, he should know that not all the people who criticize the product are "morons".

[Aztec General]

That is an interesting theory, but it's hard to tell just yet because all we can see is his head. Just because he's in the water doesn't mean he's been changed back. As you may or may not know, he had been a loner his whole life and being so probably made him anti-social beyond any sort of phyciatric means of help.

Fair enough. I haven't totally abandoned my theory yet though.

[lhb412]

Um, anyway, what do you guys think of the cover for next issue with all those vampires, it has a cool creepy look to it.

[Fugitoid Jones]

Yeah, the cover looks pretty neat. I'm just glad Pete's actually doing something with the vampires, unlike the dinosaurs and super-turtles and the anti-alien bombings, which for some reason seem to be going nowhere. I gotta agree with Leo565, I have total respect for Mr. Laird. If I or a lot of other people for this matter, have a complaint, it's not like we're saying "this stuff is crap!", we just have a difference in opinion is all. He just seems to complain a lot now, and it bothers me.

[Leo656]

Well, to be fair, he probably does hear the same stuff over and over again a lot. Probably gets irritating. I'd just think he'd be used to it by now or something. ((shrug))

[Splinter]

What excactly did Laird say that would settle any doubts that he reads the forum?

A while ago, someone (I forget who) posted that they showed someone Lawson's art and they replied that it looked like a ten-year-old drew it. Laird quoted that person in addressing the critics.
Wow, I feel special that I made him comment on that. I was the one that showed it to an extremely talented artist friend of mine and that was her comments. And I have to agree with her. Sometimes Lawson's stuff looks good, most of the time it looks like he's just scribbling out the art to get it done quick. Especially in the case of his humans. If it wasn't for Peter Laird and Eric Talbot's inking and toning to the artwork, it would look even worse.

[Karpo_007]

Leo does have a point, people do have the right to critize the products they buy. But enough is enough, I can understand perfectly if Lard decided to stop posting the critizism.

So why doesn't he change it if fans request? Same thing with George Lucas, They both do it mainly for themselfs, and don't care what other people say[Altough it seems that laird is pretty fed up at times].

[Kid Icarus]

maybe the whole Leatherhead thing will come up in Tales?

I need go to finish reading the letterscol., but so far I agree with Leo. There's been nothing but praise and backlash against the people who don't like Lawson's art, or else nothing about it at all.

[impetus]

whatchoo guys talking about ? Leatherhead demutation? :lol: It's just the same ol' Leatherhead.

Klunk, BTW, was Mike's kitty kat introduced in the Michaelangelo micro.

[Leo656]

Yeah everybody's entitled to their opinion, I just get agravated when Laird starts calling people names when they criticize. It's just too childish for someone like him.

And I don't think I have any of Leatherhead's Mirage appearances yet, so I'm curious what they were like... I'm gonna have to find 'em now.

[Karpo_007]

They are tales of TMNT #6 and volume 1 #45. Both are pretty good.

[Skeletoncrew]

My thoughts:

I doubt Leatherhead has been de-mutated. He's had issues with the Turtles in the past, and sneaking over to pay his respects is a polite way to not stir up trouble.

Donatello's snipping of Splinter's fur strikes me as a bit creepy. Not that saving a lock of a loved one's hair is a bad thing, but the manner in which he did it. Secretly and with an apology.

Nice "Viking" funeral for Splinter. It was really neat to see Radical and Renet, though I wonder what Renet is up to.

Oh, and I hope Laird is getting paid for that huge Segway add he ran in the Letters section. :roll:

[impetus]

They are tales of TMNT #6 and volume 1 #45. Both are pretty good.
#45 is the best art of any TMNT issue ever. Period.

Leatherhead also showed up in a few issues of Image (V3) *dodges projectiles*

[impetus]

Donatello's snipping of Splinter's fur strikes me as a bit creepy. Not that saving a lock of a loved one's hair is a bad thing, but the manner in which he did it. Secretly and with an apology.

Yeah, almost forgot, what do you guys think Donnie snipped? SC makes a great point. I tried to find clues in the pics of Splint but to no avail.

My big question: What happened to Donnie burying Splinter in Chihaya? (Volume 2) I doubt Mr Laird forgot that but it would seem that they cremated him instead in a fashion which would render nothing left to bury. (or did Donnie decide to bury a lil piece in Chihaya?) Just a twisted thought courtesy your friendly neighborhood Impetus-Man.

[Jephael]

Maybe he's supposed to go to Japan to bury Splinter's ashes. Besides, isn't he supposed to wait until he's the sole survivor of the TMNT?

[impetus]

Besides, isn't he supposed to wait until he's the sole survivor of the TMNT?

I don't think so...

I think you're referring to the set-in-the-future story in which Don is doing the VR work-out, but as I recall there was no actual explanation of what happened to the others. My own guess when I read it was that they split over some disagreement and Don was bitter. )Consider that Raphael once had a similar hermit vision of the future and Don seems to be getting darker and more secretive lately). But that's just my guess, it was an intentional mystery when it was published. In any case, the date is basically ambiguous, so there's no reason it couldn't take place years after burying Splinter, if indeed it does take place at all.

LOL, Sorry if this was totally off on what you were referring to.

EDIT: yeah... it was. :lol:

[Karpo_007]

They are tales of TMNT #6 and volume 1 #45. Both are pretty good.
#45 is the best art of any TMNT issue ever. Period.

Leatherhead also showed up in a few issues of Image (V3) *dodges projectiles*

:lol: Certainly is not, but since it's cartoony it's kind of neat.

[Jephael]

I read somewhere in a TMNT fic that the sole survivor of a clan is supposed to deliver his sensei's ashes to his home land.

[impetus]

Wow, if that's true than it is an intriguing concept! :)

I guess my previous rant was unfounded, LOL :oops:

oh yeah, congrats on being published in the latest ish dude

[Dinny]

The guy beating up the foot at the end looks a bit like Renets master, Lord Simultaneous or sumthin, probably not though...

[Jephael]

I was actually thinking the same thing, dude!

[Dinny]

Plus both Lord Simultaneous and Baxter know how to time travel...

But Peter Laird did seem serious about not bringing him back.

[impetus]

Possibly, but I thought it looked like a pretty clear set-up to suddenly introduce Baxterbot still around after all these years for no apparent reason. (or possibly a darn good red herring)

[Dinny]

Ye but in that artobiographie Kevin Eastman wrote that when they killed people, or things off, it would be 4 ever, he sed that they were very reluctant 2 bring Shredder back.

[impetus]

what I'm saying is that Baxter was killed off in Volume 2, and already "brought back" in the recent revelation of Donnie's secret. So the "gone for good" rule is already broken.

So he's prolly here for a reason.

[Dinny]

True.

[xZAOx]

finally i can join in! my comic book store paid for issue 11, but they forgot to ship it, so i got it a week late =(

anyways, the first page of vol. 2 is now worthless hehe. unless they bring splinter back to life or something. however, don's vision later on in the series, where splinter says don takes him to his hometown in japan to bury him, i think it will happen. either don will bury his ashes there or something, or he will bury the locket of fur he took (or at least im assuming thats what it was).

maybe don does try to bring him back to life, and either realizes he was wrong, or the 'new splinter' is 100% psycho, and don has to kill him. then he buries the clone in japan. that would just wrap everything up in a nice round story =)

i do agree like someone else said tho - i hope we can tie up some plot threads soon. its getting confusing!

i thought it was a good issue. very emotional. i liked the guest appearances, altho the 2 standing next to renet i didnt recognize. the eastman and laird appearances was a nice touch.

[lhb412]

This is probably my favorite issue of volume four so far. I really liked it.

[Cascadia]

it is a very good issue.....the plot of this portion of the ongoing TMNT storyline moved very well.

[Keno]

the art has definitely improved .. the Turtles seemed to have more .. personality or something

[cqb101]

I really liked this issue. The funeral was really well done.

[Aztec General]

This is probably my favorite issue of volume four so far. I really liked it.

I have like the last 3 issues the best so far, with #9 probably being my favorite.

[lhb412]

I agree, they do seem to have more personality. It's taken awhile but I think the Mirage crew has gotten "back in the swing of things" so to speak.

[Splinter]

Well, finally got the issue today. I just had to, since I was quoted from this message board about the horrible artwork. I was noticing that Splinter's laid out fairly symmetrical. How his hands are crossed on his chest, both inside the book and on the cover. And while you can see his right thumb, his left is curiously not visable. It's possible it hidden fully by his beard, but maybe not.

I'm thinking that Donatello actually took Splinter's thumb off, probably at the first joint. Since the best place to get a decent DNA sample would be a fingernail. And why else would he apologize and be so secretive about it. A lock of fur to remember him by, shouldn't have been such a big deal.

Does this mean that crazy old Donny has some mad scheme to Clone Splinter? After the whole keeping Baxter-Bot tacked up in his lab after all these years thing, I wouldn't put it past him. ;) :)

[Skeletoncrew]

Maybe he wants to make a Splinter reliquery. Of course, if Don were me he'd want those bones for jewelry making. But Don isn't me.

[Tetsu Deinonychus]

Yeah, that scene with Don and Baxter was so creepy.
I LOVED it!

[HorseTechie]

Aaaa... finally! I got my comic too. Just a matter of finding the time and money to get it. :goofygri: Hrmm... *steps over the messy controversy that is the criticisms in the letters column*

This was a fairly decent issue, what with the way the funeral was set, and those who had showed up. The vampire intor and the superherao fighter were odd... but I'm sure that will have an answer one of these months.

I was noticing that Splinter's laid out fairly symmetrical. How his hands are crossed on his chest, both inside the book and on the cover. And while you can see his right thumb, his left is curiously not visable. It's possible it hidden fully by his beard, but maybe not.
:o Argh... That. Is. Disturbing.

Snipping a bit of hair, I can handle. But his thumb? *shudder* Damn... what is Don thinking? Urgh... don't tell me he's becoming a mad scientist! :dead:

The way the 'send off' Splinter's body does make sense to me though. It looks to be rather Jaspanese too. Nowadays, the Japanese just put a floating candle or a latern out on the water in memory of their loved one. (Rember Karate Kid?) But I think in early Japan, they had pushed the whole body out, and set it ablaze. The Turtles did a similar thing to Saki's body, at the end of Return to NY (but minus his head, of course).

I also assumed they would cremate Splinter, as foretold in Vol. 2. I still think it's very possible to get the ashes, as I don't think the boat sank. But I could be wrong. Also liked that bit of lore that Jeph mentioned, about how the last surviving member of a clan will return their master's ashes to the homeland. I wonder if that will be the case? Which fic did you see that in, Jeph? I still like the one Ria had written... Hunger, was it?

The artwork does look a tad clearer, I will agree. Horses don't seem to be Lawson's forte though. *tsk* :lol:

And... why the hay is Laird so enamored about Segways? Silly moble machine things, me thinks. (Unless someone made a Transformer out of it!) May be great for those who may not walk very well... but I think I will stick to the bicycle, or the motorcycle... if not a scooter. :P

[Splinter]

I just don't see why he'd be apologizing for a piece of fur. And the fact they are actually trying to hide the thumb on the cover and in the comic makes me think it's more then fur. Donny has been a bit nutso as of late anyway. Would be freaky to all of a sudden see that Donny has a pet rat in his workshop in a cage that he talks to. :)

As for the Segway thing, geez. Could Laird possibly pimp the thing more? Sounds like he was buying them for other people as well. Probably was making a big deal out of them, so that he could get a discount from the company. Surpised that he didn't end up printing a discount code to order one in the back of the book. ;) :D

[xZAOx]

yeah, its a TMNT comic, not his personal damn dairy =P. fan art, more letters, or somesuch would've made much better use of the pages.

anyways, i think he would apologize for fur or thumb or fingernail or anything. its respect for the dead. doing even the smallest thing, such as even taking a single strand of hair, shouldn't be done unless needed, and an apology would be approriate IMO.

but yeah, it does feel like they are hiding his thumb. his thumb looks longer on the other hand, but maybe they just wanted his beard on top, and then lawson forgot to draw the rest of the thumb. don tucks the little package into his belt, and im thinking a thumb would be hard to fit in the package, and under his belt. not to mention someone would probably see the blood eitehr on donny or soaking through splinter's beard. still a good observation though, we'll have to wait and see :)

[Jephael]

I dunno about the blood part though, cause you'd think they would've already filled him with that embalming fluid.

[xZAOx]

i was thinking they just took the corpse and laid it in there all gentle like. but now that you mention it, they could've used the super-hero-hospital to prep the corpse. it can get kinda "iffy".

[Machias Banshee]

Thsi is starting to get morbid.. :ohwell:

[Splinter]

Yes it is, a bit. But it's relating to the character. And no, there wouldn't be blood. That long since death, the blood would pool by gravity in the back. If you cut a body that's been long deceased, there's no heart pumping to make the blood flow through the veins under the skin. There may be some residual, but it's highly unlikely.

[Cascadia]

I am just curious what Don will do with the fur that he clipped from Splinter's body.

[Tetsu Deinonychus]

Hopefully, just keep it a momento. But, with the new slightly insane Don we never know.....

Don: It is just a Momento.

Me: Oh good! That's not so insane.

Don: Yeah! Besides, I've got his thumb if i want to clone him...

Me: EW! You're SICK!

Ahem! anyway, I think Segways are pieces of crap!

[NinjaKameko]

muwahahah! :evilgrin: so, I've just gotten my massive shipment: I splurged $43 on #6-11, a biiig catch up for me. heehehe. I'm post-comic hyper. Everything was excellent, and i noticed in one of the letters that someone had noticed that the continuity and everything sorta started to click. Too true. I read from 1-11 last night; it was insane. *sigh* hm. I didn't notice the thumb thing, *dashes upstairs to check comic* ah-hah. Very interesting views from everyone. Guess we'll have to wait..grrr

[GordonUniverse]

I think he just took some fur, or something small (smaller and less gross than a thumb), as a memento, as well. That's what I got out of it the first time I read it.

Plus, I read that interview that's linked to on the front page of thetechnodrome, and Peter said something about Splinter is gone for good.

Which is good.

The two big comic companies make bringing people back from the dead seem as easy as microwaving leftovers.

[Machias Banshee]

I dont think i trust what Laird says anymore. I mean, First he said Splinter was going to be a round for a long time, and then killed him off in issue 10. He says nothings gonna happen with him, I'm not going to trust him on his word....

[impetus]

I splurged $43 on #6-11
that seems a little high - about twice cover price!

[mikey3.0]

It's not to high when I first foundout that mirage was printing tmnt comics again I went and bought (at the time they were at issue 7) all the ones I missed and if you want the first printing (which I of course did) you gotta pay out the wazoo

Ok about the whole thumd thing what if (oh no the iffi zone) he was apoligzing for not being there when he died which made him feel guilty as some people do and he was clipping a hair to remember spliter by which was just a coenceadence(sorry for the bad spelling)

[lethrhd]

As usual any Leatherhead apperances are greatly appreciated.

[ToTheNines]

Journeys #11 preview: https://comicbookclublive.com/2026/06/27/idw-preview-tmnt-journeys-11/

I’m sure everyone has seen this by now, but Dooney’s B cover is incredible:

https://tmnt-ninjaturtles.com/assets/TMNT-Journeys-11_Cover-B_rich-scaled.jpg

Out Wednesday!

[Heyowakka]

Adore Dooney’s work, this cover is beautiful.

[CyberCubed]

It's very interesting, that's why I hope Peter Laird didn't intend to undo Splinter's death by issue 32, really takes away the impact of these early issues if that's what he had planned.

[frank_one]

Wonderful artwork by Dooney there and great job on the coloring to whoever did it.

[neatoman]

Hey, anyone else kinda surprised this reprint series is still going? I mean, it's cool that this series can now be collected without looking up 20 year old prints and I hope all issues get reprinted, I'm just surprised that it sells well enough.

[CyberCubed]

I doubt it sells at all, it's probably just cheap enough to print it given they're not even colorizing it. By default each comic shop probably orders maybe 4-5 copies to put in their racks, i guess that's enough for IDW.

[Heyowakka]

My comic shop hasn’t even carried TMNT Journeys since the fourth issue.

[ToTheNines]

My comic shop hasn’t even carried TMNT Journeys since the fourth issue.

I don’t bother with pull boxes anymore since I travel so much and they end up trying to give you **** you don’t want and missing things you do want. But of my two local shops, my main one gets exactly one extra copy a month that will only be there if I make it by Wednesday or early Thursday (I don’t know how many subscribers they have). The slightly farther away one gets at least 10 copies though.

[ToTheNines]

RIP FAKE (?) SPLINTER!

Read this last night. It's been a long, long time. I forgot what a great issue this was. The main story was very beautifully drawn, laid out and written. I still want to see where Peter was taking Battle Nexus Splinter, and I really hope it doesn't undercut this funeral too much.

The funeral guest list was cool to see. We still never got the Tale behind the mysterious cat-man, but the mystery is honestly more fun that knowing.

Vol. 4 didn't quite make it to #33, but you can roughly break it into 3 thirds, with this being the end of the first third (and the first 8, and final 2 pages being a preview of the next "phase"). This first chunk was interesting. There is the massive development of the Utrom reveal, but it has almost nothing to do with our characters. They're just living in this world and reacting to it. I quite liked most of it.

This next upcoming third is pretty rough, per my memory. Everyone gets their own plot, but the pacing is SLOW and the stories aren't super interesting. I personally always liked the infamous #22 and Peter started kicking things into gear after that (especially #28-32), but I hope Journeys makes it that long. We'll see how the normies take to this upcoming year of doldrums lol.

[Andrew NDB]

This next upcoming third is pretty rough, per my memory. Everyone gets their own plot, but the pacing is SLOW and the stories aren't super interesting.

It's a little bit like mid-to-late seasons of The Walking Dead in that way. Everybody splits up and separates into less interesting storylines and they go on and on and on and you keep waiting for them to coalesce but they never do, or by the time they do they've been hemorrhaging their viewership numbers because folks are tuning out.

[ToTheNines]

It's a little bit like mid-to-late seasons of The Walking Dead in that way. Everybody splits up and separates into less interesting storylines and they go on and on and on and you keep waiting for them to coalesce but they never do, or by the time they do they've been hemorrhaging their viewership numbers because folks are tuning out.

Not a bad comparison at all.

I never understood or cared for whatever he was doing with Gameraph or mini-Don, but I always did find Leo and Mike’s plots VERY intriguing. I know a lot of people didn’t like Mike’s extreme reaction to his situation, but I was very interested to see how far Laird was going to take that and where he’d end up.

But yeah, it just took… so… long…

Journeys’ monthly release schedule will absolutely help with that, though.

[ToTheNines]

Well, I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that one, Rose, for whatever it's worth. Ever since the lettercol a few issues ago where Laird first started tossing the "moron" label around to stick on people who send in what he feels to be unarranted criticism, every single issue (starting with that one) has been full of letters with nothing but gushing praise, and maybe I'm overly cynical, but it really smacks of "See? I told you so!" I think, if anything, it's Peter Laird who has "issues" with anyone who doesn't agree with what HE thinks. I mean, sure, not everyone who sends in criticism is likely to be intelligent about it, but the way Laird replies to people is so condescending it aggravates me. It's like he generalizes ALL the people who disagree or criticize as "morons", "idiots", or whatever else he feels comfortable with, and it aint right.

So now, instead of printing ANY criticism, he prints letters of nothing but praise. Which I can definitely understand... why bother replying to someone who says the same things he's heard over and over again and is obviously sick of hearing? But at the same time, it seems like the most recent lettercols have been about "proving" to the naysayers that their opinion is "wrong" by showing how many people disagree. And there's nothing exactly wrong with that, it's certainly his prerogative, it just rubs me wrong because by going so far to prove how much he doesn't care about the criticism, he does a 180 and proves just how much it DOES bother him. Which is a shame, because someone who's lasted so long in the industry and made so much money and had so much success really ought to have a little thicker skin.

He should be glad he's not Mark Waid. HE's getting eaten alive by a large portion of the Superman fanbase over the "Birthright" mini-series he's doing...

Regardless... there's little else I can say on this, aside from the fact that your statement of me having "issues" with people who disagree with me is, with all due respect, patently ludicrous, since unlike some people around here who I HAVE had issues with, I don't call people who disagree with me names, or call their opinions stupid. I simply state my opinion, or reiterate it for the sake of those who may have missed it the first time, and if someone disagrees or questions my logic, I explain my opinion to them. Based on that, they can then either agree to disagree, or else be persuaded to my way of thinking. But that's up to them.

And if you think that it's outside the realm of possibility for a publisher or company to only print positive reviews of their product, well... I have two words for you: WWE Magazine.

Pussyyyyy!