TMNT/Usagi Yojimbo: WhenWhere #5

[Cowabung-Gal]

Called it

Based on one of the variants for issue # 5, we might end up losing another beloved character. I’m guessing Usagi’s cousin Yukichi since he doesn’t appear in Senso either. (Although Senso was published years before Yukichi was introduced.) Still, Sakai will probably use this opportunity to explain why Yukichi doesn’t fight alongside Usagi in the battle against the alien invaders.


:cry:

[Jeff]

I feel like this entire series was a miss. The best part was Sakai's art, which I've always loved. I've read a lot of Usagi Yojimbo, although I'm nowhere near caught up to current, so I'm not sure if the events here will have affect on the main story, but

Gen's wife and Usagi's cousin both die and the reaction is like "OH NO - anyway..." Like, what is Casey and April were murdered and it took place in regular continuity and the turtles move on after one sentence? It just seems like nothing is important.

All of the turtles are interchangeable and don't even really serve a purpose to the story other than being on the same page as Miyamato Usagi.

The story was SUPER thin for 5 issues. It could have easily been a short story as backmatter content of the main series. Dr. Wherewhen is such a great concept and could have been way cooler than he ended up being.

It just sucks that we got a brand new mini-series that was as simple and boring as it was. :-?

[moneymase]

Agree. This series was a big nothing. There were some good Eastman covers, and that was about it.

[HotJuicyBurgers]

I enjoyed the art, but I’m not as well versed in Usagi comics. I thought it was honestly kind of shocking they killed 2 “major” characters?

I did a bit of research and the mainline Usagi book is on hiatus right now?

[Cowabung-Gal]

Although this is a sad scene, I’m sorry but…Usagi can be such a ham sometimes:

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AMiXwDBbJIQ/ZNAn3GplAnI/AAAAAAAC_24/iFgIK7PhmxQKnZ6GXJdPebM-5ZKtIVEKACNcBGAsYHQ/h0/Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles_-_Usagi_Yojimbo_-_WhereWhen_005_%25282023%2529_%2528digital%2529_%2 528Li%2527l-Empire%2529-016.jpg

[CyberCubed]

It seems Stan doesn't really have a good grasp on the Turtles behavior in IDW, having them all shout out "Cowabunga!" or having the villains actually refer to them as, "The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." I know this stuff can be excused since it's a crossover but I don't remember them being written like this in the previous crossover from 2017.

Also I'm honestly curious if Senso and this are considered canon for Usagi's continuity. We know Usagi is written where it can just go on forever, it may never have a "real" ending, but this stuff is pretty hard to reconcile.

[Cowabung-Gal]

Also I'm honestly curious if Senso and this are considered canon for Usagi's continuity. We know Usagi is written where it can just go on forever, it may never have a "real" ending, but this stuff is pretty hard to reconcile.

It could be like the Mad Max future in the 2012 TMNT show: it’s just a possible future and not the definite ending of the series.

[CyberCubed]

It could be like the Mad Max future in the 2012 TMNT show: it’s just a possible future and not the definite ending of the series.

True, because I get the feeling Usagi will never get a "real" ending anyway. Stan Sakai writes Usagi like it can just go on indefinitely like The Simpsons, and with him being 70 years old now, who knows how much longer he can still put out comics till he can no longer draw/write the issues. I assume the series will just randomly end on a random story someday when Stan just gets too old to continue.

[Mayhem]

I did a bit of research and the mainline Usagi book is on hiatus right now?
WhereWhen is the last thing Stan has done for IDW before returning to Dark Horse, the first new issue there comes out next month.

It seems Stan doesn't really have a good grasp on the Turtles behavior in IDW, having them all shout out "Cowabunga!" or having the villains actually refer to them as, "The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." I know this stuff can be excused since it's a crossover but I don't remember them being written like this in the previous crossover from 2017.
I think they are still meant to be the Mirage turtles.

As for your other question, which I forgot to keep in the quote, kind of yes, and yes. The events in WhereWhen are to explain why said two characters did not then appear in Senso. Senso actually forms part of the comic issue count continuity for Usagi as well.

[hypered1]

I think they are still meant to be the Mirage turtles.

No, it's definitively the IDW TMNT. They explicitly reference the previous crossover 'Namazu' on page 23 of Issue #2.

[CyberCubed]

They also all have colored bandana's

[Zog The Magnificent]

Senso has always been presented as a possible future, but not necessarily the definitive ending. If Stan dies before he ever gives Usagi a good "stopping point," then it will just end up becoming the ending by default. Personally, I've always hoped that it WASN'T the definitive ending, but now with Wherewhen explicitly leading into that future, I'm starting to worry that Senso is indeed the canon future.

[Monty Mole]

Now that this series is said and done, is it worth reading?

[Mayhem]

They also all have colored bandana's
I’m getting all five issues in one lump from my LCS so haven’t read it yet, so didn’t know this.

[CyberCubed]

Now that this series is said and done, is it worth reading?

It's a typical Usagi/TMNT crossover. Nothing mind blowing but its good and fun. Some major character deaths from the Usagi universe though.

[Cowabung-Gal]

Now that this series is said and done, is it worth reading?

I thought it was a nice crossover

[neatoman]

Although this is a sad scene, I’m sorry but…Usagi can be such a ham sometimes:

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AMiXwDBbJIQ/ZNAn3GplAnI/AAAAAAAC_24/iFgIK7PhmxQKnZ6GXJdPebM-5ZKtIVEKACNcBGAsYHQ/h0/Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles_-_Usagi_Yojimbo_-_WhereWhen_005_%25282023%2529_%2528digital%2529_%2 528Li%2527l-Empire%2529-016.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f9/fb/65/f9fb65b3e1c50c3729f3162f2c0e3767.jpg

[Cowabung-Gal]

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f9/fb/65/f9fb65b3e1c50c3729f3162f2c0e3767.jpg

Oh great, now I hear Usagi screaming in a German accent :lol:

[CyberCubed]

Stan Sakai is 70 years old right now, so I assume the Usagi comic has maybe 10 more years tops of going on assuming Stan remains in good health to write and draw the comics.

Then again Asians are known for living a long time compared to other races, so Stan could very well remain healthy well into his 90's and into his 100th birthday. So who knows.

[Cowabung-Gal]

Then again Asians are known for living a long time compared to other races, so Stan could very well remain healthy well into his 90's and into his 100th birthday. So who knows.

I think the secret to their longevity is their consumption of fish. Maybe I should eat more salmon and less beef

[CyberCubed]

I think the secret to their longevity is their consumption of fish. Maybe I should eat more salmon and less beef

Rice, fish, less (or no) fatty foods or sugars. You always hear people in China or Japan living the longest and it's probably due to their diet.

[Mayhem]

Rice, fish, less (or no) fatty foods or sugars. You always hear people in China or Japan living the longest and it's probably due to their diet.
Same applies to many folk in the Med, such as Greece and Italy.

[CyberCubed]

Asians eat what, hundreds of pounds of white rice a week? It keeps them healthy.

[Rhio2k]

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f9/fb/65/f9fb65b3e1c50c3729f3162f2c0e3767.jpg

Heh.



https://i.postimg.cc/0NvbFDR4/1706539715449929.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[neatoman]

Heh.



https://i.postimg.cc/0NvbFDR4/1706539715449929.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

It really is a shame that he wasn't avenged with a cannon against regulation.