Mirage Vol. 4 #13 (Spoilers)

[Peanut]

All I can say right now is... :o This issue was great. It left the story hanging in so many different places. The last page really threw me for a loop. Poor Raph. The whole April thing is kinda weird. Is she some kind of science experiment or something? No mention of Leo in this one though.

[impetus]

this issue was essentially plot development. A neat predlude though, for things to come. The jungle monster makes an brief appearance (and disappearance).

Having read it, my main thought is...

the last page is a shocker, and I WANT ISSUE 14 NOW!!!! :o Man that cover rawks!!!!

[Machias Banshee]

does it still have stuff involving the dinosaurs?

*wont be seeing any comics for a loong time... :( *

[Aztec General]

More buildup, and Raph's a Vampire! Hmm... could be interesting as long as they don't go too Image with it.

[Demonfox38]

Raph's a VAMPIRE??!!! :o Anyone thinking vamp a la Spike?

*starts humming the Buffy theme*

[Peanut]

does it still have stuff involving the dinosaurs?

*wont be seeing any comics for a loong time... :( *

Well Don and some Utroms were out in that area. They find that other ship and it was completely stripped down. The dino's weren't seen though. Raph looks out of control. My guess is he's been turned into one of those no thinking type monsters.

[HorseTechie]

*finally reads comic*

Wow indeed! I like it when some things are answered, but more puzzles are introduced in a way it hooks my interest.

With April, I'm still guessing she was adopted, and they lied about when her birthday was. But I'm not sure really.

The adventure with Don and the Utroms is all the more puzzling. Like what, the trees are mutating into these malvolent Ent type things too? :P

Mikey's situation had me laughing. The poor guy! Totally reminded me of buts of Star Trek, with MIB humor mixed in.

But Raph.. damn, he sounds really bad off! Ugh.. and I though Slash was a ugly mug! *nervous laugh* I wonder what they are gonna do to help Raph now...?

[JameO]

This issue was just awesome. I am not really up to date with Mirage comics but I plan on being in the future but I still really liked the way the story is going. Very nice indeed. Mirage just hooked me as a customer! :P

[cqb101]

I really liked this issue. Raph tirning into a vamp was really cool. I can't wait for the next issue!

[Stefano]

man this sucks. My comic shop stoped buying tmnt. Does anyone know were i could buy it. It looks like the official site has stopped selling

[Machias Banshee]

they're still selling. you just gotta look in the TMNT Catalog...

[Stefano]

thanks. They arnt selling number 13 yet. Damn. why did my comic shop have to do this. Right before tales too. nooo

[Aztec General]

thanks. They arnt selling number 13 yet. Damn. why did my comic shop have to do this. Right before tales too. nooo

Even if you don't see it from Mirage, they are definetely selling it. So feel free to just order it from them.

[Stefano]

thanks. I just freaked out cause i thaught i lost my favorite form of turtles

[Buslady]

@(#*$& idiots makin Raph a vampire? Ugh....I knew it was coming.
But at least he'll get fixed, I couldn't see how he could be turned into a vampire, so he was bit, he's not even a warm blooded mammal, didnt think reptiles or those who are half reptile could be turned into a blood sucker.

oh yeah, so like those vampires, they dined on mutated blood are they gonna feel any funky effects? they gonna grow a shell or turn green? hahahaha

they should cause they deserve it.
Like my son wanted to, I wanted to jump in and kick those jerks around for kickin Raph.

I know it ain't #13 but...
I don't think they did enough on Splinter's death, I mean come on, it should have made a HUGE impact on the guys...it's like let's go on to some new adventure thing. Where's the emotion? jeesh....

[Demonfox38]

But at least he'll get fixed, I couldn't see how he could be turned into a vampire, so he was bit, he's not even a warm blooded mammal, didnt think reptiles or those who are half reptile could be turned into a blood sucker.

Lol, my sister & I were wondering the same thing. She was debating how a Vampire (like Spike from Buffy) could syre him. It'd be pretty hard to stick your head into a turtle shell and bite his neck without hitting you head. :lol:

[Bry]

Something about Vampire Raph just hits me in all the right ways. Can't place it, I just like it thus far. :)

And my prediction is that Irritating Alien Princess will fall in love with Mikey, much to his dismay and our amusement.

Another solid issue, all around. But where's Leo?

[Jephael]

With April, I'm still guessing she was adopted, and they lied about when her birthday was. But I'm not sure really.

I got the feeling from #11 that Renet will be helping to shed some light on the subject of April's history.

[impetus]

And my prediction is that Irritating Alien Princess will fall in love with Mikey, much to his dismay and our amusement.

Here's my prediction... Mike saves the princess (and her bodyguards?) from some threat (one which the guards failed to avert) and wins the favor of one or more of them, perhaps even what Bry_Katz suggests above. Seems to fit the foreshadowing of the last ish.

[Snailman]

:o
Wow, awesome issue & now I'm dieing to get issue #14! DAMN YOU PETER LAIRD! :lol: :lol:
Well I guess that's the sign of it being a well written book if people can't wait to get the next issue, ya know? :D

@(#*$& idiots makin Raph a vampire? Ugh....I knew it was coming.
But at least he'll get fixed, I couldn't see how he could be turned into a vampire, so he was bit, he's not even a warm blooded mammal, didnt think reptiles or those who are half reptile could be turned into a blood sucker.

Well, maybe what happened to Raph is what happens when reptiles get bitten by vampires? :-? Like, instead of just getting all Goth-like, they just mutate more & become all feral & stuff.

Like my son wanted to, I wanted to jump in and kick those jerks around for kickin Raph.

Yeah! Stupid ignorant punks, but the Fugitoid put the fear of Honeycutt into them, so that works just as well in the long run.

I know it ain't #13 but...
I don't think they did enough on Splinter's death, I mean come on, it should have made a HUGE impact on the guys...it's like let's go on to some new adventure thing. Where's the emotion? jeesh....

Maybe they're just doing these adventure things to try & deal with the death of Splinter, like, it might be helpful to them to do other things. Remember, these characters aren't exactly like you & me & they react differently to situations then we would, you know?

Any idea what Tales of TMNT #1 is going to be about? I GOTTA pick it up in January, it'll be my Mirage Turtle-fix until #14 comes out in February. Gah February 2 whole months away..that sucks man, lol.

-Snailman

[Nturtle]

That was pretty crazy! Raph the vampire, wacky....

I can't help but wonder what this is leading up to? I figure at some point these plot lines will have to intersect.

[Buslady]

I know it ain't #13 but...
I don't think they did enough on Splinter's death, I mean come on, it should have made a HUGE impact on the guys...it's like let's go on to some new adventure thing. Where's the emotion? jeesh....

Maybe they're just doing these adventure things to try & deal with the death of Splinter, like, it might be helpful to them to do other things. Remember, these characters aren't exactly like you & me & they react differently to situations then we would, you know?

Ahh Maybe. I guess to throw them right into something else was to get their mind off it? I would think Raph would have had the worst time dealing with it, he takes things to the extreme. I don't know why but I see him crashing. Maybe that's why he was at a bar getting wasted ...maybe now he'll lay off bars since he's got his butt in major trouble. hehehh...

Any idea what Tales of TMNT #1 is going to be about? I GOTTA pick it up in January, it'll be my Mirage Turtle-fix until #14 comes out in February. Gah February 2 whole months away..that sucks man, lol.

I think Tales is gonna be short stories, one offs, I dunno. But yea, the fix before the mainstream issue...Drivin me nuts for the next issue!! How're they gonna fix my Raphie!!! heheh

-Snailman

[Roseangelo]

I'm also extremely disappointed with the lack of resolution over Splinter's death. All these years I've been anticipating it as this huge emotional storyarc, only to get virtually nothing. *sigh*

I still don't have this issue. I've been going into my comic book store for 3 or 4 weeks asking if they had gotten it yet for me.. but not yet. Grrrr.

Right now I'm most looking forward to Tales #5 - Chris Allan!! Yippee!

[Buslady]

I'm also extremely disappointed with the lack of resolution over Splinter's death. All these years I've been anticipating it as this huge emotional storyarc, only to get virtually nothing. *sigh*

I still don't have this issue. I've been going into my comic book store for 3 or 4 weeks asking if they had gotten it yet for me.. but not yet. Grrrr.

Right now I'm most looking forward to Tales #5 - Chris Allan!! Yippee!

Yeah it's like Splinter dying isn't a major thing I guess. I mean come on guys, Splinter was their father and teacher, and his death doesn't have any impact on them? Yeah right. Gimme a break. They should have done maybe an issue about it, or maybe two. I think there's just too much going on with them, I mean they're all split up and each character's got something goin on and it's alot to follow. This Raph Vampire thing is a little weird but oh well.

[Roseangelo]

I think there's just too much going on with them, I mean they're all split up and each character's got something goin on and it's alot to follow. This Raph Vampire thing is a little weird but oh well.

That's the thing though. All the other stuff should have come to a temporary pause when Splinter died. And I dunno.. the vampire thing just seems ridiculous and unnecessary. Sorta reminisant of the Image series where the goal seemed to be to mame everyone.

Now if only I could read the darned thing..!!

[Buslady]

I think there's just too much going on with them, I mean they're all split up and each character's got something goin on and it's alot to follow. This Raph Vampire thing is a little weird but oh well.

That's the thing though. All the other stuff should have come to a temporary pause when Splinter died. And I dunno.. the vampire thing just seems ridiculous and unnecessary. Sorta reminisant of the Image series where the goal seemed to be to mame everyone.

Now if only I could read the darned thing..!!

I never seen the Image treatment and from what I've heard, I'm glad I haven't!! Thy really tore 'em up huh? Now that's stupid. Really stupid. I heard Don was half cybernetic, hey really screwed up Raph, Leo looses an appendage? Freakin stupid.
I can handle the vampire think, it's Mirage...Image was just F***ed it sounds like.

[Roseangelo]

Yeah, Image had CyborgDon, Raph had his face blown off, and Leo had his hand bit off... oh, and Splinter turned into a bat :teek:

There *were* some good points, so it wasn't all bad. And despite complaints from others, I like Fosco's art. I have a few pages of original art from the series, two of which I don't think I could ever get rid of. They're both just great Mikey moments.

The third one, though.. if anyone's interested in some original art with Splinter as a bat.. :tanime:

[Aztec General]

Yeah it's like Splinter dying isn't a major thing I guess. I mean come on guys, Splinter was their father and teacher, and his death doesn't have any impact on them? Yeah right. Gimme a break. They should have done maybe an issue about it, or maybe two. I think there's just too much going on with them, I mean they're all split up and each character's got something goin on and it's alot to follow. This Raph Vampire thing is a little weird but oh well.

I completely disagree. The TMNT are still dealing with Splinter's death. If you notice they have split up and are heading their seperate ways. It's like the family is over now that the father is dead.

[cqb101]

Yeah, Image had CyborgDon, Raph had his face blown off, and Leo had his hand bit off... oh, and Splinter turned into a bat :teek:

There *were* some good points, so it wasn't all bad. And despite complaints from others, I like Fosco's art. I have a few pages of original art from the series, two of which I don't think I could ever get rid of. They're both just great Mikey moments.

The third one, though.. if anyone's interested in some original art with Splinter as a bat.. :tanime:

If you're looking to get rid of the art with Splinter as a bat, I'd be interested.

[Machias Banshee]

oy, I agree with you ladies, and gentleman. The treatment of Splinter in both Image, and then his death, was abhorrid. I too wish something better could have been done.


If you cant do it right, dont do it at all... :cry:

[VaughnMichael]

I'm finally starting to enjoy the new mirage series....this has to be my fave yet and the cover is beautiful like I stated before..but one thing I thought of when I saw this
http://www.pixilatedwhitewash.com/RaphVamp1.jpg
Was this
http://www.planetracers.com/blast/raphaelnewlook.jpg
Anyone think mr.laird recycling some old ideas..I think it would be cool and frankly I'd like to see it done on the cartoon I know it was done in the red sky episode but they would do it better in the new show.
-Vaughn Michael

[xZAOx]

ive never seen that picture - whats it from?

[Jephael]

That was part of an idea they had for a fourth TMNT movie in which the turtles and Splinter continued to mutate and gain super-mutant powers. Ironically, the subtitle was to be called "The Next Mutation".

[xZAOx]

*shudder*

[raphael_is_cool]

I was re-reading the Vol. 4 stuff and at the funeral Leonardo says something like 'Splinter would just say his death was just another turn of the great wheel and we should continue looking forward not back'. So in a sense the turtles were right to carry on with how they saw their futures and haven't just forgotten him but been encouraged not to mope around

Least that's how I see it

[Aztec General]

Perhaps Laird is doing something similar to his earlier idea. He's said that in this series he's going to use some ideas that he wanted to use before Vol. 2 ended.

[xZAOx]

im still confused why at the beginning of vol. 2 we see a dead splinter at the hand of one of the turtles. that never happened.

not to mention, its pretty hard to bury splinter in japan when you set his corpse on fire. maybe thats whats don took something for? or perhaps hes going to try to clone splinter, realize what he's done is wrong, then he kills pseudo-splinter and buries that in japan...

ME AM UN JENUS!!!

[VaughnMichael]

im still confused why at the beginning of vol. 2 we see a dead splinter at the hand of one of the turtles. that never happened.

not to mention, its pretty hard to bury splinter in japan when you set his corpse on fire. maybe thats whats don took something for? or perhaps hes going to try to clone splinter, realize what he's done is wrong, then he kills pseudo-splinter and buries that in japan...

ME AM UN JENUS!!!
you know what that very well might be true I never thought about that we'll just have to wait and see...well unless you have some sort of time travel device then you can ....ooo nevermind lol
-Vaughn Michael

[HorseTechie]

not to mention, its pretty hard to bury splinter in japan when you set his corpse on fire. maybe thats whats don took something for? or perhaps hes going to try to clone splinter, realize what he's done is wrong, then he kills pseudo-splinter and buries that in japan...
I thought Don was taking his ashes (that could be in a can, in the backpack) to Japan, and bury those ashes there.

As for that other image regarding the bloodied Splinter and a Turtle... damn, you just gave me some evil wicked plot idea! Like when Don had removed 'something' from Splinter before they went on with the ceremony.

Now what that something was, and why he did that.. I dunno. Some of us did think he was gonna clone him. So maybe the clone goes insane, the the Turtles had to defend themselves from it...?

[Aztec General]

The whole evil Splinter clone scenario is entirely possible. Especially after we found out about Donatello's dark side, with the whole Baxter being kept alive in a cell thing.

[xZAOx]

after making raph a zombie, why not clone splinter, eh? this is definately resembling some of the "wierd" directions taken by Image.

[Buslady]

The whole evil Splinter clone scenario is entirely possible. Especially after we found out about Donatello's dark side, with the whole Baxter being kept alive in a cell thing.

donie has a dark side??? man im missin somethin'....what issues cover this little detail? I dont have all of v.4 yet, some of it's hard to find.

[HorseTechie]

Yeah.. you need to get caught up, Buslady! ;) Forgot what issue it was that had Don's secret techie dungeon, but it was a different twist!

Also, Brinatello had emailed Laird about Raph's condition. She found out that Laird hadn't planned for Raph to be completely turned as a vampire yet. So he still has hope.

[Buslady]

Yeah.. you need to get caught up, Buslady! ;) Forgot what issue it was that had Don's secret techie dungeon, but it was a different twist!

Also, Brinatello had emailed Laird about Raph's condition. She found out that Laird hadn't planned for Raph to be completely turned as a vampire yet. So he still has hope.

I didn't think Mr Laird would be that nuts to permanently turn him into a vamp. I'd be pissed. I wonder if he's all messed up in the head out of control or if he's gonna struggle with it and do like the Fly, ya know "Heeeelp me." heheeh

Wonder how'd they gonna fix him. Inject donor blood from one of his brothers??

[summer]

im still confused why at the beginning of vol. 2 we see a dead splinter at the hand of one of the turtles. that never happened.


Laird has said that they used to put small subplots like that in the series just in case they want to do something with it later. I think I remember him saying he did that during the 1st volume with a guy watching the turtles from another building. He just had a few scenes with him but they decided not to use it later or forgot why they even put it there to begin with.

So that dead splinter scene might never be used again, although it would be really interesting to find out what they were thinking of doing with it when they put it in there.

Summer

[Demonfox38]

Actually, wasn't it in issue 16 of the Image series where Raph went and had to defeat Splinter on the Astral Plane to "heal" him and may have almost accidently killed him? Obviously, Splinter didn't die from the experience, but I've heard rumors to point that scene being linked back to Raph's Astral trip.

[summer]

I've heard rumors to point that scene being linked back to Raph's Astral trip.

But, would Vol. 2 and the Image series be linked like that? It was two different companies/writers/creative teams producing them. It seems more likely that when Vol. 2 was created, they weren't planning that far ahead to know what the Image series would bring forth.

Summer

[Kali]

But, would Vol. 2 and the Image series be linked like that? It was two different companies/writers/creative teams producing them. It seems more likely that when Vol. 2 was created, they weren't planning that far ahead to know what the Image series would bring forth.
I don't think they were thinking about the Image series when they wrote Vol. 2. But Image did take a lot of little threads from the original Mirage books when writing their plots. It's almost like fan fiction, when fans take little bits and threads out of the stories and build on them.

Like was said, the vision was written in hopes of using it someday. They didn't have concrete plans, but it was there if anyone wanted to play with it. Image took it and made their own connection.

[Cascadia]

it will be a long time before i can get my hands on the new issues.

[lhb412]

Hmm. wouldn't it be interesting if they found a temporary cure for Raph's ailment, but it would wear off prematurely whenever Raph got to angry= now their's a dang good plot device eh?

Although it is a complete rip of of what happened to the Turtles in the last couple of seasons in the old toon.

[HorseTechie]

*pauses in thought for a moment*

You think... that they will give Raph a bad eye too after this rabid vampire incident?

[Jephael]

Now there's an interesting idea, grantid it's no more original than the whole monsterous transformation to begin with.

[Kali]

Finally got this issue (and 11 and 12. 10 still eludes me...)

Now that I know what everyone is talking about, I have the same questions. There's really just one thing I wanted to point out. Page 25, Mikey's standing behind his charges... making the "loser" sign. *snickers*

And may I go on record as saying, I don't think those were "real" vampires. something similar, maybe.

[Triceraton]

For anyone who doesn't check Diamond's shipping lists on mondays, #14 is coming out this wednesday.

[ToTheNines]

https://i.imgur.com/U1ohitx_d.webp?maxwidth=760&fidelity=grand

Thirteen is an unlucky number, but this is nuts!

[CyberCubed]

What on earth, it looks like it crashed into the woods or something.

[ToTheNines]

Out this Wednesday: https://leagueofcomicgeeks.com/news/67399657/preview-tmnt-journeys-13

[CyberCubed]

LOL, I didn't even realize Peanut made this topic back in 2003. Blows my mind he was reading the Mirage Vol. 4 comics back then.

[ToTheNines]

Kind of a boring issue. Not bad at all, just hitting the glacial era of volume 4 here. The ending with Raph was pretty cool.

My local shop owner told me sales have nosedived. He gets an A & B cover for me and like 2 other copies now after a very strong start when #1 dropped.

Time to announce #33-37!

LOL, I didn't even realize Peanut made this topic back in 2003. Blows my mind he was reading the Mirage Vol. 4 comics back then.

Yeah he was a lil bitch.

Speaking of bitches… I bet the Northampton honies had these two rizz masters running away with those Segways in high gear once they saw them tearing up the streets:

https://i.imgur.com/CiCo0ay_d.webp?maxwidth=760&fidelity=grand

(From the original printing of #13 :lol:)

[Andrew NDB]

Do people still use Segways? Or did cheap, motorized scooters and all that sort of take their place?

[ToTheNines]

I have not seen one in a looong time except for my local police department owns one that the parking enforcement schmucks use.

Oh, I forgot to share the B cover. It’s very nice, as per usual:

https://tmnt-ninjaturtles.com/assets/TMNT-Journeys-13_Cover-B_rich-scaled.jpg

[Andrew NDB]

Not bad. That'd be like a pretty good Tales of the TMNT V2 cover.

[neatoman]

I noticed something kinda funny on the credits page, it says "TMNT: Journeys is dedicated to Peter Laird", so the book is dedicated to... The guy the very same page credits writing, inking, toning and lettering to. It makes it look like he dedicated the book to himself.

[Heyowakka]

That’s really funny. They should have dedicated the issue to Peter Laird’s Segway instead (rip in peace)

[CyberCubed]

That also makes it sound like PL is dead!

[Andrew NDB]

That also makes it sound like PL is dead!

Yeah, that's pretty weird. "Dedicated to so-and-so" is generally reserved for dead people or projects they have nothing to do with but are done in great respect to a person or persons that may or may not still be alive (like a mother or father or something). In this case, Peter Laird had EVERYTHING to do with Vol. 4 AND is still alive, so it's bizarre.

[ToTheNines]

I think if you're enough of a fan to pick up a title like Journeys, you understand the history and relationship between Peter/Mirage and IDW.