TMNT #66 Preview & Discussion
 

Preview here.

This is what I was looking for! So Alopex was trying to create distance between herself and Kitsune. It seemed like she would know that Kitsune being an immortal Pantheon member she can appear in spirit form wherever she wills.

Also, a bit off topic, Rat King can seemingly appear in various places physically such as when he visited Kitsune or transported Leonardo and Splinter and appeared and disappeared. Is this teleportation ability exclusive to him? The reason I ask is Kitsune was on house arrest after Shredder's defeat and when she escaped she had to use a helicopter.

It's possible that Rat King's ability is limited to teleportation into and out of "thin places", which would explain the events of #36. They never really left that spot in the sewers but went into a sort of pocket dimension. Whether Kitsune can do it or not, she would then have to find other means of travel in the world outside such spaces. Everything else can be accounted for with astral projection or similar tricks.

My own questions upon reading the preview are: who chipped in for that helicopter? The mission to find and retrieve Alopex was assigned by Splinter, but with the Turtles having defected the Foot, would Raph and Angel still agree to go through with that trip on the clan's (blood) dime? And how did they know where to start looking for Alopex? I mean, Alaska, not exactly a tiny state...

I dig the way that cave looks like the open jaws of an enormous polar bear. Nice touch!

Looks like a nice one-shot issue to tie up an old loose plot before we begin the Bishop/Mutanimals arc.

Alopex doesn't appear on any of the Bishop arc covers, does she? I'm not sure if she returns to New York so soon, until whenever that Toad Baron story in the Universe takes place.

I didn't recall it, but in the tmnt wiki there's written that she was originally (as not mutated fox) from Fairbanks.
Maybe she talked with Angela about her birthplace, and they started looking for her there.

THOSE COLORS.

Sophie and Ronda work together so well.

Alopex has a tracking transponder in/on her person, courtesy of the Foot. This was revealed in #61.

Well, I just read it.

Man, Sophie's art style with that digital watercolor? *Kisses fingers* Magnificent.

I pretty much expected this sort of ending, but I'm glad it did.

Most of the watercolor isn't digital, I did it with actual watercolors! :D

Will have to wait until next week to read this sucker.

EDIT: Scratch that just downloaded the digital (I really got to remember to do that more often)
Ok IDW Raph I think you just went up on my list of version's of Raph I like. Usually he's always 4th below Leo with Don & Mike at the Top almost tied. But I think you just shot up to 3 keep it up and you'll be number 2 in no time.

Not gonna lie. As much as I enjoyed the issue, I still strongly dislike the Alopex/Raph pairing.

Maybe if Alopex wasn't always drawn so cute, I'd be more okay with it. But she used to be drawn as a genuine werewolf-type beast (e.g. "Secret History of the Foot Clan") and now she's just a cute widdle ball of fluff more often than not.

Regardless, I thought this issue was masterfully handled. The discussion between Raph and Angel was very well written, especially the "soap opera stuff." I LOVE Raph hanging out with Angel; really enjoyed seeing them stomp around together. They've got a great brother/sister dynamic that we haven't really gotten to see anywhere else in IDW.

Also, the banter is golden.

"Whatever, Donatello."
"Wait--Harold's got a wife? ... Is she human?"

Personal favorite is them bitchin' about the tracker until both eventually just get fed up, it's not over the top and is still in character.

Loved the issue, loved the art! To me, the final panel symbolizes how Alopex has now made peace with her past and her fear of the polar bear. She no longer views Alaska as the nightmarish "killing field" Kitsune called it, but rather as a place of life where bear cubs are born and natural order goes on.

Speaking of Kitsune, she's turned out to be a remarkably ineffective and inept villain. Seriously, her machinations are thwarted at every turn, going back to feudal Japan... There's no way her original plan, whatever it may be, is still the one she's pursuing. Not after so many setbacks. I can't wait to be able to look at this with some hindsight, even if it takes us years to get there, and figure out what she's actually trying to accomplish and how it went wrong, or right. As of now she just feels like a boring, one-trick pony whose influence everyone but Saki managed to shed.

Oh, I totally forgot! This was a great Raph-focused issue, which hasn't happened in a long time... and especially of note was the fact that:

Yeah...

But Sophie draws a KILLER Kitsune. She really felt menacing. Honestly, I think I most easily buy Kitsune as a threat whenever she's with Alopex. She's been playing with Alopex's mind for YEARS, and it's always been well done.

That fox face thing Kitsune pulls in particular is pretty freaky. Makes her look like some kind of werebeast... Anyone who's ever had a dog growl and bare its teeth at them can relate to how intimidating she looks that way. It just doesn't feel right to see a face like that on a person, which is why it works so well.

Beautifully rendered issue, this one.

I'm never going to stop thinking it should have been Leo/Alopex paired together as a clan brother/sister dynamic, giving Leo someone outside the family to do things with, after they were both controlled by Shredder and Leo protected her from Raph on the farm.

Plus we've seen a lighter side to Alopex's personality that would make a nice contrast to oh so srs Leo.

Raph's always been pals with Casey and if he and Angel are making a good bro/sis dynamic, I'll further stand by my position on the above, even if I'm in the minority.

Agreed. Leo and Alopex would make a fantastic team, just like they did in #51-52.

So about Alopex's new blue markings, it made me wonder what was up with the old purple markings? They vanished when she splashed water on her face, so I assumed then that were painted on, but then she gets the blue markings from defeating Kitsune in the spirit realm, meaning it can't simply be paint.

So what are the marking if they can be washed off with water but also reappear through non-physical means?

I think it might just be ice. That's what I assumed... frost or something. I dunno.

EDITED:

Really loved the art, its perfect for these Kitsune or Pantheon type issues too.

Raphael/Alopex pairing shouldn't be anything too new for those of us who read the Archie series. It's basically Raphael/Ninjara again just with an arctic fox instead of a brown one. Alopex has always seemed like a not-Ninjara type character from the start, just with a different backstory since Ninjara was from a race of actual fox people rather than a mutant.

Also of note the Turtles still talk to Splinter, which is nice and should have been obvious. No way were they going to sever all ties with him, as we've seen by the Foot giving them the helicopter. Splinter still loves his owns.

As for the Angel/Woody pairing....kill it with fire. :evilgrin:

I think that makes it worse for some. It's a retread of the same ol' thing where there was a chance to do something different there.

Me too. I'm broke. :tcry:

I HATED Ninjara. Loathe that character. Why do you think I dislike the Alopex/Raph thing so much? :tlol:

I wasn't reading the comics at the time, but liked her character design with the armor and such when I saw a pic of her..... then I was confused when I read she's a fox.

Foxes don't have poofy striped tails, WHAT MANNER OF SORCERY IS THIS?!

Google wasn't particularly helpful as it returns both types of images, but I distinctly remember Ninjara having a solid-colored tail in her first few appearances. Maybe with a black tip, but then again, most canines have that. I can't even tell if the ring-tailed images on Google are fanart or official, most of the comic panels from scans and whatnot show her with a solid-colored tail or no tail visible at all due to positioning. Huh... Now I'm confused too. :-?

Heh, even the last Ninjara story in Archie had to do with the Turtles taking a trip to Alaska and Ninjara finding a fox tribe living there.

You mean a Wolf tribe, cause that's when Ninjara and the Turtles went to Alaska and they met Mokoshan, Ninjara and Raph break up there relationship so that she can be with Mokoshan.
http://turtlepedia.wikia.com/wiki/Mokoshan

The fox-people tribe was in Japan, as opposed to the wolf-people tribe in Alaska. Which was ripe for exploration, really, when one wonders if there might've been any other tribes of animal-folk scattered around the globe, living in secrecy...

And they aren't mutants, so it makes you wonder how they evolved.

Not all foxes have paler fur on the tips of their tails... or even on their bodies at all for that matter. The way Ninjara was drawn for TMNTA seems to be based on darker-furred foxes in general, and I don't think that it was intended to look like a ringtail so much as to make the tail look darker and rougher than the rest of her. Like on this here pup:

http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/graphics/redfox3sm.jpg

EDIT: Prompted by this discussion to do a google image search for 'TMNT Ninjara', pleased to see one of mine comes up as one of the earliest results.

the casual dialog between Raph and Angel is just some of what makes this series one of the best out there!

i really enjoyed that Angel brought up Raph borrowing the helicopter from Splinter.
not only does it address the plot issue, but it shows there's still some connection between father and sons. even if they are just "barely speaking", there is still some contact.

what i found really cool was that Raph actually achieved Astral projection.
it was pretty awesome to show that behind the scenes the brothers do share tips and advice to one another. even though it'd be nice to actually see some of these moments as they unfold.
i wonder how long Leonardo has be practicing in projection?
would his meditation and communicating with the spirit of his mother count?

what Raph did spiritually seeking out Alopex reminded me a bit of when Leo had done it while searching for Donatello in the Image Comics Tmnt.

it'll be cool if we see this concept further explored.


Sophie's art was gorgeous!!!
i love how she leaves some areas still just in pencil to get that softer texture! :D

but Raph needs more love! :lol:
Leo's perfectly confident being able to stand on his own. :D

i do think Leo and Alopex still do share a bond as warriors as well as former pawns fro shredder, and now both having overcome Kitsune's mind control.
even though Raph and Alopex share the bond they have, i don't think it would diminish the bond Leo and Alopex share as warriors.

but in a way, i'm really glad not to see Leo in 'shipping' situation.
save that 'loverboy' routine for Raph. :lol:

So, between yesterday and today I was able to scape up the extra cash for this issue.
I'm glad I did so soon, it was a great issue. Fantastic art (as always) from Sophie, and I'm glad that the whole Kitsune thing with Alopex seems to be resolved.
Oh, and I also had another letter published! =D

I always took the Raphael/Alopex romance thing as a fan-fiction bit that does not add up in the comic. It seemed inspired due to his inter-species romance with Ninja from Archie's TMNT Adventures. Yet,we get a confession of romantic feelings from Raphael. I just thought it was good friends of the opposite sex.

There were plenty of hints of them liking each other dating back to the Northampton arc, and in several issues after.

Here's my full summary and review of TMNT #66 at TMNT Entity.

...Look, I'm not going to like every issue, okay? It's just not gonna happen.

I will say that I dug Campbell's art; it was a gorgeous-looking issue. But the story was IDW on autopilot and I couldn't get excited about it.

"Oh no, Pigeon Pete has gone missing! Better start a story arc about getting him back!"

i have to admit, you really do have a point there. :lol:

I might be missing the whole point of the joke, but wasn't that sorta the inciting incident of the Mutanimals mini? On the other end of the spectrum we have the Nick cartoon, where Pete went missing with barely an explanation offered and no follow-up whatsoever.