TMNT #130 discussion
 

Issue #130 just got released, I thought I make this thread to discuss this latest issue, I thought it was pretty good, It has some emotional moments.

Now iam ready to kill Leonardo! HAHHAHAAHAHAHAHA

i enjoyed it. i wonder how bludgeon will do as a teacher. also had some good brutality in this one, sheena pulled a killer croc move.

Also there were some emotional moments.

Marginally better than the last 2 years but still super weak. Art is "mushy" for lack of a better term... I really wish they'd bring on a better creative team. I don't care about the entire zoo worth of weaka$$ characters. I want some ninja action & just the turtles. This book has become a sh!tty CW comic book series.

Man they did a Mortal Kombat fatality on Groundchuck. Kinda funny to see Groundchuck/Dirtbag as mindless zombie mutants here when they're getting major spotlight in the new game and original cartoon comic coming, and in this series they're introduced and killed off in less than 5 issues.

The Punk Frogs are ugly as hell and the artist made them look the same as the Turtles. Some of them looked just like Leonardo, it's really weird they didn't draw all their faces different. I guess this is it for them, I wouldn't be surprised if they move to Florida like they did in the original cartoon.

Venus with Bludgeon is odd if only because I guess she'd be with Karai and the Foot. Still don't know what to make up Shredder now but it's too early. This issue seemed to wrap things up for now setting the next arc up.

Carmen and the other mutants are useless extras though, it is proof the comic introduces way too many additional characters they don't need.

Ok, yeah this issue is trash. Why oh why did I fall for the improvements back in 125? The story looked like like it was taking a turn for the better but looking back, it's mostly just that 125 had improved pacing and the sub-plot on the island.

So here is one major flaw with this whole thing:
Clyde claims he saw a turtle abduct Bonnie in 125 and assumes it is Don because of the similar artificial shell. We find out a little later and it's reiterated in this that he actually saw Venus who is Bonnie herself. Now the obvious question is how does that even makes sense? He saw a single individual and believes he witnessed two? How did he make that mistake? I went ahead and checked and there is no direct explanation for how he got so confused. The reason it had to happen was in order for there to be conflict between the turtles and the frogs but it is far too flimsy

Anyway, the drama in this story is just really forced and awkward. Sheena killing Dirtbag is a pretty clear example of an overreaction just done for shock value, it is barely motivated on her part and it would have been enough for her to be in shock to run into Jennika's arms. Likewise I'm not sure I even understand the thought process of some of these characters, Don flat out rejecting the idea that Venus should reconnect with the frogs and then insisting that she shouldn't be regarded as Bonnie at all just seems bizarre to me.

On further reflection on this Punk Frog story, it really just is the pacing that has improved and that's mainly due to there being sub-plots than the main plot being appropriately paced out. On it's own it might possibly be the dumbest, forced garbage story in the TMNT franchise since Out of the Shadows.

I enjoyed the issue, It has some emotional moments in regards to Venus and the Punk Frogs, Also we are finally introduced to what could be a possible pairing, considering the significance of these two.

So when does the Armageddon stuff start so I can start buying this again?

So we never learned anything about Groundchuck and Dirtbag? They are murdered by nobody characters without thought and nobody cared?

Leaving the Bonnie identity behind, it is like symbolism for gender identity politics. How is this comic 'improving? It sounds frustrating! I would rather see Groundchuck and Dirtbag expanded upon. Yet they are wasted.

No, we do not find out anything about Groundchuck and Dirtbag, they're basically just a pair of Frankenstein creations that exist to be killed off. I don't even think they actually say anything.

The comic improved in the sense that it wasn't painfully uneventful anymore, which was the biggest problem. Of course, it is still really awkward and keeps neglecting important details, so it still can't be called good.

TMNT: The Armageddon Game-Opening Moves #01 comes out in two weeks, with the actual series starting in September.

There was nothing Frankenstein about Dirtbag.

It is a shame that the pair are misused and their potential continues to be wasted!

Basically my thoughts exactly, man. The art was OK to me, not my favorite but totally acceptable. The story's plot and pacing, however, probably make it one of the absolute weakest issues in my opinion. Like you said, a lot of characters doing things that make no sense or are completely out of character... certain moments being brushed over completely (Leonardo is just like "OK yeah lemme call the bros" when Spooky Shredder is just like "we need to talk"?? yeah right), other moments dragging on waaay toooo longgggg, like why are we trying to get an emotional return on third-tier characters that haven't even appeared a dozen times yet

I didn't even attempt to reconcile the issues with Clyde thinking he saw one turtle at the scene of the crime but then mistakenly fingering Donnie, because it was all just so dumb I couldn't even bring myself to try :lol: Anyways, I'm looking forward to Armageddon Game, which I hope to be a return to form for IDW

Honestly, I'm digging the redemption of Saki.
That's never been done before. And, leaves it wide open for a new villainous take or Shredder.
Could be done using the corpse of Karais father and the dragon scale. Could be a certain scary utrom takes up the mantle.
Either way, it's cool Saki gets to finally be himself, and we get to see that.
There's tons of potential here.
It just needs to be utilized.
And now we know how the four "Dark" turtles get made. I'm hoping it's one insane fight when they square off four on four. Unless they have a surprise, evil Jennika too. Regardless, this is the opportunity to show some decisive, viciously fast paced martial arts action.

How were they created? I am not sure how the dragon scale works.

Reading this makes me feel justified in skipping the title and reading all of the tie-ins.

They should really do away with Carmen and the extra mutants like the ant guy, the hippo, the other shark, and so forth. Also Lita and the 3 weasels haven't appeared in awhile I forgot about them. Sheena being axed would be a good idea too.

Weird how Venus and Jennika are here but Venus being a recurring character will make them feel different besides the magic stuff.

Basically it's the same stuff the book has always had problems with and that's introducing way too many secondary and third-tier characters. We really don't need all these C-tier and D-tier characters around regularly.

I 100% disagree, They are hear to stay, They are great additions to the series.

Opinions of furries should always be discarded.

How are they "great" when they basically do nothing noteworthy?

Who says they have to be noteworthy?

The very minimal, basic writing standards since forever?

I'm not even sure how to respond to this, it is just a bizarre idea, so I'll just to list off as many possible responses I can think of and hope they seem appropriate:

1. In the simplest possible definition of a story, it is about characters initiating and altering events. Characters who do not do this barely have a function in the story and could potentially get cut.
   
2. In order for a character to leave an impact on the audience, they need to clear defining traits and a significant amount of focus put on them, otherwise it becomes hard to get invested in them.
   
3. If a character doesn't do much, there is very little between them and a background object, making them easy to forget.
   
4. If a character gets a lot of focus but serves very little purpose in the story, it pulls away from the events and characters that could actually interest the audience, making them largely pointless.
   
5. A character without defining traits or goals is one that lacks interesting traits and is thus a boring character.
   
6. There is such a thing as a bloated cast of characters, this can easily stretch the focus very thin and it becomes difficult to pay attention to what is going on.

I can probably think of even more but I hope you get the point.

It's pretty clear that "Venus" is supposed to be symbolic of people who have "transitioned". That's the entire point.

This book is so ass. Every decision misguided from its conception and furthermore executed horribly.

He gets to fap to them. That's the only f*cking thing he cares about. It's ridiculous.

The only characters that matter in this book should be the turtles, the foot, Shredder/Splinter, Casey & April. Everyone else should be foot fodder... if they get a name, they need a function beyond crying all the time. So many wasted pages of useless, do nothing characters.... pandering.

lmfao ya got me :lol:

https://c.tenor.com/LAcYOwpSIpcAAAAd/yugioh-no-u.gif

But seriously, folks, what's particularly frustrating about a lot of the stuff from the "Mutant Town" arc (as it's likely going to be known as), is that there were good ideas there, they just weren't executed very well. A lot of the ideas were terrible, too, though, and that has definitely impacted the quality of the series for the past year or so. So many characters have become pointless, functioning either as background stand-ins or plot devices, while SO FREAKING MANY new, pointless characters have been introduced, I can only imagine all the stupid wikia pages being generated for "Unnamed Ant Mutant #2" :roll: Nobody has any idea what to do with April, or Alopex, or Angel (remember her? Nobody does :lol:), or even some of these new characters like why the fvck is Sheena on the page so goddamn much? Jesus Christ where is Tom smh I need to eat dinner

It feels like the overall resistance to your opinion on these forums has turned you into someone that just wants to be deliberately contrarian to everyone else here. I mean I don't EXACTLY blame you for it, there's an overwhelming amount of negativity here. And while I agree with those negative opinions there's only so much beating of a dead horse I can take before I get tired of it.

Yes. The core characters should matter. I don't mind new characters. I think TMNT has a lot of weird, interesting characters that can be fun and entertaining. But as you said, they need a function beyond crying, and standing around... Even the core characters suck if they just cry and stand around doing nothing all the time, and they sure do in this series currently.

Most of the series for the last 30 issues has been standing around & crying. Ninja aren't the standing around and crying types.

But they aren't ordinary ninjas, they are ninja turtles, and they are allowed to cry, The turtles in this comic seem way more human then normal humans.

This series sucks. They want to keep doing this series, they should call it teenage mutant crybaby turtle furries.

Well, they say you write what you know. It turns out, eh, well...

So which is it? Are they Ninja Turtles or are they more human than normal humans...? Now I know for sure you're trolling.

Absolutely forgettable issue, utter trash that closes the arc with a whimper instead of the bang it started out with in #125. There are no words for how dumb this comic has become under Campbell.

Thank goodness for Waltz coming back to wrap it up!

I really hope not. It would be a allegory of people peer pressured to be a transtrender individual with no hope of ever being able to recover from the 'process' she went through. She was literally being forced to transition in the comic.

But she can leave her old life and "deadname" behind and be whatever/whoever she wants to be!

Pretty sure that is meant to be the takeaway.

I really hope that people are looking too far into this being a potential allegory because of who wrote it. If it is intended to be a trans allegory...WOW.

After all this time, do you really think subtlety is Campbell's strong suit?

She's writing what she knows and sees inside her little bubble, which leaves me terrified at the amount of casual, bloodthirsty maiming featured in several of her issues.

It reminds me of how people thought Gren in Cowboy Bebop was meant to be positive trans representation, even though his backstory is that he was a man in the military who was later imprisoned, and during his time in prison, was forced to take experimental drugs with side effects that increased his estrogen, and had him grow breasts. He learned to live with it, though he was clearly very bitter and angry that being imprisoned (as a result of being betrayed by his friend) and drugged altered his body permanently. The man wasn't trans... He didn't feel discomfort in his original male body...

Hell, I just went to the Bebop wiki to confirm something in Gren's backstory, and the top comment there says 'trans rights'. Omfg..............................

Anyway, Venus (and Jennika, really) is not a great allegory for transition because it's forced on her, as you said. A better idea would be that Venus willingly altered her body because she disliked being a human or a frog or whatever. Or just put in a trans human into the story? Or...something? God, the poor writing in these modern stories piss me off. People don't...seem to have a grasp on how to appropriately convey nuance. Just take Gren in my comment. 'Trans rights'... UGH. GREN WAS NOT TRANSGENDER.

I guess to be fair...he was in the Netflix series that bombed harder then Big Man over hiroshima.