yeah! the Turtles were definitely the guest stars here.

it was a Triceraton-focused comic (though i really think it needed to be)
i just really hope the Turtles get more of a presence in the rest of this arc,
as the last story-arc they felt pretty ineffective to the overall plot.

very enjoyable comic and promising start otherwise.


i'd like the last panel a lot more had Splinter also had Bishop subdued.
lets just hope Splinter isn't fool enough to have overlooked Bishop for all his treachery!
Splinter obviously knows Slash, right? he has to see Slash all wired up as a puppet in Bishop's control, surely he won't think lightly of this. and i hope he has some sort of clue that not too long ago Bishop was directly attacking his sons.

You know what although I loved Splinter showing up at the end, part of me is like "Worst Ninja Clan ever!" Showing up midday in the middle of an alien/government showdown does not seem very "Strike hard and fade into the night"

So I'm gussing there has to be a new reason for Zog's craziness, huh?

yeah, definitely not the stealthiest of strategies!
and if Splinter and the Foot weren't on Bishop's Radar before, they certainly are now.

I wonder if this arc is going to wrap up a lot of loose story threads. We see Bishop ready to attack Burnow Island too, I guess we'll get an Utrom story in this. I wonder if the arc will end with both the Utroms and Triceratons discovering a new planet in space to call their new home.

I'd also expect to see Bishop's origins hopefully covered and maybe a shakeup with Splinter and the Foot Clan.

I doubt the Utroms are going to move anytime soon, and probably not in this storyline. The Triceratons, maybe, but I think that would have been a better ending if there had been establishment of an alternate "available" planet beforehand.

On the Utrom side of things, there are going to be Krang loyalists outside of Ch'rell, Kleve, and Montuoro. A lot of them might not want to leave Earth for a different planet because it would basically mean Krang wasted his time getting Burnow set up for them, only to for them to leave a year or two later. They would want to stay to honor him.

Others might not want to leave because it would be too much stress. Should there actually be a storyline on Burnow (which is getting set up, it seems, between Ch'rell and the EPF watching them), I'd like to one or a few of them struggling with the trauma of Utrominion's collapse. Leeshawn, maybe.

Fewer of them might have newborns or are expecting newborns, and don't want to deal with the stress of moving again while also dealing with the stress of the first new babies in centuries. Heck, there might even be some children that went into stasis that were hidden in the background, and their parents/protectors wouldn't want to uproot them for a second time.

They can't just up and leave for various reasons, those being a few of them.

Sure, it will be a storyline, but probably later.

Splinter is apparently now willing to openly assert the Foot Clan's claim to New York as territory. He likely sees Bishop and Mazor as two competing feudal warlords. He may not care for either of them.

And when there's aliens right there in public, there's really no point in secrecy anymore.

On the mutant account yes, but on the ninja level I would imagine you would still want to remain under the radar

Agreed. Plenty of covers seem to be in the process of being blown in this arc... So far, the aliens, alien hunters and secret ninja clan have all put in an appearance in front of civilians in an age when everyone has a camera on them.

And with all the talk we saw on the importante of the Turtles remaining stealthy, and the upcoming issue of Universe where they're stuck together in close quarters during the evacuation, it seems increasingly likely that the point where NYC and the world at large will learn about mutants is fast approaching.

I'm surprised the Turtles really trust Baxter around April. I mean he's still technically a villain, I wouldn't let April around him without any protection.

He never attacked her or threatened her like he did in Mirage or 4Kids, though. And they KNOW Stockman is a fellow enemy of Bishop.

Baxter tried to kill the Turtles with his flyborgs on more than one ocassion. I can't recall a lot else he did because Krang always had him working for him.

He's basically help for hire and the Turtles have no reason to believe that he would be targeting April

What surprises me is the Triceratons seem to come in peace and want to coexist. Of course if a human sees an alien he/she would automatically assume it is hostile and react in fear. It seems human extinct caused an invasion. Thanks, Agent Bishop!

He's gone after the Turtles for Shredder. And he tried to take the Technodrome for himself. And he tried to get the Turtles for Krang way back when. But he has always played the game according to his own rule... who do I stand to gain the most from?

Bishop is out to get him. There aren't that many people he can ally with against Bishop. Thus, Stockman is an ally. Not a trusted ally, not in any way... but an ally nonetheless.

IDW Baxter seems to view the Turtles (and probably Hob and Slash if he ever interacts with them again - I certainly hope so with Hob!) as his intellectual property and nothing more, whereas he treats April like a fellow human. I don't think he would be so quick to screw her over as he would the Turtles. If he stood to profit from it, sure. But at least the gears don't always seem to be turning in his head about how to best play the situation in his favor with her.

You just know he's gonna stir up trouble again before all this is over, though.

that really was the last thing i was expecting. they really pulled off a complete twist from how it looked like it was going to go down at the end of #75.

what i'm wondering is after all this, will the existence of Mutants be outed the way it was in Mirage Vol. 4? but with the general public thinking them aliens.

All things considered, Stockman really hasn't been given the chance to be an actual "Big Threat" in the same league as Shredder or Krang, because he has the sense to stay in the shadows of the actual ones, and attempt to kick them out from their feet while no one's looking. And those plans only failed because of situations he didn't count on.

For instance, his plan to stop Krang by wiping out the Utroms didn't work because he didn't think someone would go to repair the generator - much less Krang himself.

But by god, he could be an amazing front-and-center antagonist if he wanted to. But he won't, because he knows that's too big a risk to himself. He thinks strategically, often without violence. Not because he's a pacifist by any means, but because it's easier. It would be a cool storyline if the turtles were forced to think on his level with trying to stop him, and use the "other" Ninja skills besides the ones of combat that they use in most other instances.

I'm hoping that will be the case. But will they also be outed as hostiles? Hob and his crew are definitely thought of as terrorists, given that they've fought major corporations (Null and Stockgen), blown up buildings and trains and helicopters, fought the government (Bishop), and fought the police (breaking Hun out of prison).

So IF mutants get outed, I don't think it's necessarily gonna be a GOOD thing.