TMNT Volume 5?

[Jester]

"Friends" of Jim Lawson might have read this recent posting on his Facebook about a commission he recently completed, "The Last Scene of TMNT Vol 4."

In the posting he said this about the piece:

Originally Posted by Jim Lawson

THE LAST SCENE OF TMNT VOLUME 4.
That’s what this is- it represents what possibly the last page of the Mirage Turtle comic would look like, had it been finished. The idea for this sprung from a request for a commission that I received.

In the beginning, I was very hesitant to take this on- and honestly I rejected doing it at first. After all, the Turtles aren’t mine and it’s not really my place to conjecture what would happen to them if things were different. But- it’s just a drawing and an idea and not really meant to be anything more than that. I agreed to do it.
A funny thing happened when I began to rough pencil it though- I got sucked in. For me, there was something very compelling about this image and I couldn’t stop thinking about it and the story behind it. Maybe without knowing I did, I needed this- I hungered for some kind of resolution to the story that never got wrapped up.
So here it is.

Michelangelo absolutely has experienced the most changes of all his brothers. No longer under the influence of the Triceratons, and united with his 3 children, he has returned home. Still, he is haunted and burdened by his actions in the Triceraton/ Styracodon war and as a consequence of this, is prone to fits of temper and angry outbursts. He’s aware of it and struggling to control his emotions but it’s a PTSD type thing. One manifestation is, these days he is rarely seen without carrying some kind of firearm.

Despite this, Mike knows that he must return to space- to try to repair the damage that he has personally caused the Styracodon race, as well as to stay in contact with the children’s mother. His kids (2 boys and a girl) are wild and mischievous. The oldest boy, since arriving on Earth, has watched all the Star Wars movies and now wants to be a jedi.

Splinter has returned and is glad to be reunited with his sons, plus now he is a grandfather. His face is now deeply lined with age, yet his eyes remain bright. He is in the twilight of his years and he knows that the mantle of master must now be passed on to Leonardo. In preparation for this, and with the urging of Splinter, Leo must go into the woods alone and develop the skills that he will need to journey in and out of the astral plane and the spirit world. It will be a difficult and dangerous task.

Raph and Don will return to New York along with Splinter. Don has taken one of the evil Guardifriends and reprogrammed/ retrofitted the robot for the purpose of it being a protector and companion to his niece and nephews. The mechanoid will join Mike and his family when they return to space.

Raphael stands above it all. He has never been a fan of goodbyes, yet he realizes that he and his brothers are 4 individuals and that they must each follow their own paths. Uncomfortable with the emotions of the situation, he looks away off into the distance, to the farmhouse and Mike’s waiting ship.

Also watching from a distance, stands Casey and April. Or--- is that Karai? They’re so far away it’s sort of hard to tell…
There you have it.

Please keep in mind that this is totally MY vision about how I see volume 4 ending. Still, it was a really fun thing to think about and it just makes me want to come up with some stories for volume 5.

So, what do you all think? Do you like these ideas for character development at the end of Vol 4. What would you like to see happen in a hypothetical Vol 5? Do you think it's be interesting to see Lawson work with Eastman on Vol 5, much like Vol 4 was Jim and Peter's project?

[Casey]

I don't even know where to begin.

I like the fact that he let the piece take on so much story as he drew it. I'd love to here what Peter has to say. I'm surprised he hasn't put it up on his blog to discuss it.

I feel like aspects of it are heavy handed such as Mikey's attire and need to carry such a large weapon. Also, did Splinter return from the Battle Nexus? I don't like that if so.

[bushido]

Volume 5 ? Peter and Jim must finish Volume 4 before. This "last page" is perfect to me. Fully consistent with the rest of the story. It's moving but not sad. I don't know how to explain it. Maybe a "Tales of" volume 3 would be a better idea than a volume 5.

[funatic]

I was pretty surprised to see this show up on facebook today, and equally surprised by some of the choices Jim would have made if he were to wrap up the series on his own.

I agree with Casey that Mike's carrying a big weapon is a bit much. I like the PTSD idea but disagree completely that he'd be prone to further violence. I think he'd go the other way and maybe give up fighting all together, become a pacifist, and focus on art and his family, keeping his little guys away from ninjitsu. I think the gun-toting is completely out of his character.

I also think bringing Splinter back would be a huge misstep, as I felt his departure in volume 4 was one of the few elements that series really got right on. It felt very real, very "mirage" - death is permanent and often unexpected, and to bring him back to the real world would be a big disservice to that solid development. With that appearance in the Battle Nexus I wonder if Peter had intended him to come back too? I hope not.

The directions for the other 3 turtles seemed appropriate, though he didn't go into much detail. I like the Leo going-solo to develop his astral powers, but doing so without the guidance of Splinter (we basically already saw that happen with the Blind-Sight mini series). And Raph staying relatively unchanged and removed from it all is fitting. I'd like to hear more about Jim's idea of Donatello's trajectory though, aside from just reprogramming a Guardifriend, maybe some more involvement with the utroms and space missions?

I'm not even going to comment on the possible Casey-Karai shipping...

At one point I said I'd be happy to see Jim just pick up the reigns on volume 4 and finish it on his own without Laird. However, after seeing this I'm not so sure. I guess I didn't love the direction Laird was taking things either... Uh, is Berger currently available?

[CyberCubed]

So if I'm reading this right, this is how Jim Lawson would have ended the series if he wrote the comic, but its not how Peter Laird would have ended it, right?

As far as I know PL didn't tell Lawson how he wanted Volume 4 to end, so this is more of a "alternate ending" type thing.

[Gunstar_Red]

Well, its interesting to say the least! I'm not too sure about the Casey/Karai pairing or how Mikey turned out. I agree with Funatic, I think he would have gone the opposite direction and swear off all and any violence instead.

I like that Klunk Jr is in it. ^^

[PurpleMusic]

That's a very tight page. It does feel pretty in tune emotionally with the Mirage vibe. It is sad Laird had to get burnt out or something, but this is nice closure to me for what it is. I wish the Mirage timeline had just continued on in reality instead of a lame reboot...

[mrmaczaps]

This was a piece done at the request of a friend of mine. I'm not sure how much input was Lawson and how much was his idea but I think it really works great. The last few issues dealing with Mikey lead to this. Maybe not as extreme as this "final page" but logically in my opinion, I feel it works well.
I'd love to see Steve color it and I hope that's where it goes next!

[CyberCubed]

The Casey/Karai pairing is so awful it feels like some disturbing fanfiction from some anime that fangirls write online.

I really hope PL wasn't going down that route.

[Jester]

I've debated asking Peter, but I'm sure he's seen it and who knows what he thinks.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Not my ideal ending, even if it is well-drawn. Unfortunately, it does seem that Lawson picked very probable plot points based on what Laird was doing in the last issues of Volume 4. And I don't like them. Mikey, Splinter, Karai... no. And Raph remaining Wolverine is infuriating to me, but again, that's on Laird.

[Diorm]

Let's wait so IDW get there with the TPB then maybe they'll do some kind of sequel. (Im kinda hopping they'll do the same with Adventures)

[DK2]

Its a neat piece. But I don't like the Karai/Casey thing either (could always assume its April). I'd like to think Casey went back to April after they've "found themselves" while separated. Also the Splinter thing was already on the trajectory change. Wasn't it in one of the recent Vol. 4 issues that dead Splinter's DNA didn't match the Splinter the turtles really knew? So Peter was already on his way changing Splinter's outcome and which one was the real Splinter with this alternate Splinter to fall back on. But that just ruins the drama of Splinter's death if your gonna say it wasn't the turtles' Splinter, "here he is actually". Just ruins the grounded moment in TMNT comics history. Splinter died falling down saying "...my sons...". Now why would alternate Splinter care for these turtles if he had nothing to do with them? Now that just kinda mucks up Splinter's story. As for the rest of that drawing it truly suits the possibilities of Vol. 4's ending and the Mirage feel. Not too much seems to happen to Donny and Ralph (back to normal) while Leo and Mikey do seem to have gained something in their journeys away from Earth or present reality.

[oldmanwinters]

Or--- is that Karai? They’re so far away it’s sort of hard to tell…

Aw, man, that's the most interesting part to me!

Jim... you tease!

[Xav]

I haven't read all of Volume 4, but does Mikey really have turtle kids in it?

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Xav

I haven't read all of Volume 4, but does Mikey really have turtle kids in it?

That's a question that's never been given an answer. It appears he did... Regenta had a lot of eggs after they were messing around, but later it's made to appear she was deceiving him... but we have no idea. Though I thought there was more eggs than just 3. The popular vote is that Regenta was f***ing with him to her own political advantages, probably getting impregnated from some other lover else who is out of favor or something somesuch.

[CyberCubed]

Yeah I'm not sure where Jim Lawson got the 3 Turtle kids from either, unless he simply forgot the older issues. Also weren't there like 100 Regenta eggs or something?

Also don't like the idea of Splinter returning. I mean way to kill one of the best moments of Volume 4, and Splinter passing away made sense. Just to bring him back is pointless and reeks of comic book retconning for no reason.

As much as I love Lawson, I really hope the ideas in this piece don't come to pass. Especially on what I mentioned and the implication of Casey/Karai. lol.

[Xav]

Maybe Lawson recently read the Road Hogs comics?

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Yeah I'm not sure where Jim Lawson got the 3 Turtle kids from either, unless he simply forgot the older issues. Also weren't there like 100 Regenta eggs or something?

Also don't like the idea of Splinter returning. I mean way to kill one of the best moments of Volume 4, and Splinter passing away made sense. Just to bring him back is pointless and reeks of comic book retconning for no reason.

As much as I love Lawson, I really hope the ideas in this piece don't come to pass. Especially on what I mentioned and the implication of Casey/Karai. lol.

I believe a documentary on turtle birth might explain the question on where the other 97 baby turtles went:

[Tazi]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Also don't like the idea of Splinter returning. I mean way to kill one of the best moments of Volume 4, and Splinter passing away made sense. Just to bring him back is pointless and reeks of comic book retconning for no reason.

Well, it wouldn't be such a big thing, if the comic were getting released at normal speed instead of 1 issue per two year. "Splinter's" death just happened a few issues ago, and I'm sure PL has a reason for doing this "fake death" storyline. I just hope that one day we will know what it is...