Donatello: The Brain Thief #4 (already out) - Page 2

*DrSpengler* · 01-06-2010, 12:15 PM

It was just too decompressed. Lawson tried to take two issues-worth of story and stretch it to fill four, and it just didn't work.

There were MUCH better ways to pad the thing out than what we got, least of all being more interaction between Don and Baxter. Instead, it just filled the extra page space with panel after panel of empty sewer tunnels or Don running and running and running.

The premise of the story wasn't bad, it's just that there was only two issues plot at BEST and that's not even factoring in the wasted potential in regards to Don and Baxter.

It would've been fine as a one-shot issue of Tales, but it didn't have enough meat for a four issue miniseries.

***First of Two Latin Kings*** · 01-06-2010, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrSpengler

It was just too decompressed. Lawson tried to take two issues-worth of story and stretch it to fill four, and it just didn't work.

The premise of the story wasn't bad, it's just that there was only two issues plot at BEST and that's not even factoring in the wasted potential in regards to Don and Baxter.

It would've been fine as a one-shot issue of Tales, but it didn't have enough meat for a four issue miniseries.

All of your points are valid (I clipped a paragraph merely to save space), but you're not really telling us anything we don't know. Why don't you tell us WHY you think this might be?

Edit: Nevermind, just saw the beginning of the thread. YOU'RE the guy behind TMNT Entity? Wow.

*CyberCubed* · 01-22-2010, 05:39 PM

I still don't get why Don kept Baxter active for the 15 or so years until Volume 4.

Wasn't this mini-series supposed to explain that?

**Venom** · 01-22-2010, 07:25 PM

First off, I liked the series. It wasn't groundbreaking but really, how many Turtle stories are. It's a very "normal" title in that the overarcing theme was the development of the four Turtles' personalities and how they interact with life.

Okay, with that said I agree with Spengler in that the series took a sharp left turn with the nanosymbiote story. That should have been a background sub-plot for a larger story, one which was hinted at right in the first book: "Now tell me where my brother is."

That single line could have been the start of a powerful story of conflicting ideologies who find commonality within each other's own intellect. Baxter would mockingly talk down to Don and berate him for being a lower life-form, to which Don would remind him of who was occupying a burnt-out metal shell and living by the aide of electrical currents provided by said life-form.

We should have heard Baxter give Don a location, seen Don be sent out to only to be ambushed by the nanosymbiote (who Baxter has a semi-telepathic connection with), and Don's fury erupt as he becomes frustrated with Baxter's not complying and using less than humane techniques to try and unwillingly force him to stop and give up Raph's location.

We should have been allowed to see Baxter get under Don's skin, literally and figuratively, as some of the symbiotic nanomachines invade a wound in Don's skin (harking back to Image's Cyborg Don) and his mad rush to deactivate the particles before Baxter links a connection with Don's own neural network in hijack his mind and ultimately his body.

Later, we should have seen Don finally realize the key to getting Baxter to comply by realizing he was using tactics Baxter would use and see them both engage in a conversation as unrelenting equals, one dark, one light, both shades of grey to varying degrees. There's a word I want to use to describe the situation, but it escapes me at the moment...Anyway, that conversation would have led to Baxter revealing the true location of Raph and the series should have ended with Don saying "Hey guys, I know where to find Raph." and Mike asks "How?" and Don gives and ambiguous answer "I have good intel." or something and have it lead into the Volume 2 story that follows.

I dunno, but while I did enjoy "Don: The Brain Thief" I also felt the potential that could have been.

*VaughnMichael* · 02-21-2010, 04:16 AM

I only like this series because it gives us more of Baxter.
But besides that this was complete crap and the last issue was the worst.
I was 100% dissapointed.

*Powder* · 02-21-2010, 05:05 AM

Meh. There are alot of things like this that we'll look back at & say 'being that "------" was the last of the "-------'s" really sucks. Like, yakno, this was the last mini-series, & wasn't too great. Or when we look back @ the last of the tales issues & think of how many loose ends they could've tied but instead used crappy plots & less then impressing artists. F*** it.

*VaughnMichael* · 02-21-2010, 05:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Powder

Meh. There are alot of things like this that we'll look back at & say 'being that "------" was the last of the "-------'s" really sucks. Like, yakno, this was the last mini-series, & wasn't too great. Or when we look back @ the last of the tales issues & think of how many loose ends they could've tied but instead used crappy plots & less then impressing artists. F*** it.

Exactly it's all wasted space.

*Powder* · 02-21-2010, 06:44 AM

Laziness I say! Either that or a general lack of creativity...

*VaughnMichael* · 02-21-2010, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Powder

Laziness I say! Either that or a general lack of creativity...

eh I think they are being creative, it's just that I think the fans would rather see things closed up in the short time that's left for them to do things rahter than add more stories.

*odupianist* · 02-22-2010, 07:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VaughnMichael

eh I think they are being creative, it's just that I think the fans would rather see things closed up in the short time that's left for them to do things rahter than add more stories.

I don't know. This Don series had potential to be better than the Leo one. Overall it was a let down. It could have been really deep and thought provoking and one hell of a mind f*ck for Don, but it didn't happen

01-06-2010, 12:15 PM	#21
DrSpengler Foot Elite Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 4,842	It was just too decompressed. Lawson tried to take two issues-worth of story and stretch it to fill four, and it just didn't work. There were MUCH better ways to pad the thing out than what we got, least of all being more interaction between Don and Baxter. Instead, it just filled the extra page space with panel after panel of empty sewer tunnels or Don running and running and running. The premise of the story wasn't bad, it's just that there was only two issues plot at BEST and that's not even factoring in the wasted potential in regards to Don and Baxter. It would've been fine as a one-shot issue of Tales, but it didn't have enough meat for a four issue miniseries.

01-22-2010, 05:39 PM	#23
CyberCubed Overlord Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 43,756	I still don't get why Don kept Baxter active for the 15 or so years until Volume 4. Wasn't this mini-series supposed to explain that?

01-22-2010, 07:25 PM	#24
Venom Space Knight Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Colorado Posts: 3,635	First off, I liked the series. It wasn't groundbreaking but really, how many Turtle stories are. It's a very "normal" title in that the overarcing theme was the development of the four Turtles' personalities and how they interact with life. Okay, with that said I agree with Spengler in that the series took a sharp left turn with the nanosymbiote story. That should have been a background sub-plot for a larger story, one which was hinted at right in the first book: "Now tell me where my brother is." That single line could have been the start of a powerful story of conflicting ideologies who find commonality within each other's own intellect. Baxter would mockingly talk down to Don and berate him for being a lower life-form, to which Don would remind him of who was occupying a burnt-out metal shell and living by the aide of electrical currents provided by said life-form. We should have heard Baxter give Don a location, seen Don be sent out to only to be ambushed by the nanosymbiote (who Baxter has a semi-telepathic connection with), and Don's fury erupt as he becomes frustrated with Baxter's not complying and using less than humane techniques to try and unwillingly force him to stop and give up Raph's location. We should have been allowed to see Baxter get under Don's skin, literally and figuratively, as some of the symbiotic nanomachines invade a wound in Don's skin (harking back to Image's Cyborg Don) and his mad rush to deactivate the particles before Baxter links a connection with Don's own neural network in hijack his mind and ultimately his body. Later, we should have seen Don finally realize the key to getting Baxter to comply by realizing he was using tactics Baxter would use and see them both engage in a conversation as unrelenting equals, one dark, one light, both shades of grey to varying degrees. There's a word I want to use to describe the situation, but it escapes me at the moment...Anyway, that conversation would have led to Baxter revealing the true location of Raph and the series should have ended with Don saying "Hey guys, I know where to find Raph." and Mike asks "How?" and Don gives and ambiguous answer "I have good intel." or something and have it lead into the Volume 2 story that follows. I dunno, but while I did enjoy "Don: The Brain Thief" I also felt the potential that could have been.

02-21-2010, 04:16 AM	#25
VaughnMichael I'm Baaaaaaccck! Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 11,833	I only like this series because it gives us more of Baxter. But besides that this was complete crap and the last issue was the worst. I was 100% dissapointed.

02-21-2010, 05:05 AM	#26
Powder 40 Years of TMNT Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Shell-Ri-La Posts: 26,945	Meh. There are alot of things like this that we'll look back at & say 'being that "------" was the last of the "-------'s" really sucks. Like, yakno, this was the last mini-series, & wasn't too great. Or when we look back @ the last of the tales issues & think of how many loose ends they could've tied but instead used crappy plots & less then impressing artists. F*** it.

02-21-2010, 06:44 AM	#28
Powder 40 Years of TMNT Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Shell-Ri-La Posts: 26,945	Laziness I say! Either that or a general lack of creativity...