TMNT #36 - Reviews and Discussion

[Mutant Ninja Anole]

I'm on a phone so I'll just say I was definitely surprised by the Rat King's take, and the last page. I'll have a lot to say when I can get behind a laptop, but thumbs up!

[Tazi]

For now, I'm just gonna say that, I'm really happy with the outcome, IDW gave him (The Rat King) the best parts from the previous incernations, while all of that still making a lot of sense in the context of the story.

Good work IDW!

[corvus]

I'm slightly disappointed that we won't get an Idw version of I monster because of this version of rat king but at the same time I'm loving it. Especially with his family ties.

[MikeandRaph87]

Design wise a darker color version of the '87 cartoon/Mirage in clothes minus the rags on the face. The hair however while red is Hulk Hogan style. The character portrayal mertis spoilers...

Spoiler:

It seems that Rat King is about the age of The Shredder and refers to dueling diamayo[s in Japan and is the brother of Kitsune. How he himself lived this long or returned like his sister and brother-in-law is not revealed.

What does Leo realize he has to do to beat The Shredder?

[Tazi]

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

Spoiler:

What does Leo realize he has to do to beat The Shredder?

Spoiler:

Remember when people suspected from the CityFall solicitations, that Leo goes double agent, and infiltrates Foot? Maybe, he convinces Shredder hat he is on his side again, he was just confused before.


Or maybe he ment using Krang & Shredder against each other, like Rat King did with Leo & Splinter?

[Metropoliskid41]

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

Design wise a darker color version of the '87 cartoon/Mirage in clothes minus the rags on the face. The hair however while red is Hulk Hogan style. The character portrayal mertis spoilers...

Spoiler:

It seems that Rat King is about the age of The Shredder and refers to dueling diamayo[s in Japan and is the brother of Kitsune. How he himself lived this long or returned like his sister and brother-in-law is not revealed.

What does Leo realize he has to do to beat The Shredder?

Spoiler:

Hmmm....interesting, I haven't gotten a chance to read it yet, but if that's the case, I wonder if RK will be making an appearance in Turtles in Time #2 which is set Feudal Japan??? I guess we'll just have to wait and see next week!

[MikeandRaph87]

The double agent concept crossed by min when reading it but not the other option which I would prefer and might make more sense if both villians are involved.

Edit:Venom,can you combine this thread with Tom's preview and you can unsticky #33's discussion thread.

[ChosenOne]

RK is gonna be one tough cookie to beat when the time comes! He seemed almost omnipotent.

[Tazi]

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

The double agent concept crossed by min when reading it but not the other option which I would prefer and might make more sense if both villians are involved.

If you look at it like that, half of the issue is about Leo and Splinter trying to answer this question: "Who should we focus on first, Shredder or Krang?"
And then the answer is likely: "They should focus on each other"

Would make a lot of sense in context of the story.

[Mutant Ninja Anole]

A few things now that I can type:

Spoiler:

I'm not as well versed in TMNT lore as some so I know little about the Rat King aside from his old cartoon appearance. Making him an entity similar to Kitsune, with his own agenda, is certainly an interesting way to go as it adds another layer to the massive number of sides in this battle, and leaves us with the unsettling feeling that everyone, heroes and villains, are being manipulated by something else.

Seeing Krang and Shredder together at the end was a bit of a surprise given the end of Utrom Empire. But then we don't really know how this is all going to pan out. I've sort of assumed Shredder and Krang will eventually end up in their cartoon status of "Allies who hate each other" at some point but Leo may be taking the Rat King's subliminal message as an idea to have them fight each other.

The visual repetition of the dream sequences was a nice touch, letting us know, without showing it, that Leo and Splinter were actually facing each other. As impressive as Leo was for immediately recognizing he was being manipulated, he was almost too smart for his own good when he injured Splinter assuming everything was completely fake.

I'll repeat what I said in the other thread that bringing April's parents into New York at this time might be something they regret, although April's father may know something about the ooze that can help them.

[Joey Kamikaze]

Holy crap! So re: the RK's "family"...

Spoiler:

The Rat King and Kitsune are "siblings." By that I take it they're similar demon-like/elder god-style beings who have been wrangling for control of Earth for eons. My long-running hunch has been that Kitsune is more than she's let on and she's just using Shredder; guess this is more or less confirmation. But the big thing that stands out to me is that there are presumably more beings like the two of them still to come. Here's to hoping Kitsune and the Rat King have a brother called Null who likes to pose as a human businessman. ...Seriously though, after this issue I feel like that would be the perfect way to work him into this series.

Re: Shredder and Krang...

Spoiler:

We knew it had to happen eventually, right? I can't wait to see how defective their partnership is, however brief it may be. I don't know that I expect them to be like an old married couple a la the cartoon, but I'm hoping they spend a few panels before #50 bickering with each other just for old time's sake. And of course I assume this is an alliance doomed to go down in flames, probably in spectacular fashion, whether the turtles interfere or not.

Seriously, this one issue just made it clear there's another whole faction that's been working behind the scenes the whole run and they're just coming into focus. And it all fits because the foreshadowing has been there since at least SHotFC. Hell yeah.

[ToTheNines]

Crazy good issue, this series is definitely hitting its stride.

It hit me like a ton of bricks when I realized who he meant when he said "my sister's handiwork". So awesome.

Spoiler:

What Kitsune actually is was the last major mystery in the series that hadn't been addressed at all, and I had honestly kind of forgotten about that. I'm glad that it won't be long before we get the skinny on that as well as what was going on between her and The Iron Demon back in the day.

I'm glad Splinter still plans to "destroy" Shredder. Hoping the payoff is good. I would like a head lopped off, but will settle for another finishing move I guess.

[Icegaze]

Mesmerizing issue. Totally unexpected and totally worth it.
Thank you so much IDW for publishing this TMNT series. I was wondering what use the Rat King would be in just 20 odd pages of one issue but now I have my answer.

Epic stuff to come.
And my fav Leo got to shine a little so that was the cherry on the cake for me.

[Redeemer]

Originally Posted by corvus

I'm slightly disappointed that we won't get an Idw version of I monster because of this version of rat king but at the same time I'm loving it. Especially with his family ties.

Same here I really loved "I monster"
But this Rat King is my favorite design yet. I love his appearance and back ground. This should be really interesting.
One last thing this is the best issue in a while!

[DrSpengler]

Here's my full review of TMNT #36 at TMNT Entity.

The Rat King is my all-time favorite TMNT villain, so of course I'm excited. I love what they did with him and it really speaks to the malleability of the character; that no two versions are identical. Tying him in with Kitsune was a definite surprise and gets me thinking more about her, a character I quite frankly forgot about.

As for Santolouco's design, I'm not sure if the Rat King reminds me more of Count Orlok from "Nosferatu" or Riffraff from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", but either way I like it!

[Coola Yagami]

Man, have I ever fallen behind on my blogs and reviews.... I'll have to snag this issue up next week.

[InsaneZane]

COOL!

[AnarkyLantern]

Originally Posted by DrSpengler

As for Santolouco's design, I'm not sure if the Rat King reminds me more of Count Orlok from "Nosferatu" or Riffraff from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", but either way I like it!

There's something of Mr Dark from Fables in there too.

[Joey Kamikaze]

Originally Posted by DrSpengler

[url=http://tmntentity.blogspot.com/2014/07/tmnt-idw-36.html]As for Santolouco's design, I'm not sure if the Rat King reminds me more of Count Orlok from "Nosferatu" or Riffraff from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", but either way I like it!

Hahaha, oh man, now there's no unseeing it.

[SDCC]

Originally Posted by DrSpengler

As for Santolouco's design, I'm not sure if the Rat King reminds me more of Count Orlok from "Nosferatu" or Riffraff from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", but either way I like it!

Exactly! In my review I mention a 'demented Richard O'Brien', the actor who played RiffRaff.