FOREVER WAR - now it depends on YOU!

[Demon-Alukard]

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

A few questions if I may, what issues or arcs should we read ahead of Forever War? I see Sarnath and Katmandu I know Scumbug and Wyrm were mentioned. It is known to have connections to the aruably favorite arc of the run Th Future Shark Trilogy. Just don't tell me to start from #1 of the mini-series lead in to #72. It looks very packed of characters.

Actually, yes, it's better reread the whole run from the very beginning, but it's not as aggressive for new reader as you can afraid. For the good understanding it's enough to read first (TMNTA #42-44) and last (TMNTA #62-66) Future Turtles appearance, but if you know Adventures universe well, you'll notice some more behind all this

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

Glad we can finally say 77 issues! I am buying, but I am waiting the hardcover after all five are completed. Should I go ahead and buy or is it okay to wait until the completion of #77?

It's your choice for sure. We'll finish the project anyway, but from your support depends how much additions I can allow for our team. I already thinks about some additional pages when the story will be finished)

[Leo656]

Looks awesome, brother.

[BlueBandana]

Originally Posted by Demon-Alukard

Hey, guys! Another update about legendary and long awaited TMNT Forever War -- TMNT Adventures #73-75 Ashcan Editions! The books are printed now, even faster than I expected, so I'll start to send out preorders on Wednesday or so.

Here some photos of the printed books below! Enjoy!

Hey Arseniy, just a quick question! From what I remember, ashcans back in the 90s were smaller than regular-sized comics, usually something like 1/2 or 2/3 the size of a normal floppy. Looking at the bottom photo you posted, there doesn't seem to be any difference in size to the other Adventures issue. Is this correct or am I looking at the comparison pic wrong? Thanks!

[Demon-Alukard]

Originally Posted by BlueBandana

Hey Arseniy, just a quick question! From what I remember, ashcans back in the 90s were smaller than regular-sized comics, usually something like 1/2 or 2/3 the size of a normal floppy. Looking at the bottom photo you posted, there doesn't seem to be any difference in size to the other Adventures issue. Is this correct or am I looking at the comparison pic wrong? Thanks!

Yes, I decided to print them in the same regular size, 6,7''x10,2''.

[Nortock Diab]

At first ashcans were a mean to ensure copyright. They were printed quickly and in a cheap form.
Today golden age ashcans are real rarities.

Bob Burden reintroduced them with Flaming Carrot. They were magazine size.

The 90's with Liefeld, Image Comics and all the trendy publishers turned them into promotional items and reduced their size to what we commonly have in mind when someone refers to ashcans.

For people curious about the use of ashcans in the comic book industry, I advise to read Wikipedia page about it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashcan_comic

[MikeandRaph87]

I meant to ask, Raphael I thought gave up wearing his black costume. Did he fall back to wearing it just when he knew he was going into a fight? Also, Splinter is wearing the battle suit he had in the Asia trip in the #30s'. What was the creative choice in Splinter not just joining them, but wearing the battle suit in #73? Was it simply, 'hey that was cool design!'?

[Lordmylar06]

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

I meant to ask, Raphael I thought gave up wearing his black costume. Did he fall back to wearing it just when he knew he was going into a fight? Also, Splinter is wearing the battle suit he had in the Asia trip in the #30s'. What was the creative choice in Splinter not just joining them, but wearing the battle suit in #73? Was it simply, 'hey that was cool design!'?

In the early drafts for the first few pages of the Forever War from way back, Raph is seen putting the black costume on before the bros and Splinter are getting ready for a patrol.

[MikeandRaph87]

Originally Posted by Lordmylar06

In the early drafts for the first few pages of the Forever War from way back, Raph is seen putting the black costume on before the bros and Splinter are getting ready for a patrol.

Yes,I have read the issue. He had the pants on while lifting weights. I was asking, didn't Raphael stop wearing the costume after awhile, perhaps by the time of The Future Shark Trilogy? Also, Splinter's costume from the Asia trip I don't believe it is seen outside that arc. Its been well, forever since I have read the arcs. I am currently revisiting the series due to the time the pandemic has allowed.

[Lordmylar06]

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

Yes,I have read the issue. He had the pants on while lifting weights. I was asking, didn't Raphael stop wearing the costume after awhile, perhaps by the time of The Future Shark Trilogy? Also, Splinter's costume from the Asia trip I don't believe it is seen outside that arc. Its been well, forever since I have read the arcs. I am currently revisiting the series due to the time the pandemic has allowed.

Yeah he'd definitely stopped wearing it before, but maybe he was feeling like being stealthy again.

[Galactus]

I remember when Murphy had his blog and posted the penciled pages for the opening of the Forever War. When the question about the black suit came up in the comments he answered that Raph was heading towards a 'dark' phase post break up with Ninjara thus he was wearing the suit again.

I also think he probably just likes the suit and helps give the Adventures Raph his own identity hence why he also wears it in the 30th anniversary story were he's inexplicably with Ninjara again with no explanation.

[LUIS]

The 30th anniversary special is before the broke up IIRC. Is a shame, I did like them as a couple, I felt bad when they broked up. Maybe they can be together again?

[MikeandRaph87]

Originally Posted by LUIS

The 30th anniversary special is before the broke up IIRC. Is a shame, I did like them as a couple, I felt bad when they broked up. Maybe they can be together again?

Ninjara does appear in alternative reality in Forever War. Once it is all over maybe they will be. I felt Ninjara was featured alongside the TMNT too often and should have just been in every few issues supporting. Not knocking her just felt she was present too much.

I have been rereading latter arcs of the series and it reminded me of Future Don repeatedly stating the past had changed. The Mutanimals were always meant to be murdered, but by Malinga personally years later not an associate's hired guns. The lightning striking the Turtles cargo plane another example that he cites.

The tampering with the timeline has to be addressed in Forever War. It also could explain how Shredder can be pulled from #4 and acknowledge #25 in #36 despite it not happening for him yet.

[LUIS]

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

Ninjara does appear in alternative reality in Forever War. Once it is all over maybe they will be. I felt Ninjara was featured alongside the TMNT too often and should have just been in every few issues supporting. Not knocking her just felt she was present too much.

I have been rereading latter arcs of the series and it reminded me of Future Don repeatedly stating the past had changed. The Mutanimals were always meant to be murdered, but by Malinga personally years later not an associate's hired guns. The lightning striking the Turtles cargo plane another example that he cites.

The tampering with the timeline has to be addressed in Forever War. It also could explain how Shredder can be pulled from #4 and acknowledge #25 in #36 despite it not happening for him yet.

Ninjara was there with the turtles most of the time but at the same time it felt like she wasn't there. They should had give her more protagonism or just tag along the turtles certain times and not all the time. And I do hope they aknowladge how the past changed. I think they did say that they would explain the Shredder time travel thing.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

The tampering with the timeline has to be addressed in Forever War. It also could explain how Shredder can be pulled from #4 and acknowledge #25 in #36 despite it not happening for him yet.

Oh, for sure.

[MikeandRaph87]

Okay, so I used pandemic time to watch Baxter episodes and read the second half of Ninja Turtles Adventures. Not forever War, but as a 7 year old Dreamland was creepy and hard to get through, the zombies experimented on by Verimatator X and alien collecting living brains to another race that cannot dream? It doesn't make much sense even in a TMNT context. It abruptly ended with Raph shooting X and then suddenly he is reformed as Manx? Don did surgery to save him and removed bad cyber parts that corrupted him? Still not into this arc over two decades later. Moon Eyes, why were the Turtles, April, and Ninjara in Alaska meeting Tattoo? It is never explained why they meet him there or were the Inky backups which I skipped over supposed to explain that?

Forever War is 5 parts, obviously The Shredder is supposed to be the featured villain in what reminds me of Vandal Savage's scheme in Justice League's Savage Time arc. Are we supposed to see The Rat King and Armaggon teaming up with him again or who is with The Shredder?

[Galactus]

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

Not forever War, but as a 7 year old Dreamland was creepy and hard to get through, the zombies experimented on by Verimatator X and alien collecting living brains to another race that cannot dream? It doesn't make much sense even in a TMNT context. It abruptly ended with Raph shooting X and then suddenly he is reformed as Manx? Don did surgery to save him and removed bad cyber parts that corrupted him?

I always found the ending with Don and Manx the eeriest part of the story. I always thought it was morally dubious for Donatello to operate on Verminator-X's brain without his consent. I'm not even sure I buy that Don simply reverted him back to his original personality. The Future Shark trilogy seemed to imply that it was mixing tech with his brain that caused Manx to go bad, not that it was "bad wring" and there's something about his narrative and the way Chris Allen drew that final page suggests he didn't revert him to the Manx he used to be but instead simply switched him to Ned Flanders mode. Just as emotionally detached but on the "good" side.

[Andrew NDB]

I think it was Archie with sticky notes. But I don't know.

[Lordmylar06]

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

Moon Eyes, why were the Turtles, April, and Ninjara in Alaska meeting Tattoo? It is never explained why they meet him there or were the Inky backups which I skipped over supposed to explain that?

It's implied that April was going to cover a sumo competition and she's sending her friend Oyuki to cover it instead.
The reason for Alaska being a meeting place could've been anything, but maybe it was chosen because it's remote, and less likely the turtles would be seen while visiting a friend. I'm not sure if they Inky backups had anything to do with the "where and why" on this meetup.

[TigerClaw]

The Moon Eyes Saga was supposed to lead to Forever War before Archie decided to take the last few issues on a different direction.

[MikeandRaph87]

Originally Posted by Lordmylar06

It's implied that April was going to cover a sumo competition and she's sending her friend Oyuki to cover it instead.
The reason for Alaska being a meeting place could've been anything, but maybe it was chosen because it's remote, and less likely the turtles would be seen while visiting a friend. I'm not sure if they Inky backups had anything to do with the "where and why" on this meetup.

Oyuki covering Tattoo's sumo tournament brings TMNT, April, Ninjara, and Oyuki to Alaska as an equal distance meet up with him? Oyuki cannot just fly to Japan? Driving a rental car and camping after that? I understand that it is all a set up to break up Raphael and Ninjara, but it Is such a stretch. I remember wondering if Tora or Monty Moose would show up and why Tattoo was teased. I would like to read Murphy's set up of the arc.


Also, I had a thought, Future Don repeatedly noticed that history has changed. Back to the Future might hold an answer. The past changed because of interference be it Marty accidentally making his life better or Biff's successful sports gambling corrupting the timeline with George's murder among many other events. The Shredder seems to be altering events by either speeding events up ( Mutanimals and Malinga dying) or creating them such as the electric storm that brought down the TMNT's cargo plane. It may not be the complete answer, but it would lend credence to what we have seen. Also, some events by Forever War's end may be undone or the world better. As gross and creepy as Dreamland was it had an optimistic conclusion so characters once dead may return. Scumbug and Wyrm who are dead. Crystalized and shattered appears in the arc. Maybe past versions, but maybe revived by changed events.