Getting up to speed with the comics?

[John]

Hi guys,

I have been picking up a few of the old Ninja Turtles trade paper backs from ebay, and reading as much as I can on this forum to try and get myself up to date with what is happening in the comics at the moment. I thought I was getting back up to speed until I read one of Jesters posts in another topic talking about a 'One-handed Leo, Cyborg Don, Shredder Raph and Bat Splinter'? What the hell have I missed?!? Are these changes all in continuity, or did they just appear in a spin off series?

Are there any sites with a guide to help people get up to date with what's happening in the comics at the moment?

Also I have seen a book called Bodycount, has anyone read this? Is it available to buy anywhere or should I just keep my eyes out on ebay?

[Aztec General]

Go to www.ninjaturtles.com and then click on "Comics". You'll find your answers there.

"Bodycount" was created by Kevin Eastman and Simon Bisley and released by Image. It was originally released under Mirage as "Casey Jones & Raphael". It's a bloody, violent, insane, and honestly pretty stupid adventure featuring Raph, Casey, a female assassin named Midnight as they attempt to take down a brutal mobster named Johnny Woo Woo (who for some reason has mechanical arms). Not much here.

[John]

haha is Johnny Woo Woo meant to be a nod to John Woo?

[TheShowstoppa]

Eh, while at the same time, going to ninjaturtles.com will give you the insight, it might as well be posted here too:

As you know, Volume 1 Mirage Continuity involves issues 1 - 14, 19 - 21, 45 - 62. A lot of the events in Volume 2 also apply to this universe. However, the Image line, or Volume 3, is not in the direction which Peter Laird wanted to take the turtles, hence all the turtles being intact in the first issue of Volume 4.

This is where the post becomes INSANELY long, so please bare with me, as I'm going to try and recap most of the details of TMNT Vol. 4.

Issue 1 - Opening you see a huge robot on the moon. It inspects the site of the first Apollo Lunar Landing. It's fascinated by what we have done. It gets called back to the "base" where an UTROM(!) (See TMNT Vol. 1, Issues 3 - 7) is talking with it about the Humans. The robot makes a comment that he's only met a few earthlings and they weren't even human. This brings us back to earth where our four heros have caught themselves in a very familiar position (see TMNT Vol 1 issue 1). They get tangled in a battle and the turtles retreat to a rooftop where they are met again by the gang. They finally retreat and Donny finds a snowmobile belonging to the gang. He takes it and goes into the sewers where he wrecks the snowmobile but finds an armored car. Mikey, trying to catch Donny, gets hit by a bus and is found by a winged comarad. April and Casey are now married and they make their way to a doctor to find out why April cannot get pregnant. Shadow, now a teenager living at the Northampton farmhouse (See TMNT Vol 1 issues 10 - 14), is practacing with Metalhead. (Vol. 1 issue 15) She goes to meet Splinter and wonders why April and Case haven't called. Then she has a feeling something big is about to happen.

I didn't realize until finally typing that summary out how long it really was... therefore, I'm going to sumarize the rest of the issues by just plucking the major events!

Mikey wakes up in a hospital... only its a hospital for superheros. Raph, Don, and Casey investigate the armored car and they decide to get it running. (They find some OLD corpses and money!) Shadow goes up to meet with her boyfriend and is at a loss if she thinks it's time to introduce him to Splinter. Meenwhile, on the moon, the utroms make it apparent that they are about to lift off from the moon and make their way to Earth!

Issue 3: Some people in Venezuala (sp?) are attacked by a huge ugly looking thing and seem to evaporate! Donny Raph and Case get the armored car running. Mikey heads back home, but is fired upon by the New Yorkers thinking they're aliens... Because, the Utroms have landed in earth! Back in Northhampton, Shadow returns and her and Splinter watch the news as the Utroms land.

Issue 4: Leo practices and then comes down to talk with the rest about the possible invasion. The Utroms show themselves, and make clutzes of themselves too! They show that they mean no harm. Meanwhile, Karai practices with some foot and imagines they are the turtles... After the events unfold, Raph and Mike are walking in the sewers when the huge robot from the moon shows up!

Issue 5: Mike and Raph find out the huge robot in infact Professor Honeycutt, or The Fugitoid! The Utroms announce that they will stay on Earth for one year, if they're not welcome, they will leave. If they are, they plan to make Earth a tourist spot for other Aliens as they will build a transmat on Earth. Some time passes and now our 4 heros can walk around in daylight. April, Case and Shadow all make plans to visit the Utrom base. As they arrive, they go through a screening and April sets off an alarm. The Foot have been hired as the security for the Utroms.

Issue 6: Shadows boyfriend finds out about Splinter, utilizing a scope on a rifle. Metalhead finds him and brings him to the house. Everyone is awaiting the diagnosis on April and they find out that April was injected with Nanobots by Baxter Stockman (TMNT Vol 2).

I'll go ahead and stop here. I would suggest ordering the backissues from ninjaturtles.com as they have all of them, only issues 1 and 2 are second prints. If anyone would like me to continue or would like me to go into more detail (being as that I would have to bring out my comics to go into detail) please post and I'll be glad to do it!

[Aztec General]

You missed some issues from Vol. 1. I believe it's:

Vol. 1
1-15, 19-21, 27-9, 45-62.

Raphael, Fugitoid, Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo one shots

Vol. 2
1-13

Vol. 4
1-24 (ongoing)

Tales
Vol. 1
1-7

Vol. 2
1-17 (ongoing)

Plus a few specials and short stories not listed here.

[Aztec General]

Originally Posted by John

haha is Johnny Woo Woo meant to be a nod to John Woo?

Yeah. Because all of his films have crazy action and Bodycount was meant to be a nod to that.

[TheShowstoppa]

Well, of course the one-shots. I didn't leave those out because I didn't think they applied, however... I guess I never really thought of the Silent Age, Carnage and Radical, and the Men of Shadow ones to be continuity. (I also know about the Tales, but he seemed to be asking about the TMNT line and not Tales, hence me not mentioning them.)

Though, now that I think about it, vague references are made in the comics of Vol. 4 to 2 of the 3 comics mentioned above: Radical flying about when the Utroms land, and Raph making the wise crack that he's faced real Vampires before, and the ones that attacked him weren't real Vampires.

I'm actually really embarassed by this fact because I pride myself on knowing these things!!!!
*TheShowstoppa goes to the corner and cries like a baby for being ignorant!*

[Aztec General]

Originally Posted by TheShowstoppa

Well, of course the one-shots. I didn't leave those out because I didn't think they applied, however... I guess I never really thought of the Silent Age, Carnage and Radical, and the Men of Shadow ones to be continuity. (I also know about the Tales, but he seemed to be asking about the TMNT line and not Tales, hence me not mentioning them.)

Though, now that I think about it, vague references are made in the comics of Vol. 4 to 2 of the 3 comics mentioned above: Radical flying about when the Utroms land, and Raph making the wise crack that he's faced real Vampires before, and the ones that attacked him weren't real Vampires.

I'm actually really embarassed by this fact because I pride myself on knowing these things!!!!
*TheShowstoppa goes to the corner and cries like a baby for being ignorant!*

LOL. It's okay we all make mistakes. I pride myself on knowing this stuff too. Heck, if you give me a day or two I'll tell you the 3 or 4 short stories that are certainly to be considered canon. Not tonight though, I'm too tired.

[PanMan]

i'm also thinking of starting to get into the comics. so basically those issues mentioned above are the ones involved in the main continuity? what about the issues in the gaps in volume 1 (16-18 and 22-26 for example). are these just way out there or what? also, is volume 2 widely considered to be part of the continuity or is it like volume three which is left out of the continuity?

ok, now where can i get these? i looked on the official site and they have most of the later issues of volume 1, but are missing alot of the early volume 1 and there is no volume 2. are there trade paperbacks of volume one or something. any suggestions on where i could get these?

thanks for any help

[Aztec General]

Some of the non-continuity issues are WAY (Martin's work 16, 22-3) out there, but others are great stories in their own right ("Souls Winter" 31, 34-5; "The River" 24-6) just not continuity.

Volume 2 is continuity. Volume 3, aka the Image series, is not considered continuity (it was meant to be but Laird decided against it).

[TheShowstoppa]

I enjoy the fact that 3 is just a stand alone series. Makes for a good "what if" storyline. However, I enjoyed some of those "out there" issues from volume one. I especially like The River trilogy. I'm still miffed that the only issue I don't own from Volume 1 is the one I want the most: The Untouchables.