Tales of the TMNT 41

[Raph's Girl]

Midtown's saying this is out on Wednesday Jan 9th. Here's what Mirage says about it:

“The Sword” - In the far-flung future an aging Leonardo battles a familiar foe from the past… one final blood-soaked time. Picking up a plot thread from Tales #13, this issue features the wild art of Zombie Commandoes from Hell creator Steph Dumais! With a frontispiece by alphagodz.com!

Yay!! Future Turtles!!

[AquaParade]

This one sounds really interesting.

[Rooish]

Woah, check out this quote from the official site for Issue 41:

Spoiler:

Future Leonardo and Radical run into Complete Carnage, who destroys the happy couple's romance. Leonardo first seeks solace in forgiveness, until he discovers the villain is devoid of any virtue.

Spoiler:

Romance?

[DrSpengler]

Read the issue.

Ugh. Just ugh.

Spoiler:

I find human/Turtle romance to be nothing more than fangirl fanwank and completely devoid of all value, so take a wild guess as to how I felt about this issue.

Leo's and Radical's "romance" was so completely out of the blue it was embarassing, and they get their freak on about 2 pages after dropping the bomb on the reader. Radical's death was also stupid as all getout; it was like a bad Hollywood movie.

Leo: "We're so in love, nothing could possibly go wrong!"

*Radical dies*

Leo: *drops to his knees and screams to the heavens* "NOOOOOOOO!!!"

That last part isn't even an embelishment. I usually like geriatric Turtles stories, but this one was failure of epic proportions. The art is almost Lawson-bad, too.

The back-up story, "Fathers and Daughters" was a nice epilogue to Casey's arc from "City at War" (you'll notice Don is absent from the story, maintaining continuity). Liked the art, as well.

"Sawn Song" is possibly the worst issue of Tales I've read to date.

[a_big_apple]

Spoiler:

Though I'm not opposed to the guys getting some romance in their lives, I'm having a hard time with Leo and Radical. We never get to really know enough about her character for me to feel like I have a handle on what she's like. I enjoyed the writing and the art of this issue, but...Radical? Not feeling it. However, I'm loving the double-bo thing Don's got going on when they're all standing around at Radical's grave, and that crazy page in the Casey story where they're all dressed up and doing weird things to entertain Shadow is priceless.

[Scandia]

This is weirding me out SO MUCH. Maybe it is just the whole shock of it. I mean, both Leo and Radical are great. And I am not opposed to the Turtles having relationships. But it's like the Turtles were nearly asexual (except for their crushes on April) during their first thirty-something years. Yet after Splinter is gone, all of a sudden they are thrown into relationships. First Mikey and now Leo. At least Raphael x Ninjara in Archie got MUCH more development.

[Roseangelo]

The Leonardo/Radical thing is a big WTF, but other than that I didn't find the issue to be too terrible. I've read worse. The back-up story is cute and I loooove Dooney's pinup.

Isn't no turtle/human relationships one of Peter's big "commandments"?

[oldmanwinters]

Spoiler:

Yeah, Turtle/human relationship is pretty weird. That aside, it was an interesting issue, IMO. Its a lot for the reader to handle, but I just assumed a lot of background between Leo and Radical must have occured that we weren't able to see. It seems the Leo/Radical relationship is primarily a spiritual one. As Leo says, it was about "transcendence." This being the older Leonardo, he is reflecting on concepts such as atonement, wholeness, etc. Radical must have become a means to this discipline. It would seem Radical is to old Mirage Leo what Karai could have been for 2k3 Leo.

At least that's my take, for what it's worth.

[Spitfire]

.........What dip **** came up with this issues plot?

[ZariusTwo]

Now this will be the standard-bearer of how you SHOULD'NT handle Turtle/Human relationships. It says a lot when we have an example of how to do it right in the current series (Don/April) when it's strictly platonic in that example.

Somebody please retcon this exactly in the same way as She-Hulk's affair with The Juggernaught.

[VaughnMichael]

Originally Posted by Roseangelo

Isn't no turtle/human relationships one of Peter's big "commandments"?

I thought the same exact thing...great now tuns of creepy fan girls are going to be doing disgusting drawings of Leonardo and Radical having sex.

[Rooish]

Originally Posted by Spitfire666xXxXx

.........What dip **** came up with this issues plot?

... Murphy ... o.O

Originally Posted by Putrescent

I thought the same exact thing...great now tuns of creepy fan girls are going to be doing disgusting drawings of Leonardo and Radical having sex.

Nah, fan girls just draw themselves having sex with the Turtles.

[blue_angel99]

I sooo called this first!!! (whether thats good or bad I don't know yet...) I mentioned this in another thread!!! I wrote a letter to Pete Laird after reading Splinter's Funeral issue a few times. I noticed that in a couple of panels Leo and Radical share a hug. I was like WTH and asked in my letter if I was reading too much into it. If you read the letters at the end of TMNT he answered by saying that they did have a special bond but that I'd have to wait and see in furture issues. I was like ok cool. Good for Leo.

Apparently not too many people like that. Thats cool too. Personally, I wanted to see the turtles in relationships. That is a part of life. Yes they have each other, but come on...do ya want them to be eunuchs or something. If it wasn't for tragic love, the turtles wouldn't even exsist right? The love triangle between Shen, Hamato Yoshi, and Oroku Nagi ending with Shredder(Oroku Saki) killing Yoshi and Shen, brought Splinter and the turtles together.

All I know of Radical is that she is of native american heritage and was given super powers by the gods or something. She seems like a spiritual type (like Leo-san) so when Laird said they were close, I wasn't too shocked.

Her being a human and he a turtle can cause major controversy. I'm in major shock seeing it in black and white (blush), but then its not like the turtles have many options. The old cartoon turtles also had human type "girlfriends" right...Mike/Kala (alien humanoid),Leo/ Lotus, Raph/Mona Lisa(used to be human), Don/April (bleh). Movie one, Raph is attracted to April and movie III Mike likes Michi. So to me, I thinks it's about time they put a little turtle romance in the comics. Good job Mirage!!

[The Shelf]

Originally Posted by blue_angel99

All I know of Radical is that she is of native american heritage and was given super powers by the gods or something. She seems like a spiritual type (like Leo-san) so when Laird said they were close, I wasn't too shocked.

I thought Radical got hit by a lightning bolt, and that's how she got her powers. Same with Complete Carnage. I dunno, the Tales Vol. 1 TPB wasn't too clear on it.

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by Rooish

... Murphy ... o.O

Wow...turtles in relationships I'll put up with, turtles porking aliens I'll put up with*Even though that idea of it all is utterly retarded*, but turtles porking humans how just gone beyond my limits.

[blue_angel99]

Originally Posted by The Shelf

I thought Radical got hit by a lightning bolt, and that's how she got her powers. Same with Complete Carnage. I dunno, the Tales Vol. 1 TPB wasn't too clear on it.

They were introduced in Tales but issue 27 of Vol. 1 tells the complete story of Radical and Carnage. I've never read it, but the tmnt web site http://www.ninjaturtles.com has a full synopsis under the comics section. Mike Dooney's cover art is beautiful!

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by blue_angel99

They were introduced in Tales but issue 27 of Vol. 1 tells the complete story of Radical and Carnage. I've never read it, but the tmnt web site http://www.ninjaturtles.com has a full synopsis under the comics section. Mike Dooney's cover art is beautiful!

From my ill-updated Mirage/Image encyclopedia :

McINTYRE, DR. HAZEL : (AKA "Radical," AKA "Raven Shadow Heart") A Native American woman with supernatural power in reality and what is known as the "Dreamscape"; also the arch-enemy of Complete Carnage. Hazel was spoiled rotten since the day she had been born to her heiress mother. As a schoolchild, she was an obnoxious "little goody two-shoes," tattling on her playmates and manipulating adults to get everything she wanted. Lazy and self-centered, she ignored her schoolwork and eventually dropped out of high school. At the age of 22 she had already been married and divorced, mostly because she was surprised to discover that her ex-husband’s entire life did not revolve around her. She ended up moving back with her mother, where she did little more than watch television soaps, order the servants around, and spend her mother’s inheritance money. One day while jogging in Central Park, Hazel was abruptly struck by lightning, instantly being given liquid energy-like power. She loved this power, and soon accepted the moniker of "Radical" (Transdimensional TMNT). Meanwhile, her childhood nemesis Complete Carnage, AKA Max Wilsocchi, was struck by lightning as well while he worked in his concrete construction job, instantly mutating him into a powerful, monster-like being. One of Radical and Carnage’s earliest confrontations occurred when Casey Jones and Raphael stumbled into him while entering a building they thought abandoned. Radical appeared and, after a short fight, flung him halfway across the world (Shell Shock). Another confrontation occurred when Carnage appeared when she was biking, surprising and nearly overtaking her. Now possessing the ability to pass through and absorb into man-made things, Carnage posed an even greater threat. Pulling off his arm, Radical lured him away, then used her "Particle Beam" ability, scattering their atoms and eventually warping them both to the ethereal-like "Dreamscape" (Tales of the TMNT #5). Radical and Carnage sparred for the final time when she sought out Carnage, having the Turtles distract him while she prepared a spell that liquified the road Carnage attempted to dive into, liquifying (and killing) him in the process (TMNT Vol. 1, #27). It seemed the arm Radical pulled from Carnage’s socket got into the hands of the Whelan-Freas Scientific Research Center. The center generated a clone of Carnage from the arm, a clone that escaped to go on a rampage in Chicago. The Turtles, learning of this, sought Radical’s help, who they found to now be going by her Native American name, Raven Shadow Heart, a teacher who then worked toward preserving her culture at the Museum of Natural History in New York. She was unable to intervene against Carnage because she did not have permission from the "Council," (because the creature rampaging was a clone, not the real Carnage—the being she was destined to fight and had already beaten) but the Turtles were victorious nonetheless with the help of Officer Dragon (TMNT/TSD II & TSD series #22).

You can find a good bio on her with background and stats in the TMNT & Other Strangeness books, though as time went on Dooney kind of retconned her a bit (though the two backgrounds can be sort of reconciled together... that's what I tried to above, I think).

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by Spitfire666xXxXx

Wow...turtles in relationships I'll put up with, turtles porking aliens I'll put up with*Even though that idea of it all is utterly retarded*, but turtles porking humans how just gone beyond my limits.

The TMNT live in a world dominated by humans, who else are they gonna pork? C'mon, give the guys a break. They save the city and somtimes the entire planet/galaxy/our own reality a couple of times, they're entitled to some nookie. I mean, think how much it would suck if YOU became a mutant turtles and wouldn't be allowed to get any cause 'the fanboys don't want us to'. If I was a turtle, I'd hang myself...

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

The TMNT live in a world dominated by humans, who else are they gonna pork?

Actually, since Volume 4, they live in a world -- and a then-easily accessible universe -- populated by quite a few other races than humans.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Actually, since Volume 4, they live in a world -- and a then-easily accessible universe -- populated by quite a few other races than humans.

True... but they've been exposed to humans more.... I doubt humans are gonna suddenly start porking the (whatever race Mikey's gf was) or other female aliens anytime soon.... so why would the turtles? It be sad if they haven't screwed a human girl on some random adventure by the time they reached Volume 4 anyways....