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Speaking of female superheroes ending up in bondage all the time, what's Paul Dini up to these days?

Probably working on the next Arkham (Asylum/City/___) game. (Actually, he said he wasn't working on it.)

I just read the new Wonder Woman trade and it was fantastic. I like how they've made her a daughter of Zeus.

The new Wonder Woman has been one of my favorites in the new 52...

I finally read volume 1 and about 2/3 of volume 2 of Eastman's IDW TMNT. And I was thinking "um, I need to compare notes with Anung Un Rama."

First, the art is pretty indifferent -- and not in the punky way from the 80s. Second, the dialog seems very generic to me and that's odd because these characters have such distinctive and well-established voices. Third, the origins story is ... definitely a new take



The action panels are okay. Nothing has really grabbed me yet but they're pretty serviceable. There are a few moments where I really enjoyed the characters: when Donatello is arguing with Leonardo, I thought -- wait, isn't that Raphael's job. I generally consider Donny to be adverse to confronting Splinter or Leonardo but in this series he doesn't have that issue. It's an interesting take on the character and it makes me wonder what this new spin for Donny will imply for Raphael.

It seems the real protagonist is Casey Jones, which is okay. They do a good job reinventing him and his emotional characterization is very thoughtful even if it verges on Marty Stu-ish at times. I'm waiting for him to actually screw up so I can see him as more three dimensional. At this point, he's just a long-suffering good guy.

April is a huge weak point in the series so far. She's mostly a plot device. I really don't know anything about her. The best word I can use to describe her personality is "generic."

The villains are also weak. Hob is visually appeal -- it's good to have mutants fighting mutants -- but it's like Waltz is clearly acknowledging that he's merely a plot device. Stockman is another non-person like April. She is generically good; he is generically bad. Krang is the worst of them. He's generically bad at a higher volume. He doesn't come off as creepy or otherworldly at all.

Of course I just waiting for Shredder to appear and steal the show.

Is it kiddish or adult? Some TMNT stuff is surprisingly graphic.

It's not kiddish but it's not even close to as dark as Batman's been lately. I think there is a little bit of blood but it is very, very little indeed.

Wow. Really Manchu? That sounds... harsh. I'm a bit busy and haven't read vol 1&2 in a few months but here goes:

First off, you have to know that I'm probably the biggest TMNT-fan on this board. It was a major part of my childhood and the 2003 series reignited that passion I had for the characters back then.

What I like most about the IDW TMNT is, that it's a great mix of 3 different kinds of TMNT. It has some (not all though) of the grittiness of the original comics. Vol. 4 especially, since it really deals withhow the Turtles actually want to live a peacefull life, but won't be able to, as long as the Shredder is alive. It's a great new take on it, since in the original comics, they were Splinter's personal assassins.
The "science"-part is less pulpy and more thought out, a bit like in the 2003 series. And it has a great Shredder, who was always a tough villian to take seriously, because of the way the classic cartoon handled him.
And then there's the simple fact, that the comic takes a lot of things from the old cartoon, like Krang, dimension X and a few more classic characters, and makes them intimidating. All while not losing the lighthearted-ness I enjoy about the characters so much.

Vol. 4 has a new artist whom I don't like at all, but the art before that works great. Especially Splinter and Mikey are captured really well.

Both Casey and April get more stuff to do in their micro series. Which are essential for the overall plot btw. I like them both, though I can see what you don't like about April. Then again, she's at least a better character than she was in the old show.

I love all the villians, even Hob. A mutated alley cat just makes so much sense in this new setting and he works as a decent threat but on a whole other level as Shredder or Stockman.

I've been following this franchise a lot in the last 10 years and I can honestly say, that these new TMNT are at least my 2nd favourite incarnation.

@anung You're making want to read TMNT but I'm well over my limit for comics.

I picked up some of that X-Men stuff. Cyclops is my second
favorite character after Ellis's take on Nate Grey, so I was
intrigued by the idea that he had gone "dark."

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem all that interesting yet.

Which storylines feature Scott as a master tactician? I really
like those kinds of things.

Well in AvX he becomes ruler of the world sort of. Did you start with AvX?

 KamikazeCanuck wrote:
Well in AvX he becomes ruler of the world sort of. Did you start with AvX?

I started way back in Fall of the Mutants and have been on and off ever since (mostly off).

For example, I loved the Age of Apocalypse stuff, and I loved Astonishing Xmen for a
little while.

I have also been on and off with X-Men over the years and you know it's hard with ongoing comics to pick a starting point. If you want to go way back House of M is the beginning of the current age of X-Men. Everything that happens in X books is just fallout from that event.

As for other important Cyclops reading "Scism" is a good lead in to AvX.

 Anung Un Rama wrote:
Wow. Really Manchu? That sounds... harsh.

I was being very consciously gracious, to be honest. In blunter terms, volumes 1 and 2 have been a snoozefest. I bought the main book after reading the rather excellent micro-series TPB and so far Eastman and Waltz have fallen far short. But more as it comes. I already have volumes 3 and 4 so I'll report back after getting further in.

Oh -- and so far as being a fan, I was squarely in the target demographic during the apogee of turtledom. I slept on TMNT bedsheets in TMNT pajamas, ate TMNT breakfast cereal, took a TMNT pencil case and folders to school along with my TMNT lunch box filled with TMNT gummies, all whilst wearing a TMNT pullover or tshirt, only to get home and watch the show, play with the toys, or visit a friends house to play Turtles in Time (didn't have SNES myself til much later), and finally falling asleep with the latest issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures from Archie Comics. I know what it's like to be a fan after the fact (for me, Star Wars)1 but I went through TMNT in real time with no lag or translation. And even though in hindsight I think most of that parent-impoverishing product stream amounted to mostly loud and constant noise, I have managed to retain a special fondness for the heroes in a halfshell. I think that's why, even looking at this afresh and as much as possible on its own terms, this book seems kind of flat. I mean, I know it can be done better. The latest TV series, for example, is much better.

malfred wrote:I picked up some of that X-Men stuff. Cyclops is my second
favorite character after Ellis's take on Nate Grey, so I was
intrigued by the idea that he had gone "dark."

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem all that interesting yet.

Which storylines feature Scott as a master tactician? I really
like those kinds of things.

Have you read Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men? It's one huge arc and comes in 4 thick TPBs. Everyone gets stuff to do, but Cyclops was particularly awesome in it.

Manchu wrote:

 Anung Un Rama wrote:
Wow. Really Manchu? That sounds... harsh.

I was being very consciously gracious, to be honest. In blunter terms, volumes 1 and 2 have been a snoozefest. I bought the main book after reading the rather excellent micro-series TPB and so far Eastman and Waltz have fallen far short. But more as it comes. I already have volumes 3 and 4 so I'll report back after getting further in.

I really have no idea what you're talking about. I loved every panel.

And speaking of the new show, I made a thread for it. but nobody was interested.

Well I got through half of Volume 3 last night -- interesting things actually start to happen. Well, an interesting thing: Shredder finally appears. But he just stands there for pages on end while his prisoner Splinter fights and defeats everyone else in the room. On the one hand, this is a nice build-up to the ultimate badass showdown fight. On the other hand, every panel that goes by lets the reader know this will NOT be the ultimate badass showdown fight because Splinter will be too tired for that. So it's kind of a mixed message, which sums up a lot of what I thought about volumes 1 and 2: long of tease, short on delivery.

What I am really interested in at this point is, what's going on with this reincarnation business? Leo and Donnie exchange some more barbs on this issue and the appearance of the Foot Clan shakes up their debate, which really drew me into these characters in a new way. I think this new origin story, as bizarre as it initially seemed, has a lot of leverage on character development. Volume 3 seems like the payoff. Is it good enough to justify anyone who doesn't like TMNT generally buying the series?

I can't say that much yet. More as it comes.

Seriously, how could they even CONSIDER canceling Young Justice. Just watched the last episode and it was so good. Again. Like every time. And the foreshadowing. They haven't been talking about Apokalips tech this much since season 1. I want to see te Team fight Darkseid.

It seems all super-hero shows are doomed to cancellation, even when they're really popular.

Well, I hear there's a thing about buying up as many of the toys you can find to give to charity. Maybe it could help. I would love them myself. Unfortunately I think the show just hits an age bracket that doesn't really want toys unless they are collectors.

I finished volume three of IDW's TMNT last night, read the second batch of micro series, and got through half of volume four. By the beginning of volume four, I felt really engaged -- the not-so-thrilling plot points of volumes one and two finally paid off and they pay off in a big way.

As far as I can tell, the general theme of the title is the meeting and melding of realism and the fantastical. Donatello's argument with Leo about reincarnation is the preeminent example. But there's also Casey's non-reaction to meeting Raphael the first time: a guy who is regularly beat up by his own father easily accepts that a bipedal talking turtle exists. April ends up being the touchstone in this regard: in a book about ninja fights, where extreme violence is just a given, she encounters it like a real person. When she almost gets killed in volume 1, it really shakes her up -- it kind of ruins her life, like you might expect almost being murdered would actually ruin your life. And so, although meeting the turtles is overwhelming (like it would be to a real person), she get involved with this fantastical world because it helps her deal with the trauma of encountering real violence.

In that sense, I think this is a very self-reflective comic book.

My favourite part was when Krang talked to Stockman:



And right there you know exactly what he's talking about.

TBF, it had already come up ... in the micro series I think?

Have you read Mouse Guard yet? David Peterson does that book and he's done some of the microseries covers for TMNT. I think you'd like it.

You're right. It has. Doesn't quite have the impact it had here though.

Never heard of Mouse Guard. These days I mostly read Marvel & DC stuff, but I'll give it a shot.

I'm convinced you'll like it:

http://www.mouseguard.net/

Here's his Splinter cover:

http://mutantooze.org/wiki/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/SpinterMicro.jpg

If you look closely at his bookshelves (this pic is too small) you can see Splinter has been reading TMNT comics and Mouse Guard.

ok, hands up.. who is reading the new My Little Pony comic book?

Apparently it is selling reallllly well. I have not had a chance to read through it, but will give it a glance on Wed.

Someone here has to be reading it, fess up.

Not me, but I am reading Thuderbolts. Kind of wish I wasn't though. It's not very good.

ate TMNT breakfast cereal

MMMMmm I miss the chex with marshmallow goodness that was TMNT cereal.

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2013/03/03/i-love-ya-but-youre-strange-women-in-charge-talk-about-a-mystery-in-space/





what !




PHEW! Things are back to normal !

Marvel is giving away free comics, crashes Comixology server in the process:

http://www.superherohype.com/news/articles/175427-read-over-700-marvel-first-issues-free

Cool. I'm downloading away. Thanks for letting me know.