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Catching up on some recent non-villains reading

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Walt

ASTRO CITY #4

astrocity004This is exactly the sort of story I absolutely love from this series. Astro City brings to life a certain reality of superhumans existing in ordinary society, and rarely does so better than showing us that not every last individual that develops a power is automatically a hero or villain. We’re brought into a world of individuals who have found other uses for their powers, making a living with the use of their power outside the flash-bang of the constant hero/villain battles. In this case, a telekinetic using her powers to assist in the special effects for film, allowing model movement without cumbersome wires. of course, there are those that would see such use as a waste of talent and seek to round these folks up and force them to use their powers for someone’s gain. But that’s where a network of the non-action folks comes in as they have one another’s backs. Great story, great art, and a fantastic self-contained one-issue story. Even when I tell myself I’ll wait for the collected volume(s), it’s issues like this that keep me coming back for the single-issue Astro City experience!

BATMAN BLACK AND WHITE (2013) #1

batmanblackandwhite001Despite overall enjoyment of the one-shot nature of the Villains Month books this September, as a longer-term thing I’ve been gravitating to DC‘s digital-first stuff that basically exists on its own. I saw and passed on this issue the week it came out, but wound up buying it this past weekend on others’ recommendation and ended up quite enjoying it. While the $4.99 cover price is rather off-putting, it FELT like I had a lengthy reading experience out of the deal. The multiple short stories lend an air of added value, as not only do we not “need” to buy the next issue to resolve a cliffhanger but got several COMPLETE stories in this issue. I quite enjoyed the mix of stories and art, and look forward to the next issue. Also, while I usually hate “sketch covers” and such, which this one would certainly qualify as in my eyes…this one works here because it’s perfectly fitting to the contents of the issue and nature of the book itself. Though I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing this image in full color as a poster or such.

TMNT NEW ANIMATED ADVENTURES #3

tmntnewanimatedadventures003I’m continuing to enjoy pretty much any dose of TMNT in comic form, and this title continues to have exactly what I’m looking for in it. I’m really enjoying Brizuela‘s art as it nicely carries the tone of the tv series while keeping a comic look and being its own thing. I did find the story itself fairly forgettable on the whole here, but in a way that could actually be a bit of a strength: it fits so well with other episodes of the tv series and earlier issues of this series that it just blends right in. The cover made me think we were getting an expanded look at Kraang-Prime, which unfortunately was not actually the case; but still made for a cool, interesting cover. There’s not much in the way of solid “mythology” to this series, as it’s truly a companion of sorts to the tv series…but I’m liking it. Now if we could just get a single-issue edition classic reprint series of the old Archie TMNT Adventures, I’d be all set!

BATMAN ’66 #3

batman66003This issue was fairly fun for me. Usually I wouldn’t much care for this sort of thing, but I enjoyed seeing the Red Hood concept introduced into the ’66 universe. It definitely fit well, and kept the typical tone I’d expect from the classic tv series. Unfortunately, I’m noticing a pattern wherein we have a story taking up 2/3 of the issue and another short filler taking up the final third…and I’ve had to basically force myself through the final story. I appreciate the pagecount for the price, but would prefer more to the main story’s segments. On the whole, I’m still getting a “feel” for this series though look forward to what else we get from it. I suppose I could pick and choose from the digital chapters, but while I’ll buy some comics digitally, since this is a title I’m choosing as a “DC Fix” or “Batman Fix” for the month, I’d prefer to buy it in print for the time-being. I do wonder how long until the visual style wears on me…I appreciate having the characters look like the actors’ depictions and such (note Joker’s facial hair in this issue), but I don’t care for some of the other flourishes.

Filed under: QUASI-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Classic TMNT Toys: Multiple Leos and Random Mutants

Posted on September 19, 2013 by Walt

Back in the early ’90s, I was often “suckered” by the many “variants” on the main turtles. While I don’t believe I did many “sets” of all 4, my favorite of the four turtles was Leonardo, so I wound up with a lot of those.

I recently came across some of the old figures, which provided a bit of a trip down memory lane, so to speak.

multiple_leonardos

 

The Leo with the tall neck comes plugged in to a gun/trigger thing to make the legs kick…sort of a rock ’em sock ’em TMNT. Then we had Hockey Leo and TD Tossin’ Leo. There was some sort of Talkin’ Leo that used to have some kind of strip that fed through a speaker/mechanism on the back to spout a copule phrases. Then there’s Sword Slicin’ Leo from the Wacky Action set. And in front, my favorite: Storage Shell Leo. Not so much for the ridiculousness of opening the turtle’s back and stuffing weapons, but because if you didn’t really know any better, the figure looks normal, just a different (and I think superior) sculpt from the original.

Then we have a couple random mutants-du-jour…Muckman and Pizzaface:

muckman_and_pizzaface

Muckman originally came with a trashcan that attached to the back, and a miniature “sidekick” figure Joe Eyeball. The banana peel on top of his head comes off like a lid and you can squish some “ooze” in to have it drool out the mouth and gut, I believe.

Pizzaface is just…I don’t know, absolutely ridiculous, stupid, and there’s no way in heck I’d ever choose to buy such a character now.

Finally, we have Panda Khan:

panda_khan

I recently learned that Panda Khan was an actual character in his own comic that I suppose must have been licensed for a toy. I originally took him as simply another random mutant made up to sell a toy. [ Panda Khan info ]

Fool me once, shame on you: all those many, many figures back in the day. Fool me twice, shame on me: refusing to buy variants within the same line of figures.

storage_shell_leo

…and a closeup on the Storage Shell Leonardo, just cuz I really, really dig the sculpt.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

TMNT Toys 2013: Leatherhead and Ninjas in Training (Leo & Don)

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Walt

I finally managed to find Leatherhead the other day. I think I might’ve been happier if I’d found him weeks ago, before learning of the existence of several other figures I actually do want, though.

Still, he’s a rather ugly (yet cool) figure…and makes me wish I had the original so I’d have all 3 versions.

leatherhead_front

The card back is much like other recent ones…nothing ‘new’ to this that I haven’t already shown on other posts, except of course the profile:

leatherhead_profile

I also came acrros the Ninjas in Trainin: Leonardo & Donatello, but due to budget didn’t feel comfortable picking them up at the time. I did, however, take a couple photos…if only as “proof” to myself that I’d actually found the things once, should they prove to be a massive pain in the butt to find later (much as Leatherhead did).

NinjasInTrainingLeoAndDon_front

Also, I wasn’t entirely enamored with the figures…they’re “cute,” but not nearly as much as the 2003 line’s version of the young TMNT (and that line crammed all 4 into one package!).

I don’t like the idea of splurging only to have 2 of the 4 turtles, so IDEALLY I’d like to find both 2-packs at the same time or have time/money to hunt several stores to find ’em in the same day.

NinjasInTrainingLeoAndDon_profile

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TMNT Villains Micro-Series #6: Hun [Review]

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Walt


Full review posted to cxPulp.com.

Story: 4.5/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

TMNT (2013) Toys – M.O.U.S.E.R.s and Rat King

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Walt

Whenever I’m in a Target or Walmart, I almost always “have to” check out the toys section. Over recent months, I’ve dwindled to a cursory glance at the Marvel/DC figures, and these last several weeks my increase has greatly increased with the TMNT toys.

Tonight I decided to take a peek in case the Target I was in had Leatherhead…but while they did NOT, I found what–for me–is possibly one of THE most awesome of all the new TMNT toys: a pack of MOUSERS!

mousers02mousers01

While I vaguely recall the 2003 TMNT line packing a couple Mousers with the April O’Neil figure, the only way I would have to get more than 2 was to buy multiples of April–not a truly viable option for so small a figurine! I think several may have come with some sort of playset…but again, far too expensive for so small a return on what I actually wanted.

This pack comes with SEVEN of the little robots…and I will happily purchase a couple more to have a small army of the things!

I also came across a Rat King figure…and actually put it in my cart where it traveled part of the store with me. Though I’ll PROBABLY come to regret it, I opted NOT to purchase it tonight: too many other recent expenditures and upcoming; so I’ll have to hope that he proves fairly common in the coming months.

Despite that, I made a point of photographing the carded figure:

ratking_front

ratking_back

The Mousers, of course, were just way too cool to NOT buy. I don’t much care for the look of this new Rat King (another factor in putting it back)…but I’ve wanted numerous little Mousers since my earliest days collecting TMNT toys!

mousers_front

mousers_back

While I’d love to see more inclusive galleries of the figures on the back of the cards, I am quite glad they’ve kept the profiles!

The Mousers:

mousers_profile

…and the Rat King:

ratking_profile

I’m also rather encouraged (so to speak) that these galleries do NOT include the turtle variants (ooze-flinging or stealth). Those don’t really–to me–“fit” with the general line, whereas these others do. Even the Ninjas-in-Training fit as they’re not just “costumed” variants.

mousers_assortment_goodguys

And though I’m not a fan of the random mutations, it’s still cool to see the expanding line of villain characters. To me, that often seems to be the downfall of a single “line” of figures…endless versions of the main hero(es) but virtually no villains to offset. And in the Kraang and the Foot Soldiers, we have two generics that truly warrant several duplicate purchases. (I believe I have 3 Kraang and 5 Foot Soldiers at the moment).

mousers_assortment_badguys

I like the bulk of Dogpound, but am not at all a fan of Fishface…and the more I think of it, the more I think I’d prefer a new take on Bebop and Rocksteady to these two.

Still…with only recently discovering the new figures in Baxter Stockman and Snakeweed, it’s very cool to see all these others making it to the local stores’ pegs, not having TOO hard a time finding SOME new figures.

…even if that darned Leatherhead STILL eludes me!

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

TMNT Toys Through Time

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Walt

I recently discovered a new version of the Halftone app, Halftone2, which basically combines the original Halftone app with a frames app I had been using.

Rather than show off the various turtles in a bunch of individual photos, I had some fun messing around with the new app, with the results you see below.

The three different sets of turtles:

tmntfigures-all

And then the individual turtles:

tmntfigures-leonardo

tmntfigures-donatello

tmntfigures-raphael

tmntfigures-michelangelo

And then all the figures together by turtle:

tmntfigures-all-byturtle

Now, if only I had recognized the value in the figures a few years ago based on the original Mirage comics designs, I’d be alllll set!

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TMNT Classic Collection [Toy Review]

Posted on September 2, 2013 by Walt

The other day after work, I decided–on a whim–to stop by a Toys R Us to see if they, by some chance, had the new Leatherhead TMNT figure. While they did NOT…what they DID have surprised the heck outta me.

A new “Classic Collection” line of TMNT figures I’d not heard/known ANYthing about coming out!

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-all

Of course, I had to buy Leonardo…my “classic” favorite turtle…and typically, if I ever give in and buy “variants” of a turtle, I go with Leonardo.

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-leo

…But then, since these ARE re-issues of the original figures…and I can’t FIND my original figures…yet had my 2003 Turtles and 2012 Turtles here in my room…I splurged and bought the other three:

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-don

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-raph

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-mikey

The card back is identical on all the figures, with a mostly classic look…except for the Classic Collection blurb, a contemporary “About the Turtles,” the nickelodeon logo, and a lack of clip ‘n collect “profile card.”

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-card-back

The front of the card looks like what I remember from the original figures:

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-card-front_top

And the “origin” of the turtles also looks like what I remember from the originals.

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-card-origin

As said, this About the Turtles is new/contemporary:

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-card-info

I may yet opt to snag Splinter and Shredder for the heckuvit–to have all 3 versions of them as well. But for now I just wanted the four turtles themselves.

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-card-figures

I did NOT see the “Party Wagon,” though if I do, I fully intend to buy it (provided it’s–IDEALLY–NOT a $39.99+ item! I would expect $25-$30ish!).

tmntfiguresclassiccollection-card-vehicles

All in all, I’m mostly satisfied with the figures themselves. The belts are significantly looser than I remember, which is a big drawback–Raphael in particular is ready to lose HIS just standing around!

I do like that the weapons all come on the original “sprues” or whatever–the flimsy brown plastic–you have to bend/twist/break the pieces apart yourself! But this keeps with the classic-ness of the figures.

I also QUITE like that the packaging does NOT include ANY annoying twist-ties and such…the figures and weapons simply popped RIGHT out (with some applied pushing/pulling/folding the plastic inside-out).

$12.99 is a bit steep for these–they’re slightly smaller/lower “quality” than either the 2003 or 2012 line (the current 2012 line being about $9/ea). BUT for being classic, and NOT carried in Walmart or Target or such that I have seen, the extra $4 is still worth it on the whole over paying higher premiums for original or 2010 25th-anniversary editions of the turtles themselves on the card.

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW) #25 [Review]

Posted on August 29, 2013 by Walt

teenagemutantninjaturtlesidw025City Fall, part four

Story: Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow & Tom Waltz
Script: Tom Waltz
Layouts: Kevin Eastman
Art: Mateus Santolouco
Colors: Ronda Pattison
Letters: Shawn Lee & Tom Long
Editor: Bobby Curnow
Cover: Mateus Santolouco
Published by: IDW
Cover Price: $3.99

City Fall is shaping up to be one of THE epic TMNT stories, certainly a worthy rival to the classic City at War story that ran in the original TMNT series back in 1992/1993. This issue marks the halfway point of the story, and I’m extremely interested in what comes next!

Raphael–distraught over his role in Casey getting hurt and Leonardo’s being taken by the Foot–is out busting heads, hoping to find the Foot so he can atone for his mistake by rescuing Leo himself. Donatello talks to Casey on the phone, updating him on what’s going on…Raph’s out, and Splinter’s disappeared with Slash on some personal mission. Don and Mikey are heading out to search for Raph. April and Casey have a moment as we see their relationship continuing to bloom. Splinter meets with Old Hob to enlist aid in rescuing his son. Meanwhile, we see Leo as Shredder’s #2, his “Chunin,” and Karai isn’t impressed.

I recall several panels jumping out at me as the turtles looking kinda strange, which momentarily took me out of the story. However, on giving myself an extra moment to take stuff in, they actually fit with the rest…there were just details I’d not really noticed that I suddenly did (particularly the raggedness of the turtles’ masks, which makes sense and I like…it’s not like they’re going to some shop and buying perfectly manufactured masks or anything!). Overall I’m continuing to really enjoy Santolouco’s art, and very much appreciating the general consistency to the look of this title for this arc at least.

Story-wise, I continue to be fascinated by the possibilities of character growth, development, and change. As this is a relatively new continuity unbeholden to older material (but drawing organically from everything that’s come before and reworking it to fit together), I can see so much potential to things, which pleasantly derails any concrete expectations I might have. At the very least I anticipate this arc having drastic long-reaching impact on Leonardo moving forward as well as tricky consequences for Splinter, and likely long-term stuff for Casey.

It also appears that we’re about to have the introduction of a couple ‘classic’ very popular characters from the original TMNT cartoon brought fully into this continuity, and while I can mostly do without the idea of them, I have faith that they’ll be worked into this continuity quite well and be as different as Cobra Commander in the GI Joe comics was to the cartoon counterpart of that series…or at least, I really hope that’s the case!.

If you’ve read through to the prior issue, I see nothing in particular to this issue to give reason not to pick it up. 

I believe I saw solicitation text somewhere showing that IDW is continuing to collect every 4 issues into new paperbacks, so a new volume with the interlude between the Krang War and City Fall, as well as the first 3 chapters of City Fall itself should be available soon…which would make this a decent jumping-on point if you’re following the series in trades and are looking for a point to jump into the single issues.

And while you’ll certainly benefit from a larger context having read much of the earlier material, if you’re just looking for a solid, major TMNT story…for being 4 chapters in of an expected 7, I highly recommend this!

Filed under: IDW Publishing, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

TMNT New Animated Adventures #2 [Review]

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Walt

tmntnewanimatedadventures002Story: Kenny Byerly
Art: Dario Brizuela
Colors: Heather Breckel
Letters: Shawn Lee
Edits: Bobby Curnow
Cover: Dario Brizuela
Published by: IDW
Cover Price: $3.99

Snakeweed is probably the most memorable of my least-favorite characters introduced in the new TMNT series. He may have also been the first–I don’t quite recall for sure. So while I was looking forward to another issue of the New Animated Adventures…the fact that it featured Snakeweed as the mutant du jour was rather dismaying.

This issue’s well in line with fitting the tone of this series so far (the FCBD and #1 issues), but for Snakeweed it’s certainly my least-favorite issue so far.

Leo’s been looking forward (for weeks!) to a marathon airing of the entire Space Heroes series and exposing his bros to the show. The power cuts out, and while he complains, Splinter suggests a reverence for nature rather than a railing against nature’s storms. Eventually the power is restored, only for the turtles to learn of a plant infestation in the city. They investigate and discover Snakeweed’s involvement and a new plan–to release spores in a storm to spread more Snakeweeds and overtake the humans, returning the planet to a vegetative state. The turtles split up–two to tackle the mutant himself and two to contain the spores.

I continue to enjoy Brizuela‘s art on this, and really like the visual take on these characters. They’re quite recognizable as being based on the tv series, yet maintain a comic book feel that avoids looking like some straight “adaptation” or “imitation”…it’s truly its own thing.

Story-wise, as said, I have a strong dislike for Snakeweed, so I’m not impressed there. In and of itself, the story works, and everyone seems “on” to what one would expect within this shared tv/comic continuity, so objectively this is definitely another solid issue. Long-time TMNT fans will also likely note a surprising yet obvious “Easter Egg” with April partway into the issue that brings back memories.

I’m looking forward to the next issue–the cover preview suggests the involvement of Kraang Prime, which is all the more appealing for my dislike here of Snakeweed, as well as having just a few days ago finally having watched the tv series’ season one finale.

If you’re enjoying the tv series, but don’t want to venture into the full-blown comics continuity of IDW‘s ongoing series, this is certainly a great book to jump into for some TMNT comics’ enjoyment. And if you just enjoy TMNT comics, this is well worthwhile…more color adventures, and it stands by itself (alongside the tv series) offering a “different” take on these characters.

Filed under: IDW Publishing, TMNT New Animated Adventures (IDW) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

TMNT Villains Micro-Series #5: Karai [Review]

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Walt

tmntvillainsmicroseries005karaiWritten by: Erik Burnham
Art by: Cory Smith
Colors by: Ian Herring
Letters by: Shawn Lee
Editor: Bobby Curnow
Cover: Tyler Walpole
Published by: IDW
Cover Price: $3.99

I tend to use the Comixology “Pull List” app these days for keeping tabs on what’s coming out in a given week that I’ll be getting (mainly to know how much the week’s likely going to take from my budget). This issue’s release surprised me, as I don’t think I’ve even seen it listed–early or delayed.

Karai visits an old mentor for counsel, and we learn through their interaction of her background. Her father was not a good steward of the Foot legacy, and she found a way to bring back the Clan’s glory. Growing up, she met her parents’ expectations by day, though by night she secretly trained herself in the ways of the ninja, and eventually learned how she could restore the Clan, resurrecting a figure from the past–one she’d come to know as “Grandfather”–Oroku Saki. In the present, though, things have gone awry, and Karai has been “replaced” as Saki’s #2, and she finds herself facing the new #2–a corrupted Leonardo.

This issue continues to illustrate how well continuity can work between creative teams and series. We get a story focused on a major character, giving us some real depth that there truthfully would not be room for in the main series, yet the story ties in very nicely with the ongoing story (City Fall) such that one reading “everything” gets the broad picture, and one simply picking this up gets “a story” in one issue.

I like learning more about Karai’s place in things…this issue drives home just how central she actually is in IDW‘s current TMNT continuity, and casts her beyond some “named figure” for the sake of a named figure being present.

I really like Smith‘s art, and aside from the story, the visuals alone were a real treat to take in. Other than this not being an Annual or graphic novel-length issue, I have nothing negative to say about the art!

Two years in–and multiple Micro-Series minis and such functionally giving two ongoing series of TMNT books is (despite the $3.99 price point) very welcome, and keeping to the quality that’s (thus far) been maintained makes me think I’d wholly welcome a third such issue each month, just to continue with new expansion of the stories and characters that much faster, as my impatience grows to have a far lengthier “history” behind us with all this.

Ultimately, that means that IDW‘s doing something very, very “right,” not only holding my interest with more than one book per month but keeping me consistently eager for more.

Filed under: IDW Publishing, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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