IDW TMNT New Animated Adventures #12

 Originally written by Paige with opinions from Mark

This issue has a main story and also continues the Lego version of the first issue of the Mirage TMNT.

Postmark Panic-
Mikey is causing the trouble again. He's filming something to get on a TV show called "One Minute Masterpieces". April attempts to support his idea, but the rest of the turtles don't like it as they're worried that the tape will reveal them to the general public. To make matters worse, Mikey reveals he had already sent the package and he filmed the guys doing ninja training. Master Splinter enters the room as he overheard the conversation and agrees that they must get the tape back at once.

The Turtles go to the mailbox to retrieve the tape, but it was already picked up. They decide to head to the mailing center to retrieve it. In the shadows, Karai and some Footbots spy on our heroes. She wants to grab the package before the turtles do. She sends her Footbots to track down the package. The Kraang are also watching over the whole scene. They spot Karai and decide to follow her to beat her to the package. Nope, that's not all....Kurtzman is also on the rooftop watching over the Kraang. He won't let the aliens to get their hands on the package. Pigeon Pete is also flying around and he's looking for bread...

At the post office, the brothers find a complicated sorting system full of mail and packages. Leo comments about how hard it will be to find the package. Mikey easily finds it. It's definitely noticeable! It's wrapped in wrapping paper and covered with stamps. As they go to grab it, Karai gets it first. Karai taunts the turtles with the package and it gets shot out of her hand and into the Kraang's possession.

The turtles attack the Kraang knocking the package out of its hands. Leo attempts to explain that the package is nothing important, but that doesn't convince anyone. Karai takes the package. Kurtzman appears, knocking out Karai and steals the package. Pigeon Pete swoops in and steals the package. Bread! The Kraang attack and the package is now in their possession. Raph attacks the robot, retrieving the video.

Everyone wants the package! It slips through everyone's hands, finally ending up in front of Leo. He yells at everyone to stop fighting. He yells at them that there is nothing important in the package. To prove a point, he throws it in a big shredder. By the way, why would there be an industrial sized shredder in a mailroom? After it shreds, the turtles vanish.

Karai is always drawn so poorly in these comics

Leo apologizes for destroying the tape, but Mikey reassures he has another copy. Donnie is exhausted knowing that they would have to destroy that too. But Mikey explains that the video isn't of them training, but of April. He shows the tape and it really is a video of April training, and a flub of her falling down, into a pie.

Pizza Prize-
This story is a short two-page story. The turtles are fighting over the last two slice. April and Splinter enter the room. Splinter yells at them that this isn't how ninjas act. April comes up with a solution to find out who deserves the two slices. She tells the turtles whoever gets to a buoy in the harbor first gets the pizza. The turtles run to the buoy. While they were on the mission, April and Splinter eat the last two slices.

Lego TMNT

This is basically the first issue of the original Mirage TMNT that started it all, but redrawn with LEGO versions of the Turtles. Last issue ended with the Purple Dragons facing the Turtles, thinking they're wearing costumes. Leo tells them they're not wearing costumes.

The Turtles easily defeat the Purple Dragons and fade into the night. Into the sewers, they tell Splinter about the fight and Splinter says they are ready for the mission he trained them for thirteen years. Splinter explains that he was an ordinary pet rat, mimicking the martial arts moves from his owner, Hamato Yoshi. Yoshi was a member of the Foot Clan, alongside Oroku Nagi... and they both shared a fierce rivalry for the love of Tang Shen. After Shen turned Nagi down, he attacked her just as Yoshi entered the room. Nagi was never seen again after that night, and his younger brother Saki swore revenge.

The Foot took Saki in and trained him. Saki formed the New York faction of the Foot and became the Shredder. He soon found Yoshi and Shen and attacked them. Yoshi was no more while Shen returned to her family, never to be seen again. Splinter escaped and lived on the streets like a regular rat, until he saw a truck nearly hit a blind old man and lose a canister. The canister crashed into a kid holding a glass bowl full of baby turtles, which covered them in glowing goo as they feel into the sewers. Splinter washed the goo off them, exposing himself to it. From there on, they mutated and Splinter taught them in the ways of the ninja for one mission... to challenge the Shredder.

Raphael finds where Saki works and defeats some Foot guards. He wraps a note around his sai and tosses it through the window. Saki finds it and sees that the note is a challenge. He wonders who would dare to challenge the Shredder, and is eager to accept their challenge...

Paige's Thoughts-

Well to be honest, I liked both stories. Usually I have a favorite, but not this time. The second story is short and sweet and to the point. The pizza story is about all the turtles. That's why I like the second story. The first story is again with Mikey causing the trouble, but there is more. All the turtles are involved and also a few notable characters from the show.

Oh, and Karai's design is still ugly. Just saying. The comic was drawn by two different artists.

Mark's Opinions-

The Lego story is entertaining, though I find the censorship to be as cheesy and funny as when older dubbed anime used to do it. Of course, most of us knows Yoshi actually kills Nagi... and in turn Saki kills both Yoshi and Tang Shen. Splinter's original mission is to have the Turtles find and kill Saki. Instead Nagi just disappears, and though the story says 'Hamato Yoshi is no more' they threw in the extra line about Tang Shen managing to escape and return to her family in Japan. How would Splinter 'learn about this later' anyway? Did she send them a postcard?

I don't think Tang Shen walked away from this one...

But of course, we do have to think of the children, and it would look out of place to see cutesy versions of the Turtles kill people in a comic based on the Nicktoons version of the TMNT. I really wonder how the next issue is gonna handle the fight against the Foot and Shredder.

Honestly I'm curious how they're gonna skip or dance around the part when Leo impales Shredder and then tells him that he should commit Seppuku.

 

As for the other stories, they were alright. I guess it was cool to see Pigeon Pete and Kurtzman make their comic debut. If anything, the comic does a decent job of featuring as many characters as they can, not just the most popular ones.