#eat up children I bring tmnt art for you

[hitwiththetmnt]

It’s here! Here’s my comic cover for @kathaynesart ‘s Replica Anniversary DTIYS!

(Flat color and no color versions below)

[cy-fi-theansweris42]

My Thoughts During: TMNT (2007)

So I haven’t watched this movie in a good long while, so let’s see if it’s as good as I remember it being! (Also I think the last time I watched it was when I was like…15? 16? My taste in movies has improved significantly since then. Also, I apologize for the excessive lols.)

·       RIP Shredder, I wonder if this takes place after a certain series and that shows what happened to him.

·       Nothing good ever comes from stars aligning, does it?

·       Y’Aotl, craving the sweet release of death since 1007 BCE

·       “I just remembered I left the stove on” lol, never noticed that

·       “I’m not afraid of a ghost” How about a teenage mutant ninja turtle?

·       RIP that dude, I can’t believe Leo just murdered him.

·       Good LORD April is skinny, I’m concerned (I know it’s an art style but still)

·       Oh poor Donnie, working tech support, you poor child

·       “No I’m not playing hard to get, I’m telling you it’s not that kind of phone line!” Oh, poor freaking Donnie, lol.

·       Lol, just put on a turtle head, everyone thinks it’s a costume, perfect Mikey

·       Lol, Raph being edgy, I forgot about his Nightwatcher costume, I guess that’s one way to avoid people discovering he’s a turtle

·       How does one become a better leader by isolating themselves? Like, it might be a thing that I just don’t know about, but still

·       “Why skate a halfpipe when you can skate a sewer pipe?” Sanitation for one (that whole scene honestly looks awesome though)

·       “Those glory days are over” Wow, they’re teenagers and they’ve already finished the best days of their lives, poor turtles

·       So Leo mentioned Donnie being the one to keep things together and Splinter lectured Donnie on being there for his family, so was Donnie supposed to take over as leader while Leo was gone? IDK why but I always thought of Raph as the second in command (of course I don’t know a lot about TMNT, especially the stuff before 2007).

·       You know, I just realized how deep the whole “this home has become like an empty shell” line is. From my understanding, the shell of a turtle is basically like their spine and ribs on the outside forming a protective barrier, and all the squishy internal organs are inside. After the turtle dies and all the squishy stuff decays away, you’ll be left with an empty shell. A reminder that there was once life there, but now it’s just…empty. Freaking deep.

·       “I was born careful” Proceeds to break something, lol

·       “Friends you choose, but never your family” Freaking foreshadowing his relationship with his siblings (if they’re biologically related IDK) and the parallels with the turtles sibling relationships, stuff that went right over 11 year old me’s head.

·       “If you’re here to kill me could you make it fast?” Lol, mood

·       Why are all the monsters converging on New York? Is it because of the stars? I’m guessing it’s because of the stars.

·       RIP this poor guy getting beat up by Raph again, lol

·       OMG, Casey is literally just wearing a hockey mask, please wear some protective gear

·       “I should have stayed in law school”, lol

·       “What is it, some kind of performance art? I don’t get it.” LOL, there’s so many little lines in this that I never noticed before

·       “I don’t ever care about Leo anymore” Lol, fake news Raph.

·       Raph, PLEASE don’t fall asleep on roof ledges, that’s terrifying

·       …I have no idea how that little pendant can bring stone that was once a person to life, but oh well

·       LOL, Mikey whispering “dude” in his sleep, freaking adorable

·       Aww, Splinter’s got pictures of his sons on his wall

·       “I have nightmares about birthday parties.” Poor Mikey, protect him from the evil children.

·       Jealous of Donnie’s casual bo skills

·       How on earth has no one figured out that Raph is the Nightwatcher?

·       “You never said anything about monsters.” *points sword* “Ooooohhh” Lol

·       Lol, they are TERRIBLE at acting casual

·       Raph: *angrily eats cereal*

·       LOL, Splinter was watching Gilmore Girls???

·       You have to love just how different and individual they make each monster look

·       “What is it?” “The roof…you know what the roof is don’t you?” Lol, me too

·       I am terrified for Casey when he goes out. Someone, please buy this guy some protective gear.

·       “You do know I only have a wooden bat, right?” And who’s fault is that???

·       “And I thought Girl Scouts were pushy!” Trust me, they are

·       *only takes pulse* “Well his vital signs seem to be ok” Donnie, please, it’s a little early for a diagnosis, you only know his heartrate.

·       “It can’t be!” She says while in a room with four mutated turtle teenagers trained as ninjas by their rat father

·       Another dimension? Would it happen to be Dimension X?

·       Ah yes, the familiar Raph and Leo arguments, classic

·       Also, Casey’s expression when Raph is yelling about the whole “following the rule book thing”, he looks so confused, like he’s thinking “Dude, you haven’t been following that rule book either, why you going off on Leo about that?”

·       “So it’s like Hailey’s Comet, only monsters come out of it.” People always underestimate Mikey, it’s their mistake

·       Lol, the entire Raph vs. Little Monster fight. I love it

·       I’m honestly surprised the ribbons on those little dagger things Leo throws are blue, lol

·       Lol, the fact that Leo just starts lecturing this random guy and the fact that Raph is just like “he’s lecturing me!”

·       Lol, sassy Leo, you got to love it when Leo just starts taunting his opponents.

·       The whole argument between Raph and Leo is so emotional, like every little thing that’s built up from over the years, from Leo being gone longer than expected, and him suddenly returning just comes to a head. I love it while at the same time screaming at them to stop fighting

·       You know, something’s got to be said about how when Leo thinks he’s fighting some random stranger, he beats Raph, but when he knows he’s fighting his brother, he loses.

·       That moment when Raph realizes he let his anger get the better of him and nearly really hurts his brother, plus the Leo’s look of barely recognizing his brother, leading to him running off. What a freaking emotional moment. When Raph runs off you can hear him breathing heavy, like he’s struggling to breathe. He’s terrified of what he could do.

·       Also, RIP Leo’s swords

·       Poor Raph, he’s blaming himself and probably hating himself for what happened to Leo

·       Once Leo is captured, Raph steps up as leader, so why didn’t that happen when Leo went away for training? IDK

·       Somebody FINALLY got Casey some armor, bless

·       I love the fight outside of Winters Tower

·       “That would be the swirling vortex to another world, I presume.” Sassy Donatello, got to love him

·       Raph being gentle with Leo because he still regrets what happened and really does love his brothers even if he can’t always show it

·       “Winters!” “Looks more like fall” I THINK I KNOW WHERE MY LOVE OF PUNS CAME FROM, LOL

·       Also, Donnie’s reaction to Mikey’s pun is hilarious, that’s like how my siblings were when I started making puns all the time. (We’re not going to talk about how they forgot to make Donnie’s mouth move when he was talking to Mikey then, lol)

·       “I hate to see brothers fight like this.” LOOKS AT RAPH AND LEO (but mostly Raph) DONNIE JUST CASUALLY CALLING HIS BROTHERS OUT

·       Donnie slamming his staff on a guy’s toes and then saying temper temper, give me more sassy Donnie please

·       Leo arming up with a case full of swords, lol

·       “The thing about you immortal stone guys is that you’re immortal and…made out of stone…I sound like Mikey.” Lol

·       Lol, Splinter’s having fun fighting

·       Karai and random foot soldier #27 just being done with April and Casey’s arguing

·       Karai foreshadowing Shredder’s return (and then another movie is never made, lol)

·       Lol, Winters’ laughter about finally being able to die is me at the end of finals week

·       Winters just fading into dust (and then causing Mikey to start sneezing, lol)

·       So many references on that wall that Splinter has

·       Yep, still love this movie

[brendancorris]

The Rise of the TMNT First Thoughts

Being that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has always been, what I consider, my biggest fandom, I feel it’s only natural I leave my two cents on what we know so far of their upcoming 4th animated series, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and what everybody’s been saying about it recently.

So the official designs were finally release, and of course, everybody’s mad, freaking out, and acting as if all hope for humanity is gone. I’ll be honest, the character designs are not immediately appealing to me, but something needs to be clarified first...

The most common complaint I see is “the art style sucks”. Now, it’s fair to say that the style doesn’t appeal to you personally, but discrediting these obviously talented artists and their extremely expressive and lively style is just a lie and/or lack of any real knowledge of artistic skill. Is it an appropriate style for the TMNT? That’s up to you to decide for yourself, but saying it is bad artwork is just ignorant. 

Now, just to make things clear, I myself am not super into these designs, and feel the style isn’t the best representation of what TMNT is, but I’ll never say it’s bad, and will continue to stay optimistic. Let’s not forget that most of us, myself included, were hating on the 2012 series hardcore after its initial debut. While I still don’t find the art style choice or designs to be the most appealing in the 2012 series, there’s no denying it is an amazing series - arguably the best writing the franchise has ever had. While it isn’t MY Turtles, which will always be the 87 Turtles, it’s a damn good version, and one I’m proud to see younger generations grow up with.

But when we heard April and Casey were teens, saw the Turtle designs, saw how huge Splinter was, we all wrote off the 2012 series with having never see it. Once we saw it, then we had to eat our words. Let’s not walk into the same trap over and over again. In this day and age everybody’s so quick to give a severe black and white, night and day opinion on something before even knowing much about it. You’d think we’d get sick of constantly having to apologizing for judging something based on a picture reveal when it comes out. Not saying this in particular will turn out to be great. It might suck. But we can’t possibly know that yet, so let’s stay optimistic and at least happy that our favorite franchises are being kept alive and given consistent love through the generations. The age of the self-entitled, crabby, whiny man-baby/woman-baby nerds has to end. 

As for those concerned about the story changes, I get your concern. But, again, it isn’t the first time the team was completely re-worked. April and Casey Jones as teenage kids was already a crazy enough change in the 2012 series, but then take into account April was also part mutant which gave her psychic powers, and she discovered a gem she wore around her neck that brought out evil in her and strengthened her powers to be Thanos-level is a REALLY huge departure from the prior iterations, and a seemingly stupid as hell direction on paper. Hell, Irma was a teenager revealed to be a robot body for a Krang spy. They REALLY took their liberties in the 2012 series. Even one of the most popular additions, Don’s crush on April, was completely new for that series. 

My inner TMNT-fanchild does get a bit ticked when he hears that now Raph will be the leader and Leo will be cool and narcissistic, but we gotta remember what this is. Not only a new retelling for a new generation, but a retelling of a franchise that has been retold and severely altered dozens of times. No two Turtles stories add up. Also, this is being targeted strongly at little kids. Raph has always been the most marketable Turtle, the most iconic and widely referenced/recognized, and most popular among children, so making him the leader isn’t too shocking too me. Hell, even Partners in Kryme didn’t know Raph was’t the leader back in 1990 in the official film.

One thing I’ve heard a lot of hate for is the fact that April O’Neil is African American in the new series. It’s a difficult topic to touch upon, but I feel there’s good and bad points to it. The good is obviously getting more diverse representation in lovable, iconic roles in media, especially those for younger audiences. The bad, however, is like Stan Lee once said in regards to race-bending characters. Getting diversity in media is wonderful, but changing a pre-existing, well-established and celebrated character’s ethnicity simply to meet the quota is sort of a cheap shot. April, in all animated forms, has been a red-headed Irish girl I(hence the last name). It’s just as iconic to her as the fact that Leonardo wears blue and wields katana. Ethnicity, while a touchy subject, is a part of somebody. If they want diversity, they should add new characters of diverse backgrounds, or at least change lesser supporting roles, or at least that’s how I feel. Again, it’s a touchy subject, so I can totally understand somebody disagreeing, and that’s fine to do so.

Ultimately I feel everybody just needs to cool their jets on this. We see this happen SO often with franchises these days. The internet has sadly contributed towards heightening the selfishness of fandoms, and exaggerated opinions on everything. Every fan likes to think that their version is the definitive version, and that they are superior for liking the version they do. Everybody’s free to like what they like, and even if something you don’t care for comes out, it doesn’t take your version away from you. Each TMNT series ran for years. Whichever version you prefer, there is more than enough to watch to feed your hunger. 

So how do I feel? Hard to say. I never regularly watched episodes of any TMNT animated series outside of the 87 series, but I always give each show many viewings before judging it. While this is surely not my TMNT, nor do I predict it become a fandom of mine, I’m still hyped for it, staying optimistic, and impressed by the artwork, for the most part. This art style looks like it could really make way for some great action scenes. There are some changes I’m not sold on, like some of the altered weapons and personalities, but, again, there’s 30 years worth of TMNT content with the old weapons and personalities, and I’m still giving this show the benefit of the doubt before really seeing it. I’m actually really curious to see the villain designs. Shredder could look awesome in this style. And if they bring in Bebop and Rocksteady I’ll be pretty darrn happy. At the very least, this series is once again making me excited to see which of my childhood characters will return. Mondo Gecko? Rat King? Wyrm? Mona Lisa? Slash? The Neutrinos? I’d love to see how this unique re-imagining could put a new spin on  old favorites, and breathe new life into my favorite cast of mutants since 1987.

Here’s staying positive, and let’s not make the pre-release Sonic Boom mistake twice. That cartoon turned out to be comedy GOLD (and actually my favorite Sonic cartoon to date).

And PLEASE, let’s remember there are far greater wrongs being done in the world than cartoon characters being redesigned.

[kuh-boose]

Hey, more writing crap because it’s been sitting in my files for forever now and that’s no way to have your writing. I am no Emily Dickinson. This was written like years ago for the TMNT Universe and just never really came to anything. Audrey has had a lot of changes made to her and ideas for her have been lent to a lot of my other characters. I think was my honest to goodness first real OC and I have so much written for her. Anywho, here. 

She came from a facility out of Manhattan. Created from two hundred and seven different gene donors, all varied species, and all very unwilling. But it was the two hundred and seventh donor that made her different from her siblings. She disconnected from her growth tank a month too early, and she was born three pounds, one ounce and fragile as an egg, with a complexion to match. The Kraang and Dr. Steele placed her survival odds at .037%.  Rather than put the poor thing out of its misery, they decided to run tests on her as she stumbled her way towards death.

  The problem with that was she wasn't ready to die. She didn't get much better, but the tiny, pale, sick, and squirming infant refused to die. Fussing day and night, weak and quiet, but furious, she took every last inch of that .037%. For the first two years of her life she had needles and tubes sticking out of her skin every few inches or so, scanners running her vitals and brain patterns constantly, projecting them on the screens that surrounded the little silvery pod she was kept in, with the inside glowing a burning fuchsia. Every day the pod infused her with the necessary elements and compounds to keep her alive and jolted her with minuscule electric currents to stimulate her muscles. It was painful, but it was all she knew, and so she stayed in the pod for two years before she made a single sound. It wasn't a babble, or a scream, or even a cry; it was a quiet, broken word. A Kraang word, and it meant release. It went largely unnoticed, gaining only a second of attention and no response. No response save for a small gasp from the mutated form of Jorge Koroko.

 Jorge Koroko was a human, at one point at least. He had been raised first in in Japan, then in America by his mother's family, and he lived his life knowing that his father was scum from some vague European country, and his teenage mother died to bring him into this world. His grandfather loved his child more than anything in the world, and loved her child even more. Refusing to make the same, coddling mistake, Mr.Koroko was somewhat harsh on his grandson. He trained him every day in his own modified mix of martial arts for a decade and a half, despite his family's quiet disapproval. By the time his training was complete, Jorge was old enough to enlist in the army; one tour and he started medical school. Eleven years later and he was on his way to the airport to begin a third tour. It was on his way to the gate with a bag in one hand and cheap food in the other that he had his run in with the Kraang. The conflict, along with a faulty good luck bracelet his grandmother had weaved from bulls hair, lead to his mutation. In the following confusion, an eight foot tall, hulking bovine version of Jorge was ushered into a van and taken captive by the same aliens that would keep him for the next twenty-eight years. Only through good behavior and clever speaking did he become one of very few mutations they allowed to help in the many tasks that came with running the facilities, namely security and clean up. It just so happened that he ended up in the same facility that would splice Subject Venus-207.

  Project Venus was one of many, many brainchildren conceived by Dr. Amanda Steele. After the successful splicing of their robotic gorillas, the Kraang gave Steele whatever tools she desired to continue a number of projects, with the understanding that said projects were to only be useful to the Kraang. Project Venus was Steele's pride and joy. The splicing of hundreds of species into various--human looking--young women to act as spies among the human population; sleeper agents, whose only purpose was to blend in and gather information until the Invasion. Then her daughters would wreak havoc, pulling any hiding citizens from their homes and reducing hundreds of years of human achievement to rubble. Unfortunately, due to dominance in various alien races genes, nearly five hundred of her seven hundred children did not make it past the second trimester. Another hundred appeared more amphibian than human, and could only be used and raised as sub-par warriors and slaves, whom the Kraang would not use, but sell to the highest bidding race. Of the remaining hundred, ninety-eight died at various stages of life of failing organs, and the ninety-ninth disappeared seven years later, along with Steele. The very last was 207, removed from her tank early after tangling herself in her substitute umbilical cord, and the only one left the Kraang had at their disposal. She was weak and useless, but experience had taught them better than to toss her away. Waste not, want not.

  And so everyday, for a little over two years, Jorge Koroko watched Venus-207 grow in her tiny little pod. He would hear her heartbeat, far too quick and weak. He would listen to her breathe in her harsh and labored way. He would watch her writhe and fuss silently until her face went red and she was pumped with a mild sedative to relax her until her next fit. For two years he watched her grow and fight death. On her first birthday, he gave her a name.

 He crouched low next to her tank, fainting cleaning up a spill of chemicals, and whispered, "Your name is Audrey now. You hear me? None of that Venus stuff. Audrey. She was a strong lady I met in service. Pretty too, like you."

  He placed a hoof-knuckled hand on the pod and Audrey responded in kind with a heavy huff of filtered air.

  "Good girl."

  On her second birthday, he gave her freedom, or... at least freedom from the pod. He convinced the Kraang that he could train her. Koroko, as he had learned to do, spun the request into a favor; he could make her a weapon, he promised. For who, he never specified.

But then, they never asked.

For better or worse they agreed. Perhaps they were tired of waiting for her to die. Perhaps they believed him when he said he could make her a weapon. Maybe they just wanted to laugh at him, or whatever Kraang did to show amusement, as he tried to train the pathetic little red faced twerp. Whatever the reason, they gave him a small section of the facility, which included an old fire station and its underground connection to the main construct. They supplied him with whatever he asked so long as he could prove it had to do with her training and could not harm the facility. And then they moved her. When they removed her from the pod and placed her on the bed in the loft of the fire station, Jorge began to have doubts. She gasped and clutched her throat and whimpered when the tubes were removed. Her whole body was covered in small welts, and bruises bloomed like spring flowers everywhere she was touched. Her body was so tender, and the Kraang were not known for their gentle nature. Dark circles shadowed her eyes, which were half closed and bloodshot. The only thing that gave him hope was the fact that she was squirming, grunting here and there when a metallic hand clamped too tight, or a tube was yanked out too harsh. She laid, struggling, on the bed for a day before she started trying to get up. Koroko began to reach for her, but stopped. It was in that moment he decided he must stay detached. She would gain nothing from babying, and her survival was still not guaranteed. It was best for both of them if he remained a Master, and not a guardian… at least for now. At least until the fear that this was a mistake, one he would never come back from, subsided. So he leaned back into his chair and watched her struggle desperately to rise, the arms of the chair crunching under his grip. She managed only to roll onto her side. Jorge sighed and made a mental note to request mild steroid injections for her until he could build her strength up enough so that she would be at the physical level of a girl her age. Time in the pod had done her no favors, and she was far too weak. He fell asleep silently praying that she die quickly if she must, and listening to her huffing and rustling in the bed.

  The next morning he would find her trying to climb back onto it.

  Three years of training and Audrey still looked scrawny and ill, with dark circles under her eyes and pale skin stretched over near meatless bones. Koroko was forced to realize that she didn’t have the same benefits naturally made beings did. She didn’t know when she needed water, when she was hungry, when she needed to sleep; what he considered intense pain was a little more than a minor sensation to her, and fear was hard to provoke, leading to more than a few nasty scars. She was still showing heartbreaking symptoms of her faulty creation. Sickly pale skin, fits of choking and gasping, vomiting, and more. And yet, despite her tiny and helpless appearance, Audrey was strong. Or muscularly efficient, rather. Just five years old and underweight, yet her tests put her with athletic six year olds. This alone gave Koroko hope, enough to express his pride to an uninterested Kraang droid. ‘Like a calf, she is, running on those tiny little legs. Clumsy too, but strong.’

  He worked her harder and changed her diet. Three hours of her day was devoted to eating as much as she could fit, twelve hours were spent fitfully sleeping, and every other second was spent working. She trained until she couldn't stand, and then she trained her mind. She worked on being in each moment, on being in tune with her surroundings and using them to her advantage. She learned about the Kraang computers and inventions, the earthly and alien creatures that made up her own DNA, and struggled horribly to learn about human literature, language, military history, chemistry and physics, mathematics, psychology, physiology. And then she got up again and did exercises until her muscles gave out and refused to move no matter how hard she willed them to work for her.

  Koroko worked through her stubbornness and endless questions. She fought every step of every lesson and took severe punishment like treats, silently refusing any method but the one she found ideal. He taught her each new subject with wariness in how she would use it to find loopholes in the rules he had placed for her own safety, and found the more he pulled, the more she resisted. With time, he broke her code. She needed objectives and tools, not plans. So he pushed her to her limits, and pushed her past them. She learned to fight as she retreated, when the odds were against her, when it was too easy, or when it was too hard. She learned how to fight hard and how to fight stealthily and how to fight smart. She learned how to fight when the enemy couldn't be touched, or even seen. Kelli developed balance, power, speed, endurance. There was no mercy, no breaks, no rest that wasn't necessary. Jorge ground and pounded and drilled into her for years, over and over until she couldn't remember a time when she didn't fall into immediate stances, or swing perfectly without thinking about it. She didn't recall a time when she couldn't fight droids with her eyes closed and rely on hearing and muscle memory to win. He made her push her thresholds, her mental limits. He broke her down to rubble, and then made her build herself back up.

  It didn't take very long before he found he couldn't break her down anymore.

 And in time, Jorge discovered that even though she was made to be ruthless, she was kind, and thoughtful, determined, and loyal, if a little rough around the edges. He noticed her willingness to put up with unkind treatment without snapping. Even when she was hurting, she was kind. Audrey was always polite, and took his lessons on respect and courtesy to heart. She devoured his tales of heroes and kindness with eager ears. Koroko found that more than anything, she believed in herself and her own abilities, perhaps to a fault. She would happily face any challenge presented, and not stop until she won, even if she had to win with bruises and broken bones. He waited fearfully for the day when that confidence would not be enough and her body would not take the punishment she demanded it to.

  It was because of this, because of her performance in spars with the imprisoned mutations, that made the Kraang finally pay attention to her. At ten years, they began to take more of her time with surgeries, tests, faux operations, anything to try and break her in some sick way. Koroko watched her carefully, waiting for her to turn into the blood thirsty killer he had promised them. But each time she returned, beaten and bloody, she smiled, shining her happiness at him for having won and asking for the next lesson.

  Three more years of training, with frequent "operations" to the outside world, and Audrey was more than Jorge had ever hoped. Five foot with lean, highly efficient, solid muscle from head to toe and a right hook that could bring down concrete. She was stronger, every movement easy, and every skill honed to a razor edge, though there was still work to be done, she was more progressed than he had thought she would be. Missions in other countries and dimensions tanned her skin to a richer shade, deepening to a milky caramel color, marked by freckles and the dozens of scars ranging from slashes, to plasma burns, to surgery incisions. Her hair had grown out and was thick and shiny and a golden honey color down to the middle of her back, for he had convinced her to keep it long. Her face was somehow sharp and soft at the same time, with dark brown, almond shaped eyes that gave away nothing but deep determination. Behind them he saw a spark just as he had thirteen years ago. She was not the smartest, but she was far from dumb, and made up for what she lacked with quick wit and battle prowess. He could not be more proud.

  He carried this pride to the day he died. It was illness that took him, giving it's warning months in advance before the Kraang froze both him and Audrey. They separated them, and he knew, though he could not tell you how, that he would never see his dear girl again. He also knew he could never be angry for the fate given to him.

[renaroo]

Wednesday Roundup 30/5/17

What’s that? Is it Wonder Woman Week? It’s definitely ladies week... plus some lovable turtles all the same and you know what? This particular comic reader and reviewer could not be happier for it. So let’s see how things pan out...

Image’s Saga, IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, IDW’s Transformers: Till All Are One, DC’s Wonder Woman (2017- ): Wonder Woman Day Special

Image’s Saga (2012-present) #43 Brian K. Vaughn, Fiona Staples

Now that I’ve almost completely caught up on Saga in digital, I thought why the heck not go ahead and subscribe to the series rather than wait for the trade collection. ... Also I’ll admit that them selling this issue at $0.99 to attract new readers got me since in the long run I’d be saving by buying monthly rather than waiting for the trade. You got me, Image. You finally got me. Damn. 

In any case, Saga continues to be just completely unparalleled in its relevance and heart. It conquers issues of the day -- including transgenderism, abortion rights, mixed race family dynamics, and raising children in unconventional environments -- while also being wholly set in its own universe with its own rules and settings. It mixes Sci-Fi and Fantasy flawlessly while addressing the notes of incompatibility between them.

And then sometimes you have to fight shit monsters. 

Obviously I adore this comic and as long as it’s been running, I actually can’t think of a better hopping on spot for new readers than this issue, as it comes to address so much of what’s happened in the past of these characters, bringing things back around circle, and also brings us a new shock with the last page revelation. 

A true “wait what” if I’ve ever seen one. 

Great comic, great issue, and a must read for anyone interested in truly defining change in the industry. 

Also as a complete side note, I wonder how many of my fellow 90s kids saw that zebra throughout the issue and had a craving for fruit stripe gum. Like it was intense. And I’m not a sugar person. 

IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2011-present): Free Comic Book Day 2017 Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Cory Smith, Ronda Pattison

I’m always a supporter of Free Comic Book Day, but another thing I find interesting about it is how companies attempt to use it to bring new readers up to date on current storylines or preview for upcoming big events. A lot of times, though, that unfortunately leads to things being a tad lazy with their freebies, reprinting already run issues or making a hodge podge of comics to sort of tease newbies. 

IDW, as always, refuses to be so insular or simple.

Not only was FCBD a new issue for the series, but it provided the characters’ perspectives on the past two years of storylines together and brings about a compelling and complete story within the issue itself -- having a villain to be defeated, a puzzle to figure out, and in general giving a satisfactory issue on its own while still hinting toward the upcoming return of the Dimension X plot of the ongoing series. 

I love these characters, I love how well handled they are, and I love how IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles continues to use ingenuity in bringing together the entirety of the TMNT franchise. It’s fantastic. 

IDW’s Transformers: Till All Are One (2016-present) #10 Mairghread Scott, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Joana Lafuente

The depths of Starscream’s depravity continues and I kind of adore watching the descent? I was actually curious if mneumosurgery was going to receive more development in non-Lost Light/MTMTE titles and considering my fascination with it in my own fic, I’m obviously very pleased to see it brought into Scott’s work now. I love that his arrogance and manipulation seemingly knows no bounds and yet we can’t help but feel like his work actually is in the best interests of Cybertron as he sees it. Or is it?

I love that the universe also keeps expanding -- Chromia hunting Legio, Arachnid being a mneumosurgeon that has been working with Starscream since the very first storyline’s mysteries (and being a different character from Black Arachnia which makes me excited because yassss have my cake and eat it toooooo), Elita One’s work counteracting Starscream. 

I love it all so very much. And Blast Off and Onslaught are now officially a #poblematic fav couple, dammit. I already have 30 of those for Transformers. 

DC’s Wonder Woman (Rebirth) (2017-present): Annual #1 Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and MANY MORE!

Four-stories-in one and Wonder Woman once more delivers on the sort of quality that has been expected of the title for the last year. We completely retcon the origins of how the Trinity originally met and their interactions with each other is just top tier fun both from Rucka’s writing and love for all three (and Lois!!!) as well as Scott’s never failing to amaze art. And I can’t help but feel like this was the definite highlight of the whole annual, which explains this being the cover story. 

The others are... decent to okay. With the Japanese setting story kind of obviously misunderstanding the emphasis Rucka’s past year of worldbuilding has put into Diana using her lasso rather than using her sword but still it got us some peace there.

All the stories are fairly good for pumping one up for all aspects of Wonder Woman and the excitement that will come from her film debut this weekend, but I also feel like there’s some missed opportunities here.

I was really hoping for a preview of the next creative team’s work, and especially at least getting a sense of Shea Fontana’s characterization for Diana, which we didn’t really get. And even more importantly, for a Wonder Woman spectacular celebrating all there is to love about Wonder Woman and what she means as an icon... I’m not really pleased with the idea that her first annual of this series has so few women working on it. 

Diana’s consistently muscular, beautiful, kind, and resourceful throughout the story but it’d have been doubly as awesome if DC had used this opportunity to promote more of their female creative talent. 

DC’s Wonder Woman (2017-present): Wonder Woman Day Special #1 Greg Rucka, Liam Sharp, Laura Martin

It’s a reprinting of the first issue of Wonder Woman Rebirth. 

That’s not entirely a bad thing, and it gave me the chance to reread the first issue like I talked about doing in last week’s Wondy installment, to see if the racial cringing was any less cringing (it’s not), but it’s a reprint promoting the current book just in time for new readers excited by the Wonder Woman (2017) film out this Friday to pick up a free comic digitally, or go to their local stores and pick up the first two volumes of Rucka’s run which includes Wonder Woman: Year One and Wonder Woman: The Lies. 

It’s good marketing, even if I’m still really displeased with the handling of race issues in the beginning of Wonder Woman’s Rebirth return. 

There’s not much more to say to it than that. 

Overall this was a good week and it was especially great on the front of being full of comic ladies, but even though I’m as happy as anyone to celebrate a good Wonder Woman Day, my absolute biggest emotions for this week’s comics definitely came from Saga, which is one of the greatest comics of this generation and a pleasure to read, but especially on the ball this week.

But that’s just my opinion! I’d love to hear from all of you. Agree? Disagree? Think I missed a good comic to pick up? I’d love to hear from you!

[brightlotusmoon]

CN talk of size, weight, clothing, past anorexia.

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. .

OMG. So, we went to one those dollar plus stores, and there was a table of skinny jeans. I naturally chose a size up because they didn’t have my regular size anyway. And those bigger jeans, a size up, passed my neck wrap test perfectly. I got blue and dark blue, they were $20 each.

Went home and tried them on. They fit like thick leggings. No waist gap at all, it was like gloves. Felt like satin, sliding over the thickest part of my thighs. The inseam was a couple inches long and it bunched at the ankle but it was comfortable. Remember, I am four-ten. The 7/8 size even had enough room so I could push out my belly, which is another important test, to see how well the waist could stretch.

Curious, I looked at the tag and saw that they were mostly ramie, with cotton, polyester, spandex. Ramie is a freaking amazing material, I forgot it was used in pants! Cool. In a couple months I plan on going back and getting a couple more pairs, maybe two sizes up just in case.

Earlier at Rugged Warehouse, I looked at boys and men’s jeans. The 30 was the only one that fit for my hips but the waist gap was clown like. There were no boys jeans large enough. I tried a 16 and my thighs laughed. My hips are 36-37, my waist 24-26. Couldn’t women’s pants just be numbers like that? Are my numbers so odd? Numbers confuse me.

You know, it makes me think about Vanity Sizing and obsession over being small and slim, being able to humblebrag when your trouser and dress size is, like, two or four.

I am only four feet ten and one quarter inches. In my early twenties, I used to be obsessive about being the skinniest because I was so damn short. I once wore an infant tee that fit under my bust. I was anorexic and emaciated, but I was thinner than everyone, my weight was in the double digits and I was proud, I was tiny, I was what society and industry desired. Right? My college friends tried to make me eat caloric foods. I loved mozzarella sticks. My friends were afraid and worried, giving me tuna and cheese and steak. My face was hollow, my ribs easy to touch. I smiled in the mirror and wore children’s clothes.

At my own wedding, photos showed a glowing snow white dress hanging on a pale snow white bride who seemed hollow, and I barely touched the catered food. Months passed and my new groom cooked extravagant balanced meals that I ate with joy. For my job in a law firm Library I walked and moved every day and ate high calorie food. My coworkers gave me snacks and asked how I felt. When I gained enough weight to break 100 lbs, texting my friends, friends of friends would murmur “oh, look at your friend, who is she, she is beautiful, she is stunning, she glows, we must know who she is.” My friends smiled proudly.

I had filled out, no longer hollow, I was moonlight poured into round curved flesh, flourished and nurtured.

For some time in the past couple of years, I was at a “healthful” weight, or a weight that was balanced to fit me. In the past couple of months I lost fat and revealed muscle and I’m not used to it. I look at inches lost in my buttocks and waist and my mind will always be skewed and messed up by anorexia. In my younger years I would have cheered and felt beautiful, ideal culturally right, good enough to be Admired, look everyone look how small I am.

But these skinny jeans, a size bigger, make me happy and delighted. They bring me a joy better than the kind I had in my mid twenties when getting thinner mattered, when numbers mattered. My hips will never shrink to the measurements of Victoria Secret models. My hips are the hips of my Mediterranean and Russian-Asian ancestor women, strong and hearty. I am not a size two anymore and I don’t care. I’m not an actress or model who must fit into a sample size. Even if I were, it wouldn’t matter. I was and am an artists’ model, they love hips. I’ve worked for my mother, who teaches art anatomy drawing courses and I’m one of her best fluid models, my poses convey motion and power, and my curved form is fun to sketch. Mom paints me from memory, even when I was anorexic she filled me out gently.

Anyway I got off track. Maybe I got a little condescending. It’s fine, though. I’m older than I was and I’ve learned more. (“In modern Western usage, the word condescension, condescending, has a strictly negative connotation due to an egalitarian conception of relationships. In the past, the word could be used in a positive sense when a person of higher status was willing to introduce a high degree of mutuality into their relationships with people of lower status.”) A Tumblr anonymous pm called me that regarding my TMNT rants, condescending, and I felt thankful. I am occasionally wise with knowledge. Check out my sage mountain, yo. 28 years. Of course I want to introduce a degree of mutuality.

Aaaanyways. Uh. Wooow. Okay. The, uh, the skinny jeans found at the Dollar And More store next to the HMart. The ones made out of Ramie.

(Brand names are Bamboo for the light blue, Tush Push for the dark blue. They are basically the same except for the sequins. I like the Bamboo better, just a little. I need to take a selfie or have husband Adam take a photo. Srsly, no waist gap, not even for this lady with hyperlordosis. I feel like I won something.)

I think the whole point is that I am okay with the me that I am. I only just realized I am gendervague femme demigirl after all, which probably played a part. I think I’ll get my eyebrows waxed finally, but I’m not wearing a dress without pants. And I’ll never wear heels unless they’re boots. See this is why I love the TMNT. They’re only half human. They don’t need to worry about girly and manly things. Mikey looks amazing in a dress, does Donnie. I don’t know if they can fit in skinny jeans but they would rock them, think about the muscles. I finally have visible muscles. Physical therapy for cerebral palsy does me well.

This is literally a ranty ramble right now. *laugh*