- (I've been reading these few and far between, so I'm going to go heavy on the notes to help it stick in my memory 😅)
[SPIDER-MAN/SCORPIO]
- They're in Paris. Spidey is hurt on the ground, having just fallen from space. He's out of web fluid. So when Scorpio uses the Zodiac Key to throw a vehicle towards some civilians, Spidey has to shove them out of the way. But the car lands on Spider-Man.
- Just when Scorpio is about to finish off Spider-Man, Gemini radios Scorpio
- (I hate the trope of Bad Guy About to Do THE THING But Something Pulls Them Away And They Can't Spare the Two Seconds to Do THE THING)
- citizens make a wall between Scorpio and Spider-Man. A common thing in Spider-Man comics?
- Anyway, Gemini are telling Scorpio to get to the station. They have the passport and tickets but they must go NOW
- Gemini uses foresight to let Scorpio know a motorcycle is coming, and that he needs to grab it to get to the station.
- as he's leaving, Spider-Man attaches a tracker
[ANDRU CORRECTIONAL FACILITY: UPSTATE NEW YORK]
- Aleksei (the Rhino) is being tasked with finding Dr. Curt Connors and some other person
- Rhino breaks into a wall of the prison
[PARIS]
- Anna arrives in a flying car
- Spider-Man thanks the crowd for protecting him and for not removing his mask when he was unconscious
- the tracer shows Scorpio traveling faster than 100 mph, which lead Anna and Spider-Man to realize he's in the Chunnel
- Brain gives Spidey a spare suit, web fluid, a medical scan (he's perfect, quick to heal)
[THE CHUNNEL]
- The Chunnel conductors are being put under control of zodiac masks. One of them is the new Cancer with a huge crab hat thing on his head. Kinda creepy really.
- and the other one is Leo
- Spider-Man radios in over a secure S.H.I.E.L.D. channel
- why couldn't Gemini foresee this? Because they have trouble reading into their own future... which is how Scorpio was able to poison the last Gemini
- the flying car catches up with the train traveling 186 mph
- Spider-Man gets on the top of the train, nearly gets zapped by Scorpio
- he can't use webbing in this kind of wind
- Scorpio shoots the tunnel roof to bring debris down on Anna Maria
- Spidey leaps for the car: "Brain! Shield her!"
- the car wrecks
[PRISON]
- the Lizard and Electro (being carried by Rhino) rejoin the mystery person on the hill
- "I'm just Max Dillon. I ain't Electro no more."
- but the man says he is the man who can make miracles
[TUNNEL]
- the car is still flying (barely)
- the Zodiac arrived in England and injured 12 members of the British Armed Forces waiting for them at the Ashford International Train Station
- they couldn't radio ahead to warn them because transmissions are spotty since someone knocked out half of Earth's satellites--which Spider-Man also did.
- Brain asks why Spider was in low Earth orbit
- that reminds Spidey that he went with Fury to get a scan of the Earth to find the thing that the Zodiac stole
- the orrery Scorpio stole from the British Museum and his Zodiac Key are made from the same unique material
- Spider-Man used S.H.I.E.L.D. satellites to track it here to this specific location
- Spidey knows this address. He's telecommuted here. He's personally shipped packages here from his office. "This is the home of Vernon Jacobs--Parker Industries' biggest shareholder and investor." Peter has been having weekly meetings with Scorpio. And last Christmas, he was his Secret Santa.
- they find an entrance to sublevels and there is a gorgeous private planetarium complete with fake grassy hill
- also a big scary super-villain room
- Anna suggests Peter call everyone at Parker Industries in to help
- the best employees from all over the planet hologram in
- what they've learned: the place is flooded with chronotons (time energy); most of the tech is for compressing and storing information...
- then Scorpio holograms in as well (Mr. Jacobs)
- Zodiac operates one day in the future, getting horse races, lottery numbers, stock tips, etc.
- Parker Industries made it possible for Scorpio to do everything
- Spider-Man is willing to let Parker Industries fall if it means taking Scorpio down
- (the Phantoms would be really creepy concepts if not for their dialogue)
- the Phantoms are tracking an armored vehicle (I think) that is full of the kind of tech Mr. Dun is always looking for
- they attack the vehicle
- and Donnie is inside!
- the goggles that Donnie is wearing at that angle make him look like Metalhead. Kewl.
- Donnie is prepared for them. The bo is modified to deal with their weapons?
- the one going around to slash the tires is zapped by Nobody
- "I'm Nobody. God, I love sayin' that." (I love this for Angel.)
- Nobody and Donnie take down the three Phantoms... at least until the Street Phantoms deploy an EMT.
- Angel's suit stops working
- cops arrive, so everyone disperses. "This ain't over, chumps."
[LEO]
- Leo is with Jennika in a large training room with bokken and fencing masks
- LEO: Very good, Jennika. You met my katsugi men with debana waza. I can tell you've been training with Master Splinter.
- Jennika says it was a fortunate counter, nothing more. Leo tells her not to sell herself short — he's seen her in action, and she's an excellent fighter. She touches her scarred cheek and says "not excellent enough."
- Leo tells her she's wasting precious time and energy blaming herself for what happened to Alopex. He talks about Kitsune's mind games: "Those scars will heal, Jennika. You'll see. ALL of them."
- then she shyly says "Jenny."
- JENNY: Before I joined the Foot, my... my family called me Jenny.
- LEO: Jenny, huh? Well, looks like that's what I'll be calling you from now on, then. Because far as I'm concerned, you are family.
- (omg so cute I'm GONNA DIE. The side characters in the IDW TMNT stories so far have really impressed me with how much depth they have when they become long-term characters—i.e. Alopex, Angel. We don't know a whole lot about Harold yet, but it seems we'll be getting a little of that soon.)
[GROUP]
- Leo and Jenny join Raph, Casey, April, Donnie, and Angel in some sort of dining hall
- Donnie uses a screwdriver to remove the face plate of the Nobody suit
- Mikey arrives with Pizza from Rupert's, including the antipasto that Splinter likes.
- Splinter has called a meeting to discuss the disappearance of Alopex and the group called the Street Phantoms
- SPLINTER: We must chart an aggressively decisive course of action against our enemies moving forward if we are to have any chance of defeating them.
- Kitsune and her siblings seek to accomplish world dominance by way of the sinister game they play
- he turns it over to April
- she tells them about meeting Aka and the Rat King in the desert, and that Aka tends to be more benevolent. She is the one who provided a feather and the spell that helped Kitsune's attack.
- Leo wonders if Aka was just making her own move in the game
- April says maybe, but she really doesn't think so. April believes Aka is genuinely sympathetic to the human—and mutant—cause
- Splinter hopes the scroll will contain other methods that will help them repel Kitsune's mind-control powers
- April considers magic to be "science we don't understand yet"—I like that!
- Splinter asks Leo to work closely with Miss O'Neil (he's so cute) in her studies into the pantheon, and Jennika will assist them both as needed. Leo's ability to defy Kitsune's brainwashing is very important.
- Raph asks what they're gonna do about Alopex. Splinter says he thinks April has important information from her research that might help. April tells them that when she was digging through the Foot archives, she came across their scientific data—including Alopex's, which seemed to have been deliberately hidden away. She was micro-chipped! According to the tracking data, Alopex is heading northwest... and fast.
- ANGEL: Alaska. Alopex told me she's from Alaska. That's where the Foot captured her before they, you know... changed her. I bet she's feelin' ashamed by everything that's happened and probably tryin' to get as far away as she can because of it.
- Raph puts the blame on Kitsune, not Alopex. Splinter agrees, and says, "...we will not abandon Alopex now in her time of confusion."
- Splinter tasks Raph and Angel to go find Alopex and bring her home. Both, of course, are eager to do so.
- Splinter says he has tasked one of their best pilots to get them where they need to go. Alopex is family and an integral part of this clan.
- then the floor gets handed to Donnie. Donnie tells them about the ambush for the Street Phantoms he and Angel had set up, and how they were doing well until one of them used the EMP.
- DONNIE: I read somewhere that the military was trying to develop them as part of their non-lethal arsenal—looks like the Street Phantoms are more tech-savvy than we thought.
- April compares the feather-spell to a sort of EMP, but the metaphysical kind.
- Angel says someone else is supplying the tech, because she seriously doubts "those cloak-wearin' idiots even know what savvy means."
- that's when Splinter says that when Jennika was still a member of the assassin caste, she made covert contact with the Street Phantoms and their leader, a man named Darius Dun.
- (Jenny still is carrying so much guilt. When Splinter casually says, "Her intentions at the time may have been less than noble, but fortunately we continue to be able to transform that particular negative into a positive," Jennika's eyes are downcast and her head is bowed. She looks like she's dissociating.)
- who is Darius Dun? Outwardly, he appears to be a modestly successful businessman, but Splinter believes that to be a façade meant to hide a far darker reality.
- Splinter tasks Donnie to continue working with Harold to increase the functionality and availability of our technical assets. They have an immediate need for more advanced countermeasures
- this is when Mikey speaks up—immediately after Splinter says "...as well as the weapons that will allow the Foot Clan to strike pre-emptively and mercilessly."
- Mikey says he wants Alopex back just as much as anyone here—but to HELP her, not keep her being another soldier.
- Splinter says they will of course tend to Alopex's trauma first.
- MIKEY: Why? So you can stick her right back in the war to get hurt again? Let's be honest—the whole time we've been here, you've been sayin' things like 'exploit' and 'technical assets' and 'advanced countermeasures' and 'pre-emptively,' and it totally sucks. Whatever happened to 'protection' and 'defending' and 'honor'... and all the other stuff you used to say AGAINST the Foot?
- (Mikey is so not over this, and I love that for him)
- Leo asks what Mikey's point is. We ARE the Foot, so why would Splinter speak against his own clan? Mikey says no, they are the Foot—but Mikey doesn't want anything to do with it. They why are you here, Leo asks.
- Mikey replies, "I'm here because you invited me... and because I thought we were havin' a family meeting like the old days, not some stupid war council."
- Mikey and Leo continue to argue until Leo says, "This is serious business... and it's way past time we all grow up and deal with it like adults!"
- Mikey gets dejected and leaves. "You know what... forget it—I knew comin' here was gonna be a mistake. I'm goin' home... to the lair. I need some more time alone to figure out why, if we beat the Shredder, it still feels like he's winnin' and we're losin.'"
- Splinter calls an end to the meeting
- Casey and April awkwardly run into each other. April excuses herself.
- Splinter then calls to Casey and asks him to join him for a walk.
[GARDEN]
- Splinter asks Casey why he was so quiet during the meeting. Casey says he felt like a third wheel; everyone has something to do in the war except him. Oh, and the whole Mikey thing was awkward.
- Splinter says is fully aware of his and April's separation, and he is sorry for it. Casey deflects with—after he gets permission to ask a personal question: "Do you regret killin' the Shredder?"
- Splinter says there is no easy answer. He says that he abhors violence, but he has learned that sometimes, needs must.
- SPLINTER: You ask me if I regret killing the Shredder. Perhaps the more appropriate question is do I regret doing what I had to do to protect those I love most in this world. The answer, quite simply, is no... I do not. And if faced with the same terrible decision, I would do it again—not matter the cost. ...Do you understand what I am saying to you, Casey Jones?
- (wait—what... is he saying he supports them being separated because Casey is right that it will protect April if they're apart?)
- Casey says, yeah, it's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it. Yes, dirty, and extremely dangerous. And not for the faint of heart. "And that is why you and I are out here, young man—to discuss your crucial role in this war."
- (okay, seriously, wtf are they talking about?)
[HAROLD]
- he's holding one of the Street Phantom cloaks. "Damn you, woman. Why?"
- someone says, "Cool toy" when they see Metalhead hanging in repair.
- Harold turns: "Who—" then he's zapped with a blue electrical light. It's the Street Phantoms. They just used some sort of stun baton. "The inventor says hi."
╭───── ✧ ─────╮
𝓣𝓸 𝓑𝓮 𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓮𝓭 ╰───── ✧ ─────╯
(Ugh, why is it so hard to find art work on DeviantArt nowadays? Since when is it acceptable to post a still from a TV show or a comic book panel and submit it as "look what I did!" I feel like that's even worse than pretending Ai is their own art. Anyway, enjoy this fan art of Splinter!)
I didn't jot down my reactions as I read this time (nobody really cares, but since I have to take notes anyway for the podcast, it's a fun way to document my reading of these amazing stories).
Have some gorgeous Alopex fanart by JECBrush on DeviantArt!
- Death reaches a giant skull in the desert. His horse leaps into the mouth while Jagwar's mom (Juntarra) is still draped over it
- Death feeds the horse (Beelzy) a scorpion for a treat
- Juntarra is bait to get Jagwar and the others into that skull lair
- but they're a little ahead of schedule, so Death concocts a potion to slow them down a little
[Mutanimals]
- Jagwar shows everyone the temple of his father, and the second stop on the Path of the Four Winds.
- this is the West, and those who take the path now face the Jaguar-Spirit
- Man Ray asks why they can't just go straight to the East to find Juntarra. Why can't they skip all this mystic mumbo-jumbo?
- Jagwar says the mystic path is real and they can only reach the east by completing the path of the four winds.
- Man Ray says it still seems like a waste of time and resources, and were it not for going South last issue, Wingnut would still have his metal wings. He has a hard time accepting the idea that the supernatural is real.
- They all meditate so they can open their minds to the Jaguar-Spirit
- Man Ray's mind wanders, but surprisingly it's him who the Jagwar-Spirit visits.
- JAGUAR-SPIRIT: "So... tell me, Man Ray, you are not afraid of death? Even as you claim not to know what death is?"
- Man Ray begins to astral project; Jaguar-Spirit has given M.R. the ability to travel through time and space so that he can prove to J.S. that he's not afraid of death.
- M.R. sees himself as a grad student on the New Jersey shoreline in 1987, trying to figure out why 1/3 of the Atlantic Bottlenosed Dolphin was dead or dying. His name was Jack Finney. Finney didn't care about the health risks himself: "I wasn't afraid to die... not if it meant saving so many lives."
- (why did he age so much in one year? lol)
- in 1988 I discovered a strange glowing gel in some sewer pipe discharge
- a gush of water washed him and the "glowing gel" into the bay, but even then, he was curious rather than afraid. And he didn't die. He was mutated.
- M.R. then talks about some of the adventures he's been on, but J.S. grabs him by the tail and begins dragging M.R. back to his body because he senses great danger.
- M.R. rejoins his body. Everyone else seems kind of out of it while M.R. tells them there is great danger--then he points upward to show skull-bats
- omg that little 4th wall break by Screw Loose when Wingnut makes that joke on pg 11
- The Mutanimals begin fighting the flying abominations
- they fight them off, with even little Screw Loose holding his own
- then a giant flaming zombie bends over trees as it moves towards them
- it begins flinging giant fireballs into the forest
- M.R. begins lobbing insults at the flaming thing to lure it to a nearby lake
- it gives chase, and Man Ray leaps into the lake, extinguishing the creature
- Screw Loose notes that the Deadhead attacks seem too easy, like they are meant to slow them down but not stop them
[JUNTARRA]
- ha! Deadhead is washing his cauldron in a kitchen sink with dish soap called "Kettle Brite"
- Juntarra wakes up while he's distracted and slips away
- only an opening high above seems to be the way out
- (setting: southern Iran) The turtles, Splinter, and Ninjara are riding dirt bikes across the desert (and the Gunslinger followed). They reach the port city of Jāsk. Splinter tells them that their next task is to board the Omani oil tanker in the harbor, because Oman is their next destination. They get into ninja stealth mode (were the dirt bikes part of that?) and climb a mooring rope. They successfully stowaway on the ship, and though Mikey is hungry, Splinter says he'll have to wait until they pick up more supplies in Oman.
- Leo points out something in the distance to Don. A plume of black smoke to the north that Donnie says are probably Kuwaiti oil wells still burning over a year after the Gulf War. They discuss the environmental impact of the war and the millions of gallons of oil that either went up in smoke or spilled into the Persian Gulf.
- Several days later, the group rides camels across Saudi Arabia toward Al Hadidah, the Valley of the Fallen Stars, referring to the Black Stone of Mecca. Splinter asks if it has high value among thieves. It is considered the fifth most difficult object in the world to steal. The first four are the Mona Lisa, the Hope Diamond, the corpse of the Roswell Alien, and a woman's heart (smoochie time between Ninjara and Raph and omg they're so cute). They have arrived at Al Hadidah.
- *gasp* Is Ninjara sitting on Raph's lap????
- story time from Splinter!
- The Black Stone, also called Hajar-ul-Aswad, is said to have fallen to Earth 3,000 years ago. (big info dump, too tired to deal with right now - but basically it's the story of how Mecca came to be) HA!!! And all the others are sound asleep while Splinter is still talking. (And Ninjara is resting her head on Raph and omg I'm gonna die it's so cute)
- the next day, Ninjara asks Splinter if he knows the story of the White Stone. There were two craters back in Al Hadidah. The White Stone is said to have fallen alongside the black one, but it was secreted away by a nomad before the Meccans arrived to discover its black twin
- for 3,000 years, the White Stone has been secretly sold between the richest men in the world. Each in turn has unsuccessfully tried to steal the black one.
- because together the stones are said to convey "immor--"
- then she gets interrupted by Leo alerting them to strangers approaching.
- "Just proceed naturally, my sons, Ninjara." "Allah be with you."
- that was cute
- or maybe it's not cute? The guy who greeted them seems to recognize them. He jumps off the camel and tells his companion to wait for him at Al Hadidah. (He's not going to end up being Shredder, is he?)
- our group comes to a town that was deserted when trade routes moved west towards Mecca. They are setting up camp. It's good that it is a well-sheltered location, because a storm is brewing.
- a falcon flies from that location to another place. Ah! Where the giant bird is waiting. The falcon tells him what he has learned. The Not-Pigeon Pete says, "At last!"
- back in the abandoned city, Leo and Mikey are watching the storm roll in, but Mikey says it looks kinda funky. Maybe that's how storms in the desert are? Even the heat feels different. From their perch, they see someone moving below and realize the place isn't so deserted after all.
- except a bunch of the people are behind them, with swords
- a half hour ago, this place was deserted. These dudes just popped up out of nowhere!
- down below, more men circle the rest of our group
- Ninjara calls out a warning to Michelangelo
- Mikey gets knocked off the balcony by Al'Falqa!
- "Villain? You're the villain, villain! You and your pallies attacked us, remember?"
- yes, because you six who stole the Black Stone!
- what's with the wind?
- Yes, the 6 people on 5 camels also describe the group they passed earlier
- sandstorm!
- Splinter gets separated in the sand and finds a doorway
I didn't write up a synopsis for this one because Nomad isn't one of my usual titles, but there is a lot of Punisher/Daredevil goodness in here, the art is wonderful, and Nomad seems like a really cool character.
Here is the LINK for the issue's wiki page if you want to check it out.
Splinter makes a quiet round of visits through Foot Clan HQ, starting with Shredder's tomb, where Jennika is standing guard. She asks Splinter why he built a tomb for his family's sworn enemy. He explains that Oroku Saki was once a clan brother he was proud to call his own.
His next visit is to Kitsune's quarters, where he admires a painting that she has been working on. He understands the symbolism of the fox and the dragon, but he asks Kitsune about the phoenix. She replies, "Ah, yes—the mystical symbol of death and rebirth. You should not read too deeply into its meaning." Splinter asks her about the game that her kind play with mortals as their pawns, and what happens to those who choose not to participate. Her answer is simple: in the game of survival, the only rule is to be quick or be dead.
In the throne room, Angel mentions to Splinter that Alopex has been acting so strange that they've had to cut patrol short three times that week. Splinter makes note of this, then grants April's request for access to the archival library.
Meanwhile, Kitsune is making her move. Using her spiritual powers, she reaches for Alopex, who awakens fully under Kitsune's control. Alopex makes her way downstairs to the tomb, and when the door requires a passphrase, Kitsune feeds it to her: "True strength is the flower of wisdom, but its seed is action." The guards that confront her soon fall under Kitsune's thrall as well, and they follow Alopex into the tomb, where they are challenged by Jennika. Alopex knocks her unconscious, then orders the guards to gather Shredder's body from the tomb and take it to the waiting helicopter.
Elsewhere, Splinter—checking in on Alopex—finds her bed empty. Kitsune arrives with her contingent and orders them to "kill the rodent." Splinter battles for his life. Just when it looks like he will be cut down, Jennika intervenes, driving the soldiers back from her master. Kitsune unleashes Alopex on Jennika, then seizes Splinter for herself.
We are now at the moment where the previous issue ended—with Leo, Raph, and Mikey walking in to find Splinter hanging weakly in Kitsune's grip, saying "My sons..."
He finishes the sentence now: "...save Jennika." Kitsune stabs him off-panel as the turtles watch in horror. To be continued.
I did a thing! My very first wiki synopsis. I expanded it from the two-sentence synopsis it was before. I figured if I'm going to be a total nerd about my favorite titles and write notes as I read, I might as well use it for the advancement of humanity by expanding synopsis stubs.
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