NickToons TMNT Episode 33- Slash and Destroy

by Mark Rodriguez

Of most of the classic original TMNT characters, Slash has always been one of the favorite and most requested characters to make an appearance. The original Slash figure was just so awesome. The savage look on his face, sharp deadly teeth, the black bandana and wraps, and that awesome Psycho Sai. Not to mention the Shredder-inspired blades. He's the complete opposite of the Turtles in every way, and that's made him cool. He was so epic that even though the 2K3 series was strictly going with a Mirage comic route, fans were hoping they'd make one little exception with Slash. Yeah, we got the Dark Turtles, but it wasn't the same. When Playmates released some of the classic figs a few years back (The Turtles, April, Splinter, Shredder, and Casey) Slash was randomly lumped together with the set even though he had no 2K3 counterpart. He's that beloved.

Even the action figure looks ready to tear some @&%# up!

And he was awesome too. At least in the video games.... He was in both the NES game TMNT Manhattan Project, armed with a sword and ready to slice and dice without mercy...

And he looked exactly like the action figure come to life in the SNES version of Turtles in Time, which replaced a rather lame and one-time glue monster that was shown way back on the second season of the show. 

He was also awesome in the Archie comics, not afraid to slice and dice whatever came into his way. However... in the OT he wasn't quite as awesome... He was still strong, but like most cartoons, the stronger they are, the dumber they are, since the good guys have to win some how. While Slash was, IMO more naive than outright dumb in his first episode (he was just mutated that same day after all), the following appearances made him stupid and ran with it.

So once again we have a new TMNT series, one that does use classic OT characters like Metalhead and Mutagen Man, so fans were expecting to see Slash. And since the first episode where Raph revealed his little pet Turtle Spike (which Paige calls Turtleception) fans speculated he would eventually fall into some Mutagen and become everyone's favorite evil psycho turtle. How did the 2K13 version of Slash measure up? Let's find out.

Slash and Destroy opens with Mikey playing an arcade game in the lair. He soon loses and it's Leo's turn to play. Suddenly Raph steps in, with Spike on his shoulder, angry that Mikey got pizza stains all over his Modern Ninja magazines that he spent six years to collect. Mikey says they can't be all that modern if they're six years old and says they're still good as he starts licking the stains off. Raph smacks Mikey which makes Spike smile. Leo tells him to calm down since it's just material possessions, but the red-masked Turtle reminds him how much he cares about his own comicbooks.

Meanwhile Don is working in his lab trying to find a way to make the RetroMutagen, complaining about Raph's temper. His experiment suddenly backfires and sends fireworks flying all over the lair (what the hell would turn Mutagen into fireworks???). The others are surprised and Raph sees one of them heading towards Spike. He quickly jumps in the way to save him.

Raph is furious at Don and this time an apology won't cut it. Splinter steps in and demands to know what's going on. Raph explains and takes the Mutagen away from Donnie to prevent him from doing any more harm.

Raph goes to his room and complains to Spike about the others, and how they're holding him back. Mikey comes in and tell him that Splinter wants him to help clean up the mess Don caused. Raph says it isn't fair since Don was the one that caused the mess, not him. Mike says he can tell that to Splinter. Raph sighs angrily and leaves the room, slamming the door, accidentaly making the Mutagen spill on the floor. Spike sees this and takes his chance to dive in.

Raph complains to Splinter about having to clean up Don's mess. He even snaps back at him a few times, and Splinter hits his pressure points to immobilize him and calm him down.

Raph returns to his room angry about what happened and complaining that he's the one with the attitude problem. Just then he hears a voice saying "They don't understand you... they never have. Not like me..." Raph realized that the Mutagen had spilled and Spike has gotten into it, and is now a huge mutant turtle that towers over him.

The Turtles finishing mopping up Don's mess, when suddenly his Mutagen tracker goes off. They found another cannister of ooze (oh wow, you mean they finally remembered they're supposed to be looking for them?) nearby and they want to head out to find it. They send Mikey to get Raph.

Raph is surprised and thinks it's awesome that Spike is a mutant. Spike says he's better off without his brothers, and they should just go out and smash their enemies without holding back. Raph agrees and says someone understands him. Mikey lets him know about their mission and Raph says they can go without him and he can catch up later. Leo says they won't wait for him and they all leave.

Raph thinks he can find the Mutagen bottle without the others, but he needs some kind of tracking device. Spike can track it by its scent. Raph thinks it's awesome but before he can go, he should gear up. He dresses Spike with black wraps and lets him choose a weapon. Spike grabs a mace and says he never liked the name Spike and prefers to be called Slash. He grabs an S symbol from the table and pins it on his belt for the finishing touch.

Slash and Raph head out to find the Mutagen bottle, while Leo, Mike and Don also track it down. It's lying in the middle of the street in broad daylight, so they have to be careful. Raph and Leo have the same idea, use some rope to swing down and grab it without being seen.They both swing into each other and start arguing. As they argue, Slash goes after Don. Leo notices that the Mutagen bottle was grabbed by the pizza delivery boy that thinks it's some kind of energy drink. Leo chases after him.

Raph returns to Slash and wonders what he did in his absence. Slash says he's better off without his brothers. They're just dead weight. Raph is trying to figure out what he means and notices he's carrying Don's headband. Mikey shows up and tells Raph that something happened to Donnie. He then notices the giant mutant turtle next to them, and Slash attacks Mikey brutally, slamming him all over the place.

Raph tries to stop him, but Slash says he's better off with those clowns holding him back. He then grabs Mikey and is ready to drop him off a building. Raph shoves Slash out of the way and save Mikey. Slash says he doesn't want to fight Raph. 

Meanwhile, Leo manages to grab the Mutagen bottle away from the kid but he loses it again. This time the Asian guy (the same one that April always tries to get past every time she goes undercover) finds it and thinks its some kind of lava lamp. Leo sees some trash cans nearby and decides to use them to hide and try to get the Mutagen back.

Raph manages to find Don, who is now in very bad shape. Mikey then hears Leo's voice in the distance, but it was Slash imitating him, and he grabs him again. Slash tells Raph he has to choose between him or his brothers. Raph chooses his brothers and says they have to stick together no matter what. Slash says he doesn't want to fight Raph, but Raph says he does want to fight him. Raph and Slash finally fight it out.

Leo hides in a trash can and tries to grab the Mutagen away from the guy, but now some little girl has it. Leo follows them to their house and sneaks inside. He sees the girl using the bottle at her tea party, and actually starts to pour it into a cup. Leo decides the time for stealth is over and runs inside and kicks the cup out of the girl's hand. Leo wants the Mutagen back but the girl says she'll scream. Then she starts to hold her breath.

Elsewhere, Slash is able to match Raph blow for blow and outfight him. He says he studied Raph train all those years and he knows all his moves. Slash says they're the same. Raph says they're nothing alike and the Mutagen warped him. The battle between them continues.

Leo is now having a tea party with the girl, and she asks if there are any other talking turtles. Leo insists he's just an imaginary friend and he's the only one. Just then Slash and Raph bust into the room. Leo grabs the Mutagen and runs out, telling the girl he'll bring the tea next time. 

Slash manages to defeat Raph and is about to slash him up with his claws until Leo arrives to help out. Leo is confused that Slash is a mutated Spike, and then Slash takes him down. He says he's been looking forward to fighting him for a long time. Mike and Don show up, grabbing Slash from each arm, but he tosses them away. Slash tells Raph that they're the same, anger makes them stronger. He's about to finish Mikey with his mace. Raph comes in and tosses a smoke bomb in his face. 

As Slash tries to attack, he immobilizes him in the similar way that Splinter did to him earlier. However. Slash is too close to the edge of the rooftop and is about to fall off. Raph jumps in to try to rescue him, but Slash falls. Raph makes sure his bros are ok, but when he checks on Slash, he's already done, only leaving the cracked pavement where he landed.

Back at the lair, Leo, Don and Mike are playing the arcade game, while Raph sulks on the couch holding one of the leaves that Spike used to munch on. Splinter steps in and says when he misses his family of the past, he focuses on his family in the present. Raph cheers up a little and decides to join the others in the arcade game. He says it's not so bad to hang with them.

My Opinions:

Another awesome episode, and one that was long-awaited. I swear people were expecting Spike to become Slash from day one and were wondering how he changed his name from one to the other. As much as everyone expected Mikey to randomly name him Slash, the mutant turtle named himself. I have to admit the design is really awesome. There were a lot of complaints about how small his head was compared to the rest of him, but somehow it works once you actually see him in the show. 

I do have to say, that Mutagen sure is crazy unstable. Again, there's no reason from a logical standpoint as to why Spike didn't just mutate into a slightly different looking version of the regular Turtles, and instead a giant sized muscle monster with all these random spikes sticking out all over him. I mean... honestly, looking at the guy it's almost impossible to tell that that.... came from this little guy.

Speaking of which... I have to say it's just so sad to see this little guy gone. He was Raph's buddy. He was the one he went to when no one else would listen. In a way it did turn him into what he is today. Paige, Venka and I'm sure many others assumed that just like Don's complaining to Timothy about April and Casey made him go after her, Raph's complaining to Spike about his bros also caused him to go after him. He even seemed to have a special grudge against Leo, who is the one that Raph usually has the most problem with. Unlike Timothy, it felt more real and less contrived with Spike, since we've seen Raph rant to him as early as Turtle Temper, the third episode. It's kinda sad that Raph lost his buddy though. 

With that said, the character in itself is super awesome. Just what we were hoping from Slash. Strong, vicious and violent. And wow, did this episode deliver. The way Slash beat Mikey down... that's something we usually don't see happen to the funny Turtle, and that beat-down wasn't funny. And wow, I don't think I've ever seen the Turtles that horribly thrashed, battered and bruised. I mean not even the Shredder gave them that bad of a beating, and seeing Mikey and Donnie without their masks on just made it feel that much more painful looking. Despite his violent rage, Slash still wouldn't fight Raph... but after falling off the building, he might come back with a grudge against him blaming him for the fall.

One thing Paige brought up is, how the hell did Slash already know how to fight? He did later say he studied all of Raph's moves when he was a normal turtle.... but still. We could watch a Bruce Lee marathon, it doesn't mean we'll be top notch martial artists. They're basically going with the Splinter/Yoshi deal from the Mirage comics where Splinter as a pet rat watched Yoshi train from his cage... and somehow became a master ninja once he mutated. For the most part, all the other mutants were already some sort of martial artist before mutation, or they relied on their newfound powers based on whatever they mutated into (in Spider Bytes' case, he gained a spider's agility and had acid spit), and let's not forget the Turtles were normal-ish on day one and had to train for 15 years to be the kick-ass ninjas they are now. While Slash was lucky enough to mutate into a mountain of muscle, it's still a whole other matter to be fast enough to be able to dodge and counter Raph's trained ninja moves. Oh well. 

She also pointed out how they somehow could afford the CGI model for the little girl... but not for NotChrome Dome in the previous ep.... lol.

I don't really want to say much negative about the episode since it really was a good one. I guess I feel torn on so many things. On one side, I like seeing Slash as a violent psycho, and the fights were epic. But on the other side, I feel bad because he's Spike and would much rather prefer him as some sort of extra ally, since the Turtles don't seem to have many mutant buddies, just more and more mutant enemies. One one side, I did like to see Leo's shenanigans on trying to get the Mutagen bottle back, and the tea party was classic, mostly cause we rarely see silly stuff happen to the serious leader of the group, at least in the more serious versions of the franchise. But on the other hand, I would have much rather have liked to see the Turtles and Slash face the Foot, the Kraang or maybe even Snakeweed and Spider Bytes instead of just trying to snatch the bottle away from a little girl. I kinda wanted to see Raph and Slash take on some bad guys before he went all psycho. Hell, things might have played out differently if he had his mind on something else other than attacking the guys. 

Either way, it's an awesome episode, and Slash is an awesome and somewhat tragic character, that now has a much more personal connection to Raph. Let's see what happens the next time they see each other. I just hope some of the episode show little scenes of Raph missing his little buddy. 

One final detail I should probably mention here is that the voice of Slash is none other than Corey Feldman, who some might remember as voicing Donatello in the first and third TMNT live action movies from the 90's. And wow, he did a very good job capturing the perfect dark and creepy voice to make Slash even more terrifying.

Welcome back to the world of TMNT, dude. And he recorded line for at least two more episodes!

Let me just end this article by saying I had some TMNT fun with Black Friday and managed to grab a Spider Bytes figure, the only one in the store for almost half off... as well as one of the Lego Kits, the Stealth Shell in Pursuit that features a Fishface figure. Sweet. What TMNT stuff did YOU buy this Black Friday, and are you planning on getting some more this Cyber Monday?

Let's beat up some Kung Fu Frogs!

NickToons TMNT Episode 32- Target: April O'Neil

By Mark Rodriguez

It's time for another episode as the story actually moves forward with several developments, as well as another classic character kinda/sorta brought into the show. Yeah.... I'm gonna rant about that after the episode summary...

The episode opens at Shredder's hideout, as Shredder talks to Karai, upset that she attacked the Turtles against his orders, but also upset that she failed at it. Cause, hey, if you're gonna go against my enemies behind my back when I told you not to, at least kill one of them, ok? Karai says she can have The Kraang improve the robot Foot Soldiers, but Shredder tells her to not have any more dealings with them until his return. Of course once he signs off, Karai heads into the Kraang hideout and sees how their newest robot is doing... who looks exactly like pre-mutated Chris Bradford.... but more on that later. She tells them that when it's ready, they should send it after her main target, April O'Neil. The Kraang are surprised, since Karai doesn't know that they April is the key to their invasion plans. Karai asks if there's a problem, and the Kraang say no and that the robot will be ready.

After the epic theme song, the episode begins with April walking home alone at night with Donnie following her. She eventually senses someone lurking around and tosses her fan at him. She's surprised to see him, but is still pissed since the Turtles were responsible for turning her father into a mindless mutant monster. She never wants to see them again and wants to return to her regular life. Before she leaves, he tells her that some things are beyond their control.

Back in the lair, the other Turtles are watching more episodes of the Voltron knockoff (I'd call it Voltronzinger Z) as Raph keeps eating Mikey's popcorn. Don shows up and sees how in the episode the princess character is pissed that the others forgot her birthday and doesn't want to see them again (even going as far as having the leg part of the giant robot detach and fly off). Mike remarks it's so similar to Don's life (which is funny since Space Heroes usually goes along with whatever the episode is about). Don is offended and the others point out the princess character leaves all the time anyway. Don decides to be alone in his lab and notices that the Kraang orb is shining again.

The Turtles hit the Shell Raiser and Don tells them that Kraang are working on some kind of secret weapon. Mikey says it might be lasers discussed as burritos. Raph says that only makes sense 'cause Mikey's brain is an avocado. Leo tells them when they're done with the Kraang, they'll go for some Mexican pizza.

April shows up at a hockey rink and sees Casey play. April likes to hang with him, and he flirts a bit. He asks if she has any other friends, since she seems to be such a loner. April says he used to have four close friends but doesn't talk to them anymore. Casey says he once had a good friend too but after a playoff where he injured him (they were on opposing teams), they don't talk anymore. He reminds her there are some things beyond his control, which reminds her of what Donnie said. He says maybe they can go out for pizza later, which also reminds her of the Turtles.

Just then Foot Ninja arrive to attack. April fights them off and is surprised that they're now robots. Casey shows up to help and smacks them down with hockey pucks (saying he has crackerjack timing, Big Trouble in Little China). Casey asks them if she owes them money, or something. More Foot show up, and April says 'or something'. She wants Casey to go some place safe, but he's excited to fight robot ninjas. They both say they can take them, and April leads the Foot away since she knows they're after her. Casey stays behind with one of them and is ready to fight. Karai is watching April from the rooftops and sends more Foot Soldiers after her.

The TMNT find The Kraang's hideout, and Mikey distracts them with shadow puppets of a rabbit, and elephant, and a flamenco dancer. The other admit he has mad shadow puppet skills (like a Turtle do) and fight their way inside. They notice the giant Bradford-Bot they're working on and determine it's their secret weapon. April keeps fighting the Foot the best she can and admits she needs help from the Turtles again and calls Donnie. Don's cellphone buzzing alerts the Kraang, and they all start to open fire on them. However, with April in danger, Donnie runs off to help her. Raph is upset that Donnie bailed on them, and they have to fight the Kraang without him.

Casey is still at the skating rik, fighting off more of the Foot Soldiers. Meanwhile, April continues to fight the Foot Soldiers, that are relentless robots, and some of them even have four arms now. Karai finally makes her appearance and starts to attack April directly. Donnie shows up to save her and manages to land some hits on Karai. Karai says their rat master took someone that means a lot to her away from her, so now she will take someone that means a lot to them. Donnie says he won't anyone hurt April and keeps fighting against her, while April continues to deal with the Foot Soldiers.

The Turtles continue to fight until Robo-Bradford is ready and fully-charged. Mikey thinks it's no big deal and jumps in first and is easily defeated. The robot has whips and swords and easily defeats the Turtles. He ties Leo up and is ready to blast him with his laser eyes. However, the robot now boots up its main programming... to target April. It leaves to find her and Turtles have to follow it. But not before Mikey picks up one of the Kraang guns and accidently shoots at his bros.

Karai keeps fighting April, and Don tries to fight back the robot Foot Soldiers. Robo-Bradford shows up, smacks Don away and grabs April. However, now the robot reveals it's true programming, which is to capture April for The Kraang, and it targets everyone else as a threat, even Karai and the Foot Soldiers.

The Shell Raiser shows up and runs into the robot, which Mikey calls Chrome Dome. They fire off manhole cover at it, but Robo-Bradford shoots them down with his laser eyes. He then grabs the Shell Raiser and flips it to its side. The Turtles notice a cracked panel on the robot's back and considers it a weak point. Leo manages to get behind it and rip the panel open to yank out some wires. The robot goes crazy and spins the Turtles around. Karai continues to fight against April, but Leo manages to come in and  knocks her back with a flying kick. Mikey finally defeats Robo-Bradford by running him through with his own laser sword. Karai vanishes with a smoke bomb, saying she'll return.

April thanks the Turtles for saving her and then remembers Casey being left behind with the Foot Soldiers and runs back to the Hockey rink. She sees that he's ok and all the robots were defeated. She slips a bit on the ice and ends up in Casey's arms. Don manages to see this and sighs sadly.

Back the lair, April shows up and makes amends with the Turtles. Leo says they screwed up which ended up in her father being mutated, and she says she understands that sometimes there are things that beyond their control. Splinter is glad to see her again, and asks if they can continue their training. Mikey offers her some old pizza he found as a welcome home gift (what the hell dude?). April goes over to Donnie and thanks him for always being there, even when she didn't want him to. She hugs him and kisses him on the cheek. Donnie is so happy he flies all over the world yelling out that he loves being a turtle.

My Opinions:

There's a lot to say to say about the episode, as usual. I guess I'll start with Casey, who had a small role in this episode. He didn't do all that much really, except to show off that he's a good fighter, which will factor in later on when he becomes a vigilantee. It's also the first time we actually see him play hockey. Most of the time by the time we see Casey, he's already a retired hockey player turned vigilantee (though the OT Casey was just a psycho. Who knows if he even played sports). It was interesting seeing her and April kinda flirt a little. Their convo does make me wonder why April doesn't have any friends. Sure she knew the Turtles, but what about before? When he asked her about that I almost felt was going to answer 'cause it costs too much to make more CGI characters to be my friends'. Paige thought the Casey scenes were distracting since she can't un-see those missing front teeth of his.

Speaking of which.... Chrome Dome... THAT IS NOT FRIGGIN CHROME DOME. Right from the starts I was like '...why does the robot look like Chris Bradford?' It never hit me until Mikey called him as such, but then I dismissed it as a joke. But then he re-affirmed it as Chrome Dome.... and then they went with the broken panel in the back. I facepalmed and thought to myself 'oh crap... they're really gonna go there...'

Ladies and gentleman, THIS is Chrome Dome...

In the original series, Shredder made this robot about Adamantium (bub) but they ran out before they could complete it, so they put normal metal to cover a small plate on his back. April knew about this and let the Turtles know, which is how they were able to defeat him. He came back in a second episode that had Shredder bring back most of the series' villains, and was also in the TMNT Tournament Fighters game for the SNES.

Although in the game version, he was self aware and wanted to win the tournament to get the money to remove the warrior program from his body. Um.... ok? I guess that's why he's nice enough to warn you and say 'GET OUT!!!' before he self destructs.

Anyways... THIS is NOT Chrome Dome... this is Chris Bradford before he became Dogpound and Rahzar.

All they did was give him red eyes and silver-plate his arms. I mean, at the very and I mean VERY least they could have silver-plated him and made the arms black, or SOMETHING. This was the worst ever excuse of low budget CGI standards when they couldn't afford to make a whole new character. And the most annoying thing is.. NO ONE NOTICED. Throughout the whole episode, not one character mentioned that it looked like Bradford. Not even Mikey. It was like a jarring case of 'same actor, different character' where everyone acts like Terrance Howard and Don Cheadle are the same person (Rhodey AKA War Machine) in the Iron Man movies without anybody questioning why he suddenly looks different all of a sudden.... BUT IN A CARTOON. Here, eveyone acts as if it was an all-new character that no one has ever seen before. C'mon guys, there is no excuse for this, and if this is how low CGI cartoons have fallen, then bring back normal animation.

I know the same argument might be brought up for the robot Foot Soldier looking just like the human ones. And yes, honestly, I would have liked a different design. After all, how are they gonna say the toy... the exact same Foot Soldier toy already out with red eyes? But in this case the characters noticed. In the last episode, the Turtles thought they were the same old Foot Soldiers, until they got back up to their feet, and continued to do so. It took them a while to figure out they were robots. It happened again in this episode when April said 'I thought you guys were supposed to be human'. In this episode not one person said 'whoa, how did Bradford turn back to normal' or 'why are you sending a Robo-Bradford after us?' Honestly, in-story, why would Karai commission the Kraang to make a robot that looked like Chris Bradford anyways? Did she secretly have the hots for him or something?

Anyways... in this episode April finally forgave the Turtles, which I'm glad since it couldn't have lasted that long. I understand she was mad at them and wanted to return to her normal life... but she kinda can't walk away from having both the Foot and the Kraang coming after you. She's still gonna need their help. Plus, she's angry at them since her dad got mutated as a result of knowing them.. but they're her only chance of ever getting him back to normal. Plus, we know she's a brave and skilled girl that isn't afraid to jump headfirst into adventure to rescue her dad, so why the hell isn't she looking for him? Ignoring the problem and hanging with some random dude isn't gonna help bring her father back.

I do wanna give props to Don finally using his naginata for more than a split second. And hey, we see Karai go one-on-one against one of the Turtles that isn't Leo. And he actually got some shots in. Maybe Leo holds back a little since he likes her, but in Donnie's eye she's nothing more than a threat, so he's able to take her down without holding back. In a certain way, it's cool when certain characters are kinda singled-out against each other... like Karai and Leo, cause it makes that much more surprising when say... Karai goes after Mikey instead. Also I understand Raph getting mad on Donnie's bailing on them... but like dude, April was in trouble. Would you rather leave her to her fate? Woulda kinda suck to find out Karai killed her while you were fighting the Kraang?

The last thing I wanna mentioning is April's little teasing kiss at the end of the episode. It was cute (Paige thought so too, and I'm sure many female fans would as well). Yes, it was adorable, it totally made Don's day, and the ending scene was adorable. Until you remember April's never really gonna be with him. Why you gotta tease him like that, girl? Now, I know girls can be friendly and sometimes hug or even kiss a guy on the cheek to show appreciation, and it could be nothing more than that.... but you don't do that to the guy you know has a crush on you. It just makes the poor guy think he actually has a chance. Now, if April was completely oblivious to this, she'd get a free pass... but c'mon girl.. YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS BY NOW.

Despite all my complaints, the episode was rather decent, but the Chrome Drome thing really ruined it for me. Even if it was just a nameless robot and he wasn't referred to as such, it's still so damn lazy to just re-use a past character model like that. What's next? Give human Xever a new hat and a mustache and pretend he's an all-new character? Or maybe bring in Wingnut, only it's the Kirby-bat colored blue? Not only that, but with all the announcements and previews they were doing, when they announced the season 2 new characters, like Mutagen Man, Slash and Casey Jones... they probably purposely didn't mention 'Chrome Dome' since showing the design at a con would have had the fans either be disappointed or be confused that they somehow turned Chris Bradford into a robot.

 I understand we have seen the same characters running around episode from episode. The guy who owns the cat. The random blonde woman. The same pizza boy. That random bum. All of them. But they weren't major characters that anyone would remember anyway (maybe Mikey would recognize the pizza boy and the guy with the cat?). The Chrome Dome thing just bugged me to no end.

But yeah.. for the good points, the story advanced some with Karai's continued efforts of revenge, Casey showing he can fight, so whenever he does turn into a vigilantee it's already explained that he can fight, and April finally forgave the Turtles. I just hope this is the last time they cut corners so horribly.

While we're at it, I might as well show you our second episode of our TMNT podcast, Heroes in the Halfcast. Dansle couldn't make it in this episode, but she does return in the next one.

Nicktoons TMNT Episode 31- Mikey gets Shellacne

by Mark Rodriguez

Teenagers usually get in trouble, get grounded and get zits. We've seen the Turtles do all sort of immature teenage antics in this version minus the acne, so let's make an episode about Mikey getting zits and let the hilarity ensue!! Sounds like a random throw-away filler episode right? No! This episode brings back some characters people were asking about returning in this season, as well as ended on a totally unexpected surprise. Let's take a look.

The episode opens with Leo, Don and Raph trying, and failing miserably at making breakfast. They wonder where Mikey is since he's usually the one to make it. Mikey is still in bed and feeling sick today. He then looks into the mirror and sees his face covered in zits and screams. Don studies him and says the zits will continue to spread until he basically becomes a giant zit and will pop. Mikey locks himself in his room, not wanting to come out until whenever these zits go away.

Meanwhile, we see Karai sitting on Shredder's throne, being in charge. Chris and Xever walk into the room, and Chris trips since his tail got caught in the automatic door and falls. Xever teases him and Chris regrets having gone from a ninja master to a huge lumbering lummox. Karai demands respect from them and wants someone to help her maintain her robot Foot Soldiers. She needs someone easy to manipulate and intimidate into working for them, which means Baxter Stockman. Chris reminds her of how he tried to kill them in that maze of doom, but Karai sends them to capture him anyway.

 Back to the lair, Mikey tries to hide from his brothers and Raph pokes fun at him. Splinter tells him to stop and consider what humans would think of Raph if they saw him. Splinter then senses that Mikey is hiding something from them. Mikey finally comes clean. He admits he found some 'cool cream' in Don's lab and put some on himself to make him a cooler and better person, since the Turtles disrespect him all the time. Don explains it was failed batch of Retro-Mutagen that said 'cooled cream'. Mikey said it should have been labeled better, and Don flips the bottle around to show all the warning signs.

Now that Don knows what caused Mikey's condition, he can do something about it. He might still pop like a zit, but now they know it will happen in 3 hours. To make the antidote, Don needs a molecular centrifuge, and the only one they know of is in the remains of the TCRI building they blew up.

Meanwhile, Dogpound is running around, tracking Stockman by his scent. He continues to complain about his current condition and wants to be human again. He finally gets a scent and follows it. The Turtles search through the remains of TCRI for the centrifuge. They find Baxter in there, and once discovered he sends Mousers after our heroes. It seems he was planning to create a mutant army of his own, and among the items he was using he does indeed have the centrifuge they need. Dogpound arrives and starts fighting the Turtles. Baxter takes this as a chance to escape, but Mikey gives chase. Dogpound grabs the scientist and punches a wall down causing part of the building to cave in. Mikey pushes the others out of the way, but the bad guys are gone now.

At home, Mikey is feeling worse, and looking worse. Don says he has to stay safe since at this stage, if one of his zits pops, it might cause a chain reaction that will make him explode even sooner. The Turtles try to figure out where Dogpound could have taken Baxter. Mikey suggests Baxter's old lab, but everyone dismisses it and says it doesn't make sense. While the other discuss about possibly checking out the TCRO building again, or the Bradford dojo, Mikey decides he isn't going to wait around until he pops and goes to Baxter's lab himself.

In the lab, Baxter shows Dogpound the giant vat of Mutagen he has at his disposal. Xever arrives and is surprised Bradford found Baxter first. He asks why they don't take him to Karai right away, and Bradford is convinced he can turn the human again. Baxter basically says he can to save his own ass, and Xever says he wants to become human again as well. Dogpound slips a collar on Baxter with small mutagen bottles on it. It's on a timer, so unless he doesn't find a cure fast enough for them, the bottles will explode and cover him in Mutagen.

Mikey sneaks around and overhears this conversation. He tries to steal the centrifuge with his chain, but Dogpound catches him. Mikey's zits are huge now and very sensitive, so he tries his hardest to fight Dogpound while avoid being touched. Mikey jumps to a platform above the Mutagen vat and Dogpound jumps after him. Dogpound's weight destroys the area they were standing on and Mikey jumps out for a plank to grab onto. Dgpound doesn't make the jump and is holding onto Mikey's leg for dear life. The turtle has no choice but to smack Dogpound off him and make him fall into the huge vat of Mutagen

Dogpound leaps out and is now mutated into a wolf covered in spikes and exposes sharp bones. Mikey calls him Rahzar now. As Rahzar, Bradford finds himself to be a lot faster and more agile and feels like a ninja. master again. Rahzar tosses Mikey against a wall, but our sensitive turtle manages to use his chains to stop himself from crashing against the wall. Just as Rahzar leaps out at him, his attack is blocked by a tossed Sai as now the other Turtles have entered the scene.

Mikey tries to grab the centrifuge, but now Fishface is after him. Baxter also calls out for more Mousers as well. As the fight continues, Mikey suddenly gets an idea. He tricks Rahzar into lunging towards one of the control panels in the machinery that run the place. Mikey gets out of the way and Rahzar jams his claws into the control panel and electrocutes himself. Mikey teases that he just got Shell-Shocked. The Turtles take to the high ground and Don hits the sprinklers, making it rain so the Mousers, Baxter, Fishface and Rahzar all get zapped and are all defeated. Mikey laments that they couldn't get the centrifuge they needed, but Raph reveals that he has it, and everyone gets away.

Karai shows up and wakes Baxter up, telling him that he works for her now. At the lair, Don finishes the antidote and pours it all over acne pads, which Mikey proceeds to quickly rub all over himself. The antidote worked fine and he's back to normal. Splinter walks in and commends Mikey on his resourcefulness. Mikey then turns and brags to the others about he how he was right about Baxter being in his old lab, but Don suddenly says he sees a zit on Mikey's nose. Mikey realizes it was a trick to scare him and shut him up, and he angrily lunges out at him.

My Opinions:

Wow, once again there's a lot to say about this episode. First off, the big surprise that this was actually an important episode that moved the plot forward rather than just a pointless filler ep. The main plot with Mikey and the zits was interesting, but also pretty gross, I guess due to the detail of CGI animation. The zits got grosser and grosser-looking as the episode progressed as he had them on his tongue, popping out of his shell (as in the shell looked cracked, yikes!) and by the end of the episode he could barely see since they were all around his eyes too. And ugh.. they bounced and quivered with every move he made. Too much detail there guys... way too much sickening detail. As gross as it is, it did add extra urgency in the fight against Dogpound, since at that point, one punch from the dogman would

On the subject of Mikey, I have to agree with fellow Technodromer 'BabyTurtles' as once again Mikey gets treated like crap, is ignored by his brothers and has to prove himself. He has already proven himself to be useful to the team in Parasitica and Invasion of the Squirrelanoids. He doesn't have to ALWAYS prove he's important to the team each featured ep he gets. It make it look like he lacks confidence, or it makes his brothers look like jerks who don't consider him cool enough to be at their level and he's always going to be stuck trying to earn the right to be an equal. When he mentioned Baxter's lab, everyone brushed him aside as if the possibility of that was zero because Mikey thought of it. It's like 'shut up son, adults are talking'. Seeing his life on the line, he took matters into his own hands and went for it. I like how he has moments where he gets serious and focused and the jokes stop. But yeah... we hope the next Mikey ep won't have him trying to 'prove himself'' to his brothers. He's already shown to be a valued member of the team. Stoppit and move on.

Then we have the return of the classic villains Dogpound, Fishface and Baxter, which many were wondering when or if they would even be featured in season 2, despite them being in the slightly-revised intro. Here we finally got some character development for Bradford as he hates being a dog and wants to be human again. Chris and Xever got screwed in different ways when they mutated. While Xever needs a breathing device and robot legs to move around, he is still able to fight with his sweet Capoeira style regardless. Bradford can breathe the air just fine, but he went from being a skillful ninja master to being a powerhouse that just swings his arms around. And he actually mentioned that in this episode, basically agreeing with many of the viewers' main complaint about being Dogpound.

 I did like the part when they wanted Baxter to make them human and Xever mentioned he wanted to 'live as a man, love like a man'. I'm like... dude... did that cartoon show just imply that Xever missed getting laid?

Baxter didn't get mutated in this episode, despite having that Mutagen collar around his neck. I'm surprised that during the fight it didn't time-out, or one of the vials didn't burst when he got electocuted. With all that happened by the episode's climax, there wasn't really room or time to deal with a mutant Baxter too.

And finally.... whoa dude.. I never saw it coming. I was super-surprised when Bradford fell into the vat of Mutagen. I didn't know what to expect when he jumped out of it. I almost expected him to return to his human form. And wow, he became this show's version of Rahzar. I don't believe we have ever seen a mutant be mutated again into something else. Sure, the Turtles have suffered with some changes due to their mutation not being stable, or other things in the Red Sky eps of the 80's show and live-action movie. But never this. We've never seen a mutant get exposed to Mutagen and be mutated into something else. And hey, he became a mutant wolf named Rahzar. Whoa.

The design is pretty slick, I'm just not sure I like the exposed bones, especially where the leg comes off the hip, his limbs are so skinny, he could break them just by falling down that stairs. Now he's a faster and deadlier threat and we'll see what comes of it. And now we have another version of Rahzar to add to the list.

We of course have Rahzar from TMNT II Secret of the Ooze in which he was a mutated into a wolf, but the Ooze used was tampered with by Professor Perry, so he has the mentality of a baby. Although seriously Shredder, it took the TMNT 15 years to grow to their current states. You expect Tokka and Rahzar to be 'quoting MacBeth' after being mutated for a week of so.

Rahzar (and Tokka) actually appeared in an episode of the OT, though they spoke normally and has normal intelligence. I would honestly NOT call them villains since they were recently mutated animals and all they were doing were looking for food. Tokka got captured by a mutant hunter, and even after he got defeated, it was never made clear if Tokka was also released and if Rahzar was waiting for him. Geez guys, way to take way his only buddy ever.

Turtles Forever had the 2K3 Shredder and Karai inject their Foot Ninja with Mutagen, and one of them turned into a mutant wolf, while another became a mutant Turtle. Similar to most 2K3 mutants (what little there are anways), Rahzar was just a mindless beast and was mostly shown in the scene when he and Tokka attacked the Battle Shell.

And now finally we have the 2013 version. Former martial arts master with a chain of dojos throughout the city (even though nobody seemed to care about his sudden disppearance) turned into a dogman and Shredder's lead enforcer for rival gangs and such. Now he's going to be a wolf mutant who is as fast and agile as he used to be. Paige asked a good question.

 Shredder left for Japan and told Karai that she wasn't allowed to mess with the Turtles until he came back. So how will Shredder react upon seeing Baxter with them, as well as Rahzar when he comes back?

The new fact that mutants can be mutated a second time if hit with Mutagen opens up a lot of possibilities now with new and old mutants alike. For example, will Xever also go for being mutated twice?

Overall a fun-filled episode full of the return of Chris and Xever. Mikey (once again) proved himself important to the team. Like I said before, my only real complaint was the uneccesary extreme detail on Mikey's zits. Just no guys, we did not need to see that. Great ep after all, and the episode has way more stuff than 'what's on the tin'. Can't wait to see what happens next.

And hey... while we're at it, here's our review on the new TMNT Nick game from Activision.... and well... I think my face kinda says it all.....

Nicktoons TMNT Episode 30- Mutagen Man Unleashed

by Mark Rodriguez

And this is the episode everyone's been waiting for since season 2 was announced, the big debut of Casey Jones, as well as the episode where Timothy finally breaks free and becomes Mutagen Man. As well to how poor Donnie will react to all of this. And yeah, Venka called a lot of this.

The episode opens with a total Voltron knock-off that Mikey found in a box of VHS tapes (even though the giant robot looks like Mazinkaiser Z). At first the others find the show stupid, but later all four of them are engrossed in it. The show has a nerd character that likes the main female but is turned down cause, well, he's the nerd of the show. Mikey points out it's similar to Don and April and the turtle in question storms off calling the show stupid.

Don is in his lab bitching and complaining about April in front of Timothy, as he tries to find a way to make Retromutagen. Don has a photo of him pushing April on the swings in the park (when the hell did that happen?) that Timothy notices. One of the Mutagen vials Don experiments on freezes up and gets destroyed. As Don walks off, one of Timothy's tentacles manages to get out of the glass case and drink some Mutagen.

At school, April is at her locker and is suddenly hit by a hockey puck. She turns to meet Casey Jones, a weird creepy guy who she will be tutoring with trigonometry. They agree to meet in the park.

Outside Mikey is walking across the rooftops until he finds a pizza box with a slice of pizza left. As he tries to get it, he gets attacked by Leo. Leo considers this stealth training and asks him why he would eat some random pizza he found on a rooftop anyway. Raph goes next and catches Mikey after distracting him with his skateboard. Mikey says he hates stealth training. Don happens to see April and Casey talking in the park and is upset, thinking it's some kind of date.

Back at his lab, Don complains to Timothy about April seeing another guy. He's especially angry at how they're on the same park swings as in the picture. As he complains, he installs a voice box so that Timothy can talk. Splinter calls Don to the other room and Timothy uses this chance to suck up more Mutagen.

Splinter asks Don if he likes to fall, which of course he doesn't. So today he's going to teach him to like to fall. After several attacks, Splinter asks him if he likes to fall now, Don says you can't make someone like something. Then he understands this is reffering to him and April.

Meanwhile, the Mutagen has a stronger effect on Timothy this time. This time he's able to grow arms and legs and busts out of the lab. He takes the picture of April and Donnie with him as he goes out to find her. Timothy hits the streets attacking random people and even the police as he asks them where April O'Neil is.

Don discovers that Timothy as escaped and the others soon show up to help out. As they run outside, Don says he might be going after April since he was complaining to him about her. She might be at the park with 'her new date' or heading back home. They decide to split up.

April and Casey walk back home as he teases her for thinking about studying all the time. Just then Timothy appears and April recognizes him. Timothy sees Casey as the 'punk kid' Don was talking about. Casey protects April and gets smacked around. Casey uses a steel pipe as a hockey stick and pucks things at Timothy, before trying to attack him directly (while yelling out Goongala!!!). Timothy smacks him aside again. As he gets up, he sees April defend herself with her ninja fan and is impressed. Just as Timothy tries to grab April, Casey yanks her out of the way on his bike.

Timothy gives chase and calls April his friend. She says he's not her friend. Mikey and Raph arrive, and Mikey calls him 'Mutagen Man'. They start attacking him and find out that his hands drip acid and he's about to finish off Raph. Don and Leo show up and during the fight Leo slices off his hand. Don tries to defend Timothy, but he says the Turtles aren't his friends, especially after they attacked him. Due to Mutagen spilling from his severed arm, he runs out of Mutagen, powers down, and drops to the ground.

They take him to the Shell Raiser to bring him back home. Raph asks why and Don explains he might be the key to find a cure for April's father. Timothy finds more Mutagen in the Shell Raiser, drinks it and escapes again. The Turtles give chase, but Don says they all know where he's going, so they should all go together this time.

Casey and April are walking back to her place when she notices that Mutagen Man has returned and the Turtles are fighting him. She keeps Casey from seeing this and sends him on his way. By now Mutagen Man has lost whatever sense he had left and basically wants to force April to be his friend. Don keeps trying to defend him, but Leo tells him there's no other way. Whatever the Pulverizer, or Timothy once was, is now gone. They decide to use stealth and suddenly vanish on him.

Mutagen Man is confused and sees a piece of a Mutagen bottle land near him. He turns and sees Donnie with some Mutagen, and as he's distracted, the Turtles attack him. He's still too powerful for them and manages to get the Mutagen away from Donnie. Donnie warns him not to drink it, and Timothy yells out for him as he's not frozen solid by one of Don's failed attempts at a cure.

Later at home, Don is still sad by recent events and Splinter reminds him he can't make April come back. She will return when she wants to, and if she chooses to. Don sees a scene from the Voltron show as the nerd character saves the princess, and she rewards him with kisses. Don agrees with Splinter that there's always hope.

My Opinions:

There is so much to talk about in this episode. So let me tackle the four main points of interests here or else this article will be three times as long. I do wanna say that our friend Venka totally call most of this episode. Timothy overheard Don complaining about Don seeing some other guy, so he breaks out and tries to get to April. Then he basically wants April for himself. Wow. Anyways, here we go.

Casey Jones- We finally see the debut of everyone's favorite vigilantee that was pushed all the way to season 2....and he's kind of a jerk. Casey might not be perfect but he was never an arrogant asshole. Sure, he was insane in some versions, and kind of a tactless dude that didn't know how to conduct himself in the adult world other than kicking ass, but he was never a creepy jerk that comes on too strong. At his core he was a good guy, fighting the good fight, but with poor people skills. Not an outright jerk. Casey nearly socks April out with a hockey puck, then acts as if he's doing April a favor by having her tutor him, calls their study session a date and is already calling her sweetheart. While he does rescue April from Mutagen Man, it's obvious part of it is also to show off how tough and bad-ass he is. I'm not sure what to think exactly, but I don't like his arrogant 'this girl is already mine' attitude.

And no this isn't an anti-Casey, pro-Don thing either. Casey and April have been involved since the original Mirage comics, and we've seen them either be a couple or start liking each other in the live action movies, 2K3 series, and other media with the exception of the 80's series. They're basically the only male and female human friends the Turtles have, which met due to them having met the Turtles first. Eventually they get to know each other better and fall for each other. This is the first version that starts out with Casey putting the moves on April right from the start and being a jerk about it. It kinda felt like Nick was trying too hard to shove Don out the door and replace him with Casey as 'the new boyfriend' right off the bat.

Either way, it was interesting to see him in action, and it's also worth mentioning that this is the first time we've seen Casey as a normal guy before he decided to become a vigilantee. Any other version was a vigilantee right off the bat, even the IDW comic made Casey seem normal before he revealed to Raph that he likes to go out at night with the hockey mask and clubs. We'll see how it goes, but since this is an action show let's hope we see more of kick-ass Casey and less of wannabe-playa Casey.

It's all good until April's a little late on making him his sammich......

April- Wow, this girl's anger is seriously misplaced. I get she's sick of mutants and stuff but it's the Kraang's fault all of this is going on, not the Turtles. I hope she snaps out of her funk soon cause it will get annoying. In this ep she's already shown some fighting skills that she learned from Splinter, and the fan given to her as a gift from Splinter... so stop being an ungrateful little bitch. As for her and Casey... well even though she seemed a bit repulsed at first, she did show some signs of liking him or at the very least interested in seeing him again. Yep... they're gonna go with the whole 'she can't stand him at first and will eventually fall for him because only she can see his good side' deal. Maybe Don shoulda treated April more like crap.

Mutagen Man/Timothy/Pulverizer- Wow. One thing this show does is create more of a backstory for their characters before they become mutants. Chris Braford, Xever, Dr. Falco, The Pulverizer. Most of them had at least a full episode or two in their human forms before they became toy-marketable mutant monsters. But wow, it's easy to forget that this guy....

Used to be this guy....

At his core, he just wanted to be a hero. Yeah maybe it was for fame, glory and babes, but deep down he just wanted to fight the good fight and be somebody. He's lost his humanity and whatever was left of his sanity. And now he's gonna be another mindless monster of the week that will most likely never be cured throughout the show's run. I really hope they don't make him downright evil. I mean, even in the original version he was forced by Shredder to commit crimes or else they wouldn't give him the chemicals he needed to stay together.

It really is sad when you think about it. True he was a 'doofus' and wanted his powers handed to him, but hey, who'd rather spend half their lives training over just getting bit by a radioactive spider and become a hero right away?

 I just feel he didn't really deserve this fate and the Turtles, save Don, were real jerks to him from day one. I hate how Mike and Raph just attacked him right off the bat instead of trying to talk him down. Dude, he used to be human, just like Splinter. And he lives in Don's lab. Don't treat him like some random monster you don't know or care about. Even when Don explained he might be after April since he talked to him about her, Raph is like 'you talked about your feelings to a vat full of organs?'. Harsh dude.

I do wonder what happens to him now. He froze up but did the Turtles take him home, or did they call it a day and leave? Don mentioned he needed him to find a cure for the mutations, including April's father. But this show is so bad with easily abandoning plot lines, I wouldn't be surprised if we DON'T see a frozen Timothy in Don's lab in future episodes.

Oh... and that voicebox thingie is annoying as hell... I guess they were trying to make him even creepier with a creepy radio voice... but c'mon Don.. you could do better than that. If he returns I kinda hope he gets a modified one, maybe bringing his human voice back or something. Hell, the part of the reason most of this happened to him in this episode was him having problems communicating properly.

Donatello- What can I say? He acted just like we'd expect upon finding out that April was 'seeing someone else'. He basically voiced what most of the fans were thinking when they first announced the whole 'crush on April' thing, that it wasn't fair that April liked some guy cause he's human and he's not. Don had the whole crush on April against him from the start just because he's a mutant turtle and also because no other versions of the franchise has ever had April be an official girlfriend to any of them. Splinter did a good job showing Don that you can't force someone to love you, in so many words.

However, the episode still ended giving him hope. Hope for what? He's never going to get April. Yes, I know she'll eventually be back with the gang, but she'll never see Donnie as more than just a friend, so why bother? Why drag this crush out for all of season one if you were gonna pair her up with Casey anyways, when an episode or two would have been enough? Venka said eventually April will have to make a choice, and Don will have to learn to accept her choice. Well... why not totally shock everyone and have her actually choose Donnie and leave Casey to 'learn to accept her choice'? If Donnie was human in any other show, this wouldn't be an issue and even though there would have been challenges, ups and downs, other men after her, and maybe even other girls to tempt him elsewhere, eventually the story would have ended with him getting April. Here the mere fact that he's a turtle already has everything from in-universe reasons to real world reasons for it to never happen... so again I ask... why even bother? I guess we'll have to find out.

Oh what's that? This is an action show and not some drama-rama soap opera? Yeah, almost forgot. Let's wrap it up with this sneak peak that Playmates announced a few days back of the upcoming Casey Jones figure. Honestly, I think it's totally awesome and can't wait to get it. Don't get me wrong. I got nothing against the character per say, it's just... let's focus more on him being bad ass and kicking ass left and right as a hardcore vigilantee and less on him trying to woo April. Please.

DC vs Marvel Comics # 1

By Mark Rodriguez.

Talk about a blast from the past. I remember reading part of this as a young teen back in the day. For those wondering what would happen if both comic book universes ever clashed... This is as close as we'll get. This is an interesting read, if at least to remember at what place the characters were back in the mid-90's as opposed to how they are now. Thanks to the Bent Wookee comic store I was able to grab all the issues for a cheap price.

This is a 4 part story and while being far from perfect, it's cool for all the cameos alone. One thing to mention are some of the fights were actually decided by reader's votes... So if some of the results seem kinda lame and nonsensical... Well it was the readers fault or the character's own fanbase. As for some others, we just see the characters in 'about to fight' poses or stare downs... but never actually see them come to blows. Like I said.. Far from perfect. Anyways lets dive into the 90s DC and Marvel universe and start with issue 1.

DC VS Marvel Round 1 starts off with a bit of 90's trivia, as we see Ben Reilly coming back to New York as Spider-Man. For those lucky enough not to know, there was a thing called the Clone Saga in most of the 90's in which Peter Parker met a clone named Ben Reilly, and after many twists and turns, there was actually a point in the story where Peter thought HE was the clone and left or whatever, so I guess this is the part of that story where Ben took over as Spider-Man.

To ruin a perfect night of Ben putting his life back together, his spider-sense goes off and he sees a random bum lying up against a huge cardboard box. The box starts to glow and one of beams of light goes through Spider-man's leg. He says he doesn't feel anything strange and then suddenly vanishes.

A random guy walks down the alley and see the bum trying to contain the flashing cardboard box and says 'it's about to begin' and he's glad the guy came over to help him. The guy is confused and doesn't want any part of it.

Spider-Man finds himself in the middle of the rain on the rooftop in the middle of Gotham City, right in front of the Joker. The Joker says Spider-Man changed clothes since the last time they fought but Ben doesn't recognize him (there was a Spider-Man/Batman crossover in which they faced the Joker and Carnage, and apparently Joker is 4th-wall breaking enough to remember). Joker tells Spidey he's in Gotham now and he's ready to blow up the building, but the rain is ruining his fireworks.

Breaking the 4th wall before Deadpool made it cool

Spider-Man wants answers as to what's going on and says he doesn't even know the clown's name. The Joker decided to leave and gives him 'his card' and jumps off the building. Spidey is surprised but Joker has a parachute ready. Spidey looks at the Joker card and wonder's what's going on.

Meanwhile Gambit is charging up a Joker card as he's ready to fight the Juggernaut alongside Wolverine and Storm. Just as Juggernaut is about to punch Wolverine, the mutant vanishes... and then so does he. Jugs sees that he punches the side of the Daily Planet and wonders where he is. He soon gets punched by Superman that tells him he's in the wrong place.

gotta love those classic 90's X-Men costumes

Back at Manhattan the bum has the cardboard box all taped up with.... tape... toilet paper... I can't tell... and mentions how he doesn't want any more characters crossing over. He's surprised the box is still glowing and nothing can hold it back....since you know... tape and toilet paper can perfectly contain a weird glowing interdimensional cardboard box thingie...

Captain America is busy fighting Hydra soldiers when he suddenly vanishes. Wonder Woman saves some people from a collapsing bridge when she also vanishes, before the cops can thank her. Elsewhere, Betty Ross is hanging with the Hulk, who at this time has the mind and total control of Bruce Banner. The Hulk also vanishes. At a beach Superboy is showing off his powers by lifting up two bikini babes (good way to grab some ass) which pisses off his girlfriend Tana... and he also suddenly vanishes. Somewhere in deep space, Lobo is busting up an alien bar when he's suddenly warped away as well.

Superboy, dripping with 90's cheese

At the X-Mansion, Wolverine, Storm and Gambit inform Xavier, Beast and Psylocke about Juggernaut's sudden disappearance. Xavier is saddened that his stepbrother is one of their worst enemies, but Wolverine says to let Juggernaut be someone else's problem. Just then the same mysterious light hits Wolverine, Gambit and Storm and all three vanish. Jean and Cyclops are also confused and wonders what the hell is going on.

Elsewhere, the Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), Elektra, The Flash, Thor, Aquaman, The Silver Surfer, Captain Marvel, The Sub-Mariner (Namor), Quicksilver, and Catwoman are all disappearing as well.

In the Batcave, Bullseye has Robin (Tim Drake) hostage demanding that Batman tell him where he is and how he got there. Bullseye threatens to cut Robin's eye, but the Boy Wonder elbows him in the throat. Batman tosses a Batarang but even though he's still choking from the hit, Bullseye manages to catch it and throws it back. Batman manages to duck under it and punches Bullseye across the jaw. The villain is surprised Bats is able to 'make him miss' and says he hits even harder than Daredevil before he passes out.

oddly enough.... Bulleye does look like a Batman, or even Flash style rogue....

Robin wonders who this guy is and how he got into the cave. Batman never heard of him and notes that he was just as surprised to be there as they were to see him. Robin then suddenly vanishes. He then appears in the best place a teenage boy can possibly be, in a teenage girl's bedroom. Yep, Robin suddenly appears on Jubilee's bed and she's already liking his sense of fashion.

and thus Tim Drake and Jubilation Lee lost their virginity....

Superman returns to the Daily Bugle disguised as Clark Kent and finds out it is now run by James Jonah Jameson. Lois and Clark are confused as to who is the new guy that took over the Planet and forced out Perry in favor of Jameson. Jimmy Olsen steps in and mentions he's now a TV reporter. Lois also left a photo for Clark to investigate, and he sees Steel fighting the Absorbing Man and wonders where he came from.

Everyone throughout Metropolis are confused as their heroes and villains are gone and replaced by news ones. Throughout the city, the Green Lantern is facing off against the Green Goblin, Bane is trying to punch through Captain America's shield and Daredevil is taking down the Riddler. Elsewhere, Batman faces Venom, Captain Marvel faces Dr. Doom, Punisher and Deathstroke try to shoot each other, Estrigan faces Ghost Rider and Firestorm and Martian Manhunter team up to fight against the Human Torch and The Thing.

Some of the crossover heroes do get along. Hawkman is friends with Archangel, and Supergirl teamed up with She-Hulk to fight crime. Superman was also fighting against Annihilus, and now Clark notices a pic of Spider-Man taking down Man-Bat. Clark doesn't recognize the hero, and just then Lois Lane introduces the one who took that pic, their new photographer, Ben Reilly. Clark says they're very good pictures and maybe together they can figure out what's going on. Ben says whatever is happening feels like something that's bigger and beyond them.

I feel sorry for the poor punks that try to take down Supergirl and She-Hulk with guns...

Out across the universe, the Spectre from the DC Universe and The Living Tribunal from the Marvel Universe also don't understand what is going on. But they both feel that something is terribly wrong. Elsewhere two giant god-like beings point at each other.

Well... this comic wasn't short on cameos, I'll give you that. This is the first issue and despite the crappy way this is all coming together (some sort of mystical glowing cardboard box that a bum is trying to tape up???) it is fun to see all these characters meet up and throw down, though most of them were one panel scenes. I do like the 90's flair with the whole Ben Reilly thing, and Superboy who appeared after the whole Reign of the Supermen storyline in which four different Supermen appeared after the death of the original and readers had to guess which one was the real deal. This is just the beginning so I can't say too much yet since we do have three more issues to go.

The comic also let the readers vote for who would win the fights in issue 3. The DC VS Marvel Preliminary Bouts consisted of Aquaman VS Sub-Mariner, Elektra VS Catwoman, Captain Marvel VS Thor, Jubilee VS Robin, Flash VS Quicksilver and Silver Surfer VS the Green Lantern.

Then there would be the Marvel VS DC heavyweight bouts which would be Superman VS the Hulk, Captain America VS Batman, Lobo VS Wolverine, Storm VS Wonder Woman and Superboy VS Spider-Man.

place your votes! at least you're not killing off someone's sidekick this time

The comic then comes with very brief bios for Superman, The Hulk, Captain America, Batman, Wonder Woman, Storm, Wolverine, Lobo, Superboy and Spider-Man to help people consider their vote. All votes had to be casted by December 31, 1995 and the issue would hit the stores that February of 1996. You could either cut out the ballot from the comic and mail it on, or vote for it online by casting the votes for each individual hero. I didn't even know there was internet in 1995. Man, this takes me back.

I know it all sounds lame and cheesy now, but I can't even imagine how exciting it would have been back at the day to get the chance to cast your votes (basically like saying place your bets) and actually effect the outcomes of the story. Way better and a lot less morbid than that phone hotline to vote for wether or not Jason Todd should have died. I'll be glad to blog on the rest of this story soon.

I do have to say though, as the thought crossed my mind during that scene between Superman and the Juggernaut. Wouldn't Juggernaut be able to beat the crap out of Superman since his powers come from the magical Gem of Cyttorak and Superman's weakness is magic?

For more Marvel VS DC Action... well this isn't the same thing... but last year we did do a video comparing The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises with our thoughts and opinions.