Greetings!
Our newest issue of Tales of the TMNT takes a step into the twilight zone…
“Adventures in Bunnysitting” has a blend of Old toon antics and B-movie horror. Our story involves a grieving Michelangelo as he pines for his beloved Klunk, which we were reminded of his untimely demise in Dan’s story recap. A friend’s attempt to ease the mourning turtle’s pain only proves to be more trouble than the original intention…
AS always, if you don’t want a lot of spoilers, skip the next couple paragraphs…
We’re first re-introduced to the Utrom Klag and our dear ally Leatherhead. Preparing for a weekend trip, Klag visits Leatherhead in the laboratory to check on the recent findings with their experiments involving mutagenic nucleotides. They may be just steps away from discovering a cure for cancer. Break out the champagne! The revelry comes to a halt as Klag gets a call from Michelangelo. Mike’s feeling sentimental over lost friends, and just wants a shoulder to lean on. Eager to mend his friend’s broken heart, Klag gets the idea to have Michelangelo baby-sit for him for a couple weeks. Plus it would be a good break for the test-sbject: a fluffy, doe-eyed lil rabbit worthy of being called ‘Bunny’.
For most of the duration, Mike has coddled Bunny and let her run rampant around the lair, must to Raphael’s dislike. The final straw comes when Bunny steals Raph’s seat for the football game. Probably left him some presents while she where t0 here. Raph tries to grab her, only to get bitten in the process. Bunny has drawn blood… which seems to have set something off. The once precious bunny evolves into a blood-thirsty monster that attacks Raphael at every turn. The battle moves out to the sewers, leaving the lair a disaster.
Mike returns to the mess after getting Bunny’s dinner, and recieves a call on his cell. Apparently, Leatherhead checked the findings, and it seems that there might be some problems with little Bunny. Problems that Raph is currently dealing with. The monster even tries to copy Mike’s form, though unsucessfully. Bunny mutates into a multi-headed, tentacled beast with teeth and claws coming out of every orifice. Just seconds from Raph getting eaten, Mike’s arrival halts the attack – Bunny reverting back to her adorable, furball self.
Mike scolds Raph for tormenting the poor rabbit and carries her away, leaving Raph steaming. Leatherhead soon retrieves Bunny, and Mike comes to the realization that nothing could Ever replace Klunk.
On the back cover, we see a happy Michelangelo cuddling his precious Bunny. Hearts abound..
Okay, you’re safe to read now…
Now, according to the recap, this was a continuation from the Michelangelo Mini-series from a few years back. Not to mention, based on real events that happened involving Ryan’s own pet bunny and some traumatic misadventures involving Steve Lavigne and Kevin Eastman. That I’m not sure where to go with it…
But in all, this was a cutesy cornball story (I think) written merely for the creation of some exciting (and bizarre) battle scenes. As I’d said at the start, it reminded me a lot of the old toon with the stand-alone incidents with the ‘monster of the week’ kind of flavor. Some craziness that doesn’t amount to anything significant in the near future. Unless Brown and Gonzalez have something hidden up their sleeves…
The drawing style isn’t the usual blood and gore and dark kind of stuff. It looks almost like a Looney Tunes episode, up until Bunny goes crazy. And you can really see something Disney-esque in the art style – particularly in Bunny and the way the eyes are drawn. Even Klag looks like something you want to hug and squeeze and call George. The cover and Frontispiece are not overly complex, but definitely worth a look over.
But in all, this was a pretty off-the-wall issue, probably better appreciated while under the influence of some substance – caffeine, sugar, who knows… 😉
Thanks for Reading!
~MachiasB
