Glad to see someone repping for Lawson as I've always liked his work, although it seems like his style isn't that well-liked among some fans.
It's finally time for Issue #3, published March 1985.
We open directly after the event of Issue #2 with The Turtles and April busting out of a storm drain after having finally dug their way out of Baxter's lab (Baxter's fate remains unknown at this point and is a loose end that will not be picked up for quite some time). April heads back to her apartment while the Turtles are keen to get back to Splinter, but as soon as they arrive home it's clear some major shit has gone down - the place is trashed and Splinter is missing, but traces of blood and smashed-up mousers quickly clue the Turtles into what may've happened.
Raph being Raph is filled with rage and wants to go out and kill Baxter immediately, while Leo tries to calm him down and come up with a plan of action...which Raph ignores and goes out to look for Splinter on his own. This bit of character development is helpfully lampshaded by one of the Turtles (could be Donatello or Michelangelo, it's not entirely clear) exclaiming "
That Raphael has such a short fuse!"
It's clear the Turtle's lair is no longer safe, especially with the attention the mousers' reign of destruction has bought to the sewers - it's time to for the four to grab what they can and move out (or three since Raph is out on his lone wolf mission). Luckily April gave them her phone number, so it looks like she's about to get some new room mates.
It's funny reading these in order and seeing the Turtle's sewer pad dispensed with so early one. I would hazard a guess that the show bible for the Fred Wolf cartoon was based largely around Issues 1-3, given how many elements from these are incorporated into the show in one way or another, but very little afterwards (I can think of at least one character who would be a shoe-in for a kid-friendly cartoon that is notable by his absence from the 1987 show)
The Turtles have made it back onto the streets but need somewhere to hide out as cops are everywhere. Raphael reappears having had no luck finding Splinter, and is immediately chewed-out by Leonardo for abandoning the group. Get used to it Leo mate, this is gonna happen a
lot.
One phone call later and April shows up in her groovy VW van to pick up the gang - wait, is this yet another early feature of the comic that the TV series developers seized on and adapted into something more suitable to sell toys? You can almost see the chain of thought which led from this to what the Turtles' choice of transport in the cartoon - "Hmm...van...turtles in a van...the Turtles should have their own Turtle Van! Which fires
lasers!!"
Anyway. the Turtles update April on the situation with Splinter being rat-napped and her reaction is...bizarrely over-emotional considering she has only known him for like two minutes, bursting into tears and sobbing "
NO! HE CAN'T BE -- GONE! HE CAN'T --!"
Then things start getting really crazy, a cop car mistakenly ID's April's van as a vehicle used in an armed robbery, which then turns into a full-on chase sequence that takes up the bulk of this issue. Luckily April is able to pull off some rad GTA moves, including taking a diversion right through the middle of Central Park, and eventually the cops end up crashing into the window of a store allowing the VW to escape.
On the next page April is understandably a bit freaked out by the carnage just caused by their escape from the cops, and Leo just waves it off saying "Nah it's cool, no-one really got hurt and we didn't start it so whatevs", which I find kind-of hilarious. The next thing that happens is the
real getaway van shows up, just in time for April to pull another awesome GTA move and tip the fucking crims right over so the other cop car (that isn't the same one that just crashed and doesn't seem to be chasing them but is just kind-of there I guess) realises they've caught the actual bad guys and everything is now totally fine. Phew!
We also get some more lampshading about the number of plot contrivances on display: "
We're lucky that we ran into that other van - what a strange coincidence!"
They arrive at April's place, the only habitable apartment in an otherwise completely empty building. This seems really redolent of pre-gentrification times where living in semi-derelict buildings was no big deal, something very common in seventies/eighties NY I understand.
April reveals her dad also used to live in the building until a stroke put in a nursing home, the first real bit of background information we learn about her. The guys settle in for the night before deciding what they're gonna do next but pretty much crash out straight away, leading April to reflect on the bizarre turn her life has taken in the last twenty-four hours.
And that's the end of thi...wait, no it isn't! There's 11 more pages!
Yes, I almost forgot...this issue has an epilogue explaining what happened to Splinter. While the Turtles are off on their mission to stop Baxter, the mousers invade the Turtle's lair and Splinter, demonstrating his credentials as a Radical Rat, fights the entire army single handed but is wounded during the scrap. The mousers close-in, but thanks to the homing signal activated by Baxter (See last ish, True Believers!), the mousers depart and Splinter is spared. Dazed and bleeding, he tries to crawl to safety and reaches an open grate, only to be spotted by two eerily identical workmen in matching uniforms who's dialogue indicates they are aware of Baxter's scheme...what can this all mean??
Initially they take one look at the bedraggled giant rat and decide to "End it's misery" with a suspiciously futuristic looking weapon, but as soon as Splinter reveals he can talk they change their minds and instead bring him to...
the infirmary.
In a somewhat bizarrely hi-tech and out-of-place building in the middle of the city, Splinter is examined by five more identical weirdos who seem fascinated by his physiology. Left to recover from his injuries. Splinter awakes in a hospital bed of some kind and immediately tries to make a break for it. He is almost out but hears voices and can't resist taking a peek at his captors...
(Podcast Voice) And what he finds...
will astound you.
That's a hell of a final page, you have to admit.
Next time, we'll take a look at the first of the Mirage Microseries, a one-off issue for Raphael that will introduce yet another iconic part of Turtle lore.
