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Hey Sophie.
So thanks to your retweeting from IDW Publishing's Tweet for their summer plans on Finally returning to publish new comics, I now learned that the forever-delayed TMNT #105 is coming now on June 24th, with the rest of the series continuing from there!
I have two minds when I saw this. Positive: Now we can end your first story arc and see where the book will go from here. Now I can finally see what will become of Raph and Alopex's relationship, something I repeat over and over!
Negative: Well, let's just my mind's state of this new date is embodied in this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLVJmJTdLjI
(Of course I'm joking, but it does kind of hurt we have to wait until the end of next month, but here's hoping the wait is worth it!)
With that, Thank You for letting us know, can't wait, and hope you're still taking care of yourself, especially after your car crashed on you, Bummer.
Take care,
Tom
Hi, Sophie! 
I wanted to comment more on your newer TMNT material, but then since March all the crazy stuff's been going on and I got sidetracked. I hope you're faring well in it all.
Question, for the fan record: Is there an official/preferred/common production term referring to all the people mutated by Hob and Ray's mutagen bomb? (A while back I asked another question of a similar nature about what to call Toad Baron's servants, and you said the script called them "frog minions.") Over at the wiki we've tentatively selected the term "mutagen bomb victims," but I'm curious for some more authoritative commentary on the matter. And I know you're not the only writer who's worked on that plot device, but I figured you would be best to ask since you've been head writer since #101.
Second question: Does the Turtles' new dojo in Mutant Town have a name? Or is that something you can't yet reveal? My tentative guess would be "Splinter Clan," but it wasn't clear in context whether this was meant to actually be the dojo's name.
Random thought: I know Leo wanted to teach kadō at the new dojo, but I also see him totally being a florist with his own greenhouse in the city, maybe even on the new dojo's rooftop or something. That way, he can not only teach students the principles of floral arrangement, but also how to grow and cultivate flowers, and they can even donate flowers as needed around Mutant Town. I admit I didn't imagine Leo as a florist before that greenhouse scene at the farm, but it really suits him.
Hi again! That's a good question about a common term for the mutagen bomb, I should probably come up with something like that. Maybe when I get to delve more into the Mutant Town populace now that the Turtles are back together.
The new dojo is the Splinter Dojo, which you'll see in #105. ;)
I had planned on Leo having a new greenhouse on the dojo roof, yep! But I also like the idea of him having a separate space or even a flower business elsewhere in the city! We'll see.
I know #105 otherwise would have been out by now. I wait patiently and understandingly for its release, whenever that may ultimately be. I also hope you're not planning to leave as head writer because of the delays. I know you're a freelancer and all, but you've started something really good with this.
I guess the wiki will have to settle with "mutagen bomb victims" until then.
But I know from history that in events of nuclear bombings, there has developed a special term for survivors directly affected by it. In Japan, people directly affected by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are called hibakusha, and this term specifically excludes people affected by other bombings or sources of radiation exposure. Such events and those affected by them acquire a shared cultural identifier.
And in the Marshall Islands (where I grew up), radiation victims from the fallout of the nuclear tests at Bikini and Enewetak atolls (particularly Castle Bravo which was five times larger than predicted and accidentally irradiated most of the other northern atolls) are called ri-baam̧ which literally means "bomb person." But unlike hibakusha, this term can also simply mean radiation victim.
In IDW TMNT, it only makes sense that, especially if it becomes clearer that there are mutants who were not changed by the bomb and it becomes a matter of debate as to what they are or aren't entitled to (especially individuals like Hob and Ray who were already mutants before the event and were responsible for setting off the bomb in the first place), there may arise some kind of common identity (and perhaps legal identifier) for those mutants specifically changed by the bomb. Of course, I can also foresee it potentially not all unfolding this way, as NYC's mutants may instead be treated as a common group whether or not they were affected by the bomb. I figure this would have been Bishop's approach were he still alive, as he didn't hesitate to start trying to kill any new mutant he saw. But I'm not sure how Ravenwood would regard them now—I mean, yeah, she originally sympathized with Bebop and Rocksteady until she realized exactly what kind of personalities they were, but I don't know if this experience would have embittered her to the point where she's less likely to believe another mutant's story. I still like to think of her as a person with a compassionate nature, which, if she's actually directing the EPF right now, may actually be the biggest reason the mutants including Hob and Ray are still alive and walking around (otherwise) free inside their quarantine zone. (Whew! I keep trying to remind myself not to write essays. But the story has certainly provoked a lot of thought.)
"Splinter Dojo"... Fantastic. I look forward to seeing its grand opening, especially Leo's floristry.
Hey Sophie!
It's been a while and I hope you are doing well; me and my family are still doing OK the last time I left a comment here at DeviantArt. So the topic I have for today's comment was a conservation I saw you had on Twitter a couple days back regarding a question you were asked about regarding what determined if a mutant in the TMNT series (IDW or otherwise) does need to start wearing clothing or not. I saw this thread on Twitter and I thought your answer was... interesting to say the least, so I wanted to throw my two cents in. Could've wrote on Twitter, but if you know me, I prefer paragraphs over 1-3 sentences.
Obviously I'm referring to Twitter user Brian Griffith's (@Quipport) question and you provided an answer on how you saw other artists on the series implementing clothing on the side characters other than the Turtles themselves (even Jennika wore pants and cloth wrappings on her feet and arms as soon as she was mutated) so you decided to implement clothes for the brothers for your first story arc as lead writer. When I first saw this, I initially had the impression that it was winter so obviously they had to dress warm. But I also remembered that a lot of the mutants in Mutant Town were humans once, so it made sense that they'd retain something that reminded them of their past lives, especially once a cure is eventually created that can reverse-engineer their mutation and bring them back to normal. Heck, I think it'd make sense for characters like Alopex to dress appropriately, even if it's some weird torn dress gown (which btw I'm cool with). And speaking of Alopex, how you explained the impression that the Turtles and her were "naked" and how you offered the idea that there has been a "spotlight on the naked mutants and made it seem weird or suggestive" was... quite interesting.
Now, let me say that I wasn't taken a step backwards by that statement or that I found the argument stupid. I get that these are cartoon characters and that it's up to the artist to decide if they should be presented "nude" or not or how the artists' designs "have called attention to [the choices made] in different ways." Trust me, that's not an issue I would have for whenever these characters have a new change in their wardrobe. Heck, I have more of a issue when characters like the Turtles have constant eye color changes from different colorists. much like your Toad Baron's Ball story arc on TMNT Universe, where Alopex's eye color went from light brown (or gold according to the TMNT Wiki) to light blue in some panels, although the argument could be the lighting in the Den of Delights. And I know another user chimed in and also replied on how they didn't see these choices as suggestive, especially bringing in an example like Alopex once wearing a "weird one-piece bikini made up of cloth straps" that, to them, felt far more suggestive as opposed to her usual bottomless design. I believe they were referring to artist Mateus Santolouco's design of her in his "Secret History of the Foot Clan" miniseries. Between you and me, I personally loved that design (outside of your wonderful design and Dave Wachter's) for Alopex as some of my favorites in the series, more so when I became a TMNT fan back in 2015 thanks to the cover of TMNT #40 and one of the pages in that miniseries; this page in particular: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/tmnt/images/f/fd/3051384-alopex%2B2.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130808214818
What I'm getting at is I've seen way more 'suggestive' stuff on Fur Affinity and other fan art and how they draw Alopex, so I'm good on that department right there! And between you and me, I would take that design for my upcoming non-TMNT fan fiction I'm currently trying to write, although I promise she'll get an fast upgrade with light armor that won't look so skimpy... ;)
Anywho, I hope you got my point. I remember some fans had an issue with how you draw Sally Pride, where she went from skinny normal-looking mutant lioness to super buff, but I'd make the argument that a lot can change in six months between story arcs. In their defense, if I saw this type of design applied to Alopex, where she looked buff and, all of a sudden, had breasts despite reading the majority of the IDW run up to this point (especially your Northampton story arc where you showed she didn't have any before), I would voice my displeasure and write up several paragraphs on how this design goes against not only Alopex's background as a mutant arctic fox turned ninja, but how that design might as well be someone's fetish or something. But I know you're talented enough that you wouldn't make that kind of mistake.
So, that's all I wanted to say. I know I've wrote enough paragraphs here that will bury all the comments below this one, but it's been something I wanted to say. Again, I hope you're doing OK and still waiting the day that the IDW TMNT series resume production! I hope I didn't come across as a perv or something, I just wanted to voice my thoughts.
Take care,
Tom
P.S. I also wanted to say for the longest time that I love the design of Alopex's neck, being so fluffy because of her fur, likely an indication of her growing up. I bet it feels soft like a pillow if I laid my head on her neck... ;)