Belle Bolle Blu, (Beautiful Blue Bubbles), is a story in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic published by Rizzoli. It appeared in issue 38, 1991, of the Italian children's magazine "Corriere dei Piccoli".
Appearing in Belle Bolle Blu[]
Major characters[]
Minor characters[]
- Bebop
- Cameraman
- New York Police Department
- Rocksteady
- Splinter
Species[]
- Human
- Mutant rhinoceros
- Mutant rat
- Mutant turtle
- Mutant warthog
Objects and vehicles[]
- Bō
- Katana
- L'Unita' Mobile di Canale 6
- Nunchaku
- Octopus vessel
- Sai
- Turtle Communicator
Locations[]
Summary[]
When thousands of blue bubbles begin to rise from the waters in New York Harbor, throngs of people stop to watch. A man ducks into a phone booth to call Canale 6 and give them the news tip. Soon, April O'Neil and her cameraman are speeding to the scene in the L'Unita' Mobile di Canale 6. When they see the bubbles and realize the story is true, April urges the cameraman to pull over. The pair exit the van and April notes that the bubbles are beautiful, but the cameraman wants to know what happens if they explode.
April begins her broadcast and introduces viewers to the mysterious blue bubbles. Just as she wonders what they are made of, a small child in his mother’s arm, reaches for one. The mother tells him not to touch them, but it’s too late as he makes a fairly large bubble burst overhead. April tells her viewers that the bubbles coming out of the river grow and then explode, covering everyone and everything with a strange blue liquid. The bubbles begin bursting on their own after they reach a certain size, and the crowds are doused with what April describes as some sort of glue. Her cameraman calls to April for help, telling her he can no longer move.
A police car arrives on the scene. People and even a tour bus are glued in place. April takes out her Turtle Communicator and places a call to the Turtles, exclaiming that it is an emergency. Leonardo takes the call on speaker and hears her say that the bubbles are gluing everything; people, buses, cars, and then she says she can’t talk anymore. Raffaello shouts for April to hold on, because they are coming. When Leonardo asks Splinter what he thinks of the blue bubbles, his sensei answers that someone has created them with something very serious in mind. He would not be surprised if it was Shredder.
Splinter is right, as Shredder suddenly appears on all television stations. Shredder orders the Mayor of New York City to give him the keys to the city because they are now under his power. He says the special bubble-blocking liquid will stop the life of the big apple and only he can give her back her movement. An angry Raffaello is ready to go, but Leonardo says he has an idea. He thinks they should take a bath right now.
Soon, the Turtles swim out of one of their secret exit pipes which discharges in the harbor. Nearby is a large metal octopus vessel with all eight of its arms lifted to the surface. They realize this vessel is the location what he’s using to glue the whole city from. The Turtles swim to the top of one of the “octopus” arms and discover that it is really a large tube closed at the tip by a very dense circular net grating. Air blows from the inside, which like soap bubbles, inflates hundreds of bubbles on the mesh net covered with Shredder’s adhesive product. Donatello uses his bō to puncture an opening in the net and as he enters, suggests that they take a closer look at the whole concept by utilizing a “shell” descent.
A “shell” descent means that the Turtles pull themselves into their shells and then slide down the tube. The first in line, Donatello, breaks through the thin inner lining of the tube, startling Bebop and Rocksteady. Not pleased with the four uninvited “shells”, Rocksteady says to chase them out. Bebop thinks they should glue them because then Shredder will praise them. Standing at the edge of a blue liquid pool, the Turtles draw their weapons. Large blocks of soap fall from a conveyor belt into the pool. Bebop grabs a hose and fires a bubble at Raffaello, asking if he liked blowing bubbles as a child. Raffaello tosses a sai and answers no, that from a young age he preferred to beat up bullies.
The sai redirects the bubble towards Rocksteady, who falls back against the controls in his effort to escape. His arm hits the lever than switches the machine from blue bubbles to pink bubbles. Glued in place, Rocksteady tells his partner that he operated the bubble change. Bebop tells him he’s made a big mess and just wait until Shredder notices. At another set of controls, Donatello says that since their boss is angry, they might as well finish the work by going up to the sunlight. He activates the button which will bring the “octopus” to the surface.
Shredder immediately calls to ask what his mutants are doing and wants to know who activated the rapid unglued program. He says that the mayor has not yet given him the keys to the city. Rocksteady admits it was him, but because of those empty shells, he’s stuck. Shredder orders him to throw them out, but Rocksteady says he can’t because he’s been glued. The “octopus” rises to the surface and the Turtles tell Shredder that he wants them out, they’ll all go out. Bebop takes another hose filled with pink liquid and uses it to free Rocksteady. Donatello sees this and realizes the pink bubbles reverse the effects of the blue liquid. He calls out to his brothers that the octopus is ready to return New York to normalcy. As he starts working the controls, Bebop and Rocksteady make a quick exit, since they are in trouble anyway.
The octopus arms lift together and a very large pink bubble forms overhead. Donatello says that by reuniting the arms, they will shoot the unsticking bubble. Shredder decides it’s a good time to abandon his creature. As a small escape pod shoots through the top of the vessel, the Turtles see that they are left with a headless octopus. The Turtles watch on the monitor as the large pink bubble floats over the city and then explodes. As the liquid rains down on the city, the Turtles join April on the dock. The freed citizenry cheer at their ability to move again. April notes that the liberating rain tastes like strawberry and lemon. Michelangelo suggests collecting some and making a new pizza with it. His brothers think that’s a good idea.
See also[]
Notes and errors[]
- In a panel on page 4, Michelangelo is wearing Leonardo's colors, Leonardo is wearing Raffaello's colors, and Donatello is sporting Michelangelo's colors.
- Throughout the comic, Donatello is wearing light blue colors instead of his usual purple.
- In a panel on page 6, Raffaello is wearing Leonardo's colors, Michelangelo is wearing Raffaello's colors, and Leonardo is wearing Michelangelo's colors.
- In a panel on page 7, Donatello is wearing Raffaello's colors.
- In a panel on page 9, Leonardo is wearing Raffaello's colors.
- In a panel on page 9, the Turtle wearing blue is addressed as Mike.