TMNTPedia
Advertisement

Stir-Crazy is the second comic in the twenty-fourth issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Appearing in Stir-Crazy[]

Major characters[]

Minor characters[]

Locations[]

Objects and vehicles[]

  • Ventriloquist dummy
  • Sai

Synopsis[]

Down in the lair, Raphael is complaining. The Foot Clan and the Kraang have made no moves in what seems like forever to him. To Raph, this has the makings for the cure to insomnia. He turns to his brothers and asks someone to spar with him, but Michelangelo is dancing to music from his boom box, Leonardo is building a castle from a model kit, and Donatello is working on another of his gadgets.

Leo refuses, telling Raph that he’s already talked them into sparring every day this week. Don backs him up and then suggests Raph spar with Splinter. Raph replies that he likes matches he actually has a chance to win and then asks Mikey to spar. However, Mikey is busy practicing his sweet moves and shows off a few, which makes Raph facepalm.

Finally Raph loses his patience and screams out that he’s going stir crazy! Splinter walks up behind him and suggests that what he really needs is a hobby, something for himself that’s apart from training. Raph doesn’t know what he would even do, so Don suggests he could help with his latest invention, imagining Raph inside a robotic, weaponized bodysuit. Raph refuses to be his guinea pig and then Mikey challenges him to a dance-off, but Raph shoves him away.

Raph tells his family that if he’s got to have a hobby, it has to be better than a dance-off or letting Don blow him up. The brothers take that as a challenge and decide to help him out.

First Raph tries cooking, but the oven catches fire. Next he attempts stamp collecting, but winds up covered in them. Leo has to plug his ears when Raph attempts karaoke and then Raph himself finds ventriloquism creepy.

Finally frustrated, Raph announces that he doesn’t need a hobby. This is New York and someone has to be committing a crime somewhere, he just needs to go out and find them. He is stopped by Splinter, who explains that a hobby is not just a distraction, it provides nourishment for the spirit and helps one to center themselves. Splinter says that he knows Raph craves a challenge; to master something none of his brothers could even imagine being capable of. He then holds out a book and tells his son that he believes the contents holds that challenge. The skill inside will improve his hand-eye coordination and his ability with a sai.

Excited, Raph takes the book and opens it, but then looks at his father and asks if he’s kidding. Splinter gives him a sly look and asks if Raph is saying he won’t do it, or that he can’t? Not one to turn down that sort of challenge, Raph gives it a try.

The next day, Don and Mikey are seated next to each other playing a video game. Don asks if he’s seen Raph, but his brothers hasn’t. Quick glimpse at Raph, somewhere in the lair, balancing a sai on his fingertip and telling himself that “something” is all in the wrists. Back to the others on the couch, where Leo has joined them. He asks if they’ve seen Raph and is told they haven’t, so Leo says he plays the winner.

Back to Raph, who is now holding both of his sai and telling himself to concentrate. In the living room, Splinter walks up to stand behind the couch and Mikey asks if he knows what Raph is up to. His fathers tells him that it is hard to say, but if he were to guess…

Cut to Raph, surrounded by yarn and wearing a knitted hat, in the process of knitting something out of orange yarn. Splinter finishes… “I’d say three scarves, two pairs of socks and a winter hat.”

See also[]

Advertisement