TMNT (IDW) #16

 Publication date: November 28, 2012

Story: Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz

Script: Tom Waltz

Art: Andy Kuhn

Colors: Ronda Pattison

Letters: Shawn Lee

Editor: Bobby Curnow

"Blood Brothers, Part 2"

Summary:

Down in the subbasement/sewer access tunnel of the old church, the Turtles are getting trashed by Slash.  Mikey frees Leo from the Evil Turtle’s grip with a blow from his nunchaku, but the monster is virtually invulnerable.  Don and Raph rally, but they prove no more effective against Slash than their brothers.

On Burnow Island, Baxter Stockman briefly distracts himself from the Technodrome project to get a status update from Chet.  Stockman isn’t happy about the specimen’s escape, but Chet assures him that there is nothing that can be traced back to Stockgen.  Meanwhile, Krang rallies his Rock Soldier forces.  As time draws short, they prepare for an all-out assault on the Neutrino capital of Smada City.

At the Second Time Around Shop, Casey decides to skip his big hockey game so that he can accompany April in her search for the Turtles (who are suspiciously late from their trip to the old church).  Splinter remains behind in case they come home (and to keep up with his soaps).

At the church, Don comes to the grim conclusion that Slash was created by Stockgen for the singular purpose of hunting them down; thus eliminating their option of retreating.  He suggests that they have no alternative but to kill their foe.  Raph is okay with the idea, but Mikey rejects it instantly, understanding that Slash is not responsible for the things Stockgen did to him.  Leo is hesitant about the option, struggling to concoct a non-lethal strategy.

Leo attempts to reason with Slash, but the Evil Turtle, in his single-mindedness, is certain that the only way to end his own pain is to kill his prey.  April and Casey stumble onto the scene and startle Slash, who leaps onto the unprepared Leonardo.  In the scuffle, Leo inadvertently lodges his katana hilt-deep between Slash’s shoulder and plastron.  Slash removes the katana and his bandana, stumbles, then collapses into a pool of water leading to the sewer.

The next day, April, Casey and Splinter help the Turtles ready their new lair.  April asks how Mikey and Leo are taking Slash’s apparent death.  Don says that Mikey was pretty badly choked up about it, while Raph says that Leo has been cold and distant since the events.  Splinter scolds his sons for underestimating the emotions of their brothers.  He says that Mikey’s sensitivity is proof of his empathy for others and appreciation of life.  Likewise, Leo’s silent surface is reflective of the inner turmoil he’s feeling for failing to find a better solution to the battle.

As Splinter says these words, Mikey finds a note outside the pizza place from Woody.  Woody says that he can never hang with Mike again, as the danger that follows him is too much for the pizza guy to handle.  He promises to keep the free pizzas coming, though.  Mikey sheds a tear at the loss of his friend.  Leo, meanwhile, is sitting alone on the lowest level of the lair, staring pensively at his katana and Slash’s discarded bandana.

On the shore of the East River, Slash lays unconscious.  He’s kicked awake by none other than Old Hob, who wins the Evil Turtle over by claiming to be a hunter just like him.  Holding a vile of Splinter’s blood, Hob says that the two of them have a lot of work to do if they’re to get even with those who betrayed them.

Turtle Tips:

*This story is continued from TMNT (IDW) #15.  The story continues in TMNT Microseries #8: Fugitoid.

*Old Hob was shot and left for dead in TMNT (IDW) #12.

*This issue also included a floor plan for the new church lair by Kevin Eastman.

*This issue was originally published with 3 variant covers: Cover A by Kuhn, Cover B by Eastman and Pattison, and Cover RI by Ross Campbell.

Review:

The “Blood Brothers” arc concludes, though it acts less as a finale and more a precursor for even bigger events down the line.

While some might view Slash’s defeat as a copout, I was relieved that he didn’t bite the dust.  Many fans were genuinely concerned that Waltz might eliminate the fan-favorite villain after reintroducing him to the world, myself included.  To Waltz’s credit, he made the lingering threat of Slash’s potential demise feel like a genuine possibility and not a surefire false alarm.  For the past several issues, the concept of killing has been hanging like a dark cloud over the TMNT’s heads; ominously foreshadowing a grim event in their immediate future.  SOMEONE was going to die at their hands and Slash was pretty much the only contestant for that inevitability.  Furthering the realistic chance of his death was the fact that he, well, knew where the Turtles’ secret lair was, and a villain can’t just walk away after learning something so vital.

We end up getting the best of both worlds, so to speak, with the end of this arc.  Slash survives his apparent demise, but the Turtles are left believing they did him in and have to suffer the guilt for their actions.  While some might feel the development rings a tad hollow, as no one actually died, I’m fine with the way things went down so long as it means Slash is still out there as future foe for the Turtles.  We just got the guy back; I don’t think we’re ready to say goodbye again quite so soon.

The TMNT’s differing reactions to their perceived “first kill” are interesting; some more than others.  Raph being callous toward the whole situation is a given, though Don’s apathy seems a bit perplexing.  His being the first one to suggest lethal enforcement seemed even stranger.  IDW’s Don has a harder edge than past incarnations; butting heads with Leo and taking a rather unflinching stance in much of his skepticism.  But being so quick to suggest killing an enemy displays a rather brutal side of the character that I don’t quite think fits the bill.  Yeah, he killed enemy’s like there was no tomorrow in the early issues of Mirage’s TMNT, but that sadistic quality was discarded pretty quickly and Don was shown to be deeply affected by the act of killing even a psychotic terrorist in TMNT (Vol. 1) #12.  His decision to kill Slash was based on solid, clinical reasoning (he was programmed to hunt them and he’ll never stop unless they end him), but it runs counter to the character’s established mercifulness and appreciation of life.

I suppose making Don a sadsack about killing would have felt “redundant” with Michelangelo, who is shown being emotionally shaken by Slash’s supposed death (and the loss of his friend).  That angle certainly fits the character, but I don’t necessarily think it needed to require Don to act differently about the situation.  You can have two Turtles that are psychologically injured by the act of killing and not have it read like they’re copying each other.  Leo, meanwhile, takes the situation in his own unique way.  As the oldest brother and the leader of the clan, he shoulders all of the responsibility for success and failure, or at least he takes it upon himself to.  As such, his guilt over being the one to “kill” Slash is doubled by the realization that he failed as a leader to find a better way.  As the blandest Turtle, it’s often hard to identify or sympathize with Leo, but in this issue’s epilogue, you get some great insight into his head (with or without Splinter’s stilted exposition).

Back on the subject of Slash, I’m curious to see where his arc with Old Hob goes.  Old Hob’s appearance at the end suffers from “comic book logic”, as it begs questions such as “how did Hob know where to look for Slash?” and “How did he get that vial of Splinter’s blood?”  I figure we’re going to get an answer to the latter, but the former is probably a “don’t think about it” situation.  Still, there’s the veiled possibility that Hob will be mutating his own team of mercenaries with that vial of blood, which might mean the return of more classic villains.  I’m all for that.

And I’m all for the “Krang War”, which is going to be the next big arc.  More than the Shredder, more than Slash, more than the Savate Ninja, more than ANYTHING ELSE, it’s Krang’s campaign against the Neutrinos, building since the very first issue, that I have been chomping at the bit over.  It’s about friggin’ time.

Kuhn steps down from art duties after this issue, with Ben Bates (of Sonic the Hedgehog fame) coming in as the new regular artist starting next month.  Kuhn’s run has been divisive amongst fans, to put it politely.  I haven’t felt as vitriolic about his style as a lot of the internet crowd, and I recognized quite a bit of good in it (great layouts and I dug his decision to merge Slash’s and Tokka’s design aesthetics), but there’s always been the matter of his Turtles.  It seems the one unifying criticism amongst his detractors was the way he drew their faces, and no matter how good you are at drawing everything else, if you can’t draw the Ninja Turtles in a book about the Ninja Turtles then that’s a deal-breaker.  I wish him the best in his future endeavors, and the guy really did draw a bitchin’ Slash, but I’m never the less looking forward to a TMNT book where the Turtles don’t have excessively wrinkly faces and buckteeth.

Grade: B+ (as in, “But the exit of Woody would have held greater emotional impact if he’d appeared more than once prior to his mauling”.)

TMNT (Vol. 1) #26

 Publication date: October, 1989

Story and art: Rick Veitch

Letters: Gary Fields

“Old Man River”

Summary:

In Northampton, Splinter follows the course of the river with his spirit until at last he finds Bloodsucker, stomping toward a presence who sits at the source of the river… waiting…

On the side of a dirt road, Casey and April struggle to fix the transmission of their Chevy.  Luckily, their car just happened to break down right where a canoe has been stashed.  Abanak says that the entire situation was orchestrated by the old man whom they seek.  In all the commotion, the Turtles lose track of Raph.  They find him in a bush, confronted by a weasel.  Despite being devolved into a normal pet shop turtle, Raph still has his fighting spirit and scares the weasel away with a few sharp bites from his beak.  Boarding the canoe, the Turtles and Abanak continue upriver while Casey and April stay behind to fix the Chevy.

Following the river through a course not on any map, but guided by Abanak’s dreams, they come to a huge lake which Abanak claims is the true source of the river.  Their canoe is overturned by a school of fish and they are all carried to the base of a waterfall by them.  The fish then carry them up the waterfall and they find a large stone in the middle of the river.  Taking position in the center of the stone, they are overcome by a powerful surge of energy.

Splinter, his mind and spirit still free from his body, is also overtaken by that surge of energy and feels himself being trapped by it.  The energy coalesces into a wizened old man.  The old man explains to them that he is of a race that dominated the Earth in the time of the dinosaurs, but their civilization was destroyed by nuclear war.  The survivors turned their backs on technology after that and began communing with nature in search of knowledge and true power.  Their spirits soon merged with the rivers of the world and the Connecticut River is his river.

The Turtles ask the old man if he can restore Raphael and he says that he could, but does not wish to.  Bloodsucker then comes stomping up the falls and takes his place at the old man’s side.  The old man explains that he sent the leech to feed off of Raph’s mutagen-laced blood so that he could study the effects of mutation.  He intends to likewise devolve the other three Turtles and learn about mutation through their blood.  The Turtles ready themselves to attack, but the old man is prepared.  Having already snared Splinter’s consciousness in his trap, he uses the will of the rat to paralyze the Turtles.  He then sicks Bloodsucker on them to drain them of all their mutagen-laced blood.

Raphael swims up to Bloodsucker’s feet and bites down on his toe.  Bloodsucker then tumbles over the falls with all the turtles still in his clutches.  Abanak takes up Leo’s fallen katana and attacks the old man, accusing him of forsaking the Native population and encouraging industrialists to pollute the river simply so that he could increase his own perverted knowledge (and thus become more powerful). The old man blasts Abanak into the forest with a bolt of energy.  The momentary distraction is enough for Splinter to free his mind from the old man’s trap and, with a total surge of will, sends a psychic counterattack upriver.

At Booders Falls, the three kids are busy chiseling their dream symbols into the rocks by the river, intent on fulfilling their promise to Abanak.  Suddenly, a huge glowing claw comes surging up the river.  A few miles further, April and Casey are still dealing with the Chevy when they see the claw come rocketing by.  And finally, at the top of the falls, the old man registers the counterattack a little too late and is struck by the huge glowing fist.  Splinter’s attack has cut the old man off from the energies that have sustained him for millennia and he quickly begins to decay.

At the base of the falls, Leo is freed from his paralysis just as Bloodsucker attacks.  Mike and Don come to his aid and they dogpile on the leech-man.  Bloodsucker is still too strong and throws them off, but his attack is momentarily delayed by Raph, who takes another bite out of him.

At the top of the falls, the old man begs Abanak to help him.  He says that Abanak is capable of the same powers as he is, but Abanak does nothing.  The old man attempts to heal himself but begins de-aging rapidly, eventually turning into a baby before vanishing entirely.

With the old man gone, Bloodsucker begins to steadily weaken.  At the same time, Raphael is growing larger and larger thanks to the blood he continues to slurp from the leech-man’s throat.  Raph wrestles Bloodsucker behind the cascade of water and the two disappear.  Don and Mike want to go in and help their brother, but Leo says Raph has to fight this battle on his own.  A moment later, Raph comes stomping out, demanding a beer.  He says he pulled a turnabout on Bloodsucker, sucking the villain’s mutagen-laced blood and restoring himself in the process.  Bloodsucker, now just a normal leech, is spared a squishy death by Raphael and simply flicked back into the river.

Abanak, speaking from the top of the falls, says that he has found his destiny and must take the old man’s place as the spirit of the river.  He then commands the fish to carry the Turtles back home.  Riding the fish, the Turtles pass April and Casey (who have fixed the car and sparked a romance in the process) and assure them that Raph is back to normal.  Passing Booders Falls, they see the kids finishing their carvings and tell them that Abanak sends his regards.  Finally, they reach Northampton where Splinter sits, waiting.  They each bow respectfully to their master (and that includes Raphael).

Elsewhere, a human embryo floats helplessly in the river current.  It is quickly inhaled by a small leech with vague memories of tasting mutant turtle blood.

Turtle Tips:

*This story is continued from TMNT (Vol. 1) #25.

*Raph will be seen dealing with the psychological fallout of this story arc in TMNT (Vol. 1) #28.

Review:

Despite a weak middle, Veitch’s “River” trilogy manages a strong finish with one of the better battles in Volume 1.  Though he turns out to be nothing more than a pawn in the old man’s game, Bloodsucker still made for a powerful enemy; one that actually gave the Turtles a run for their money.  Many of the most memorable villains of the Mirage series weren’t particularly great threats.  Leatherhead was never really a bad guy to begin with, Savanti Romero and Complete Carnage were comedy relief stooges and Rat King sort of just operated from the shadows, not being a physical equal.  There were plenty of disposable thugs and the occasional monster here or there but, looking at Volume 1, Bloodsucker is probably the most serious threat the Turtles face aside from, obviously, the Shredder.

In a way, he’s almost too powerful.  He can’t be killed no matter how you chop him up, he gains the knowledge and skills of whatever he eats and he has the ability to devolve the Turtles by sucking their blood.  From the TMNT’s point of view, he’s a pretty terrifying enemy and easily one of Volume 1’s most memorable foes.  He is, of course, “off limits” due to rights issues between Mirage and Veitch, which is a shame, as I’d like to see him revived in another medium, be it the new cartoon from Nick or the new comic from IDW.  Of course, they could always do a run-around and use Wyrm, the leech mutant with all the same powers (can reform himself after being chopped up; feeds on mutagen-laced blood) that Viacom owns lock, stock and barrel.  But that’d be kind of a dick move toward Veitch.

“Old Man River” suffers from some… “what the fuck” moments, to put it vulgarly.  Veitch rather nonchalantly throws the existence of Atlantis or whatever that ancient civilization was out there in a brief flashback and it just seems so random and weird.  And, of course, it’s never referenced again by any other writers.  Even ignoring the whole “off limits” status of “The River”, the fact that every river in the world is home to some Atlantean sorcerer would seem rather important.  But that’s always been my biggest grievance with the Mirage universe as a whole; a lack of cohesion.

On the other hand, a really small moment in this issue is actually really important to the ongoing narrative of Volume 1, and that’s the blossoming of April and Casey’s romance.  Before now, they’ve only ever been shown just coexisting with each other with maybe a romantic undercurrent just beneath the surface.  This is the point where they actually start to show affection toward one another (April gives Casey a kiss for the first time, I think).  If you purge “The River” from continuity as Laird has, you amputate an important chapter in the development of their relationship which really undercuts the tragedy of their breaking up during “Shades of Grey”.  Regardless of editorial (and legal) mandates, “The River” is not only a good story arc in TMNT Vol. 1, but an important one, too.

Veitch also seems to have hit his stride with the characters in this installment, too.  I mentioned in my review for the first chapter that he didn’t really have a solid handle on their voices and seemed to mix up their personalities and traits.  Here, the Turtles are all unique in their speech (save perhaps Don, who never has anything technical to say) and Raph stops acting like a whimpering crybaby like he did in the first chapter and behaves like his beer-swilling self.  Mike even yells “cowabunga”, which probably pissed off a few readers in ’89.  Casey’s dialogue about giving up on Raph as a lost cause can either be interpreted as macho bluster or mischaracterization, depending on how forgiving you are as a reader.

“The River” is one of my favorite arcs from the guest era and one of the better storylines from Volume 1 in general.  The middle section is a bore, but the bookending chapters more than make up for it.  This finale is the strongest installment in the arc and Veitch’s art sells it even moreso.  The bit where Splinter sends a psychic sucker punch barreling upriver is a great example of how to build momentum in storytelling.

Grade: A- (as in, “Although we may never see this storyline collected again, the original issues are pretty easy to come by and pretty cheap, too”.)

TMNT (Vol. 1) #25

Publication date: September, 1989

Story and art: Rick Veitch

Letters: Steve Lavigne

“River Hymn”

Summary:

In Northampton, Splinter meditates and sends his spirit along the river, searching for his sons and tracking their progress.

In a small factory town called Booders Falls, a trio of kids (Owen, Cookie and Ray) are heading down to the river to do some fishing.  They’re excited because the river has supposedly been cleaned of all pollution, but nervous that they’ll be caught by Officer Mannigan, who doesn’t want them fishing down there, anyway.  Even worse, they fear they might encounter a legendary ghost who leaves strange carvings in the rocks.  They have worse things to fear, though, as Bloodsucker (stilled disguised as a game warden) attacks them.  He’s about to suck the kids dry when Leo, Don and Mike intervene.  Pumped up on mutagen and human blood, Bloodsucker uproots a large tree and throws it at the Turtles, pinning them to the riverbed.  As the kids hightail it out of there, Bloodsucker gloats that he’ll return after the Turtles have drowned and feast on their dead bodies.

Back in Northampton, Splinter senses the danger his sons are in.  He searches for another spirit that can understand his plight and locates an individual carving symbols into the rock.

On the highway, Casey and April (and the devolved Raphael) enter Booders Falls at high speed, hoping to catch up with the Turtles.  Their speeding runs afoul of the crooked Officer Mannigan, though, and he quickly cuffs Casey and preps him for a trip downtown.  The three boys interrupt, telling Mannigan about the mutant animals they encountered by the river.  Casey uses the opportunity to dive off a bridge and into the river, where he vanishes.  Mannigan could care less if Casey’s dead or alive and takes all three kids and April into custody.  As he drives away, Raph falls out of the car and off the bridge.  Luckily for both Raph and Casey, the “ghost” of Booders Falls fishes them out of river and carries them into a cave system.

At the local jail, April isn’t pleased with being incarcerated without legal representation, but Mannigan assures her that the local industrial bigwig Samuel Booder VI owns all the judges, so she might as well clam up.  Mannigan calls his “boss”, Mr. Booder, who tells him that no one can know about the mutant animals in the river or it would mean serious financial losses for his factory.  Booder tells Mannigan to grab his gun and meet him at the factory.  Booder leaves April and the kids alone in the station house, but being a dunce, he also leaves the kids with their fishing rods.  They snag the keys off Mannigan’s desk and make their escape with April.

In the caves, Casey comes to, surrounded by the Turtles.  The Turtles introduce him to Abanak, the “ghost” of Booders Falls who saved all five of them from drowning in the river.  Abanak explains that he is the last of the Algonquin Nation; his people having been slaughtered by a settler named Colonel Booder many generations ago.  Booder’s most recent heir has been dumping toxic waste into the Connecticut River, poisoning the land.  The Turtles decide to suspend their search for Bloodsucker long enough to repay Abanak.  They follow him up a sewer shaft that leads to Booder’s factory while Casey reverses the flow of the waste drainage pipeline.

At the plastics factory, Booder tells Mannigan that he’s sick and tired of the “ghosts” that have been plaguing his family for generations.  Gathering a militia, he plans to route the Indian out of the sewers and caves and execute him.  Suddenly, they hear footsteps coming up the sewer access and all of Booder’s thugs take aim.

Abanak takes a load of rock salt to the chest and the Turtles drag him to safety while the militia opens fire with dumdum bullets (which can’t pierce their shells).  As Casey finishes reversing the sewage flow, the Turtles take out the guns with a flurry of shuriken.  Booder tries to escape, but is overtaken by a flood of backed up toxic waste.  He’s rescued from drowning by Abanak, but uses the opportunity to slug the Indian in the stomach and head to his car.  Booder climbs inside his vehicle, ready to get out of Dodge before the EPA arrives.  Unfortunately, he fails to notice Bloodsucker in the backseat and the giant leech-man promptly drains him of all his vital fluids.

As the whole factory begins to collapse, April arrives in Casey’s Chevy and picks everybody up.  They escape shortly before the EPA arrives to clean the mess up and pass the three kids on their way out of town.  Abanak tells the kids that he’s ready to retire, but wishes to pass the title of “ghost” down to them.  Vowing to respect the land and nature, the kids accept the honor and responsibility.  Hitting the highway, Abanak says that he can guide them to an ancient spirit that dwells on the river and may be able to save Raphael.  None of them notice, though, that Bloodsucker is following in Booder’s car.

In Northampton, Splinter senses the presence of an old mystic who lives on the river.  The old mystic senses Splinter, as well.

Turtle Tips:

*This story is continued from TMNT (Vol. 1) #24.  The story concludes in TMNT (Vol. 1) #26.

Review:

And so begins a string of American Indian-related storylines in TMNT Vol. 1 that were all done by different creators who had no clue that the others were preaching the same stuff.  Following “The River”, Michael Dooney offers “Dreams of Stone” (which ties Complete Carnage and Radical into Indian mythology), and following that, Steve Murphy pens “Sonsof the Silent Age” (which uses fish-people as an analogue for the displaced Native population).  In his opening editorial for “Dreams of Stone”, Michael Dooney even apologizes to the readers for his part in the relentless string of Indian-themed stories, assuring us it was all an accident.  Kind of makes you wonder, though, what was going on in 1989 that just happened inspire three TMNT creators to write Native American-related stories at the exact same time?

“River Hymn” is the weak link in Veitch’s “The River” trilogy as it is a total distraction from the ongoing storyline.  The way the Turtles simply forget about Bloodsucker and saving Raph so that they can play eco-terrorists and fight the power is just… awkward.  I mean, was stopping the factory so urgent they couldn’t have come back and plugged up the pipe on their way home from saving Raph?  Time is of the essence and all that, you know.  The more time they waste playing Planeteers, the further away Bloodsucker gets and the less likely they are to restore their brother (lucky for them Bloodsucker decided to stick close by).

The script is just full of too many clichés.  A corporate head honcho that is willing to destroy the Earth and murder Indians and children and animals so long as it means profits, a crooked idiot cop that arrests people on trumped up charges because I guess that’s what everyone thinks small town cops do after watching “First Blood”, an American Indian character who gives long rambling speeches about how you cannot own land and how the White Man destroyed his people and then proceeds to cry at the sight of pollution like in that public service announcement from the 70s…

The list goes on.  There’s hammy dialogue like you wouldn’t believe, as Booder proceeds to make all manner of stupid puns near the end (“‘Cause I should give you back your land, shouldn’t I?  Let’s start with a couple of ACHERS!” as he punches Abanak in the stomach) or that awful bit with the kids talking about how pollution is totally bogus and that they’ll clean up the Earth for future generations.

“River Hymn” is just all-around groan-inducing once it gets away from the primary conflict involving Bloodsucker and goes into this distracting nonsense about river pollution and crying Indians.

It’s not all bad, though.  April is more useful in this story than she’s been in a long, long time.  Not only does she get out of jail, she fixes the broken gear-shifter in Casey’s Chevy with a screwdriver and some hairpins, showcasing some of that ingenuity that we haven’t seen since TMNT (Vol.1) #2.  It’s a rare treat in these old Mirage comics to see April being anything other than useless.  Savor it.

Veitch’s art is still some great stuff, and I got a real EC Comics vibe out of the scene where Bloodsucker surprises Booder in his car.  It just reminded me of something you’d see on a Jack Davis “Tales from the Crypt” cover.  And speaking of Bloodsucker, while his ramblings about world domination were hackneyed as all get-out, I love his casual style of speech.  In my head, he doesn’t have a melodramatic monster voice, but something more natural and human (in fact, in my noggin, he’s played by Bill Ratner using his Flint from “G.I. Joe” voice).

“The River” trilogy averages out to a good story, don’t get me wrong, but this is definitely the low point.

Grade: C- (as in, “Cripes, now I want to watch ‘First Blood’ again.  The ultimate hippy-slaughtering revenge fantasy…”)

TMNT (Vol. 1) #24

Publication date: August, 1989

Story and art: Rick Veitch

Letters: Steve Lavigne

“Down to the River”

Summary:

Out in a field near the farm in Northampton, the Turtles practice their lessons beneath the hot sun as Splinter watches and instructs.  Splinter hears the voice of nature all about him and probes his students to discern if they can hear it, too.  They cannot.  Seeing that the sun is taking its toll on them, Splinter ends practice for the day.  All the Turtles bow to their master, save Raphael, who runs away to cool off in the river.  Disappointed, Splinter tells the other three Turtles that they are not yet mature enough to learn more advanced lessons in ninjutsu.

Enraged that their callous and selfish brother has made them all look bad, Leo, Don and Mike chase after him.  They find Raph climbing a tree by the Connecticut River and demand that he come down and take his medicine.  The branch he’s standing on breaks and Raph plunges into the rocky water.  His brothers dive in after him, but while searching the river bed, Raph gets the drop on them and stomps their faces into the mud. 

Now even more furious, the Turtles climb out of the water and prepare to pulverize Raph.  He successfully distracts them with the sight of a turtle nest where all the eggs have just hatched.  The Turtles are hypnotized by the sight of all the baby turtles swimming around.  Raph finds one that looks hurt and, upon closer inspection, sees that a leech is attached to it.  Raph recoils in horror, being afraid of leeches, and this revelation gives his brothers the chance to get even.  Holding him down, they place the leech on the bottom of his foot and let it get a few sips of blood.  Raph freaks out and pulls the leech off then chases his brothers back to the farm.

The next day, Splinter continues their lessons, but find that his pupils are no closer to hearing the voices of nature than before.  Listening, he feels a malignant presence in the nearby river, growing fat off of baby turtles.  Raph, pale and weak, collapses in the heat of the sun and Splinter calls off practice early.

Cooling off in the river, Leo, Don and Mike apologize to Raph for teasing him yesterday.  Raph reluctantly accepts the apology.  Suddenly, they spot a large snapping turtle get pulled under the way by a huge, slimy mass.  They chase the creature to a small cave with no exit and discover it to be a humongous leech.  Raph blocks the entrance to the cave with his shell while his brothers fetch their weapons to kill the thing.

The Turtles return to find Raph passed out and the “bloodsucker” now not only larger, but standing erect with arms and legs.  Splinter, having accompanied his sons, recognizes something strange about the creature and tells them to stay back.  Leo, worried about Raph, ignores Splinter’s orders and chops the leech up.  Leo apologizes to Splinter, who tells his pupil that he needs to learn of other ways to solve problems than with his katana.

The next day, at practice, Raph seems dazed and unfocused.  He breaks formation at the sight of a dragonfly and chases it off into a field.  Splinter senses something is the matter with him, and over the next few days, the others begin to see it, too.  Raph gradually becomes more child-like in nature and loses intelligence, dexterity and focus.  Eventually, he begins to shrink in size and ceases speaking.

Splinter concludes that the leech siphoned off the mutagen in Raph’s system, absorbing it into itself.  As a result, the leech mutated into an anthropomorphic creature while Raph has begun to devolve into a normal turtle.  Together with April and Casey, they head to the river to try and find the remains of the leech and see if they can’t reclaim some of the mutagen and restore Raph.  They are suddenly accosted in the dead of night by a game warden who accuses them of fishing in a game preserve.  Seeing the quadrupedal Raphael, the game warden snatches him in a slimy hand, covered in tiny suckers and drinks more of Raph’s blood.  The game warden is revealed to be the mutated leech, now reformed from being chopped up, fully mutated and going by the name “Bloodsucker”.

Bloodsucker escapes on a motorboat, which it stole from the real game warden (whom it devoured, thus gaining the ability to speak as well as other humanoid traits).  Donning their bandanas, Leo, Don and Mike begin their swim up river to catch Bloodsucker and bring him back to the farm.  April and Splinter stay behind to watch over Raph while Casey loads up his Chevy and promises to meet them at a rendezvous point upstream.

Turtle Tips:

*The story is continued in TMNT (Vol. 1) #25

*The canonicity of Rick Veitch’s “The River” trilogy is somewhat confused.  Peter Laird has stated that all issues published during the Vol. 1 “guest era” are non-canon, with the lone exceptions being TMNT (Vol. 1) #27 and TMNT (Vol. 1) #28, as they were produced in-house by Mirage.  However, the events of this “non-canon” storyline are referenced in TMNT #28, a canon issue.  Make of it what you will.  Regardless of any editorial decrees on “canon”, there is nothing in this story to contradict the Mirage continuity.

Review:

Veitch’s “The River” trilogy defined the post “Return to New York” Northampton issues for me; whenever I’m reminded of that time period in Vol. 1, this is the story arc that immediately comes to mind.

It’s a very suspenseful tale, and I recall that when I originally read it, I legitimately felt worried that Raph “wasn’t going to make it”.  A silly thing, I know, but the circumstances of the publication probably helped elicit that reaction.  Coming out during the “guest era” where anything could happen, there was no guarantee that “The River” would align with Mirage continuity and there was always the chance that a main character might be at risk.  Of course, “The River” wound up functioning as a part of Mirage continuity until Veitch refused to sign the “mandatory retroactive work-for-hire” contracts and Laird struck this storyline from the record, but all that came after the fact.

The overarching plot of “The River” is a thrilling one, as Raph is left in a precarious situation and his brothers have to race to catch up with the villain that may be the key to saving him.  Not the most original set up when boiled down like that, sure, but one that nevertheless makes for an exciting story.  Being the first chapter in the trilogy, Veitch takes a very slow and deliberate approach to establishing the conflict, as Raph’s devolution takes several days and the characters, not wanting to accept that there’s something wrong with their friend, willfully ignore his decline until it looks them indisputably in the face.  While it may seem a little callous, I don’t think any of us can claim to have never reacted to a friend’s silent plight with denial.  It’s just one of those selfish things people do, sometimes, and somewhat understandable given how bizarre a malady it is; one the Turtles wouldn’t exactly know how to treat.

What can make Veitch’s “River” trilogy rather hard to read is his… less than firm grasp on the characters and their personalities.  None of the Turtles act very distinctly, particularly at the beginning of the issue, and you really can’t tell them apart unless they’re calling each other by name.  While Raph being a “rebel” is well-established, the way he brushes off practice and disrespects Splinter so he can goof-off and play around like a child with ADD is really more Michelangelo’s thing.  In fact, Raph’s and Mike’s personalities seem almost switched in this story.  When Raph begins to devolve, Mike is shown being an aggressive bully, taunting Raph to chase him out onto the roof of the farmhouse.  Raph’s dialogue seems out of character, too, as he sulks and accuses his brothers of being “mean” to him.  Again, that seemed more like a reaction Mike would have.

There’s also the narrative boxes, which exclusively refer to the Turtles as “friends” and never as “brothers”, which leaves me wondering if, at the time, Veitch was aware that they had a familial relationship (unlike in the Fred Wolf cartoon, where the Turtles were all indeed “friends” and not “family”).  Lavigne’s lettering is also filled with errors, repeating words or spelling some wrong.  Some campy elements also stick out awkwardly in the script, such as Splinter of all characters giving the villain the melodramatic name of “Bloodsucker”.

Despite those setbacks, I think “The River” is an overall excellent storyline that’s marred only by some indistinct characterization.  Veitch’s art is great stuff and the sequence where the game warden is revealed to be Bloodsucker is a nice bit of horror.  Though it is a little weird to see Splinter wearing culturally Chinese clothing rather than the Japanese robes he’s typically seen in.  I wonder if Veitch was aware of the difference at the time or if it was a mistake.

Grade: B (“But I always got the feeling that Wyrm was a variation of Bloodsucker, but altered just enough so Eastman and Laird wouldn’t have to pay Veitch any royalties”.)

TMNT (Vol. 1) #36

Publication date: August, 1991

Story and art: Michael Zulli

Lettering: Rob Caswell and Michael Zulli

“Souls End”

Summary:

With their home in the abandoned building violated, Splinter orders his sons to carry their injured and unconscious brother out into the alley to search for a new sanctuary.  Suddenly, the spectral crow swoops down from the sky and enters the injured Turtle’s body in a flash of light.  Splinter recognizes the entity as an emissary sent by Animus.  Knowing that his son now houses a volatile force of nature, Splinter has no choice but to return to the basement of the building and wait to see what transpires.

The injured Turtle finds himself alone in a strange wasteland, calling for his master.  He is greeted by the crow, who is known as Desolation.  Desolation tells the Turtle that he comes bearing a message from Animus: “Pick a species”.  With that, he blasts the Turtle with a bolt of energy.

Confused, the Turtles asks where he is and Desolation explains that he is in the emptiness of his own soul (or the “toxic condo”).  Desolation tells the Turtle to give up, but being a warrior, the Turtle refuses.  Desolation attacks the Turtle with his talons and the Turtle races for the safety of a nearby cave.

Inside the cave, he is once again greeted by Desolation.  Desolation gives him one final opportunity to make his choice: Man or Animal.  The Turtle ponders the choice for a moment and then delivers his answer: Life.  Desolation then blasts him with a bolt of energy and the Turtle falls silent.

In the basement, the other Turtles are dropping flowers by the head of their unconscious brother.  The Turtle awakens and informs them that he is finally free.

Turtle Tips:

*This story is continued from TMNT (Vol. 1) #35.

*Other stories by Zulli in the “Souls Winter” universe include “A Splinter in the Eye of God” and “Failed Instant”.  “O-Deed”, despite being by Michael Zulli, is part of the Mirage continuity.

*The title “Souls End” does not appear anywhere in this issue.  The title is taken from the official Mirage Comics website.

*This issue also included an introduction by Rick Veitch.

Review:

Michael Zulli’s “Souls Winter” trilogy concludes and it’s quite a headtrip. 

Before now, the Turtles took a backseat to the conflict between Shredder and Splinter and felt like pawns in their own title.  Here, the unnamed Turtle who was injured in battle in the first installment takes center stage, fighting for the right to have a soul.

Zulli’s arc addresses the fact that the Turtles are unnatural abominations, neither animal nor man, and plots it out on a metaphysical plane.  The human world doesn’t want them and the natural world is just as disinterested; so where precisely do they fit in?  The circumstances of their origins in this universe are a tad confused; Splinter either creates them in the first issue or wakes them from a long hibernation.  Either way, there don’t appear to be any mutagen or baby turtles involved in their birth; and for that matter, we have no clue what happened to create Splinter.  For all intents and purposes, they aren’t “animals that became men” as in the Mirage universe, but were supernaturally forged creatures that have no firm foothold in either existence.

Animus, as is stated rather bluntly in this story, is displeased with such abominations existing at all and sends an emissary to make them “choose a side”.  That gives Zulli the opportunity to continue the theme of “Souls Winter” that was stated out loud by the Shredder in the previous issue; “all that bleeds is beautiful”.  Basically, it doesn’t matter which “side” they’re on; so long as they’re alive, they deserve to exist (and in this case, warrant possessing a soul).  They earn acceptance from the Shredder (who represents the forces of man) in the previous issue, and they earn the approval of Animus (who represents nature) in this concluding issue, effectively winning their right to exist from both sides.  

It’s a shame we never got any extended continuations of the “Souls Winter” universe, as so much is left unsaid and unresolved.  Do the other three Turtles have to undergo spiritual trials to earn their souls, too?  Where did Splinter come from?  Why do he and Shredder hate each other?  If Animus is the god of nature, what is the god of man? 

All answers we’re unlikely to ever hear, though there remains plenty to think about.

I’ve commented ad nauseum about how great Zulli’s art is, but with this issue, I’d really like to compliment his and Rob Caswell’s lettering.  Particularly for Desolation, the lettering just leaves the character dripping with personality; an especially impressive feat considering Desolation’s skull-headed design prohibits him from emoting.  His entire personality stems from his dialogue and the lettering that conveys it, and everything from the font type to the font size to the little details (tiny hearts around certain words) brings his voice to life.  There’s a manic, sinister sense of humor to the character as he drops colloquialisms and behaves so leisurely, but not in a way that makes him seem dated or silly.  He’s just weird and frightening and funny all at once.

“Souls Winter” leaves you wanting more, but still manages to tell a complete tale.  It’s a major departure from the Mirage universe, but familiar in so many ways.  If only more creators participating in the “guest era” had opted to reinvent the TMNT the way Zulli did, that experiment wouldn’t have turned out to be such a drag.

Grade: A (as in, “And if the ‘Coming Out of their Shells’ tour had been a metal concert, this issue would have made a great album cover”.)

TMNT (Vol. 1) #35

 Publication date: March, 1991

Letters: Rob Coswell

Story and art: Michael Zulli

“Souls Withering…”

Summary:

Carrying the talisman of the fallen Turtle, a crow flies into the city.  The Shredder sits by the window of his headquarters, removes his mask and considers how the mask is his true face.  The crow, with the talisman in its mouth, appears at his window.  Shredder recognizes the talisman and is disturbed that “the rat” would be playing with such powerful forces.  The crow then taps the talisman against the window and there is a great explosion.

Down in a basement, the Turtles lay their dying brother on a cot and pile wreaths of flowers over him.  Splinter tells his sons to be careful and follow the ritual’s instructions precisely.  Splinter creates a circle in the grime and uses a sword to summon Animus, a skull-headed god of animal life.  Animus is furious that Splinter would dare summon him with iron, something of man’s make.  Looking at the rat-man, though, Animus is curious and considers the creature to be some sort of riddle.

At Foot HQ, the Shredder recovers from the explosion.  He realizes that the rat is making a mistake and that the powers he is playing with are, in fact, playing with him.  He decides to confront Splinter face to face and vanishes into thin air.  All around the city, crowds of people are overcome by a strange, supernatural calmness in the air.  All except a man yelling at his girlfriend.  The Shredder appears to him and seizes him by the throat.  Before vanishing again, he gives the man a piece of free advice: “love one another”.

In the basement, Splinter requests that Animus perform a favor for his children.  Animus says that Splinter walks and speaks like a man.  And worse yet, he summons him with iron.  Animus says that neither Splinter nor the Turtles are his children and vanishes.  As Splinter crumbles in despair, several rats scurry up to him with news that the Shredder is coming.  Splinter rallies the Turtles to hide and wait.  They are weak and sleepy, but he says that they must fight it in order to save their brother from the Shredder.

Shredder appears on the roof of an old apartment building.  He traverses the corridors down to the basement and enters the room where Splinter and the Turtles are holed up.  Splinter orders his sons to kill the Shredder, but they are too weak and he easily casts them aside.  Shredder then approaches the dying Turtle and, using his mystical energies, revives him.  As Shredder leaves, Splinter asks why he would help him.  Shredder replies that “everything beautiful bleeds”.

At Foot HQ, the masked geisha orders the Foot Soldiers to clear the rubble before their master returns.  Suddenly, from the wreckage, a blast of energy overcomes them.  A glowing, skeletal crow claws its way out, declaring that “desolation is coming”.

Turtle Tips:

*The story is continued from TMNT (Vol. 1) #31.  The story concludes in TMNT (Vol. 1) #36.

*This issue also contained a guest introduction, “Cowabunga and the Zen of Turtle Maintenance” by Stephen R. Bissette.

Review:

As Murphy’s name is not listed in the credits, I’m not sure if he scripted this issue as he did the first installment in the “Souls Winter” trilogy.  The introduction by Steve Bissette exclusively credits Zulli with this story, so I’m left to assume Murphy wasn’t involved in this chapter.

Zulli’s script for this part could probably have used a little extra polish, as the motivations for certain characters (namely, the Shredder) seem rather muddy.  After nearly having the Turtles killed, Shredder seems to have this great revelation that all life is precious and beautiful, then proceeds to undo the damage he’s done… but the impetus for that change of heart seems rather out of the blue and hurried.  It could also be construed as an “enemy of my enemy is my friend” scenario, as he immediately recognizes what the crow with the talisman represents and, following the explosion and the psychic energy permeating the air, realizes he must get Splinter and the Turtles back to full health no matter what.  The fact that he still calls Splinter “freak” would indicate a retained sense of animosity, though I suppose that that’s diluted by the end when he makes his “all that bleeds is beautiful” statement.

A little confused, but you can pick out the intent with some reflection.

What I liked more than anything about this issue was Splinter’s scene with Animus.  Splinter is sort of like a “mixed race”; the human world, represented by the Shredder, won’t accept him, and the natural world, represented by Animus, won’t accept him either.  You can feel his despair and helplessness as Animus abandons him and he has no means of saving his son’s life, and it really is a powerful scene (with a hint of dark humor, as Animus chides Splinter’s lack of manners for using iron to summon him).  That the scene is followed by a desperate and enraged Splinter calling for the Shredder’s grisly death is even better, as you finally get to see the old rat backed into a corner and with nothing left to live for but his hate.

A very atypical view of Splinter, but one that doesn’t feel particularly out of character despite this being an alternate continuity tale. 

Although this comic is called “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, the “Souls Winter” trilogy isn’t really about them.  It’s a tale of Splinter vs. Shredder and the world of man conflicting with the world of nature.  The Turtles, all identical and devoid of names or unique characteristics (the chest markings they had in the first chapter are gone in this one), really are not the focus and tread into “non character” territory.  While that might annoy some, I’m somewhat grateful that the focus is shifted to Splinter’s grudge with the Shredder.  Without the Turtles to get in the way, we can actually see the two old enemies confront one another (a scenario never utilized in the Mirage comics, save Splinter meeting the Shark Shredder, which only kinda-sorta counts).

And, of course, Zulli’s art is amazing.  Damn, but that guy draws some amazing skeletons.

Grade: A- (as in, “Although Splinter sometimes looks more like a bobcat than a rat”.)

TMNT (Vol. 1) #31

 Publication date: July, 1990

Letters: Rob Caswell

Script: Stephen Murphy

Art and story: Michael Zulli

“Souls Winter”

Summary:

In a city, crows gather outside a window.  Inside, a man in samurai armor is delivered a cup of hot tea by a masked geisha.  The samurai says that the cup has served countless generations of Oroku.  Sipping his tea and then smashing the cup, the samurai says that the world is a torrent of change, resolving into sorrow, and it is a lesson he shall now teach his old enemy.

In a basement somewhere, a mutant rat, Splinter, is hit by a spiritual attack.  Realizing that his foe, Oroku Saki, has finally begun to strike, Splinter gathers the ingredients necessary to meet the threat.  Splinter confronts Saki on the astral plane, but Saki defeats him handily.  Realizing that he is too old and weak to battle his nemesis alone, Splinter swallows four ancient talismans (representing earth, fire, air and water) and performs a mystic ritual.

Sensing Splinter’s workings, Oroku Saki (now known as the Shredder) is not disturbed.  He rallies his Foot Soldiers and tells them that through harmony and patience, they shall destroy their enemies in battle.

Down in the basement, Splinter's four “sons” awaken.  They are four large, anthropomorphic turtles.  Splinter rallies them to their feet, as they shall help him restore his honor.

Several crows fly from the city to the snow-covered forests on the outskirts.  Splinter leads his sons through the snow, telling them that death only visits once.  Entering a clearing, they are ambushed by dozens of Foot Soldiers lurking in the snow.  As Shredder barks orders from a vantage point, the Foot Soldiers strike.  The Turtles hold their own in battle, slaying many of the Foot Soldiers.  Eventually, one of them has their right hand sliced off.  Feeling his son’s pain, Splinter vomits up the talismans.  He then orders his sons to save the hand and enter into retreat.  Shredder allows his enemies to leave, being satisfied with his victory over them.

Running through the forest, Splinter tells his sons to be quick with their fallen brother, as they are running out of time to not only save his hand, but his life, too.

Having observed the battle, a crow swoops down and lands next to one of the disgorged talismans, covered in Splinter’s blood.

Turtle Tips:

*The story continues in TMNT (Vol. 1) #35.

*When Splinter enters the astral plane to face Oroku Saki, he says “nin” (忍) which is Japanese for “endurance” and “concealment” in certain conjugations, as well as the first character in the word “ninja” (忍者).

Review:

The “guest era” of TMNT Vol. 1 is pretty polarizing amongst fans.  It wasn’t very well-received at the time it happened, as it delayed the actual narrative of TMNT Vol. 1 for YEARS.  When Eastman and Laird finally resumed “canon” stories in TMNT (Vol. 1) #45, they had to write up an editorial note assuring readers that the “guest era” was over for good.

Looking back, it was a very interesting experiment that I can appreciate on principle.  For years, indie creators were invited to write stories (sometimes one-shots, sometimes arcs) featuring completely new renditions of the Turtles.  The idea was to give readers variety in both art and storytelling whilst still maintaining familiarity in terms of characters.

That’s what was intended.  What we GOT was another matter entirely.

The “guest era” was practically consumed by surreal, zany, wacky comedy stories by screwball creators and artists.  Instead of “variety” we got Mark Martin or Hedden & McWeeney taking the Turtles on three-issue-long treks through the tediousness of “random” storytelling.  And still more were one-shot “surrealist comedy” bits of the same vibe.  If you’re actually attempting a #1 through #62 read-through of TMNT Vol. 1, then the “guest era” amounts to little more than an exercise in monotonous agony.  I can’t even imagine what it must have been like for the fans buying the book on a monthly basis back in the 80s and early 90s when this was going on.  “Is it over, yet?”  “Nope, it’s Hedden & McWeeney again”.  “Sigh.”

But while so much of the “guest era” was unbearable screwball comedy nonsense, there were some diamonds amongst the coal.  Rick Veitch’s contributions were worth keeping, but they were written to fit into the continuity of the ongoing Mirage series.  Likewise, so were many of the better issues, like “Halls of Lost Legends”, “Sons of the Silent Age” and “Dreams of Stone”.  Great stories, but they didn’t operate under the idea of a creator taking the Turtles away from established continuity and recreating them on their own.  THAT stuff was almost strictly reserved for the stupid comedy relief issues and arcs.

Then in step Michael Zulli and Steve Murphy with their “Souls Winter” trilogy.  Together, they proved to be the only creative minds invited to participate in the “guest era” who truly got what the exercise was all about.  Reinventing the series from the ground up, we get a fresh look at Splinter, Shredder, the Foot Clan and the Ninja Turtles under a lens of mysticism and spirituality as opposed to science fiction and contrived happenstance.

Here, the Turtles are created by Splinter using his own blood and his own soul.  They are truly his sons; his creations.  While his motivation for birthing them might be a little questionable, it’s no worse than his motivations in the main Mirage continuity (in both takes, he only raises them for the purpose of killing the Shredder; at least here he’s more honest about it). 

Shredder, meanwhile, is much the same, though far more in touch with spiritual and psychic warfare than the strictly physical combatant he was in the Mirage continuity.  Often, the dichotomy between Splinter and Shredder is given that Shredder believes more in the might of hand-to-hand combat and strength, while Splinter is more a student of philosophy and spiritualism.  Murphy wisely chooses to cast the Shredder as something closer to Splinter’s darker half than his polar opposite, as both are masters of astral projection and psychic warfare.  It creates a more menacing Shredder, as the villain can now fight Splinter on both fronts (and over the course of this issue, defeats him on both fronts).

Murphy is subtle with his symbolism and his exposition in this issue.  This is the side of Murphy that I like to see, when he gives the audience enough credit to read into the message of his work, rather than having his work read its message to the audience out loud.  Sadly, you just don’t see enough of this sort of Stephen Murphy, as he mostly opts to go the soapbox route in his stories.  Regardless, he crafts a dark and brutal new origin for the Turtles that omits the campy superhero artifacts of the Eastman and Laird version (all the Turtles use katana, for instance, and none wear silly robber masks).  His use of the crows to symbolize the hovering presence of death, always following you and gradually drawing nearer, was a great touch of menace.  Of course, we’ll be meeting Death in a much less veiled form in the subsequent installments of the trilogy.

And what’s to be said about Michael Zulli’s art other than a righteous “Hell yeah”…?

The guy can DRAW and his renderings not only of the main cast, but of the grimy sewer depths, the dreary city skyline, the ominous winter forests and the menacing crows prove him to be one of the most well-rounded artists you will ever encounter.  The Puma Blues, while a bit of a dense read, is a great title if all you’re interested in is beautiful black and white artwork.  Zulli’s way of capturing nature is practically unparalleled.  He can put so much emotion into the face of an animal without cartoonishly anthropomorphisizing it.  His Turtles have scaly, bumpy skin and sharp, pronounced beaks which make them look ferocious from a distance, but close-ups show a warmth and wisdom in their eyes that’s really hard to describe.

“Souls Winter” is something very special.  While some good stories came out of TMNT Vol. 1’s “guest era”, I honestly think that Murphy and Zulli’s trilogy was the only one to utilize the freedom to its fullest potential.  If you plan on skipping the “guest era” in your collections, just make sure you don’t skip these.

Grade: A (as in, “And the Turtles wear loincloths!  Sweet, merciful loincloths!”)

Failed Instant

Originally published in: Turtle Soup (Vol. 2) #4

Publication date: February, 1992

Story and art: Michael Zulli

Words: Steve Murphy

Color art: Steve Lavigne

Letters: Caswell

“Failed Instant”

Summary:

On a rooftop, a Turtle crouches at the edge with his hand ready at his katana.  A ninja sneaks up behind him, wielding a sword and preparing to strike.  the Turtle is aware of his enemy’s presence and mentally prepares himself to counter the attack.

The ninja strikes and the Turtle lets his body move intuitively in response.  With his left hand, the Turtle swings his katana, and with his right, he swipes at the ninja’s hood.

Unfortunately, the Turtle misses and the ninja vanishes as quickly as he came.  All the Turtle has to show for his counterattack is the ninja’s discarded hood, clutched in his grip.

Turtle Tips:

*This story takes place after TMNT (Vol. 1) #36.

*The contents page of Turtle Soup (Vol. 2) #4 mistakenly lists this story's creative team as Jeff Bonivert and Justin Hampton.

*This story was reprinted in black and white in the TMNT: Souls Winter trade paperback collection, published by Mirage in February, 2007.

Review:

Zulli’s third and final TMNT short strip, though he goes out with some lavish color work by Mirage’s favorite colorist, Steve Lavigne.

“Failed Instant” isn’t much on story, but it’s a nice display of “things going wrong”.  Even the Turtle (none of the TMNT have names in the "Souls Winter" universe), with all his practice and skill, still misses from time to time.  The slow build-up is a nice bit of suspense and the fact that the Turtle winds up failing in his counterattack makes for a somewhat humorous twist ending.

I’ve always been kind of mesmerized by this story, chiefly because of the apparition-like attack waged by the lone ninja.  He strikes once, fails to connect, then vanishes like a phantom.  I find that far more menacing than a villain that attacks, fails and then keeps attacking until he gets stabbed to death by the protagonist.  There’s something frightening about a villain that waits for his target to let their guard down, attacks, and if he misses, escapes to repeat the stratagem all over again at a later date.

It’s an intelligent maneuver I wish the mainstream Foot Clan would employ over “throw wave after wave of men at the Turtles until they’re all dead”.

Lavigne’s colors are a nice complement to Zulli’s pencils, though he sort of mutes the exaggerated beak that Zulli typically gives his Turtles.  As it is, the Turtle looks somewhere in-between Zulli’s “Souls Winter” style and his “Mirage” style as seen in “O-Deed”.  As a result, I’m not entirely sure if this is meant to be “Souls Winter” continuity or Mirage continuity.  On the first page, the Turtle even has his bandana hanging loose around his neck, and the “Souls Winter” Turtles never wore bandanas.  Of course, the bandana disappears in all subsequent pages, so who knows? The Foot Soldier is also drawn in the design of the "Souls Winter" Foot Soldiers, not the Mirage Foot Soldiers, so it's a little confusing.

Anyway, this is a neat little piece with some fine art and coloring, though the lack of story makes it hard to really “grade”.  The most I can say is, “I dig it”.

Grade: N/A (as in, “Now if this were Mirage continuity, it would make a pretty good ‘Old Man Leo’ story for the Future Mirage era”.)