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"
"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”.)
