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”.)
