Publication date: February 24, 2014
Story and Art: “Powder”
“Mind of a Leader”
Summary:
In the woods of Northampton, a bandana-less Leonardo is lost in his own
mind. Disheartened,
he wonders to himself if he is in control of his destiny or if some higher
power has already planned his beginning and end. Leo thinks about the larger forces, both
physical and spiritual, that have controlled him over time and begins to doubt
his own autonomy.
As he observes the natural world surrounding him, he comes to
the conclusion that his “fate” is ultimately out of his control. In that regard, he is no different than any
other living thing on the planet, all of which could live long lives or find
their existences cut short due to circumstances out of their control. Leo takes comfort in this, knowing that
ultimately his future is unknowable and thus beyond his complete control.
Leo then starts to reflect on the decisions he has made
and how they have hurt others. How Casey
nearly died at the hands of the Shredder, how April’s studies have suffered due
to his problems invading so much of her life, how his lack of presence during
the Gang War caused his brothers to undergo both physical and emotional pain,
and also how much his father, Splinter, has suffered in response to his son’s
suffering.
With that, Leo suddenly has the epiphany that his actions
have had consequences for himself and for those he loves. Not the actions of others controlling him,
but his own choices; his own free will.
While “destiny” remains an abstract concept, Leo concludes that he still
has the freedom to carve his own path in life and, as leader, to better the lives
of his family and friends through his own choice of action.
While he understands that taking control of one’s “destiny”
ultimately invites accepting the consequences for one’s decisions, Leo is
willing to bear that burden.
He feels he is strong enough to carry the weight of the world now, because he has to be. Finding this purpose brings him peace and so,
donning his bandana and gripping his swords, he feels he’s ready to return to
his mission.
Turtle Tips:
*Powder has made his 9-page comic viewable on his
DeviantArt page, Here.
*This story takes place within the IDW TMNT
continuity. Specifically, it’s events
occur during the “Northampton” arc, which began in TMNT (IDW) #29.
Review:
So long as there’s an echo of professionalism to it, I’m
always willing to take a look at some good TMNT fan comics. While some of them lack the polish of an
official publication, the passion is always evident and that can be much more
rewarding to read than, say, some freelancer’s unenthusiastic workmanlike
submissions.
TMNT fan artist and community member Powder certainly has
a passion for the characters and his various pinups and gag pieces over the
years have been fun viewing. “Mind of a
Leader” is his first sequential TMNT comic, I think, and the narrative displays
a great understanding of the character of Leonardo, who is wallowing at his
lowest point.
The story takes place early in IDW’s “Northampton” arc,
with Leonardo still reeling from the events of “City Fall” and what the
Shredder did to his mind and spirit. As
IDW’s comic is titled “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and not “The Leonardo Show”,
the page space during “Northampton” had to be split amongst all, like, 7 or 8
primary characters. So even though what
Leo was going through was arguably one of the most “important”
subplots of that arc, it still had to share the spotlight with what everybody
else was doing.
So Leo kind of spends much of “Northampton” pouting by a
lake and getting snippy with his family.
His internalized, spiritual revelation does eventually arrive, but he’s
hardly the star of the show. “Mind of a
Leader” expands on Leo’s dilemma with an extra 8-pages delving into his psyche via inner monologue. Having been written
before “Northampton” was even halfway through, there are some inevitable
contradictions between this short and the main story (namely the circumstances
behind Leo getting his blue bandana back), but I think it’s ultimately pretty
pointless to hold minor discontinuity against a fan-work.
What’s more impressive is how well Powder has managed to
read the character of Leonardo and, in a way, predict where IDW writer Tom
Waltz was going with the character.
Waltz would eventually tackle the internal struggle for control Leo was going
through… in an issue published two days after this fan-comic (and hitting most of the same beats).
The major theme of “Mind of a Leader” has to do with
Leonardo questioning the amount of control he has over his life. It's similar in ways to the Mirage
miniseries “Blind Sight”, but what took that miniseries 4 issues to explore,
Powder succinctly summarizes in a mere 8 pages.
When you look at the IDW series, you can see how Leonardo might be
having doubts about his own sense of free will.
Unknown forces reincarnated him across centuries, a freak accident
mutated him into an anthropomorph, everyone he knows seems to be
serendipitously linked together in impossible ways… Really, the Shredder
brainwashing him into a stooge was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Like another Leonardo-centric vignette, the Mirage short “Secret Spirit”, this story is written with a stream-of-consciousness patterned flow of
ideas. Leo’s internal monologue is
running at a mile a minute as he grapples with heady, philosophical concepts
that are beyond his ken. And yet there’s
a rhythm to his metaphysical wanderings and you can tell when he comes to new
conclusions, and when those conclusions sprout new questions which lead to new
conclusions and so on. There are stages
of growth present in his thought process and his ultimate decision does feel
like an organic one.
There isn’t any levity in “Mind of a Leader”, because it’s
not that kind of story. Some folks might potentially find it to come across
as melodramatic, but Leo’s a pretty
joyless stick in the mud as a rule. So a vignette centering on him, and
especially one set after he’s just undergone a serious mental battering,
warrants this tone in terms of context, if nothing else.
There’s a lot of polish to Powder’s scripting, though his
art seems to still be in the developing stages.
There are a lot of ambitious panel layouts, especially for a story that can
visually be described as “Leonardo stumbling around the woods and crying for 8
pages”, so Powder deserves credit for drafting things in as dynamic a manner as
possible. Some effects could use a
little more practice, like the foreshortening at the bottom of page 2 or some
examples of scale being out of whack (Casey’s mask on the table on page
5). But you can see all the potential in
Powder’s pencils and it’s really just a matter of tightening up some of the
fundamentals.
His coloring is worthy of note and deserves some special
attention. While he doesn’t go for the “flat”
look like primary IDW colorist Ronda Pattison, his use of various effects in
terms of lighting or atmosphere are executed in a way that complements the
pencils rather than drowns them.
So if you’ve been reading the IDW series, I’d recommend
giving “Mind of a Leader” a look-see. While
the art can be a little rough in places, the characterization is solid and,
thematically, it complements Leonardo’s arc during “Northampton” rather
intuitively.
