Originally published in: Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 2) #14
Publication date: August, 2005
Script: Steve Murphy
Pencils: Jim Lawson
Inks/letters: Eric Talbot
“First Mud”
Summary:
Still on his quest to understand the meaning of existence,
Professor Obligado makes a shady transaction; spending one hundred thousand
torracs for a cookie with some specific coordinates frosted onto it.
The coordinates are of the planet Magonia, which is an
almost mythological world most refuse to believe even exists. Legend has it that Magonia is the original
point of origin for the Utrom race, before they left and founded the Utrom
Homeworld at a time before recorded history.
Obligado follows the coordinates and finds the planet cloaked;
deliberately hidden for centuries.
Curious as to what secrets the planet possesses which would
have warranted it being hidden for countless eons, Obligado does a life scan
but finds no traces of anything living.
Landing on the planet, he discovers that it is in a
constant state of rain and the surface is nothing but mud. The mud-itself forms into a pulsating blob
with tentacles that attacks him.
Obligado’s laser rifle doesn’t faze it so he hurries back to his
ship. Still determined to communicate
with the mud-creature in some way, he hastily whips up a batch of “C.H.O.N.
cookies” (cookies made from a simple recipe of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and
nitrogen.
The simple lifeform begins scarfing down the cookies as
Obligado studies it. As he takes notes,
he thinks to himself that beyond religion, politics, commerce or force… it is
FOOD that is the ultimate cultural equalizer.
Turtle Tips:
*This story is continued from “The Question”. The story continues in “Apocalypse Vow”.
*More of the Utroms' hidden past will be explored in Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 2) #16. That story may or may not also explain why the original Utrom Homeworld was hidden and just what that blob creature is.
Review:
Professor Obligado’s search for the ultimate meaning of
life starts to get silly with this chapter.
Beginning here is the trend of having stories titled in homage to action
films. It’s goofy but a fun complement to the often heady and surreal subject matter of these stories.
There’s some light political intrigue in this
installment, as we learn that for unknown reasons, the Utroms have seen fit to
cover up their true birth planet. It isn’t
expanded upon here, but the idea that the Utrom government actively hides controversies
of their past is followed up on in Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 2) #16. The only explanation Obligado postulates in
this story is that the idea of the Utrom homeworld not being the, uh, Utrom
Homeworld clashes with their religious-political belief system. In essence, the Utrom government would sooner
hide the truth of their origins rather than overturn a “fact” ingrained into
their culture for centuries.
You could read it as being light commentary on the real
world controversy of Evolution vs. Creationism, but Murphy doesn’t lay it on
that thick. The subtext is there,
certainly, but it’s executed exactly the way subtext SHOULD be executed…
subtly.
The more obvious commentary Obligado makes, and what’s
essentially the “moral” at the end of this story, is that food is the ultimate
cultural equalizer. And man, ain’t that
the truth? I wonder how many Americans
that claim to hate Mexicans enjoy a good fajita? Or how many Mexicans that claim to hate
Americans enjoy a good Chicago-style deep dish pizza? Or how many Frenchmen who claim to hate
Italians enjoy chicken cacciatore? Or
how many Italians who claim to hate Frenchmen can’t get enough croissants?
The examples could go on.
It seems no matter how much some of us claim to hate another culture, we
rarely extend that malice toward that culture’s food. Because food is fucking awesome.
Grade: N/A
