This story arc starts with the Turtles regrouping after the Mousers attack as they begin to plan Master Splinter’s rescue. Tying the story into the micro-series issues, Donatello recognizes the Mouser remote from Baxter Stockman. With April’s help, they decide to head to Stockgen. In Mirage Vol 1 issue 4, the Turtles are looking for their missing master when they find themselves in front of the TCRI building. Remembering that the canister of ooze from their origin is labelled TCRI as well, they decide to investigate the building and put their search for Master Splinter on hold. I like that both versions of the Turtles find their way to “the origin building”.
April, offering the Turtles a place to stay following the Mousers’ attack, brings the Turtles to the Second Time Around antique shop. April also takes the Turtles to her father’s antique shop in Mirage Vol 1 issue 3. It then gets destroyed in issue 10. I really hope we get to keep it around for a little bit longer in this timeline.
We get a lot of character development in this story arc. There are arguments between Leonardo and Donatello, which is an interesting difference from the Mirage series. Typically it is Raphael who gets into heated discussions with Leonardo. We get some more Michelangelo comic book love, which is a staple for Mikey in every Turtles incarnation.
It was really interesting how the Purple Dragons were introduced. The Turtles run into the Purple Dragons outside the Second Time Around antique shop. Casey Jones recognizes the gang’s leader, Angel. They agree to work together to fight off the “other” mutants. In the 4Kids cartoon series, Angel was a Purple Dragon turned ally. She was portrayed as a child until the Back to the Sewers season where she was older. In issue 1 of the Mirage Turtles, the Purple Dragons were the first adversaries that the Turtles fought. In IDW’s version, they seem to be allies, for now. It will be interesting to see if Casey and April still get romantically involved or if Casey and Angel will get involved just to be double crossed.
After defeating a giant Mouser, the Turtles find where Master Splinter was being held. Originally, this is when we met the Utrom. Splinter, being kidnapped by Karai, has been moved to a secret location and is face to face with Karai’s grandfather, Master Shredder. Karai was introduced long after Shredder’s death in the Mirage City at War story arc. We learn her name in issue 54 and she had no relation to Shredder. Shredder originally died in Mirage issue 1 and again in issue 21. It took until issue 9, plus 4 micro-series issues and 2 Infestation issues, for IDW to introduce Shredder. I like that we will have Shredder around for quite some time as the main villain in this series. Bringing him back for the Return to New York story arc was always a little weird; piecing together his body parts with some type of worm. Read it for yourself in the Ultimate Collection Volume 3 released in August 2012. Karai also warns of a war coming like the French ninja did in issue #6. We will be seeing the French ninja in Kevin Eastman’s TMNT Annual 2012 which will be released in October 2012.
Shredder reveals himself to Splinter to be Oroku Saki after realizing that the rat before him is Hamato Yoshi. After Splinter defeats members of the Foot Clan and Alopex (a micro-series tie-in), Shredder attacks him. I liked the way Shredder said, “Fools!”, it felt like the Fred Wolf Shredder to me, but when he said “But leave the rat to me”, all I could hear was the first live action film Shredder. Shredder discovers the Turtles are Splinter’s sons and offers the Turtles to join him, which is similar to how they first met Shredder in the Fred Wolf cartoon. Another example of this kind of relationship was when Karai had made a truce between the Foot and the Turtles during City at War in exchange for their help. Not sure if the Turtles will work with the Foot in this series, but probably not for a long time since the Shredder is still alive.
We also learn that Oroku Saki is the scarred ninja from the Leonardo Micro-Series. Based on the scar on Saki’s face, he is also the ninja that stole the Turtles from Stockgen labs; he is the ninja that Splinter scratched. Meaning, Saki caused the mutation by dropping Splinter and Turtles into the broken canister of ooze in issue #2. This is different than the Mirage origin and live action films where Shredder had no part in the Turtles mutation, but is similar to most other versions where Shredder has some part in their mutation. There are also a lot of nice nods to the original comics in the fight scenes; though not identical, they had the feel of Vol. 1 issues 1 and 10.
This story arc ends with a nice setup for the next arc; Old Hob is shot dead by Krang (or we are lead to believe) and Baxter Stockman is sedated initiating Krang’s plan B. If plan B is to mutate Stockman, I would rather him become a cyborg, but with all the Fred Wolf influences, I would not be surprised if Krang turned him into a fly. Also, looking back April realizes and acknowledges that Splinter saved her life in issue 2 when he pulled the fire alarm to distract the two ninjas (Shredder) in the Stockgen labs. Now April can repay Splinter by tending to him in his time of need.
After reading the first 12 issues of IDW’s TMNT adaptation, the first year generally seems to be mapping out Mirage issues 1 - 10. I would like the second year of IDW’s TMNT (issues 13 to 24) to end in Northampton. I am not sure if it will be a retreat following a defeat, or if they will be forced out of New York following the destruction of the Second Time Around Antique Store, which would also be considered a defeat. And if year two is anything similar to that, I would love the third year of this series to end with a return to New York, where Shredder dies.This would keep Shredder around for three years and give ample time to build up other villains and transition to them for year four and so on. All in all, I am very pleased with where we are right now and IDW’s TMNT is giving Mirage’s TMNT a serious run for their money as my favorite iteration of the Turtles.
Stay tuned for my next review, IDW’s TMNT Annual 2012 which will be released in October 2012. City at War issues referenced will be released and reviewed in October 2012 as well.