This is the latest in a series of Dawn of the Ninja reviews. Dawn of the Ninja is a fan comic being released a page a week on DawnoftheNinja.com. The entire project started in 2005 with the ultimate goal of acquiring a licence to publish their 13 chapter graphic novel. Ray first brought it to our attention shortly after the completion of chapter 1. Now that chapter 2 has been completed, I will review both issues in their entirety.
Chapter 1 is set is Japan in 1982. This is the story of how Hamato Yoshi and Tang Shen left Japan for America. Oroku Saki, who will become the Shredder, is raised by his father after his mother’s death. He is then left on his own when Hamato Yoshi murders his father, Oroku Nagi. This opening chapter is super violent and caught me off-guard. This is not a complaint, it was just a surprise. This is definitely not your Fred Wolf TMNT.
While I really enjoyed this opening chapter and always love when comics delve into backstory, I find that the chapter placement, although chronological, was not ideal. It took over a year and a half to complete the first chapter and up to this point, we still had not seen the Turtles. For a TMNT fan fic, I find they made it difficult on themselves to get momentum when they are telling backstories and hoping to keep people’s interest. At least they delivered with chapter 2.
Chapter 2 is set in New York City in 2012. This is where the Turtles get real. The Turtles have to save Raph after a bloody fight where he goes violently insane. Following an explosion organized by the Purple Dragons, we find the Turtles in the midst restoring order when Raph seriously bloodies Hun. Not knowing what else to do, Mikey decides he must immobilize Raph as this is the only way to make him stop his violent actions. This seriously affects Mikey and he has trouble recounting the night's events to Master Splinter.
It took under a year to complete chapter 2 and as I started earlier, this is the chapter they should have started with. This was nothing but Turtles kicking butts and would have made a huge impact if it were released at the same time as IDW was rebooting the official Turtles comics. IDW’s Turtles are more tame and are suitable for all ages. That being said, there has been some complaints from older fans that the comic is not violent/adult enough. For those fans, I would definitely suggest Dawn of the Ninja.
All I have to say is if you are not interested in bloody, violent comics, then this comic is not for you; you should be reading the IDW TMNT reboot. Dawn of the Ninja is not heavy on text and relies on the impact of the art to tell the story. What little text there is is bang on character. The notable characters that we have seen so far are Hun and Bebop & Rocksteady, who are Purple Dragons now (amazing!). Baxter Stockman is set to show up in future chapters and will be mutated into a fly (as opposed to the cyborg route). This comic is very Fred Wolf inspired and draws from other versions as well, but with the violence and maturity turned all the way up!
Dawn of the Ninja is a webcomic being released for free, one page at a time, on their website. Presently, there is no monetary way of supporting the comic but you can follow all the news about this project on their blog, April’s Corner. If you enjoy what you see, make sure to spread the word.
Stay tuned for my next review upon the completion of Chapter 3.