The time-travelling turtle Lita may have returned to her time, having set the Splinter Clan on a better path, but she’s not the only one with a vested interest in their future. Oroku Saki, the Shredder, continues to watch over them from afar, looking out for them with simple acts of kindness, all from the shadows. Trouble in mutant down is brewing, though, and the Shredder might not be able to keep himself hidden for much longer. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #118 has a story by Sophie Campbell, art by Nelson Daniel, colors by Ronda Pattison, letters by Shawn Lee, with story consulting by Kevin Eastman & Tom Waltz.
The new, Sophie Campbell era of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles places a greater focus on family and community than ever before. It’s an era that’s a lot gentler, a lot cuter, a lot kinder – and every now and then, a lot sillier. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #118 leans a lot towards the latter, as the Splinter Clan gets their very own Fairy God-Shredder. It’s fun, it’s heartwarming, and it might be just a little hard for a reader to be able to take seriously. I’m certainly on the fence. At least Baxter Stockman remembers how to villain properly, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
It All Started With This Decapitation…
The TMNT’s most iconic enemy, the Shredder, has been through a hell of a journey – pun intended. It all started with that time old Oroku Saki got his head cut off, and it only went downhill from there…but then, back up again, as he learned that he had been manipulated by powerful deities his entire life. With the help of Splinter, Oroku was able to reclaim his own body, slay a dragon, and begin a new life with the intent of making up for his past mistakes.
The last time he met the Turtles, he was handing over Splinter’s corpse, and telling the turtles that their father had sacrificed his life for Oroku’s own. He hasn’t been seen much, since, but it appears that he’s been keeping an eye out on everyone else, from as far back as TMNT #102. He appears to have been working closely with Lita, using her knowledge of the future and his new ghost-like abilities to help the turtles in little ways.
When Michaelangelo lost his kitten, Klunk, Oroku Saki was there. When Donatello almost lost his novel to some spilled tea, Oroku was there – and he even cleaned up afterwards (I love the little detail that Don uses chopsticks to type, as his turtle fingers are too big for the keyboard). When Leonardo’s greenhouse was about to collapse, Oroku was there. When Jennika needed to find that one awesome note to figure out a killer riff on her guitar, Oroku was there, too, whispering the note into her ear.
You see what I mean about the silliness.
Nelson Daniel’s art amplifies that silliness with a style that’s rougher, simpler, and more cartoonish than we’ve been treated to by Campbell in the last arc. Daniel also draws such a happy Oroku – every little task he quietly performs is accompanied by a smile of sheer, beatific self-satisfaction, and it wasn’t long before I was giggling at every new move he made. He even managed to ghost himself all the way to the city, turning on Michaelangelo’s radio podcast at the precise moment needed to get a human journalist to decide to cover the goings on in mutant town.
Don’t get me wrong, though, I’m certainly happy for Oroku. It’s just that, even with an extremely long road to redemption, it’s hard to reconcile this version of the character with the one who murdered his best friend, his best friend’s wife, and their four innocent children. The act is not one that’s easy to ignore, especially as it was responsible for Splinter and the turtles reincarnating into their current state today.
On the other hand, though Oroku is clearly the happiest he’s ever been, he’s still deeply aware of how much he’s wronged the Splinter Clan – which is why he’s terrified of actually revealing himself to them. As someone who’s spent a lot of time hiding from his own mistakes, my heart goes out to him.
The Sewers Get Slithery
But he’s not going to be able to hide in the shadows forever. The latter half of this issue sees New York Mayor and lifetime mad scientist Baxter Stockman’s plans discovered by his April O’Neil, putting her in major danger. Stockman has been breeding mutant monsters of his own, and fitting them with some kind of control devices – a significant step up from his Mouser bots. They chase April through the sewers, and might have done her in if not for the last-minute intervention of Oroku. Daniel draws a great action sequence here, capturing that sense of urgency, desperation, and powerfully vicious blows.
Between the promised Pantheon focus in the upcoming TMNT Annual, Stockman finally showing his hand, Lita’s portents and Oroku’s feature, here, it feels like the board is being set up for some major events to take place in Mutant Town. IDW’s TMNT series has always taken its time to set up major conflicts slowly – you always see the threat coming, it always feels inevitable, and the slow, steady rise of tension always makes things that much more exciting when it finally arrives. This issue may have left me giggling in ways it didn’t intend, but that doesn’t make me any less excited for what it’s setting up.
Armaan is obsessed with the way stories are told. From video games to theater, TTRPGs to comics, he has written for, and about, them all. He will not stop, actually; believe us, we've tried.
