By Mark Rodriguez
After the events of City Fall, the Turtles and their friends are forced to retreat to April's farmhouse in Northampton. While Leo slowly recovers from Shredder's brainwashing, they also learn to trust Apolex, the mutant Arctic fox that was also running from the Foot after turning on their leader. Just then they are attacked by Koya, Shredder's mutant hawk and Foot Assassins. Did Apolex betray them?
Right off the panel of the last issue, Northampton part 4 starts with Leo and Koya facing off, before jumping into battle. Mike and Don are happy that 'the old Leo' is back, and their leader call them into the fight. Splinter happily fights alongside his sons, also happy that Leo is back to normal. Koya swoops by and slashes Leo across the shoulder. The Turtle says he's lucky it's not his throwing arm and he tosses several shuriken at Koya, one of them getting stuck in her neck.
Don and Mike are beating back the Foot Assassins, saying they're not so tough now that the element of surprise is gone. Just then one them pulls out a grenade and Don and Mike jump out of the way.
Outside, Raph tries to prevent Apolex from getting away, accusing her of sending the Foot after them. She denies being involved, when the barn suddenly explodes. Mike and Don are alright, but are disappointed to see the Foot Assassins are also alright... and they note that one of them is missing. The missing one is about to attack Raph but Apolex kicks him out of the way. She tells him she's not with the Foot anymore. Raph thought the ninjas were with her, since when they attacked the barn she just stood aside as if she was expecting them. Alopex says she was frozen since she thought the Foot Assassins came for her. She says she was wrong about that, but she was also wrong in trusting Raph and walks off.
Back at the farmhouse, April is trying to tell her parents about the ooze she has that might cure her father, when they heard the barn explode. April tries to keep her mother there as she investigates but she insists on coming along.
Angry at his mistake, Raph returns and helps Mike and Don take down the Foot Assassins. Then he notices Koya smacking Splinter and Leo around. Raph jumps at her. Casey, April and her mom arrive in time to see Raph and Koya burst through what was left of the barn, locked in combat. April's mom wonders what these creatures are. Koya smacks Raph away and tell him that even the strongest have weaknesses, and dives towards April's mom. The woman is too shocked to move at the sight of a giant birdwoman coming to attack her.
Mikey suddenly comes in, riding the motorcycle that Casey and Don were fixing earlier, and smashes it right into Koya, knocking her down. Leo walks over to her, setting his sword by her neck. Koya tells him to show her what he really is by killing her. Leo raises his sword in a moment of darkness as his friends and family look on. He then puts his sword back and tells her that he won't kill her, but she can still die if she wants. He yanks the shuriken out of her neck. Leo tells her that she'll need medical attention, and has about an hour before she bleeds out. Koya says she will return and she will be able to find them again and flees the scene with the Foot.
Splinter says they have to leave since Northampton is no longer safe, and so does April and her family. April's mom is surprised the mutants can talk and Splinter apologizes for the trouble they caused. April tells her mom that the healing ooze her dad was working on still exists and it really works. She tells her to give it to her father. Her mom asks her what she has gotten herself into, and April tells her it's nothing she can't handle. She gets into the van and drives off with the Turtles.
As they drive off, Splinter and Mikey are happy that the family is back together again, but now isn't the time to celebrate. They're done with running from the Foot. They're going back to New York to settle this. Apolex watches as they drive off.
April's mom tells her husband that they're leaving for New York, since she feels that April is going to need them nearby. She pours some of the ooze in her husband's tea and serves it to him, saying it will help for the trip. He takes a sip and seems to be in pain. Suddenly, he gets up from his wheelchair, much to his wife's surprise. He asks her where she got the tea and she says their daughter gave it to her. He asks where she is, and she tells him that she's with friends.
Opinions:
I have to say the action in this issue was pretty intense. Koya and the Foot Assassins were great bad guys, bringing something new to the Foot.
Speaking of Koya, she is an awesome villain. If anything, she is the downright evil and cold blooded killing machine without Karai's drama and Apolex's baggage. We'll see later on what else we can learn from her character, but as of now she's just a Foot Assassin that really loves her job. And she sure loves to go into detail on how she wants to rip the flesh off her prey and so forth. She's a skilled fighter and flying around also keeps her out of everyone's reach. I do admit I was super shocked when she swooped right at April's mom, who was stuck like a deer staring at headlights. I never would have thought Mikey would dive in with the motorcycle.
I do love this version of Mikey. He's the funny one and still says 'dude' and such... but it's not all of his character. He's very reliable and competent in battle and actually serious when he has to be. And I mean serious, as in serious, not just saving the day with random dumb luck. I like this version of Mikey, they kept the core elements of his kinder, naive nature, threw in some of the classic surfer slang, but didn't do it at the cost of his IQ. He's not messing things up or goofing around 24/7. I just love this version of the character.
As for Apolex, looks like she's leaving the scene for now, which probably disappointed fans that wanted her to shack up with either Raph and Leo. Raph might not have trusted her, but she has trust issues too, and now she's going to find herself alone in the world. Many theorize she might eventually join Hob's mutant army... but I kinda wanna see what she does on her own first.
As for Leo... it is nice to see him back, but I do have to agree with fellow TMNT Blogger, Dr. Spengler on this. That epic 'will he, won't he' moment when Leo was about to be 'consumed by the Dark Hadou' and kill Koya in cold blood..... is kinda ruined by the fact that even as Dark Leo, he never really killed anybody. All throughout the City Fall arc, through the convenience of the plot demanding Main Characters Shall Not Kill, Shredder kept preventing Leo from actually killing anyone... even when Karai called him out for it. Sure the in-story reason was that killing would be so against Leo's character, it might snap him out of the brainwashing... but I assume the real-world reason is the gang at IDW wasn't quite ready to have the Turtles get their hands dirty.
So yeah, back to this story... all impact of Leo possibly killing Koya is lost since it wouldn't have been 'killing people like he did in the old days as a member of the Foot. In fact, it would have given a whole different kind of impact since it would have been his first kill. But still... all that darkness and brief hinting that 'Dark Leo' was back for an instant kinda falls flat since he never killed anyone while he was Dark Leo. Though I do have to say... they did pick a cool alternative. Leo still stabbed Koya in the neck with a throwing star... and then yanked it out.... and then gave her the choice to either leave to get medical attention, or stay and fight and bleed out. All this without a hint of remorse. I showed that little ultimatum to Paige, who mostly knows the TMNT from the classic 80's show and Nick show on TV and she said 'they sure wouldn't have that in the Nick show'.
Overall it was cool little arc, though in my opinion it did feel pretty short. The Mirage version definitely lasted longer, and the guys even had extra side-adventures, not related to the Foot, during the time in Northampton. I'm not sure but I think some later issues of Tales of the TMNT even fit even more adventures during that time period. I guess they were there for a few weeks, maybe a month, but unless they mention it in another issue.... it kinda felt like they were there for a day or two, not counting the travel time.
There is also an X-Files crossover in which the characters from that series meet the Transformers, the Ghostbusters, the Crow, and yes, even the Turtles.... that also took place during this arc. It seems the X-Files/TMNT crossover happens during this arc, but there is the contradiction of Leo wearing his regular outfit during that story instead of his 'Dark Leo' attire.
We'll see what happens since it seems next issue we're gonna get a 'Return to New York' kind of story line.
After the events of City Fall, the Turtles and their friends are forced to retreat to April's farmhouse in Northampton. While Leo slowly recovers from Shredder's brainwashing, they also learn to trust Apolex, the mutant Arctic fox that was also running from the Foot after turning on their leader. Just then they are attacked by Koya, Shredder's mutant hawk and Foot Assassins. Did Apolex betray them?
Right off the panel of the last issue, Northampton part 4 starts with Leo and Koya facing off, before jumping into battle. Mike and Don are happy that 'the old Leo' is back, and their leader call them into the fight. Splinter happily fights alongside his sons, also happy that Leo is back to normal. Koya swoops by and slashes Leo across the shoulder. The Turtle says he's lucky it's not his throwing arm and he tosses several shuriken at Koya, one of them getting stuck in her neck.
Don and Mike are beating back the Foot Assassins, saying they're not so tough now that the element of surprise is gone. Just then one them pulls out a grenade and Don and Mike jump out of the way.
Outside, Raph tries to prevent Apolex from getting away, accusing her of sending the Foot after them. She denies being involved, when the barn suddenly explodes. Mike and Don are alright, but are disappointed to see the Foot Assassins are also alright... and they note that one of them is missing. The missing one is about to attack Raph but Apolex kicks him out of the way. She tells him she's not with the Foot anymore. Raph thought the ninjas were with her, since when they attacked the barn she just stood aside as if she was expecting them. Alopex says she was frozen since she thought the Foot Assassins came for her. She says she was wrong about that, but she was also wrong in trusting Raph and walks off.
Back at the farmhouse, April is trying to tell her parents about the ooze she has that might cure her father, when they heard the barn explode. April tries to keep her mother there as she investigates but she insists on coming along.
Angry at his mistake, Raph returns and helps Mike and Don take down the Foot Assassins. Then he notices Koya smacking Splinter and Leo around. Raph jumps at her. Casey, April and her mom arrive in time to see Raph and Koya burst through what was left of the barn, locked in combat. April's mom wonders what these creatures are. Koya smacks Raph away and tell him that even the strongest have weaknesses, and dives towards April's mom. The woman is too shocked to move at the sight of a giant birdwoman coming to attack her.
Mikey suddenly comes in, riding the motorcycle that Casey and Don were fixing earlier, and smashes it right into Koya, knocking her down. Leo walks over to her, setting his sword by her neck. Koya tells him to show her what he really is by killing her. Leo raises his sword in a moment of darkness as his friends and family look on. He then puts his sword back and tells her that he won't kill her, but she can still die if she wants. He yanks the shuriken out of her neck. Leo tells her that she'll need medical attention, and has about an hour before she bleeds out. Koya says she will return and she will be able to find them again and flees the scene with the Foot.
Splinter says they have to leave since Northampton is no longer safe, and so does April and her family. April's mom is surprised the mutants can talk and Splinter apologizes for the trouble they caused. April tells her mom that the healing ooze her dad was working on still exists and it really works. She tells her to give it to her father. Her mom asks her what she has gotten herself into, and April tells her it's nothing she can't handle. She gets into the van and drives off with the Turtles.
As they drive off, Splinter and Mikey are happy that the family is back together again, but now isn't the time to celebrate. They're done with running from the Foot. They're going back to New York to settle this. Apolex watches as they drive off.
April's mom tells her husband that they're leaving for New York, since she feels that April is going to need them nearby. She pours some of the ooze in her husband's tea and serves it to him, saying it will help for the trip. He takes a sip and seems to be in pain. Suddenly, he gets up from his wheelchair, much to his wife's surprise. He asks her where she got the tea and she says their daughter gave it to her. He asks where she is, and she tells him that she's with friends.
Opinions:
I have to say the action in this issue was pretty intense. Koya and the Foot Assassins were great bad guys, bringing something new to the Foot.
Speaking of Koya, she is an awesome villain. If anything, she is the downright evil and cold blooded killing machine without Karai's drama and Apolex's baggage. We'll see later on what else we can learn from her character, but as of now she's just a Foot Assassin that really loves her job. And she sure loves to go into detail on how she wants to rip the flesh off her prey and so forth. She's a skilled fighter and flying around also keeps her out of everyone's reach. I do admit I was super shocked when she swooped right at April's mom, who was stuck like a deer staring at headlights. I never would have thought Mikey would dive in with the motorcycle.
I do love this version of Mikey. He's the funny one and still says 'dude' and such... but it's not all of his character. He's very reliable and competent in battle and actually serious when he has to be. And I mean serious, as in serious, not just saving the day with random dumb luck. I like this version of Mikey, they kept the core elements of his kinder, naive nature, threw in some of the classic surfer slang, but didn't do it at the cost of his IQ. He's not messing things up or goofing around 24/7. I just love this version of the character.
As for Apolex, looks like she's leaving the scene for now, which probably disappointed fans that wanted her to shack up with either Raph and Leo. Raph might not have trusted her, but she has trust issues too, and now she's going to find herself alone in the world. Many theorize she might eventually join Hob's mutant army... but I kinda wanna see what she does on her own first.
As for Leo... it is nice to see him back, but I do have to agree with fellow TMNT Blogger, Dr. Spengler on this. That epic 'will he, won't he' moment when Leo was about to be 'consumed by the Dark Hadou' and kill Koya in cold blood..... is kinda ruined by the fact that even as Dark Leo, he never really killed anybody. All throughout the City Fall arc, through the convenience of the plot demanding Main Characters Shall Not Kill, Shredder kept preventing Leo from actually killing anyone... even when Karai called him out for it. Sure the in-story reason was that killing would be so against Leo's character, it might snap him out of the brainwashing... but I assume the real-world reason is the gang at IDW wasn't quite ready to have the Turtles get their hands dirty.
So yeah, back to this story... all impact of Leo possibly killing Koya is lost since it wouldn't have been 'killing people like he did in the old days as a member of the Foot. In fact, it would have given a whole different kind of impact since it would have been his first kill. But still... all that darkness and brief hinting that 'Dark Leo' was back for an instant kinda falls flat since he never killed anyone while he was Dark Leo. Though I do have to say... they did pick a cool alternative. Leo still stabbed Koya in the neck with a throwing star... and then yanked it out.... and then gave her the choice to either leave to get medical attention, or stay and fight and bleed out. All this without a hint of remorse. I showed that little ultimatum to Paige, who mostly knows the TMNT from the classic 80's show and Nick show on TV and she said 'they sure wouldn't have that in the Nick show'.
Overall it was cool little arc, though in my opinion it did feel pretty short. The Mirage version definitely lasted longer, and the guys even had extra side-adventures, not related to the Foot, during the time in Northampton. I'm not sure but I think some later issues of Tales of the TMNT even fit even more adventures during that time period. I guess they were there for a few weeks, maybe a month, but unless they mention it in another issue.... it kinda felt like they were there for a day or two, not counting the travel time.
There is also an X-Files crossover in which the characters from that series meet the Transformers, the Ghostbusters, the Crow, and yes, even the Turtles.... that also took place during this arc. It seems the X-Files/TMNT crossover happens during this arc, but there is the contradiction of Leo wearing his regular outfit during that story instead of his 'Dark Leo' attire.
We'll see what happens since it seems next issue we're gonna get a 'Return to New York' kind of story line.
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