By Mark Rodriguez
The Turtles have been busy once they returned to New York. Don went with April and Angel to check up on their friend Howard and found out he created Metalhead... as well as a super suit that inspired Angel to become IDW's take of Nobody. Raph and Mike went to visit Old Hob and found him working on making more mutants with Lindsay, and they used the Mutagen in Splinter's blood to turn Slash intelligent. What about Leonardo and Splinter? This issue will have them run into a very familiar antagonist from previous versions of the TMNT franchise. Let's see how IDW handles.... the Rat King.
The comic opens with a flashback of rats attacking a city in the olden days (looks like pied piper days). In modern day, Splinter and Leonardo are in the sewers disagreeing whether or not they should take down Shredder first or focus on Krang's Technodrome. Splinter decided they should go on a walk to clear up any doubts.
Meanwhile, Casey heads for April's house and sees two people trying to break in. He almost attacks them with his bat but realize that they're April's parents, who realized that April has changed the locks. Casey shows them where they hide the spare key and they see the bruises on his face from his fights against Hun. They all step inside so they can tend to his wounds and talk about it.
Splinter and Leonardo continue their stroll and discuss their memories of Tang Shen and how she helped Leo return to normal. Leo asks if she will like them seeking revenge on Shredder after Splinter promised not to (it was her dying wish before Shredder originally killed Yoshi and his sons in ancient Japan). Splinter says he promised her that he will protect his sons and find a way to put Saki's darkness behind them.
Just then, everything goes dark and Splinter can't move. He hears a voice speaking out to him. Suddenly the lights come back on and Leo and Splinter are in the presence of the Rat King. The Rat King is amazed by the kinds of creatures that Splinter and Leo are and has paralyzed them so he can study them. Leo's mouth is missing, and Rat King says that effect is just to keep him quiet 'as the adults are talking' but it won't be permanent. He also says he can sense his 'sister's handiwork' all over him.
Rat King explains his home is a 'thin place', and between world. Splinter asks him why they were brought there, and he says he will answer with a history lesson. The Rat King came from an ancient time, when his family would compete over who would rule the world. Now in modern day, his family returns to compete once again in a world 'ready for the extraordinary'. For now the Rat King decides to test just how strong Splinter and Leo are and engulfs them in rats.
Splinter is able to move again, and sees Leonardo dressed with the outfit he wore when he was with the Foot. Rat King and Leo taunt Splinter about all the times he has failed to keep the turtles safe and protected, Leo being brainwashed by Shredder being proof of his past failures. Leo is tired of all the broken promises and lunges to attack Splinter. Splinter begs Leonardo for forgiveness and promises he will act against Shredder before it's too late. The Rat King is impressed by Splinter's devotion to his sons, and now watches how Leo is affected.
Leo sees Splinter as a monster, taunting his own doubts and weakness. Leo yells to the Rat King that this monster can't be his father. Splinter lunges at Leo and he attacks him in self defense. Leo remembers about the Rat King's comment about 'his sister's handiwork' and ignores the evil Splinter and attacks the Rat King directly. The villain says he notices that his sister exploited Leo's doubts, but now he has turned that weakness into strength.
Just then Leo and Splinter find themselves back in the sewers passageways where they first encountered the Rat King. Leo says the Rat King was trying to brainwash him like Kitsune did, but he failed. The Rat King appears before them and commends them both on being such unique creatures, saying that Leo is more of a knight than a pawn. He leaves saying that the fight to control the world has already begun, and while his enemies made the first moves, when it's his turn he will 'lead with his knight'. As he vanishes into the darkness, he says neither Leo nor Splinter will remember him, but he won't forget them.
Leo and Splinter snap out of their trance and are confused as to what happened. Leo sees the cut on Splinter's arm and is confused as to where he got it from, and Splinter himself doesn't remember either. Splinter says he's alright and 'feels no weakness', and Leo suddenly remembers the Rat King saying he has 'turned his weakness into strength'. Leo turns to his father and says he now knows what he must do.
Meanwhile on Burnov Island, Shredder and his Foot Clan arrive in a helicopter.... to meet up with General Krang.
My Opinions
Wow this was an awesome issue. Of course the Rat King takes center stage with a totally wicked design. It's a whole new look for the guy, and honestly if you just showed me a pic of him completely out of context and without any rats crawling all over him... I wouldn't even know it was an incarnation of the character. While the 80's and 2003 show have done their own variations of the original Mirage design, it seems the current comics and cartoon decided to go with an all new look. It's different, but I love the design and you can just tell that the artists had fun drawing him and showing him off, with all his wicked and arrogant poses and facial expressions.
I guess in this version, he is some kind of immortal being in a race to rule the world before others do... and he is Kitsune's brother???? Kitsune being some sort of fox spirit, kept alive for centuries similar to the Shredder, just became even more interesting as I wonder what will happen when these two cross paths. To top it off, he wasn't even defeated. He randomly swooped in, studied Leo and Splinter while under the effects of his delusions, and left after enjoying the show. And for the most part Splinter and Leo don't remember ever running into him.
As for Leo and Splinter, well to be honest it's a bit of the same song and dance they've been doing for a while. Splinter says they should go out and defeat the Shredder ASAP. Leo says they should stop Krang and the Technodrome ASAP. I have to say, it's nice to see Leo argue (or at least politely disagree) with Splinter since you rarely see that. Even then you can tell it's hard for Leo to disagree with his father, you can tell he's trying to voice his opinions but without hurting his father's feelings or getting him angry. Even Splinter is a bit stubborn here. When he suggested they take a stroll, it came off to me like 'well since you don't agree with me, son, let's take a walk and a bit of a time out, and then after you cool off you can start seeing things my way'.
But yeah, we've been seeing this for a few issues so while the Rat King was cool, his little mind games kinda showed the readers what we already knew. Splinter feels guilty for what happened to Leo and feels that if he has taken out Shredder faster, this never would have happened. Leo still feels a lot of doubts and slowly recovering from being brainwashed. But then again, maybe this was something the characters themselves needed to see, their own truths smacking them in the face. Whatever happened, Leo seemed to have made his decision afterwards. I did like the mirror image of Leo attacking Splinter, since that did actually happen, but it looked different from the eyes of the other.
And then we have the epic finale that tons of IDW fans have been wanting to see since the first few issues. Shredder and Krang meeting up face to face and working alongside, as they build he Technodrome. With Bebop and Rocksteady too. Looks like the 80's show is coming full circle here. Krang has been out of the series for a while after the story arc that dealt with the Turtles, the Neutrinos and Dimension X (enough 80's references for ya?) and yeah, City Fall was basically all about Shredder and I didn't blog about the 'Krang Wars' issues, but they mostly dealt with the Turtles meeting up with the Neutrinos and going into Dimension X to rescue the royal family from Krang. They both established themselves as dangerous villains in their own right.... and now they're teaming up.
The Turtles have been busy once they returned to New York. Don went with April and Angel to check up on their friend Howard and found out he created Metalhead... as well as a super suit that inspired Angel to become IDW's take of Nobody. Raph and Mike went to visit Old Hob and found him working on making more mutants with Lindsay, and they used the Mutagen in Splinter's blood to turn Slash intelligent. What about Leonardo and Splinter? This issue will have them run into a very familiar antagonist from previous versions of the TMNT franchise. Let's see how IDW handles.... the Rat King.
The comic opens with a flashback of rats attacking a city in the olden days (looks like pied piper days). In modern day, Splinter and Leonardo are in the sewers disagreeing whether or not they should take down Shredder first or focus on Krang's Technodrome. Splinter decided they should go on a walk to clear up any doubts.
Meanwhile, Casey heads for April's house and sees two people trying to break in. He almost attacks them with his bat but realize that they're April's parents, who realized that April has changed the locks. Casey shows them where they hide the spare key and they see the bruises on his face from his fights against Hun. They all step inside so they can tend to his wounds and talk about it.
Splinter and Leonardo continue their stroll and discuss their memories of Tang Shen and how she helped Leo return to normal. Leo asks if she will like them seeking revenge on Shredder after Splinter promised not to (it was her dying wish before Shredder originally killed Yoshi and his sons in ancient Japan). Splinter says he promised her that he will protect his sons and find a way to put Saki's darkness behind them.
Just then, everything goes dark and Splinter can't move. He hears a voice speaking out to him. Suddenly the lights come back on and Leo and Splinter are in the presence of the Rat King. The Rat King is amazed by the kinds of creatures that Splinter and Leo are and has paralyzed them so he can study them. Leo's mouth is missing, and Rat King says that effect is just to keep him quiet 'as the adults are talking' but it won't be permanent. He also says he can sense his 'sister's handiwork' all over him.
Rat King explains his home is a 'thin place', and between world. Splinter asks him why they were brought there, and he says he will answer with a history lesson. The Rat King came from an ancient time, when his family would compete over who would rule the world. Now in modern day, his family returns to compete once again in a world 'ready for the extraordinary'. For now the Rat King decides to test just how strong Splinter and Leo are and engulfs them in rats.
Splinter is able to move again, and sees Leonardo dressed with the outfit he wore when he was with the Foot. Rat King and Leo taunt Splinter about all the times he has failed to keep the turtles safe and protected, Leo being brainwashed by Shredder being proof of his past failures. Leo is tired of all the broken promises and lunges to attack Splinter. Splinter begs Leonardo for forgiveness and promises he will act against Shredder before it's too late. The Rat King is impressed by Splinter's devotion to his sons, and now watches how Leo is affected.
Leo sees Splinter as a monster, taunting his own doubts and weakness. Leo yells to the Rat King that this monster can't be his father. Splinter lunges at Leo and he attacks him in self defense. Leo remembers about the Rat King's comment about 'his sister's handiwork' and ignores the evil Splinter and attacks the Rat King directly. The villain says he notices that his sister exploited Leo's doubts, but now he has turned that weakness into strength.
Just then Leo and Splinter find themselves back in the sewers passageways where they first encountered the Rat King. Leo says the Rat King was trying to brainwash him like Kitsune did, but he failed. The Rat King appears before them and commends them both on being such unique creatures, saying that Leo is more of a knight than a pawn. He leaves saying that the fight to control the world has already begun, and while his enemies made the first moves, when it's his turn he will 'lead with his knight'. As he vanishes into the darkness, he says neither Leo nor Splinter will remember him, but he won't forget them.
Leo and Splinter snap out of their trance and are confused as to what happened. Leo sees the cut on Splinter's arm and is confused as to where he got it from, and Splinter himself doesn't remember either. Splinter says he's alright and 'feels no weakness', and Leo suddenly remembers the Rat King saying he has 'turned his weakness into strength'. Leo turns to his father and says he now knows what he must do.
Meanwhile on Burnov Island, Shredder and his Foot Clan arrive in a helicopter.... to meet up with General Krang.
My Opinions
Wow this was an awesome issue. Of course the Rat King takes center stage with a totally wicked design. It's a whole new look for the guy, and honestly if you just showed me a pic of him completely out of context and without any rats crawling all over him... I wouldn't even know it was an incarnation of the character. While the 80's and 2003 show have done their own variations of the original Mirage design, it seems the current comics and cartoon decided to go with an all new look. It's different, but I love the design and you can just tell that the artists had fun drawing him and showing him off, with all his wicked and arrogant poses and facial expressions.
I guess in this version, he is some kind of immortal being in a race to rule the world before others do... and he is Kitsune's brother???? Kitsune being some sort of fox spirit, kept alive for centuries similar to the Shredder, just became even more interesting as I wonder what will happen when these two cross paths. To top it off, he wasn't even defeated. He randomly swooped in, studied Leo and Splinter while under the effects of his delusions, and left after enjoying the show. And for the most part Splinter and Leo don't remember ever running into him.
As for Leo and Splinter, well to be honest it's a bit of the same song and dance they've been doing for a while. Splinter says they should go out and defeat the Shredder ASAP. Leo says they should stop Krang and the Technodrome ASAP. I have to say, it's nice to see Leo argue (or at least politely disagree) with Splinter since you rarely see that. Even then you can tell it's hard for Leo to disagree with his father, you can tell he's trying to voice his opinions but without hurting his father's feelings or getting him angry. Even Splinter is a bit stubborn here. When he suggested they take a stroll, it came off to me like 'well since you don't agree with me, son, let's take a walk and a bit of a time out, and then after you cool off you can start seeing things my way'.
But yeah, we've been seeing this for a few issues so while the Rat King was cool, his little mind games kinda showed the readers what we already knew. Splinter feels guilty for what happened to Leo and feels that if he has taken out Shredder faster, this never would have happened. Leo still feels a lot of doubts and slowly recovering from being brainwashed. But then again, maybe this was something the characters themselves needed to see, their own truths smacking them in the face. Whatever happened, Leo seemed to have made his decision afterwards. I did like the mirror image of Leo attacking Splinter, since that did actually happen, but it looked different from the eyes of the other.
And then we have the epic finale that tons of IDW fans have been wanting to see since the first few issues. Shredder and Krang meeting up face to face and working alongside, as they build he Technodrome. With Bebop and Rocksteady too. Looks like the 80's show is coming full circle here. Krang has been out of the series for a while after the story arc that dealt with the Turtles, the Neutrinos and Dimension X (enough 80's references for ya?) and yeah, City Fall was basically all about Shredder and I didn't blog about the 'Krang Wars' issues, but they mostly dealt with the Turtles meeting up with the Neutrinos and going into Dimension X to rescue the royal family from Krang. They both established themselves as dangerous villains in their own right.... and now they're teaming up.
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