TMNT Saturday Morning Adventures # 3

 By Mark Rodriguez

Anyone that's watched the original 80's cartoon would remember that their take on Casey Jones was the most unhinged version of the character. He was a crimefighting vigilante but he'd be just as brutal against litterbugs and jaywalkers as he would be against actual crooks and thugs, all while talking like Dirty Harry. So what happens when this version of Casey gets super powers? Let's find out.

'SuperCasey' opens with some thugs blowing up a building and running away. One of them says that's what they get for not paying their protection money. Another one says he thought they did this because they started selling those 'gross' kimchi empanadas. A voice tells them he actually loves those empanadas. The guys don't know where this guy came from but they say he's in for a beating. 

Casey Jones is on the scene and one of the larger men takes a swing at him, almost breaking his hand as he hits him square in the chest. The guy says it's like hitting a brick wall. Casey pulls out a hockey stick as his hands crackle with electricity saying the brick wall would have gone easy on them.

Later on, the thugs are beaten and tied up. They were found by an electric engineer that was working on restoring power to the block and he called the cops. Just then April arrives, much to Sergeant Malloy's annoyance. April mentions there's been a lot of blackouts lately and there's been evidence of vigilante activity after each one. She asks for a comment. The sergeant says his power cut out right in the middle of the game and he will complain to the electric company. 

Sometime afterwards, April is furious the cop talked to her in such a condescending tone. She knows there's a story somewhere. Leonardo asks how they can help. Raphael says they can listen to her vent. Michealangelo says it will cost her a pizza. April asks Donatello if they've been using blackout-causing crimefighting equipment they haven't told her about. He says they just rely on their ninja skills and weapons but he can help her out.

Donatello goes to the lab and works on his Turtle Computer. Based on the location of all the blackouts, he was able to trace a pattern and was able to predict where the next one will be. He gives April a sheet of paper with an address. April hugs him. Raphael asks if Donatello sent April on a wild goosechase. Donatello says he actually did find a pattern. Raphael reminds him of the kind of weirdness that happens in the city. Leonardo and Michealangelo tell him they'll be there to make sure she's safe.

April arrives at the address but doesn't see anything unusual. Just as she thinks that Donatello was wrong, the power goes out. She hears a voice she recognizes and hides behind a phone booth. She sees Casey Jones, but he's flying and crackling with electricity. 

The Turtles are in the Turtle Van when they also see the power going out. Donatello says the outage is covering most of the lower east side and as far west as Tribeca, but he can't tell what the cause is. Leonardo says to keep their eyes peeled as his Turtle Sense is tingling. Raphael says not to say that too loudly as he's pretty sure that's trademarked. He then yells 'LOOK OUT!' as he sees something alarming. 

Leonardo stops the Turtle Van before hitting a person. He asks if he's ok. The guy says he needs to get out of here and away from that madman. Just then they see Casey flying in the sky. He lands in front of Leonardo and asks if they arrived to help him take in the jaywalker. Leonardo asks how he's able to fly.

Casey Jones explains he was chasing a lawbreaker a few weeks ago when he stumbled in the middle of some sort of science experiment at TCRI. He was hit by some strange energy which made him stronger and gave him superpowers. He says with these powers, no criminal in the city can escape from justice. 

Casey notices that the jaywalker got away and says that the Turtles distracted him on purpose because they were working together. Casey says they probably want people to walk across the street anytime they want which would cause anarchy, as he zaps Donatello, Raphael and Michealangelo. Leonardo goes for a flying kick but just falls off him, as if he kicked a wall. Casey then notices the Turtle Van and asks if they're licensed and insured. He blasts it but the van is still intact. He says he'll try to suck more juice from the city to turn it into scrap. 

April calls for help and tells Casey that a riot broke out in Hoboken. Casey runs off to Jersey to stop them. Raphael says that was good thinking from April since Casey wouldn't be able to resist going after Jersey. Michealangelo says she didn't even need to make anything up.

Donatello explains things will get worse since soon Casey will be drawing more power than the city can generate. Leonardo says they'll cure Casey before that happens. Raphael says they could also figure out a way to send him to Dimension X. Michealangelo says they know where to start since Casey said this happened at TCRI.

Over at TCRI, Professor McGuffin explains by now they have had enough accidents that they have now developed an antidote. The problem is there's a limit as for how long it will work. They will have to have Casey ingest it by midnight or the effects will be permanent. April says that doesn't give them much time to find him. Michealangelo says they can make him come to them and Raphael asks how. 

The Turtles create a Casey Signal and that does summon him over to them. He thanked them for the tip since he stopped a lot of crime in Hoboken. April is surprised there really was a riot. Leonardo explains he's hurting people with his powers. He's using electricity that's coming from traffic control, hospitals, meat coolers and other places. He needs to give them up and he has a cure. Casey refuses and says if the city needs more electricity, it'll just make more. He won't give up these powers until he's rid of crime and he starts to attack the Turtles.

Raphael has had enough and gets ready to fight and Casey draws his weapons. Raphael uses his sai to disarm him, but Casey still has another hockey stick that he uses to smack him in the face. The others notice that Casey is now fighting without his powers. Leonardo says he still needs to take the antidote. Leonardo slices Casey's hockey stick in half and says there isn't much and he needs to listen to them. 

Casey says they're talking to him with one hand while hitting him with the other. He says he can play dirty too and intends to suck up enough juice to take down the turtles. April tells him to stop. Casey tells her to get out of the way since she's not a lawbreaker. April says he is one and uses his own super-literal logic against him. April asks if he's paid for the electricity he is using and if he's even metered. Casey says it's for the greater good and April says it doesn't matter, he's still a lawbreaker. Casey flips out, admitting he's a lawbreaker and lets out a huge surge of electricity. Casey asks the Turtles if it's too late to take the cure. 

The next day the gang relate the events to Splinter. Splinter asks if Casey has been completely restored and they say that Professor McGuffin confirmed it. The power company has also repaired all the damage. Splinter says after hearing the role April had to play in the matter, he got her an extra treat that they purchased with tonight's pizza. He figured after the adventure she just had, she might appreciate a Hero Sandwich. 

My Thoughts- 

Pretty fun story. They really got Casey down perfectly in this version. One thing I've noticed is that due to his limited appearances in the original show, April is never really around to see him completely go nuts. Despite working with the Turtles before, he is always quick to think they're lawbreakers and start another fight with them every time they meet. 

I did enjoy seeing April have a bigger role in this issue. Since this is just a 4-part mini-series, I'm glad she's not limited to just cameos in every issue. It was also fun to see April throw Casey's super-literal logic right back in his face. For someone that is quick to point out things like littering and jaywalking, he always forgets he's just as guilty of things like destruction of public property. 

I also liked Raphael bringing up that Sai were in fact invented to help disarm adversaries. Unlike a lot of versions shown in media, Sai aren't necessarily sharp (though they can be if modified) and usually used more as blunt objects or to disarm and parry, rather than outright stab someone. 

We get some more Easter eggs in the form of TCRI. Not only is it mentioned, but we also see giant dandelions growing outside of the area, callback to TMNT II The Secret of the Ooze. You even see some vials of ooze in the background. Seeing that in the cartoon Krang invented the Mutagen, this is one of those 'ehhhh don't think about it' kinda references. 

Speaking of the 90's movies, I would have liked the reference if they used Chief Sterns instead of Sergeant Malloy. Malloy was made up for this comic and apparently he's already dealt with April before, so why not use Chief Sterns? Not terribly important of course, but it would have been a fun callback.

While not outright stated, I also got a bit of a Purple Dragons vibe from the crooks in the beginning of the story. This is a gang that also never made it to the cartoons, though to be fair, back then the Purple Dragons were just 'that one gang the Turtles fought at the beginning of Mirage TMNT # 1'. It was later incarnations that made them more known.

Other than that it's a fun story. It's a shame this series is going to end so soon. I would have liked to have seen more stories with the other characters. The next issue will have the Turtles shrink to microscopic size to go into Splinter's body and save him before equally-microscopic Mousers destroy him from the inside. We'll see how that one goes.