TMNT Saturday Morning Adventures Continued # 32

 By Mark Rodriguez

Shredder and Krang have allied themselves with the Pantheon. Several members of the Pantheon are taking their shot at defeating the Turtles so they can take leadership away from Old Hob... not knowing that he already handed it over to Krang. But never mind that, here's a holiday themed adventure where Raphael and Casey Jones take on the Krampus. 

 

"Christmas with Casey" opens at Myer's Department Store on December 23rd. Santa is listening to the kids list what they want for Christmas and Raphael and Casey stand guard. Casey is grumpy and Raph says he used to hate this time of year as well, but seeing a little bit of goodwill in the city makes it easier to fight the bad guys. Raphael points out how jolly Santa looks and how it's a little contagious. Casey calls Santa a lawbreaker and Raph tells him to dial it down some. 

 

Casey says than breaking and entering, there's something else that makes him distrust him. As a boy, Casey wanted a Goon the Bear doll. The toys were always out and he was told to ask Santa. He asked a department store Santa who promised he'd get one. Casey knew he was a good boy all year, beating up bullies and eating all his peas, but come Christmas morning, no Goon the Bear. He says his hatred of liars was born that day. Raph says maybe beating up other kids put him on the naughty list. Casey says he did it for justice.

Casey decides to have a word with the Myer's Santa and Raph tells him doing that might scar the kids for life. Just then, bad guys dressed like gingerbread men are announcing that they're robbing the place. Santa tells them they can't do that because it's Christmas. The masked leader says he already got what he wanted for Christmas, a concussion blaster. He blasts Santa, knocking him back towards the tree.

Raph can't stand for this and asks Casey if he wants to jump in. Casey isn't convinced this Santa isn't part of a cabal of jolly old elves. Raph tells him that the kids are counting on them and not let the obvious lawbreakers win. Casey agrees with that and checks out a nearby sports store. 

The crooks start telling all the toys and tells the parents that their kids were naughty anyway. Santa begs them not to take the toys that were meant for orphans. The leader tells him to shut up or he'll blast him again. Raph tells them to put everything down or he'll put some coal in their stocking. He knocks the leader back with a flying kick. 

Raph makes sure that Santa is OK, who only got the wind knocked out of him. Raph asks the crooks if they're going to give up or is he going to have to work up a sweat. The leader's mask fells off in the scuffle and it's revealed he's a mutant goat.

The goat explains he was once a human named Joe, a man without a purpose. One day while cleaning up a mess at Dave's Genetic Research Lab and Petting Zoo, he came into contact with a strange substance that turned him into a mutant goat. Now his life has purpose. Since he looks like the Krampus, he will now call himself Krampus Joe and dedicate himself to ruining holiday cheer.

 

The goat starts to shoot and Raph dodges the blasts. Raph says Krampus isn't a mutant goat and he punishes kids with a lump of coal. He doesn't flat out ruin Christmas. Krampus Joe says if he ever worked in customer service he'd know all kids are naughty. He adds he can do better than coal and the Turtle can't dodge his laser blasts forever. Just then the gun runs out of batteries so he sends his men after Raph. The Ninja Turtle tells Casey that now would be a good time to jump in to help.

Casey jumps in with a baseball bat. One of the men asks if he's supposed to be the 'guy from the scary summer camp'. Casey says he's the guy who came to deck their halls. He might have beef with Santa but he won't let these guys ruin Christmas for the kids. Casey deals with the crooks but Krampus Joe is gone.

Santa says he stole his bag of toys. Raph thought that was a prop. Santa says it was full of toys meant for the kids at the Golden Hills Orphanage over in Queens. He was planning to deliver them after his shift. Casey believes Santa 'for once' and says they'll track down that lawbreaker no matter how long it takes. 

Santa tells Raph and Casey that it's a busy night and they're on the 8th floor so the crook couldn't have gotten far. He knows a shortcut that should get them ahead of him.

Outside, Krampus Joe tries to get past the crowd and shoves a kid away. The kid's father tells him it's not Halloween and he should apologize for scaring his son. Krampus Joe head butts the father, sending him flying off his feet. Raph catches the man who comments on how stressful the holidays get every year. 

Krampus Joe is surprised they got ahead of him, and Raph tells him they used a hidden fire escape. He tells him to give up, and Joe refuses to. Casey jumps in and starts to fight with him. The goat grabs his bat and breaks it in half. Casey throws a punch which the goat dodges, and he knocks him back with his horns. Casey says he hates this plan and Joe asks what he means. He notices that the bag of toys is gone.

Raph hid the bag of toys, since ninjas are sneaky. Krampus Joe says he had a buyer in Northampton that would have paid a fortune for them. The fight draws in a crowd that thinks this is a show but comment that they should have used Santa as the hero. Raph and Krampus grapple, and the goat comments that the turtle is as strong as he is. Raph says he has Turtle Power, as well as his ninja skills and a little Christmas spirit on his side. Raph knocks the goat back with a flash kick.

 

Krampus is defeated and Raph plants a foot on him in victory. The crowd says the show isn't very Christmassy and the Krampus' heart should have grown three sizes. Raph says this was a show they didn't have pay for. Casey says he wishes he landed the KO. Raph says he still helped and Casey tied up Joe. Santa says they can still help some more.

Santa's knee is acting up so he asks if Raph and Casey can deliver the gifts to the orphans. Casey wants to go out on patrol. Raph tells him to think of the kids and Casey sighs. Later on, Casey is decked as Casey and Raph is an elf as they hand out the gifts to the kids. Casey refuses to say 'ho, ho, ho'. Raph tells him to embrace the season and he might get off the naughty list.

Two days on Christmas morning, Casey steps out of the shower and finds a present on top of his TV. Casey says it doesn't sound like a bomb. He sees a card that says 'Sorry it took so long, Merry Christmas'. He opens the box and it's the Goon the Bear doll he's always wanted.

The Turtles watch from the rooftops, as they somehow know where Casey lives. Raph thanks his brothers for helping him out. Donatello says this might help Casey lighten up a little. Michaelangelo adds that he has spiced apple and sausage pizza waiting for them back home. The Turtles head off, appreciating a day off.

 

My Thoughts- 

This was a fun story and I guess a break from the Pantheon story if anyone wanted one. The comic seems to be teaming up Raph and Casey more and more to make them closer to other iterations of the franchise, something the 80's cartoon never did. Speaking of which, Raph actually felt more in character with the old show. Unlike other issues in the series when Raph's default emotion was angry or annoyed, the Raphael from the 80's cartoon was more laid back until something actually annoyed him. If the others ever complained about him, it was more about his wisecracks than any temper issues.

Unlike the baseball issue where we saw Casey in his apartment without his hockey mask on, this comic goes back to the 'Casey never takes his mask off, ever' gimmick. Even in the flashback as a kid, he was wearing the hockey mask. It's nonsensical but it falls in line with the goofiness of the 80's cartoon.

Krampus Joe was quite the character, and I'm surprised some random genetics lab somehow cracked the code on making Mutagen. I think there were a few mutants, like Mona Lisa, that were somehow mutated without Shredder and Krang being involved, but what are the odds?

There weren't many cameos in this one except that one of the kids on Santa's lap was that same kid with the shades in the episode 'It Came from Beneath the Sewers". He's made another cameo in an earlier issue. I'm surprised the thugs working for Krampus weren't thugs previously seen in other episodes.

Overall a fun and short story, since they pretty much stopped Krampus Joe in one sitting. It looks like next issue we'll be seeing the Neutrinos and we're gonna hop back into the Pantheon story. 

I guess there's a joke to be made about Casey wanting to Goon for Christmas, but this blog is above that type of humor.