‘City at War’ begins with a stab in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles No. 93
By Alex Widen
“The past Returns!”
Casey now finds himself in the role April was in back during “City Fall;” helpless to watch a lover be mortally wounded by an evil ninja enemy. Although the Turtles and their allies (Alopex and Nobody) remained close, Ocho and the rest of Karai’s clan stayed closer. From here, it’s a race against time to the nearest hospital. Casey barely survived his brush with death, and it ended his college hockey career forever. Will he and the Turtles outrun Karai’s monsters to save Jennika?
Image by IDW Publishing
The trifecta of writing talent for this series — Tom Waltz, Kevin Eastman, and Bobby Curnow — construct another taut and thrilling opening issue to what looks to be another action packed and suspenseful arc. There are no wasted panels or lines of dialogue, and every previous character action has a reaction. It is the sort of densely and smartly plotted scripting that impresses audiences on Netflix shows, or ongoing series for both Marvel and DC Comics.
Image by IDW Publishing
There are many parallels to both the original “City at War” as well as “City Fall,” but these are all deliberate. This story is very much a sequel to “City Fall,” some six years in the making. Karai’s role has arguably become far more antagonistic in most of her incarnations since the original ’90s material. In the original series, she achieved peace with the Turtles while, here and in the 2003 series, she ultimately became an enemy. Yet it will remain to be seen how far she goes, and how much of this is entirely her doing or will. Might she don the armor of the Shredder herself?
Image by IDW Publishing