Raphael Takes the Fight to Null in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles No. 94
By Alex Widen
The Mutants Are Coming out off the Woodwork!
Lindsey is willing to head out with Casey to save Jennika, despite barely knowing her. Hob is more interested in Raphael. Ironically, the pair were bitter enemies when the series first started, when Hob was running his own gang of humans. Various circumstances have made Hob and the Turtles allies of convenience many times, yet there’s been no love lost between them. Eager to fan the flames of Raphael’s anger, as well as gain a new mutant soldier to replace Slash, Hob goads Raphael into tagging along. It turns out he barely had to try.
Image by IDW Publishing
Raphael isn’t the only mutant from the main “family” to quench his rage with violence. Master Splinter — who in his youth once sported a similar temper — leads his elite ninja in a feud against Puzorelli’s gang. The ninja quickly clean house with the gangsters, wiping them out before they break a sweat. In an unintentionally hilarious nod to Mel Brooks, one of Splinter’s ninjas is named “Mongo.” Yet out of all places, another enemy of the Turtles arises from the sewer — Leatherhead!
Image by IDW Publishing
The random reappearance of one of the Turtles’ most enigmatic enemies is either brilliant or random (or brilliantly random). Leatherhead hasn’t been seen since the one-shot 85th issue. He seemingly quenched his own blood feud against Krang by devouring him whole at the end of his trial in Dimension X for war crimes. Yet that was hardly the end, as Leatherhead’s sanity seemed to slip even further. Already plagued by prehistoric rage and a nihilistic hatred of all fellow mutants, he now has visions of Krang goading him. Is it psychosis, or Utrom indigestion?
Image by IDW Publishing