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liugeaux · 2 months

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About that TMNT Re-Boot ...

Over the past couple of months, IDW has announced a variety of new TMNT comics coming to shelves this year. Here's a quick and dirty breakdown of the ones I want to talk about.

TMNT The Flag-Ship book Soft-Reboot - Ongoing by Jason Aaron

TMNT: Nightwatcher - Ongoing by Juni Ba

TMNT: Mutant Nation - Ongoing by Tom Waltz and Sophie Campbell

Other stuff was announced, but I really want to focus on the in-canon stories. The IDW line has been chugging along since 2011 and it contains some of the best portrayals of many TMNT characters and possibly the strongest Turtles story ever. When Jason Aaron's reboot was announced as a soft reboot incorporated into the existing story, it was both exciting and troubling.

He's a big name (or so I'm told), so giving him an already-established world in which to play, doesn't seem ideal. For example, he's continuing a story with a dead Splinter and a post-good guy Shredder redemption arc. Krang is dead, Chrell is dead, Rat King is 'dead', Bishop is dead, and most of the TMNT rogues gallery is not in a soft-reboot-friendly place.

Of course, the world of comics always finds a way to resurrect or retcon characters when needed, but is Jason Aaron willing to jump through the hoops needed to make an unlikely character return digestible, or will we get a "somehow Palpatine returned" situation? I love the IDW continuity and I'm excited it persists; I just hope the creative team properly respects the tales that came before it.

IDW's tactic here feels like a grand "let's meet in the middle" compromise. I don't know the numbers, but the way I understand it, IDW was happy with the sales performance of the Sophie Campbell Mutant Town/Reborn Era stuff. That's evidenced by them immediately signing her up as a writer on Mutant Nation. Many older fans either didn't like her run or felt alienated by it. Despite issues 101-150 being polarizing, apparently, someone has been buying them.

It looks like IDW sees this new 3-Ongoings setup as a way to keep the success of the current run by shifting those readers over to Mutant Nation and pitching Jason Aaron's reboot as a way to ensnare new and older readers. This has the potential to be a real 'have your cake and eat it too' situation.

The only wild card I see here is the Nightwatcher book and depending on who the Nightwatcher is, it could serve very different purposes. IDW is publically keeping the identity of the vigilante Turtle (whose non-canonical origin was 2007's TMNT film) a secret. Fans have 2 prevailing theories, Nightwatcher is Jennika the '5th Turtle' mutated in the books of the original IDW ongoing book, and Nightwatcher is Future Raph a mysterious Raphael who debuted in the 2023 Annual.

Of course, we must mention that it could be any of the four original turtles, but they'll likely be too busy in Aaron's reboot to pull double duty. Vigilantism doesn't seem to be Venus' vibe, but she is a turtle, so she can't be disqualified. Then there is always a chance that Nightwatcher is a Slash clone or a simplified Metalhead, but both are heavy long shots at best.

From Jason Aaron's mouth, we know IDW has 'big plans' for Jennika, and she will not be part of the core team in the reboot. That leaves 3 options I see for Jenni's character:

She gets de-mutated. - Previews for issue 149 suggest that through QNA and Armagon, de-mutation is possible in the IDW universe. (I'd say this outcome is unlikely because of the energy they've put into cultivating her as the '5th turtle'. After spending 5 years building Jenni's audience, it doesn't make sense to turn her human again.)

She is the Nightwatcher - We've already seen her take the role of a peace officer in Mutant Town, so her throwing on a suit of armor and becoming BatTurtle isn't too far-fetched. (With Jenni being the lead in the Nightwatcher book, she would bring her own audience and backstory to an otherwise mostly blank slate of a character. It's not a bad call.)

She is the lead character in Mutant Nation - We know Jenni can lead a book, and we know Campbell and Waltz are comfortable writing for her. (The various creative teams could tell countless stories of Jennika fighting for mutant-kind in-universe and never have her interact with the Core-4, outside of carefully timed event series.)

As cool as Future Raph would be as the Nightwatcher, they would need to do a lot to earn whatever story they tell. Basing a brand new ongoing on a mostly unexplained character seems riskier than most of IDW's typical tactics. If Future Raph does end up being the Nightwatcher that leaves options 1 and 3 on the table for Jenni's character. One point in favor of him being the Nightwatcher is that he was recently introduced and his story was left WIDE-OPEN. Obviously, the writers want to do something with him.

I'm about 50/50 right now on who I think the Nightwatcher is between Jennika and Future Raph. Assuming the character stays in NYC, I guess it just depends on which of the two Jason Aaron wants his rebooted TMNT to interact with the most.

As for Mutant Nation, there is a laundry list of characters that could lead the book. Everyone from Alopex to Leatherhead to Bebop and Rocksteady to Venus. My money is on a Mutanimal-like team of freedom fighters. This means Sally, Hob, Mondo, Herman, Ray and others from that team will likely play a big part in the story. With Campbell involved, the various townsfolk of Mutant Town will definitely show up, but the bigger question comes from the de-mutation reveal in the preview for issue 149.

With a huge population of mutants not wanting to be mutants and there being a way to become human again, does this become a central plot point of Mutant Nation? What will become of Lita (Pictured Above)? She was supposed to become a Timestress with Renet. Does her de-mutation change that? Is it permanent? So many unanswered questions and so much still to announce.

It has been a long time since the future of TMNT comics was this exciting and as the kids say, 'I'm here for it'.

Edit: As of 4/24 IDW issue #150 has been published, effectively ending the story of Volume 1. Now that it has concluded there's a mysterious wild card when it comes to what turtle could be the Nightwatcher. In #150 Donatello had created 3 clone children using QNA, and one of those looked to have the same build as the promo images of the upcoming Nightwatcher. That character survived the finale so, I guess you can add that to the long-shot odds.

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