User blog:Gilgameshkun/Daaaaaaaaaaaamn, TMNT Universe 11

This IDW TMNT story was...incredibly refreshing in some ways. It has some of the best appeal of both Palladium TMNT and Archie TMNT. Mutants, mutants and more mutants, as well as differences in attitudes of mutants towards other mutants. Animal-born mutant prejudice against human-born mutants. Different ideas on the future of mutants and how best to achieve them. Paramilitarism vs. pacifism in that struggle. And talk about cages, between the cages someone else puts you in vs. the cages you agree to be in vs. the protective cages you make for yourself. And the internationalization of this struggle overall spanning multiple continents.

We learn more about 's past, and how raised him from birth and forcibly trained him to be an ideal soldier, often forcing him to kill other captive mutants as part of the process. This all helps explain Ray's lingering baggage and psychological trauma hinted at in previous stories. His earliest friend was Sally Pride, and they first met each other in adjacent cages at Null. Now they're like bros&mdash;and I especially like the dynamic of an unrelated mutant man and mutant woman having such a close relationship that is completely devoid of romance or any kind of sexual tension, but more like brother and sister. (Actually, I'm increasingly convinced that Sally Pride is probably gay, which would be appropriate considering her inspirational namesake was gay in real life.)

's story was different. He was born a human with a Jamaican father (and "Dreadmon" was a name he'd had since long before he mutated), but Dreadmon himself is from the. As a child, during the Congo Wars, an armed faction burned down his village and forcibly recruited him as a child soldier, meaning his innocence ended at a tender age. Later, he was living on the streets, and someone representing Null offered him a job which he eagerly accepted for the money. Dreadmon was mutated into a jackal, but when it was clear they wanted him to be a soldier again, he fled into the New Jersey wilderness, determined to live free.

Ray and Sally dispatched to New Jersey after hearing rumors of a "Jersey devil," hoping they could find and recruit a mutant. But after bonding over backstories and a mutual dislike of cages, Ray quickly sours on Dreadmon, disapproving that the jackal became one of Null's mutants by choice&mdash;something Ray was never given&mdash;and making it clear that he shares some of Hob's prejudice against human-born mutants in general. Sally pleads that it doesn't matter how they get there, as long as they join together for their mutual defense.

Null also sent a trained to hunt Dreadmon down, but to bring him back alive. These mutants are relatively unusual, in that they can shift between human and mutant form at will using devices attached to their body armor. This adds another complication of the mutant existential question&mdash;being mutant by choice and yet being able to go back to being human whenever you want. There are four of them: Colonel, ,  and.

The unit tries to tranq all three mutants, but Ray shields Sally with his own body, going unconscious from the tranquilizers. Sally and Dreadmon are forced to flee without Ray, but Sally insists they go back and get the first friend she ever had. Dreadmon doesn't want to risk his life over a stranger he just met, and Sally impatiently invites Dreadmon to get out of her car. But the argument becomes moot as the pack catches up with them and starts tearing apart Sally's car.

As Colonel Fist and Dreadmon finally confront face-to-face, it becomes clear that Null's orders are actually to recruit Dreadmon into this same unit that's been hunting him down. They even offer Dreadmon the chance of being able to shift back to human just like they can. After initially agreeing to go with them, Fist demands a test of loyalty from Dreadmon first&mdash;to execute Sally Pride. But not only does Dreadmon actually just want to be free and have a home to return to, but he never wants to touch a firearm again. Fist initially shows Dreadmon some respect for his values, but then orders Waster to kill Sally himself. But before they can carry out their execution, they are ambushed by Ray&mdash;alive and well&mdash;who has managed to commandeer a paramilitary vehicle and ram it into Waster. Sally and Dreadmon quickly flee the scene in the new vehicle with Ray.

Colonel Fist catches up to the vehicle Terminator-style and rips the vehicle's roof off, to which Ray quickly responds with a few rounds of pistol fire. Dreadmon grabs a gun and presses it against Fist's face. After everything we learnt about Dreadmon, Fist is confident Dreadmon won't pull the trigger, but Sally uses this as a distraction to shoot Fist in the face, knocking him off the vehicle and allowing Ray, Sally and Dreadmon to get away. In a pattern we've been seeing lately (most recently with ), Fist's blown-away facial skin reveals metal beneath&mdash;he's a cyborg.

But Ray and Sally let Dreadmon go when it's clear he doesn't want to join them either. Though they part in respect, Dreadmon wants to be free, and working with the would be just another cage, even if it's one they make for themselves.

My take on this? I like IDW's Mutanimals, because unlike before, they aren't superheroes nor do they pretend to me&mdash;they're just an unglamorous ragtag group who protect themselves any way they can. But just like Dreadmon, I also don't like guns or war, and the way Hob, Ray and Herman fancy themselves soldiers in a war for mutant freedom...has never really sat well with me. Of course, not that it doesn't make for a good story, because they have to defend themselves out of necessity rather than choice, but I've always thought of weapons as something best picked up reluctantly, and locked away during moments of peace, but not something to be glamorized.

Living with constant war and threat of war is not a good thing, which is why I have to respect Dreadmon and his choices in this story. He just wants to be free and not have to fight anymore, especially after the hell he grew up with. I mean, ultimately he may have to, but he still insists on being master of his own choices and own destiny, even if that means not cooperating with the Mutanimals.

As I said, this story combines some of the best aspects of Archie TMNT with some of the best aspects of Palladium TMNT. But in other ways, the overall storyline leaves me...wanting. As someone who isn't into superheroes (I could care less about Marvel or DC) or military glamour, what I really crave is more moments of characters just trying to live their lives, even if they have slow moments and not much action is happening. What another version of TMNT, Mirage TMNT, showed us is that a good TMNT story doesn't have to have action all the time, and can actually have stretches of peaceful home life with war out of the picture; and characters either have a chance to forget about it, or have a little psychological drama dwelling about their purpose in life. I don't want to constantly see stories with characters like Ray and Sally always mobilized in combat, or in a reconnaissance operation, or discussing their tactical situation, but never doing anything else. I want to see more of all these characters sitting around, bored out of their skulls, deciding what to eat, or what movies to watch, or even just pondering existential questions over bad coffee. It's not exactly conducive to an action comic, but that's the point&mdash;good TMNT isn't always an action comic, and some of its best stories were relatively slow-moving but full of contemplation. And even when I was most into Palladium TMNT decades ago, I wondered what characters described in its pages were like trying to make the best of everyday lives [wherever they are, at least as much as I imagined them having any kind of life-or-death struggle. Give me more of that, show me more of that, IDW. The most recent Christmas issue was a great, but I prefer it when more TMNT stories alternate between fast and slow. And when there are mostly fast-moving stories, I find myself wanting to see more slow-moving ones.