Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-1255374-20160509012936/@comment-995426-20160509215137

KunokitaxD4:

There's nothing intrinsically wrong with tons of rural scenery or tons of advanced sci-fi in a TMNT story. It's been done well before. ...and it's also been done terribly before, such as recently.

But I do think City at War was one of the best story arcs because of its powerful page-by-page character development. Characters went through the wringer to really, truly, find out who they are and who they want (and need) to become. And it's one of my favorite kinds of TMNT story&mdash;lots and lots of thought, feeling and slice-of-life experience. It's the kind of story where you see characters hit rock bottom, or see them be bored out of their skulls for months on end, but it's in these moments that some people really stop and think about their purpose in life. And I was especially interested in the argument the turtles had together over whether to make a treaty with the Foot Clan, whether it was the right thing to do, what the implications of it were going to be; and then, when faced with Karai clutching her only daughter the Shredder Elites had just murdered...



...and Leonardo, as leader, made a decision. They weren't sure it would be the best decision, or even whether it was the right decision. But Leo made the decision for the team, and the team stood by it, and lived with the consequences. Those consequences would prove to be a final end of war with the Foot Clan. It's not like they believed the Foot were suddenly virtuous&mdash;they were still a criminal enterprise. But this was the turtles, as adults, picking their battles and deciding which battles they could no longer afford. And for all the things that could be said to describe Karai, she at least proved to be honorable with her agreements. ...at least until she had become old and senile in Silent Night, but by then she was more an object of pity than enmity.