Tensions Ride High As Hearts Break In TMNT #96

New York City is caught in a multi-faceted gang war. New alliances are being drawn while others are being torn apart. It’s unclear who will be left standing at the end of this violent exchange, but it’s going to get worse before it gets better. At the heart of this conflict is Karai as she tries to take back what she feels is rightfully hers: the leadership of the Foot Clan. She has already drawn first blood by stabbing Jennika and now her blade is ready to taste some more.

The Turtles did everything they could to save Jennika’s life, leading them to give her a blood transfusion that turned her into a mutant turtle too. This presents a slew of interesting dramatic angles that get to the heart of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Jennika had a budding romance with Casey Jones which is called into question now that she’s no longer human. Where does she fit in after this transformation? Can she ever be comfortable in her own skin again? She also sees this new look differently than the Turtles as she was human first, whereas they were animals originally.
The look on Jennika’s face throughout all of this says it all. Artist Michael Dialynas captured a wide range of emotions, from fear and shock to desperation and sadness. All of them pale in comparison to her expression when Casey lays eyes on her again. You can feel the heartbreak as she sees Casey’s involuntary reaction. Their relationship will never be the same again.

Dialynas sets the emotional tone for most of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #96 based on this stellar character work. We see the sadder side of things with Jennika and the angrier side with Karai. You can feel the rage emanating off of her when she again challenges Splinter. Any normal human emotion has been replaced with a cruel and violent being out for blood.
This could be traced back to her new sword which seems to feed on this violence. Colorist Ronda Pattison does some brilliant work here, making the weapon glow with a fiery energy. It’s like it pulses red in time to Karai’s heartbeat. There’s an awesome sequence where Karai walks out of the shadows and pulls her sword. The red glow of the weapon illuminates the surrounding area in an eerie light.

Tensions are riding high on every side of this war. It’s more than just Karai and the Foot Clan too. Baxter Stockman, Null, the Mutanimals, the EPF, and Metalhead are all involved in some shape or fashion. What is particularly interesting is the tension that’s rising within the ranks of the Turtles. They haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, but they’ve been at each other’s side through thick and thin. You can see the lines being drawn here and it’s unclear if they can come back from this conflict.
Letterer Shawn Lee highlights this in a terse exchange between Raphael and Michelangelo. Under any normal circumstances, this would have been a cordial conversation, but with everything going on, we can read more into this chat. You can feel the anger bubbling up within Raph as he struggles with what he thinks is the right thing to do and what his brothers are doing.

There are a ton of characters mixed up in this arc, yet it doesn’t feel the least bit confusing or overwhelming. Writer Tom Waltz deftly juggles each faction, guiding them towards the next big confrontation. This represents the culmination of over 100 chapters of this ongoing series with all its various tie-ins and it’s nothing short of impressive. It’s every TMNT fan’s dream of a story and we’ve still got a few chapters left to go.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #96 from IDW Publishing is currently available at your local comic shop and digitally through ComiXology and Amazon Kindle.