‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Legends: Soul’s Winter’ Comic Review

I’m pretty sure that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Legends: Soul’s Winter could compete in the championships for the world’s longest title. There’s a whole seven words there; I had to use both of my hands to count it. Soul’s Winter collects issues 31, 35, and 36 of the Mirage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as well as a few shorts from Shell Shock and Turtle Soup #4 , all hailing from the early ’90s. Michael Zulli is the celebrated writer/artist for this particular collection. Zulli writes and draws the three issues of Soul’s Winter and just writes the three shorts. Also, his name reminds me of Ghostbuster. There is no Dana. Only Zuul.

When these stories originally hit print, the Mirage title would often jump among creative teams and became almost an anthology book. Soul’s Winter, in particular, is not canon. This story has a dark and mystical bent to it not always seen in TMNT stories. The Mirage line was known for a darker and style, but Soul’s Winter really pushes that line even further. Soul’s Winter begins with the Shredder, now decked out in samurai gear, launching a psychic attack against Master Splinter. Splinter is shocked by this surprise attack but is able to launch a counterattack, breaking him free of Shredder’s mental trap. Shredder is pissed by this point. He calls the Foot Clan into battle, knowing that now is the time to attack.

One of the biggest changes for this book is, the Turtles hibernate. It being winter and all. This isn’t something I recall ever taking place in any incarnation of the Turtles over the years. So…the Turtles are weak and sleepy, kinda like my baby daughter. She’s a ninja too.

TMNT-Souls-1

The Turtles and the Foot clash, and one of the Turtles–I can’t tell who is who–loses a hand; this was way before Aquaman made it cool. Splinter summons Animus, (a god of some type), to heal his fallen son, and Animus is all like, No (what a jerk!). Then, much to everyone’s surprise, Shredder pops by for a visit and casts a healing spell while claiming that everything beautiful bleeds. By the end of the book, the fallen Turtle has to face an incarnation of death, as it is now up to his will whether he lives or dies. The three short stories are also from this universe of Turtles.

Zulli’s scripts are deep, dense, and admittedly hard to get. I had to read it again to really grasp what the hell just happened. I loved the mystical aspect. It seems like such a natural fit to the Turtles that it makes one wonder how it wasn’t there from the beginning. At first, I thought the Turtles couldn’t even speak; not a single one says a word until the second issue. Most of the dialogue comes from Splinter, who nearly comes off as the bad guy in this book. We see Shredder with a sense of compassion and a Splinter who’s quick to yell and scream and demand revenge and death. Definitely not the norm. I would have liked to have seen more stories from the Zulli-verse, but, alas, this is all we get.

TMNT-Souls-2

The art, in the main three issues, is also handled by Zulli. He brings an odd sense of realism. The Turtles look like legit, big-ass bipedal turtles. Theses dudes are freaky-looking. If these were the original design for the animated series, I don’t think we would have run into too much Turtlemania. It takes a minute to get used to seeing our favorite four brothers looking this way, but that doesn’t change the fact that the artwork is top-notch. Top-notch and detailed.

All in all, this is an interesting book. I really enjoyed the depth this story had to bring to the TMNT world. It’s new and fresh yet still over 20 years old. IDW is using the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Legends line to reprint the stories on which Eastman and Laird didn’t work. I’m looking forward to what will be reprinted next.

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