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Review: TMNT Jennika II #1

I never thought I would be writing this, but there are some important American historical notes to take away from the TMNT title. TMNT Jennika II #1, takes place after the events of the City at War Event. A game changing event, in which most of the New York downtown citizens, were exposed to a gas that turned them into mutants.   The government has found it easier, to ignore the human side of the victims by isolating them, and blockading supplies into the “Mutant Zone”“.

For those readers that can remember, a big storyline was the struggle amongst the Leftover organized crime groups and gangs to fill in the power gaps. With most of them subdued, the storyline has now transitioned to legitimate groups now competing with adversaries for legitimacy, credibility, and influence. Some are using the pretense of aiding the newly mutants as victims, while on the other side of the fence Protestors have justified their apathetic behavior by classifying the mutated as nothing more than animals or criminals to be locked up.

Stuck in the middle of it all is Jennika, who seems intent on using ideological strategies to combat actual physical threats.    Therefore if there is any hope of keeping the Mutant Zone from being completely cut off, she has to spend most of the issue keeping wild mutants in check lest the people outside the zone think any less of the mutants inside of the wall.

This is what the TMNT property has come down to.  During the perhaps one of the most important elections in its history Brahm Revel  dedicated quite a few panels to calling out some interesting aspect of the USA. In one of the panels you have MAGA hat wearers protesting in opposition to a mutant aid package.  This was interesting because, in the early 20th century, the South was angry over the terms of Reconstruction and that the surplus from their economy was going the national government did not serve them.

Prominently displayed in the pages of Jennika #1, Revel asserts that the resentment still exists, in the form of citizens who feel that America is under attack by foreigners, including Central Americans crossing the southern border.  That of course was represented in panels, in which those that try to escape the zone are locked up in a special prison for mutants.

Jennika II #1, sent chills down my spine in a way that I haven“t felt since Orwell“s Animal Farm. Hidden in a story about Turtles that practice ninjutsu, it is also a stinging critique of the history and current rhetoric of the Xenophobic side of American Society; The Societal Tendency Toward Class Stratification; The Danger of a Naïve Working Class; The Abuse of Language as Instrumental to the Abuse of Power.

TMNT Jennika II #1 will have multiple covers to include: CVR A, Drawn by Brahm REVEL; CVR B drawn by Kevin Eastman; Cover C is an incentive Variant (1:10) Drawn by Natacha Bustos.

SCORE: 4/5
Pick up your copy of TMNT Jennika II #1 NOW!

(W) Brahm Revel (A/CA) Brahm Revel

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Lucas Fashina
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