Jennika Discussion Thread

[Wentos]

Jennika was introduced a little over four years ago, in issue #51. She was turned into the fifth turtle a little over five months ago, in issue #95. With Jennika creator Tom Waltz taking a break from the book and his development of her character being finished (at least for now), I thought this might be a good time to have a general discussion about her.

Do you think she deserves her place as the fifth turtle? Was she introduced at the right time? Has she carved out a place for herself in the family? Most importantly, do you like her? And how do you feel about the idea of a fifth turtle in general?

(These questions are just food for thought to get discussion going, feel free to opine about anything Jennika related.)

[CyberCubed]

I'm indifferent about her being mutated for now because it's too early to see where it goes. We'll have a better view of her once her mini-series comes out earlier this year. I do like the yellow bandana and her weapons.

Of course you wonder if we needed a female Turtle in general, and well, I'm indifferent. She likely won't be a permanent addition to the cast living with the Turtles (she'll likely go off on her own adventures or whatnot, and not live in with the Turtles as a permanant family member, especially with Splinter dead and gone), so who knows.

At least IDW waited until 96 issues into their series to have a female Turtle, they could have done it much earlier if they wanted.

[Allio]

I mean the thing is right now, despite how the covers portray her, Jennika is basically still a part of the B-team.

[Igglet]

My problem with her right now is that she absolutely mutated at the wrong time - her turning into the 5th TMNT was the climax of the first half of the story, and yet she had almost no relevance to the plot in the second half. I think this led to the writers giving her a half-baked character arc in the second half, so she doesn't just... fade into the background, I suppose, but it really didn't work for me at all.

[CyberCubed]

I mean the thing is right now, despite how the covers portray her, Jennika is basically still a part of the B-team.

Yeah, I don't feel like she's going to be a permanent "5th Turtle," she feels more like Alopex and Angel where she'll have a lot of team-ups with the Turtles but still mostly be off on her own.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

I mean the thing is right now, despite how the covers portray her, Jennika is basically still a part of the B-team.

This. I think it would have been better to have five Turtles from the beginning. Maybe next time. And maybe NOT a former human.

[Igglet]

Yeah, I don't feel like she's going to be a permanent "5th Turtle," she feels more like Alopex and Angel where she'll have a lot of team-ups with the Turtles but still mostly be off on her own.

That would be super disappointing, considering the way they've been setting her up.

[CyberCubed]

The thing connecting Jennika to the Turtles before was Splinter trusting her as his second in command. Now that Splinter is dead and gone, Jennika's connection to the Turtles (despite being a Turtle herself now) is lessened. She really only had interactions with Leonardo otherwise, and that was just Leo greeting her when he went to visit Splinter.

The new issues seem like they'll have a friendship with Jennika and Mona Lisa, so again, I see her the same way I do Alopex and Angel. She'll be in a lot of issues and with the Turtles, but I don't see her as a permanent 5th Turtle.

[ChosenOne]

Slash was much more of a fifth Turtle than she is. But I'm still perfectly okay with the concept and waiting to see how it develops.

[vicsavage]

I agree with general consensus that it's too early to tell how the character as a mutant turtle will turn out. That said, Jennika's origin is preferable to the "long lost sister" approach used with Venus.

[Cloudrunner]

IMO there's not much to be said about her that wasn't already said in the Jennika Miniseries announcement thread. I think most people agree that her introduction (as a turtle) came at a bad time where we didn't really get a chance to know her place in the story. We'll have to wait until the next few issues and the miniseries to really know how she's gonna turn out.

[neatoman]

The initial problem was that she just wasn't very interesting, she's a sturn bodyguard when on duty and relaxed when hanging out with Casey but there ultimately isn't much there in terms of personality. There's some potential in there as she's essentially a victim of indoctrination, they just didn't develop her much when she was human and the result is a rather bland character.

The second problem is that they turned her into Turtle that design/role-wise is very close to the main four. Which didn't solve the first problem, now it just means a character I don't care about has taken a role that arguably shouldn't exist. It almost seems like it was done so nobody can say Leo is the Turtle with the least personality anymore, obviously that's not the intent and maybe it'll surprise me down the line but I just don't think Jennika is a good character as is.

The funny thing is that if she had a more clearly defined personality and turned into something that didn't look like a five year old's OC (like a more distinct species like a Mata Mata or maybe not a turtle at all), then the problems I have with her would be solved. As is, she's a weak character who's designed rather uncreatively.

[ChosenOne]

The initial problem was that she just wasn't very interesting, she's a sturn bodyguard when on duty and relaxed when hanging out with Casey but there ultimately isn't much there in terms of personality. There's some potential in there as she's essentially a victim of indoctrination, they just didn't develop her much when she was human and the result is a rather bland character.

The second problem is that they turned her into Turtle that design/role-wise is very close to the main four. Which didn't solve the first problem, now it just means a character I don't care about has taken a role that arguably shouldn't exist. It almost seems like it was done so nobody can say Leo is the Turtle with the least personality anymore, obviously that's not the intent and maybe it'll surprise me down the line but I just don't think Jennika is a good character as is.

The funny thing is that if she had a more clearly defined personality and turned into something that didn't look like a five year old's OC (like a more distinct species like a Mata Mata or maybe not a turtle at all), then the problems I have with her would be solved. As is, she's a weak character who's designed rather uncreatively.

To be fair, other than giving them more exaggerated physical traits like the recent cartoons have done, that aren't many ways one can innovate on the design of a Ninja Turtle outside of weapon choice or bandanna color. Characterization, however, is a whole 'nother ballpark. I'll readily agree Jennika isn't too damn interesting as a character as of yet. What would've been interesting to see was what would've happened if April, Angel or even Karai had been mutated into a fifth Turtle instead. (Angel would be the better choice out of these, I think.)

[Wentos]

I agree with most of you that Jennika's mutation came at an inopportune time and wasn't given the attention it needed, especially if she's being positioned as a new main character. Like others have said, her relationship to the other turtles is tenuous and her personality is underdeveloped. I find the execution strange, since the idea of a fifth female turtle has such a notoriously contentious history. If I were to introduce a fifth female turtle, I would do everything possible to introduce the character with care and make her place feel earned in order to win the fandom over.

Do you think it's fair to pass the burden of fleshing out her character to other writers after the fact? When IDW started releasing microseries and miniseries to supplement the main title, I was under the impression that it was done to nurture subplots that would pay off in the main series later, not to fix major plot developments that were half-baked in the main book. I suppose with Sophie Campbell taking over writing duties on the main title the buck stops with her, but the fact remains that the heavy lifting for Jennika is ultimately being passed to other writers. How do you guys feel about this?

[Zog The Magnificent]

Most of the problems surrounding the character seem to stem from the fact that the comic is acting like she's one of the main characters while in reality there is nothing about her that makes her any more important than Casey, April, Angel, or any other member of the supporting cast. Adding to this is the fact that, as previously stated, she's probably the least interesting member of said supporting cast.

[neatoman]

I agree with most of you that Jennika's mutation came at an inopportune time and wasn't given the attention it needed, especially if she's being positioned as a new main character. Like others have said, her relationship to the other turtles is tenuous and her personality is underdeveloped. I find the execution strange, since the idea of a fifth female turtle has such a notoriously contentious history. If I were to introduce a fifth female turtle, I would do everything possible to introduce the character with care and make her place feel earned in order to win the fandom over.

Do you think it's fair to pass the burden of fleshing out her character to other writers after the fact? When IDW started releasing microseries and miniseries to supplement the main title, I was under the impression that it was done to nurture subplots that would pay off in the main series later, not to fix major plot developments that were half-baked in the main book. I suppose with Sophie Campbell taking over writing duties on the main title the buck stops with her, but the fact remains that the heavy lifting for Jennika is ultimately being passed to other writers. How do you guys feel about this?

They literally had 40+ issues to develop her better.

[Igglet]

They literally had 40+ issues to develop her better.

Yeah, so far, I remain unimpressed - I do think that she was supposed to be given focus BEFORE being turned into a TMNT. However, I'm still optimistic. She CAN be fleshed out, she can become a great character. Should that have been done before? Absolutely, but that doesn't mean it's too late.

There's a question that's been bothering me from the start, though. How does she fit into the dynamic? Leo's the serious leader, Raph's the hothead, Mikey's the innocent jokester and Donnie's the brain. As basic as it is, this dynamic is kind of genius - it's worked for so long, after all. How does Jennika fit into it? What new can she bring to the table? I feel like she might just end up being a second Leo or Raph, or a mix of both, and that doesn't really work. I'm still hoping for the best, but I am quite worried.

[CyberCubed]

I think she'll get a lot of attention at first like Alopex, and then as time goes on, like Alopex, she'll be put on the sidelines a bit as they focus on other characters but she'll always be around. I mean we might have Mona Lisa stick around as a major character too, and we know IDW generally juggles screentime with all the secondary cast and has trouble doing so at times due to how large the cast is.

So we'll see.

[PApagreg]

Real talk can anyone remind me of any conversation she had with the turtles and I don't mean feeding information or exposition but casual dialogue because I'm getting nothing.

[CyberCubed]

Real talk can anyone remind me of any conversation she had with the turtles and I don't mean feeding information or exposition but casual dialogue because I'm getting nothing.

She said hi to Leonardo a few times.

[Mutant Ninja Anole]

Her first appearance has Leo stopping her from killing, leading to her initial attempt at a coup. The primary early bits were her redeeming herself for attacking Splinter by defending Shredder’s body from a Kitsune controlled Alopex. After Alopex left, Leo spoke encouragingly to her, since she had guilt after the body, (sans head) was taken and Alopex had run off. Of course not long after that she killed Darius Dunn under Splinter’s orders and the Turtles split from the Foot, meaning she had more interaction with Splinter himself than the Turtles directly, just occasionally popping up as a go between between Hamato Clan and the Foot. And later with Casey. It wasn’t exactly casual but Mikey also convinced her to let them go against Splinter’s orders in the Triceraton invasion, probably the first time since her assassination attempt we saw her go against Splinter’s judgment.

[Cloudrunner]

I think she'll get a lot of attention at first like Alopex, and then as time goes on, like Alopex, she'll be put on the sidelines a bit as they focus on other characters but she'll always be around. I mean we might have Mona Lisa stick around as a major character too, and we know IDW generally juggles screentime with all the secondary cast and has trouble doing so at times due to how large the cast is.

So we'll see.

I dunno, that's kind of my worry. I hate how they just dropped Alopex onto the sidelines after her kitsune plot was resolved. And Alopex was a far more interesting character than Jennika so that doesn't make me very hopeful for her.

[Wentos]

There's a question that's been bothering me from the start, though. How does she fit into the dynamic? Leo's the serious leader, Raph's the hothead, Mikey's the innocent jokester and Donnie's the brain. As basic as it is, this dynamic is kind of genius - it's worked for so long, after all. How does Jennika fit into it? What new can she bring to the table? I feel like she might just end up being a second Leo or Raph, or a mix of both, and that doesn't really work. I'm still hoping for the best, but I am quite worried.

This is a really good question. Back when issue #95 came out and Tom Waltz was promoting Jennika like crazy on Twitter, he posted a conversation he had with Sophie Campbell about designing her turtle appearance. Sophie pressed him about Jennika's personality and to be honest it seems like Waltz isn't too clear about it himself. You can read it here:

https://twitter.com/tomwaltz/status/1151574115670560769


The best idea I've seen is making the fifth turtle a shy introvert. It's a personality archetype that is easily understood and doesn't step on the toes of the other four turtles. It was Sophie Campbell's idea for a fifth turtle in her Secrets of the Ooze fan comic. Maybe some of Artemisia will bleed over into Jennika?

[Igglet]

Oh, I forgot all about that post! Yeah, Tom's short description of Jennika is an interesting concept, but I don't really think it counts as a personality. Sophie seemed to be on the right track by asking that question, I'm sure she's given it more thought since that conversation, so the fact that she's writing it is making me a little bit more confident.

[ChosenOne]

Another alternative would be to depict Jennika as a blend of Leo and Splinter. Show her having great leadership skills (she was Chunin, after all) but also willing to take the sort of extreme measures the other Turtles won't (she started out as an assassin). This way, she could come into conflict with Leo from a different angle than what we usually see with Raph, ie, much more calm and collected. Not antagonistic either, just often in pragmatic disagreement.