TMNT #91 Preview and Discussion
 

Preview here.

Bludgeon sleeping in the tub is surprisingly cute.

Living sword of hate, huh? That'll end well.

And in hindsight, I shouldn't have been surprised to see a certain someone involving herself with these proceedings. Excellent.

Not really that surprising that Kitsune kept Karai in her back pocket all this time as a secondary route to Saki's head. This is exactly the sort of story any given series can only tell after dozens and dozens of installments, and I'm loving every page of it.

I wonder if Karai could hold the spirit of the Dragon herself? Hmm...

Excellent, my predictions are coming to fruition. I told you all that Karai would end up being the Dragon's vessel.

I think I did anyway. But I predicted it in my head, and that's the part that matters, so I'm going to pretend I said it so I get bragging rights.

Anyway, I pretty much knew the Pantheon would get involved with this, it isn't a real shocker, but I'm surprised by how honorably Karai's been handling it. Same for Splinter, in all honestly, I'm happy to see the mutual respect they seem to be showing each other. So excited to see how this'll go to ****.

So it's been discussed that Karai could be the new Dragon Lord. So what if Oroku Saki comes back but ends up being a vessel for good? He joins the TMNT and Splinter to fight against the Pantheon, Kitsune, and Karai. The Pantheon, Karai, and Kitsune are defeated but Splinter perishes in the fight and Saki becomes the father figure/sensei of the TMNT at the request of Splinter.

That would be awkward considering he beheaded them in their past life but he was the embodiment of Tatsuo, possibly possessed and by this time maybe Saki has redeemed himself completely.

I don't know. It's just a wild thought.

Holy crap, man, that's wild. Seems like a long shot, but it'd be awesome to see Saki become the new tutor / father figure to the Turtles.

I love wild thoughts! :tsmile:

Yes, Turtles could receive ‘unexpected help’ from Saki. Maybe even experience some emotional/spiritual growth like never seen before. Maybe process grief or something. Turtles trust of Saki would be like in a grey area. I picture an airplane pilot with a deathwish. Hopefully you get to your destination before the plane does what it does.:teek:

I had a similar thought a couple of weeks back but never voiced it here, as I often do(n't). It would certainly be a radical change to the status quo, and something that no other iteration of TMNT has ever attempted before, not to mention how much it brings to mind that brief period when Magneto was the leader of the X-Men... I love it! Please make it happen, IDW!

If you need more to fuel this theory, look no further than Shredder in Hell #1.

More proof that Karai might become the vessel for the Dragon Lord lies in the fact that she is Kitsune's grand-daughter, after all. Wiiiiiild theory incoming, but maybe Kitsune hooking up with Saki was never about her making him the Dragon Warrior, but about her CREATING the Dragon Warrior, one who'd come from a line of the greatest mortal warrior she had ever encountered and leader of Foot Clan, as well as being a God. At the end of the day, the blood of the Dragon doesn't run through Saki, it runs through Karai.

Wow, that would really make Saki the Stannis to Kitsune's Melisandre...

The one thing I don't like about these theories, though, is how they take (even more) agency away from the Turtles by making it all about Saki's bloodline and his role in the Pantheon's schemes. It's almost like Clan Hamato are merely caught in the crossfire in their own comic.

Other than that, everything sounds great. So maybe Leo could be the one to channel the Dreamer? I dunno.

Karai being the vessel for the Dragon is a good theory but I'm not sure that will happen. Shredder in Hell # 1 made it clear that the Dragon's soul is basically trapped in Saki/ Tatsuo's spirit. I'm thinking there is still more to that than what has been revealed. Like, why would the Dragon's spirit be trapped in Saki's soul? I also wonder if Kitsune knew this whole time if that was the case. Maybe when the Dragon died, part of his spirit got reincarnated as Tatsuo? Splinter said that Saki never knew an existance without the Dragon basically being a part of him. This is probably the main reason Saki was chosen to be the vessel of the Dragon, becasue he is already carrying his soul, which the panthan might not be aware of other than Kitsune. I think the connection with Saki and the Dragon could be a very interesting story point.

Karai potentially be the vessel of the Dragon if his soul's gets cleansed from Saki's soul and merges with Karai. The fact she has the Dragon's DNA is interesting.Who knows?! This is shaping up to me a great journey to issue 100.

And let's not forget about that other dangling plot thread regarding DNA, souls and resurrections... This could tie it all together.

Honestly, the whole caught-in-the-crossfire thing I think would be VERY fitting for the whole City at War narrative. The entire world is falling apart around them with Gods fighting to take over and they're over here with a bunch of pointy stuff trying to save the day from an evil they helped create. I'd find it really compelling if these heroes, who're in WAY over their heads, found a way to take the battle into their own hands and helped save themselves instead of letting these Godlike entities decide their destinies.

Ah'ight, I'm sold!

Barring the lame route like Kitsune brainwashing Karai (after we had to deal with her doing it with Alopex and so many others), I really wonder what causes Karai to turn on Splinter and the Turtles so violently in the upcoming issues. She seems so peaceful in this issue, I don't know what would trigger the change

We're all, of course, discounting the very real possibility that Bishop might decide to interfere in the proceedings.

It's about time for this!

And...for it to be acknowledged that Karai is Kitsune's granddaughter too (wouldn't that make her a demigod?)


Gotta love Koya trying to do airplanes with the kiddo, and Karai's first instinct was thinking she was going to eat him.

Can one even be a demigod in the TMNT universe? I mean, can someone be, like, quarter-God? Or half-God? Maybe if you're one part God, then you're all parts God, if you get me? Probably not that likely but I'm making every guess imaginable over here so I get bragging rights if I get something right.

In Karai's case, it would be watered down quite a bit. Four or five generations, probably.

That's sort of what I'm trying to say, can being a God REALLY be watered down?

Well, wouldn't Saki himself, assuming Kitsune's plan goes off without a hitch, already be a watered-down Dragon? And isn't that exactly what she wants so she can better control him?

Ecchh, that just makes her Freudian complex even worse (or is it Electra?).

It's Electra for women. But I mean, at some point past the edge of insanity, does it even matter anymore?

Ladies and gents, I'm lost.

Tom just Tweeted out, while sharing a pretty cool review of #91 "Great review of #TMNT #91, in stores tomorrow for #FCBD."

Now, I'm sort of new to the comic book industry, at least by the standards of these forums, but, isn't FCBD Free Comic Book Day? And isn't that on May 4th? And aren't we getting a completely different comic for Free Comic Book Day? Which also coincidentally happens to not come out on Free Comic Book Day? Because right now it seems to me like either I don't know what FCBD is, or IDW doesn't.

The Free Comic Book Day issues for IDW tend to be a recap if something big is coming up, in the midst of main story happening.

For instance, the big shakeup within the Foot.

Are we seriously going full Naruto here? I haven't read the manga in full but I know about the whole Kaguya thing and how her plans involved manipulating the descendants who inherited her godly powers.

Yeah but isn't a Free Comic Book Day issue supposed to come out on free comic book day?

I've never actually watched (or read) Naruto. Well, that's a lie, I did but it was like, until that part where Naruto summons that big ass frog to fight Orochimaru or something. And that's mainly cause my brother's a weeb.

Oops. That was supposed be #NCBD (New Comic Book Day).

I'll jump on Twitter to notate that.

Thanks!

Talk soon...

Tom W.

I see, glad we got that cleared up :tlol: You're welcome man, happens to the best of us.

Huh...

Like how the fact that he was willing to give up the foot clan that easily?

Yeah, I thought he would have been more resistant. Well, at least he was until Leo said that the Foot Clan was hers to give, and that she technically has every right to it.


Plus, she's the reason it's back in the first place.

Well we still have 92-100 plus shredder in hell 2-5 coming

Karai, orphanage director! Hope she'll enjoy that title more than Jonin, because that's technically waht she'll be.

Koya and Bludgeon already seem to be doing pretty well with the kiddos, so...

Gotta say though, that scene of Mike and Don talking to Bludgeon and Koya is one of my new favorite scenes. But was Mike referencing Daredevil???

Yeah I think he was then again they were influcned by Daredevil so Mikey read both Marvel and DC comics.

I don't think any other issue of the entire run has ever felt as short as this one. Gimme more! :D

I'll be curious to see what the trigger to begin the fight between the two clans is in the upcoming issues since we know from previews and solicitations that this "getting along with each other" moment isn't going to last, unfortunately :(. Probably Bishop getting involved will be some sort of catalyst.

I hate to sound like this but I wouldn't be surprised if Karai does some sort of ambush since what we saw at the end of "Bebop & Rocksteady Hit the Road" #5 (if that wasn't some sort of dream or hallucination) lends me to believe that something is up. We have not seen Bebop, Rocksteady, or Anchovy since despite seemingly rejoining Karai. Plus Karai's comment about taking over this city at that issue's end (maybe saying that just cuz the Foot basically does rule the city) doesn't fill me with confidence that this meeting with Splinter is just intended to be a negotiation. I realize the meeting between Karai and Kitsune at the beginning of this issue might say otherwise to my theory, but who knows what's gonna happen......unless the epilogue to the Bebop and Rocksteady miniseries is suppose to take place after "City at War" has started.

Yes Mikey was making a reference to Daredevil. It was essentially an omage to TMNT roots. TMNT was heavily influenced by Frank Miller's work on Daredevil and I mean heavily.

In DareDevil there is an evil ninja organization call the "Hand" Daredevil's master is called "Stick" Daredevil gets his powers from a car accident where he was hit by a green chemical and was essentially given his powers. Electra uses Sais as her main weapons like one of the turtles.

So yeah it was a nod to TMNT roots. :D

Yes correct.


Edit: 4500th post! I would like to thank the mods for not banning me yet :P