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One of the Ninja Turtles’ oldest allies is having trouble dealing with his grief, and he’s pushing away the only real family he has left.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #119 by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Sophie Campbell, Nelson Daniel, Ronda Pattison, Bobby Curnow and Shawn Lee, on sale now.
Life has never been easy for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and just when things start finally looking up, another threat arises to sour their good mood. April O’Neil has just been viciously assaulted by Mayor Stockman’s goons to protect his own budding conspiracy, creating yet another dire concern leading up to Mutant Town’s first open elections. With tensions running high, there has never been a better time to bring Casey Jones back into the fold.
Unfortunately, recent changes have left Casey in rough shape, and it has gotten bad enough that he can’t help but push his friends away when they need each other most.
Raphael decides to call in Casey Jones for extra crowd control at an upcoming political rally in Mutant Town. Ever since Old Hob’s mutagen bomb created Mutant Town, Casey hasn’t really been around. As Raph discovers, he hasn’t been up to much of anything whatsoever. Casey’s apartment is strewn with garbage and old food, but he doesn’t seem to mind living in relative filth. Raphael is immediately concerned for Casey’s current state, but that worry quickly turns to anger when awkward banter between old friends crosses a personal line.
Casey asks if Raph has been keeping Alopex “in line,” which the Turtle doesn’t take well at all. After being called out for his casual misogyny, Casey is apologetic but doubles down when Raph decides to leave without further discussion. Casey once again steps out of line while talking about Alopex, and once again apologizes when Raphael tells him to stop. All that Casey can do is sulk as he watches his friend leave out the window, clearly upset with himself and how his life has spiraled since the events of 2019’s “City at War” storyline.
When the battle for New York City broke out, Casey Jones was fighting alongside the rest of the Splinter Clan as best he could, and when Jennika was transformed, he was one of the first ones to offer her his support. Though her mutation came as a shock to him, Casey’s friendship never wavered. Upon seeing who his son was associating with, Hun Jones became enraged and decided he was unwilling to help any mutants. If Casey had not brought his father along with the rest of the Purple Dragons things might have gone differently, but Hun’s disappointment in his son and hatred for mutants drove him to join in the opposing side of the battle for the city as well as his ultimate demise. When Casey was caught in the line of fire, Hun sacrificed himself to save his son, and Casey’s life fell apart in the wake of his death. Now, it seems like the loss of his father and his gang still haunts Casey, who clearly has no healthy way to work through his emotions. He surely didn’t lash out at Raphael because he is in a good place, but being unwell alone isn’t the kind of excuse that will save Casey’s reputation.
There is no doubt that Raphael has come a long way in keeping his anger in check, as it is hard to imagine his conversation with Casey here wouldn’t have devolved into a fistfight only a few months ago. But at the same time, it seems that Casey himself has been losing control, and that could cost him dearly. With how much he has already lost in the past few years, losing the Splinter Clan on top of it all would effectively leave Casey Jones alone in the world. Luckily, he did make an appearance in the glimpse of the future that the Turtles recently repaired, so the odds of bringing Casey back around are already pretty good — as long as the Turtles survive the rest of the night without him by their side.
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