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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #121 sees the escalating rage of Raphael almost get the better of him, as he nearly kills a classic Turtles villain.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #121, available now from IDW.
The tension in Mutant Town has been building for well over a year now, and it recently boiled over in violent fashion. During Sally Pride’s rally to unify Mutant Town leading up to its first open elections, the Mutanimals opened fire on the crowd, injuring many and turning what should have been a joyous occasion into a war. Even worse, Old Hob had nothing to do with the attack, although that hasn’t stopped him from bearing the brunt of the outrage. Not only have the residents of Mutant Town come for his blood, but Raphael’s unhinged rage very nearly cost Old Hob his life in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #121 (by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Sophie Campbell, Jodi Nishijima, Ronda Pattison, Shawn Lee, and Bobby Curnow).
When shots first rang out through Mutant Town, the crowd on the receiving end of them was sent into an absolute panic. The Turtles were able to subdue the shooters before they could do extensive damage, but it was the citizens of Mutant Town who rose up to put an end to the fight. Once the mob made their way to the Mutanimals headquarters, they weren’t interested in giving Old Hob a chance to explain himself, and it was only through the intervention of the young weasel mutant Zanna that Old Hob wasn’t beaten to death on the spot. Hob took the chance to flee, but Raphael caught up to him and for a moment gave in to his feelings of rage toward the classic Ninja Turtles villain.
After landing a few rage fueled blows on the villain, Raphael drives the end of his sai through Old Hob’s shoulder and into the wall behind him, painfully pinning Hob in place. It is only when Michelangelo comes across them that he is able to pull Raphael off of the villain and snap him out of the vicious state that has taken hold of him.
It isn’t surprising that Raphael would lash out so violently against Old Hob considering the history between them. While there was a time when they fought together as Mutanimals, Hob’s manipulations led Raphael to inadvertently help set off the Mutagen bomb that created Mutant Town in the first place. In spite of any heartwarming moments between the mutant residents since then, the act that led them to the lives they now lead was without question an act of terrorism. Raphael may not have known what he was getting into or helping set in motion at the time, but all he can do is hate both himself and Hob every time he looks back at it all.
Thankfully, Raphael didn’t cross that line, a concern that has been brewing for quite some time now. Killing Hob wouldn’t be the greatest crime committed in Mutant Town, but it would set a dangerous precedent, not to mention deal a devastating blow to the reputation that the Splinter Clan has carved out for themselves as heroes.
What happens next regarding Old Hob is not clear, nor is what comes next for Raphael. With any luck, at least one of them will find a way to come to terms with what has been tearing them up inside before it boils over again with lethal consequences.
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