Juni Ba and Fero Pe have not been pulling their punches when it comes to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher. Not only has this duo given Jennika a new alias and a new mission, but they’ve also been hinting that it’s taking a toll on here. And in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher #5, she’s not only pummeled physically but emotionally.
Ba and Pe split their story into two halves, with the first being dedicated to Jennika’s battle against mutant crime lord Lao Ban. Lao Ban is a terrifying figure, sporting a cybernetic hand along with a milky white eye. The fact that he’s a massive, humanoid bear only adds to that. Yet Pe opens the issue with a pair of pages that are dedicated to Lao Ban’s transformation, showing that he was a wounded, relatively peaceful bear before the birth of Mutant Town. Looking at one panel, which features Lao Ban in a serene state, is jarring compared to his present day sneer.
This eventually leads to a battle between Lao Ban and Jennika, and it is brutal. Pe doesn’t hold back on the violence, as Lao Ban’s strikes send Jennika flying. It’s all she can do to stand up, even with her armor. But that’s nothing compared to one page where he brutally punches her hip, breaking it. How do you know it’s broken? Pe does a literal X-Ray of Jennika’s body, highlighting the broken bones; the eerie blue overlay from Luis Antonio Delgado’s colors adds to the X-ray effect. And it’s not even the most intense moment of their fight.
Credit: IDW
But past the broken bones and bruises lies another confrontation with Jennika and her girlfriend, Sheena. This is where the aforementioned toll of vigilantism comes in: Jennika never told Sheena about her Nightwatcher identity, which leads to a breakup between the two. Unlike other breakups in comics, this one is handled fairly maturely, and feels realistic thanks to Ba’s writing. Keeping secrets, any secrets, from your significant other is a road that only leads to disaster.
Ba and Pe really sell the finality of this conversation with a single page. After Sheena asks Jennika to travel with her, Jennika reaches out to her…but stops short, as the weight of the Nightwatcher looms behind her (quite literally, thanks to one panel superimposing her body over the Nightwatcher armor.) This page encompasses a multitude of emotions – regret being the most prominent – but it also shows how two artists can connect to deliver art that draws a truly emotional response from the reader.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher #5 delivers confrontations of a physical and emotional nature, as Jennika’s life undergoes a massive shift. Work like this, and hiring creators like Ba and Pe, is what’s made IDW’s handling of the TMNT franchise stand out.
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