“Yesterday’s” Comic> Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #12

I didn’t even know turtle hunting existed.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #12

Mirage Studios (October, 1987)

“Survivalists”

WRITER/ARTIST: Peter Laird

LETTERER: Steve Lavigne

Our heroes are having a relaxing picnic until a college student crashes the party. Lucky he can’t see well without his glasses, but he just escaped an extremist survivalist group looking to make the Cold War a lot hotter with their plutonium bomb. The group’s leader, Skronk, wounds the kid so April and Casey have to get him to the hospital fast, while Splinter and the Turtles guard their escape. The Turtles manage to stop the other four members but Splinter underestimates the crazed Skronk, who manages to get away. Though reluctant at first, Donatello decides Raphael is right and that he has to try to disarm the bomb. He manages to get the plutonium core out of it and far enough away before Skronk sets off the bomb, killing only himself. The kid will be fine and the other members get away but despite his extreme opinion, Donnie wonders if the looney had a point about needing to survive in a world of terrorists and nukes.

What they got right: This is a different kind of threat, one that the Turtles skills match up with well. Skronk is the only real extremist here. One of the others is even having second thoughts about what they’re doing. Having Donatello agree with the stated intentions of the group even while in sharp opposition to their methods and plans to achieve that goal shows that extremists have a point, but then don’t know when to stop.

What they got wrong: I would have liked to have seen Michaelangelo in a nunchuck fight with that one goon, show him what a real “chucker” can do. The name of the group, the Committee to Rebuild American Patriotism, is a bit on the nose, though when this was translated to the 4Kids show the group was renamed Humans Against The Extraterrestrials. It’s also weird seeing Splinter stopping the Turtles from killing the other four members (though it does save the reluctant one) and Donatello sorry to see Skronk get killed. Between the Purple Dragons, Shredder (all of which died in the first issue), and all the Foot Ninjas they’ve killed it’s not like they were the crimefighters of their current cartoon counterparts. I expect that from the Archie comics, but not this one.

What I think overall: It’s a good story, allowing the Turtles to have a decent foe that pushes their skills, though there seems to be more commentary here than usual, especially given how over the top Skronk is. I wish I could say people like that don’t exist but there’s a reason survivalists and militia groups get a bad reputation beyond the politically opposed. I enjoyed the story overall.