Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Introduces a New, Female Ninja Turtle

For 35 years, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Based on the latest issue of IDW Publishing‘s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book series, they may be adding a new sister to the family. SPOILERS for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #95 by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Dave Wachter, and Ronda Pattison follow.

Back during the in the climax of “City Fall” arc that led into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #50, the Turtles clashed with Shredder. The Turtles defeated Shredder’s mutant henchman and his granddaughter, Karai, in a ritual gauntlet challenge. That allowed Splinter to face Shredder one-on-one. Splinter defeated and killed Shredder, taking control of the Foot Clan.

Since then, Splinter has proven himself to be almost as cunning and brutal a leader as Shredder was. He has manipulated his allies and killed his foes to further his plans. This has driven a wedge between Splinter and his sons. Michelangelo was the first to leave the group, refusing to be a party to Splinter’s actions. Leonardo and the others tried to be more understanding but soon followed in their brother’s footsteps. Even Splinter came to agree he could not lead the Foot Clan and Clan Hamato, his family. Leonardo took over leadership of Clan Hamato, and the relationship between Splinter and his family has had ups and downs ever since.

In Leonardo’s place, Splinter promoted Jennika — a loyal Foot Clan ninja who once tried to kill Splinter — to become his new chunin. Under Splinter’s guidance, Jennika has matured, mastered her anger, and become a formidable second in command to Splinter. She’s also become involved with the Turtles’ friend and ally Casey Jones.

As the current “City at War” arc began, Karai returned to New York City with her mutant soldiers to reclaim leadership of the Foot Clan. After some negotiating, Splinter agreed to turn over the Foot Clan to Karai and return to his family. All that went out the window when Karai discovered that the Foot Clan was fostering a group of orphaned children. What made things worse was that there was no plan to train the children as Foot Clan recruits. Karai insisted that they either join the Foot or die. Splinter, having promised the Turtles that he’d protect the children, refused.

This set off a gang war in the city as Karai tries to take back the Foot Clan by force. Jennika almost became one of the casualties when Karai impaled her with an enchanted sword. Jennika clings to life, but Karai’s minions make sure the Turtles can’t get her to a hospital.

Instead, they plan to use the same concoction that April O’Neil used to restore her father to health after a stroke to heal Jennika. The plan seems to be working until Metalhead and the Earth Protection Force crash the laboratory.

Metalhead destroys the mutagen, leaving Jennika in a critical state. The Turtles manage to flee with Jennika, but without the mutagen, there is little they can do. Donatello decides to take extreme measures. He performs a blood transfusion using Leonardo’s blood. This seems to work as Jennika’s state improves, but has some other side effects as well:

It seems Jennika is being turned into a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. This is how the issue ends, so we don’t know how she’ll react to the transformation. We also don’t know what role she’ll play in relation to the others.

What do you think of this new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle? Let us know in the comments. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #95 is on sale now.