Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #10 : Silent Partner

Written by: Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird
Drawn by: Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird

Purchased originally: Titan Comics Gwinnett
Purchased again: Found in old box.

Once Upon a Time....
There was a little black and white comic called Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and it was a sensation, at least among the comics crowd.  If you didn't know where your local comic store was you had probably never heard of it.  The reason the Turtles were a sensation was clear, the storytelling was incredible.  Here we have issue #10 Silent Partner.  Although E&L's TMNT #1 had been published in 1984 their irregular printing schedule meant #10 had a publication date of April 1987.  Instead of following the story directly from issue #9 this issue begins where the Leonardo one-shot (which was awesome by the way) ended.  And like a good short-story we start in the middle of the action.

Leo has just gotten his ass handed to him by Shredder and tossed into April's apartment.

The turtles quickly surround their fallen brother and prepare for a fight. Then the foot clan burst in.  The Turtles engage in a vicous battle with the Foot while April tries to drag Leo to safety, also Splinter is awesome.

As the Turtles retreat, Raphael has been assigned the task of covering their rear, which he does effectively.

The rest of the Turtles make their way down to April's antique shop dispatching Foot on the way but Shredder is waiting for them there.

Just when things look the darkest the Turtles receive some unexpected help from Casey Jones.

Goongala! Goongala!

The Turtles and Casey fight the Foot while April and Splinter search for a way out.

Casey engages in combat with Shredder and then in a little shameless self-promotion.

That's right Casey, you do rule.

April and Splinter finally discover a way out just as police sirens signal the approach of authorities.  Shredder makes a little speech while Raphael and Casey respond just the way you would expect.

April's place burns to the ground and the comic ends with the Turtles leaving town in the back of a U-Haul.

So how does it hold up?  Quite frankly this comic is as good now as it was in 1987 and it was hard for me not to scan the whole thing.  Yes there are those who will be turned off by the art but I kind of like the rough look of it, it suits the genre.  I have no doubt if this comic were new today it would sell well.  It's simply that good.

The thing is, this was just about the last of the real Turtles.  Later this same year the cartoon appeared and the Turtles would be cemented into popular culture not as a kick ass bunch of ninjas but as more of comedic team.  Splinter went from being a real mutated rat to being Hamato Yoshi mutated into a rat.  April went from being a computer programmer to a reporter, it was just all wrong.  It was the new reality but it was not my reality.  For me the Turtles are frozen in time in these old issues and I'm ok with that.  (note this section has been edited from the first post for some reason I confused shredder and splinter)


Next time: we go back to the 1970s and unleash the power & fury of Ronan the Accuser.