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rainbowfoxes · 4 months

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IDW TMNT: A Theory Confirmed, Questions Answered and Asked

Good tidings, folks, and welcome back to "Ruth is a Bit Unhinged About Turtles." In this episode we confirm a theory from our last installment, answer some questions, and ask some new ones.

Issue #148 provided us with one extremely interesting set of panels.

[Image ID: A series of four panels from IDW TMNT #148. In them, Donnie and Future!Jennika (who is now a cyborg) have the following conversation: Jennika: Oh, hey, forgot to tell ya, but the future you cam through here not that long ago. Donatello: What? He did? Jennika: Yeah. Came through the city with his weird kids. After everyone got so mad at him 'cause of his magic crap, he drew a new family with that crystal pencil thing. Just drew 'em, and then they were real. Instant replacement turtles. Donatello: The Warp Crystal? He drew actual people? Not just illusions like I saw him do in his tower... But, okay, we're all alive and well in this time period, right? The he must be here somewhere! Maybe he can read the journal! :End Image ID]

What these panels mean for our theories and questions, below the cut.

(This post heavily references this previous one, I highly recommend reading it first.)

Theory Confirmed: The Origin of Donatello's Children

As Jennika confirmed in this issue, Donnie drew his children to life using his Warp Crystal. It seems, at least as far as Jennika knows, that he drew them straight into life without any other factors. We've seen him use similar skills before in TMNT: The Armageddon Game — The Alliance #4, but those beings were not truly alive, just illusions.

What does this Mean?

Well it could mean a lot of things. As discussed in the last post, in the Mirage comics, the permanency of things drawn to life with the Warp Crystal is dependent upon the materials used — things drawn with pencil are always temporary, while things done with ink can be last a lifetime — and the emotional investment of the creator in the item — Kirby's throw-away made up characters lasted minutes or hours at the most, while April's father could make a pencil drawing last for months and his ink drawing of April 30+ years.

[Image ID: Two panels from IDW Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Armageddon Game — Alliance #4. In the top panel, old Donatello draws ghostly green images of his family onto a blank white background using a pencil with a glowing green crystal attached. In the bottom panel, he addresses the drawings of his family morosely, “Hey, guys.” :End Image ID]

So how long will Donnie's children live? We're told that a pencil was used — and indeed, we see him using a pencil in Alliance #4 — but how long can the emotional tether of his grief and loneliness last? We don't see the kids at all in the far future, but Jennika has seen them recently — did they die between Jennika's future and Leo's?

Unfortunately, we'll just have to wait and see.

Answered Questions

Where are Donnie's Kids? According to Jennika, they are traveling with Donnie through time! Hopefully, Donnie, Venus, and Bob will catch up with them soon and we will finally get to meet them!

Why did he make them? According to Jennika, he made them as a response to his family turning on him — "replacement turtles," she called them. Is this the only reason, or is it just why Jennika thinks he did it?

New Questions

If Donnie used pure magic to make the Donnie-Spawn, then what's the deal with that tank of turtles? As discussed in the previous post, in Donnie's vision of the future, he is seen watching a tank of baby turtles. I had previously speculated that he used these turtles as a canvas of sorts to draw his children into life. If that is not the case, then what was he doing with these turtles?

[Image ID: A panel from IDW TMNT #139, showing Donatello watching a tank of four baby turtles. :End Image ID]

What happened that made the others turn on Donnie? Jennika mentions that the family "...got so mad at him [Donnie] 'cause of his magic crap..." What did he do to make them so angry? Is it in response to this time-travel mess, or something else? Was it his hyper-fixation on magic in general, or something specific?

That's all for this installment — let me know your thoughts! Agree, disagree, got something to add? I wanna hear it!

#IDW TMNT #TMNT Donatello #TMNT Jennika #TMNT #Why yes I AM going to continue to be unhinged about the Donnie-Spawn why do you ask?

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