Issue Description

The four shadowy figures ended up being Death, Famine, War and Pestilence - evil forces of nature who have allied themselves with Null and defeated our heroes. As this issue opens, Null has the TMNT and Mutanimals shackled to posts. Jagwar demands to know why Null has destroyed the rain forest and kidnapped his mother. The evil corporate devil explains that he did it to make the Earth inhospitable to all life.

Splinter asks Null what he plans to do with his captives and the villain explains that they will all be slowly electrocuted to death on the posts. Ninjara snarls for him to get it over with, but Null delays and states that he will not be the one to push the button that begins the execution, he has someone else in mind for that task. The demon then he walks off to his hidden headquarters in the hills.

When Null gets to his destination, he discovers that both Azrael and Juntarra have escaped.

Azrael arrives at the spot where our heroes are tied and attacks the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In his efforts to capture the eagle, War crashes through the posts holding some of our heroes, freeing them. A battle ensues while Don quickly frees the others.

In the distance, the cowboy known as Kid Terra spies on the Reaper, who is controlling War, Famine and Pestilence by means of puppetry. Juntarra is with Kid - she runs off to help her son while Terra heads up the cliff where the Grim Reaper is preoccupied with the battle below. Kid Terra punches the bonehead, but Null arrives on the scene and shoots the cowboy, who falls from the top of the cliff to the ground below.

The battle between the mutants and the Horsemen continues, while the Reaper seizes the Kid's lifeless body.

Juntarra, Ninjara and Azrael corner Null - who freaks out when faced by three powerful women.

While the Reaper is preoccupied with the Kid's body, Screwloose finds the puppets that the deathly villain was using to control the other Horsemen. Screwloose grabs the puppets and smashes them on a rock - causing the real monsters to disappear into thin air!

Null pulls a gun and keeps his adversaries at bay, before sprouting bat wings and escaping.

Our heroes gather around the Grim Reaper as it holds Terra's body. Kid is having a vision about a hallway full of doors... he finds one cracked open, bright white light escaping from it. Kid opens the door...

The Reaper laughs with satisfaction and holds a glowing orb high above his head, gloating that it has captured Kid Terra's soul. Juntarra grabs the Reaper's scythe and smashes the skeleton to bits - Azrael leaps and catches the Kid's soul and places it on his head, where it seeps back into his body. Once he's absorbed his soul, Kid Terra stirs back to life!

The Reaper's bones turn to dust and Kid asks someone to remove the bullet from his chest - Raph states that he can do it with the right implements.

Jagwar is finally reunited with his mother.

Mondo comments, "After all this, I can only say one thing... WHEW!"

Off in the distance, the Grim Reaper's dust reforms into its skeletal form and rides off on its horse.

Later, Kid Terra peacefully recovers from his impromptu surgery as the Turtles wonder where Cudley the Cowlick could be.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures (1989)

Publisher

Archie Adventure Series

Volume Description

Published by Archie Comics, this comic was based on mainstream version of the turtles. It started out simply retelling episodes of the then popular animated series but with the fifth issue the book branched out into telling it's own stories. Primarily written by Dean Clarrain the stories would often have an underlying environmentalist themes, over time the storylines grew darker and more mature. The series drew negative press when a storyline saw the death of the turtle's allies The Mighty Mutanimals in a massacre.

The three part "Future Shark Trilogy" which saw the turtles, Splinter and their ally Ninjara come to the aid of the older turtles in dystopian future proved popular with fans and elements and characters from the story were revisited many times in the series. For five issues the comic was renamed Cyber Samurai Mutant Ninja Turtles in a storyline that was set soley in the aforementioned future. By now the turtles fad of the eighties and early nineties had faded which meant lagging sales. Mirage wanting to put out their own color TMNT book made the publishers nervous of competition leading them to consider cancellation. Growing frustration of darker storylines came to a head when Clarrain and co plotter and artist Chris Allen submitted a time travel story involving the the future turtles Archie was displeased. The covers for the seven part epic "Forever War" were made with the belief that this would be final storyline of the series. Clarrain and Allen were dropped from the book and it was cancelled two issues later with the final storyline focused on a present Splinter telling the story of how pre-teen turtles picked their weapons written by Steve Sullivan and drawn by Brian Thomas.

Years later Clarrain and Allen would work on the second volume of Tales of the TMNT writing the original turtles for Mirage. It has also been confirmed they are working on completing the final storyline of TMNT Adventures "Forever War" with Mirage publishing it as part of the TMNT's 25th anniversary in 2009.

Collected EditionsTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Vol. 1 (#1-4)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Vol. 2 (#5-8)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Vol. 3 (#9-12)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Vol. 4 (#13-16)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Vol. 5 (#17-20)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Vol. 6 (#21-22)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Vol. 7 (#23-27)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Vol. 8 (#28-31)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Vol. 9 (#38-40)

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