Martial Arts Week: Leonardo vs the Foot Clan
If we're going to have a Martial Arts Week, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles just gotta be represented. So I present the Leonardo One Shot (originally published by Mirage) IN GLORIOUS COLOR!!
For those wondering how is this possible? There where four(?) trades released of of the first volume of TMNT all colored. They where published by First Publishing. This was volume four which I found at a comic book shop a few years ago. I couldn't pass up the chance to get this particular chapter. I only saw these four and I could have gotten the rest. But really this one was the only one I desired since it had the Leonardo special and heralded the return of THE rogue of TMNT. *looks at icon*
You'll have to excuse the scans. The trade was HUGE. So it was a pain to scan. But it's so worth it don't you agree? So here it is a colorized version of Leonardo one shot. It starts off with Leonardo out training. When he runs into the Foot Clan who're still harboring a deep grudge against the turtles for slaying their master, the Shredder. I've taken out the talk of Leo via his brothers, Splinter, and April on the bottom of each page and just went straight for the good stuff. The trade has the one shot clocking in at just over thirty pages so nine scans of it. So enough of my rambling:
Unlike another encounter this time the Foot are utterly relentless against Leo. Every break he has or a moment he thinks it's over more Foot Ninja swarm him and the cycle begins all over. They're even determined enough to let this fight spill on the street when Leo tries walking away. As shown with several Shredder Foot Elite (not called this until City at War) ambushing him:
Leo attempts a final stand near a construction site. The Foot Clan appear in full force:
Saki after beating Leo within an inch of his life has his Foot Ninja toss the Turtle into April's apartment via window. Horrified at the sight of their fallen brother the Turtles and Splinter demand to know who did this. Leo before passing out from his wounds horrifingly tells them the man they murdered a year ago is back. And he's pissed as hell.
Utterly awesome. This scene was adapted for the live action movie with Raph subbing for Leo and Tatsu for Shredder. A perfectly flawless adapation of this issue came in the recent 2k3 TMNT series.
For those wanting to see the epic fight Leo has with the Shredder during Return to New York. I scanned it awhile ago and posted it here: