By Kris Markl — A property with nearly 40 years worth of stories — spread across comic books, animated series, and feature films — can be a difficult place to be new and innovative as a storyteller. Additionally, a mostly male-dominated ethos like that of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles can be a difficult place to introduce and develop prominent female characters. Long-time shellheads will remember all too well the cautionary tale of Venus de Milo in The Next Mutation series. Underdeveloped, anatomically incorrect, and famously despised by TMNT co-creator Peter Laird, Venus was doomed from the start.

So what makes recent Turtles addition Jennika any different? Unlike similar attempts in the past to add new turtles to the mythos, Jennika benefits from a multitude of factors, perhaps the most significant of which is the long-form storytelling that comics as a medium provides. Introduced as a human member of the Foot Clan in IDW’s TMNT #51 by Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, Tom Waltz, and Ken Garing, Jennika spent more than 40 issues in the ongoing series as  recurring character before her transformation even took place in TMNT #95. Those issues were filled with intrigue, shifting alliances, and even an attempt on Master Splinter’s life before a blood transfusion from Leonardo mutated Jennika into the fifth Ninja Turtle.

After becoming a full-fledged member of the team and family, Jennika has benefited from two solo series, both of which do a masterful job of building out the character. Not only do they travel to her troubled past on the streets of New York but they also give a glimpse at her life now as she, like so many of the residents of Mutant Town, are struggling with “the new normal” that their lives consist of at the present moment.

The first series, a three-issue mini by Brahm Revel, Ronda Pattison, Jodi Nishijima, and Megan Huang sees a patrolling Jennika (Jenny) pulled into some hijinx involving an ex-boyfriend and a potential cure for their mutations. The six-issue second series, which sees Revel, Pattison and Nishijima return, unleashes monsters on the streets of Mutant Town. As Jennika plays the role of detective in these cases, she must also deal with the mafia and the repercussions of her past life.

IDW’s recently-released TMNT: Best of Jennika is a great collection of snippets drawn from the aforementioned solo series, the primary ongoing TMNT series, and an incredible series of backup stories by Revel from the TMNT Universe series. What Is Ninja?, which was first published in Issues #6 through # 9 of Universe, features a masterful use of side-by-side storytelling. Jennika is seated with Master Splinter, with whom she has a very complicated history, as he recounts the history of the ninja — including its fall from grace as well as its evolution. These tales are accompanied with both the present-day feats of the four brothers as well as Jennika’s troubled past — which includes substance abuse, bad relationships, crime and jail time.

TMNT has come a long way with regards to the presentation of their female characters. Even April O’Neil, the first woman that comes to mind within this property, has undergone several evolutions and reimaginings. She is no longer an archetypal damsel in distress with a jumpsuit and microphone. Even as far back as the 2012 animated series, fans saw a teenage April studying martial arts under the tutelage of Master Splinter. The IDW series has taken a much different approach, with April serving both as a scientist and investigative reporter, but the results are equally incredible, proving that there is more than one way to develop a strong female character.

What makes Jennika stand out as a character is her fascinating backstory and its accompanying trajectory. She has a similar origin to that of many popular male characters — never truly a bad person but more or less a victim of circumstance, trusting the wrong people, and making one too many poor choices. She has a complicated romantic history — including a motorcycle ride with the one and only Casey Jones. For the first time in her life, albeit now as a mutant turtle, Jennika now has a home and a family. She’s making an impact and a difference in the lives of the citizens of Mutant Town — particularly the young ones.

Jennika is here to stay; the yellow bandana and tekko kagi claws aren’t going anywhere any time soon. She’s the perfect encapsulation of the growth and evolution of the TMNT property — particularly under the umbrella of the current slate of IDW comics.

Read About Jennika Here:

>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Jennika: Digital / Physical
>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Jennika II: Digital / Physical
>TMNT: Best of Jennika: Digital / Physical

Where to start with TMNT comics in 2022

Kris is an educator by day and a podcaster by nights and weekends. He co-hosts a weekly nerd/pop culture podcast called The Nerd Byword and can also be heard as a contributor of mutant-centric madness on the glorious podcast X of Words, hosted by the one and only Ashley Alleyne.