WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #121, available now from IDW.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have just put an end to one of the longest battles they have ever fought, and although the war in Mutant Town left the city scarred, it has also provided those who live there with an opportunity to enter a brand new era. Old Hob might not have ordered the attack on Sally Pride's rally himself, but he has finally been brought to justice for his crimes nonetheless. Unfortunately, it seems as though that isn't going to stick, at least not for very long, as Old Hob has just convinced Mutant Town's most innocent to help him strike back against the Turtles without them even realizing it.
Despite their ferocity, the Mutanimals didn't stand a chance against the rest of the citizens of Mutant Town who rose up to beat their attackers down. While it was Man Ray who ordered the Mutanimals to open fire on the rally, Old Hob has been held just as accountable for the years he has spent terrorizing the Turtles, not to mention having been the one to create Mutant Town in the first place. When the mob finally caught up with him, Old Hob only survived the beating he received thanks to the intervention of the young Zanna, one of the Weasel mutants who had imprinted on Hob as though he were their father. With the crowd's bloodlust sated, Old Hob is imprisoned and interrogated, though he doesn't provide any particularly useful information, instead choosing to remain silent and bide his time until another escape becomes possible. As it turns out, it doesn't even take that long for just such an opportunity to arise, especially once Mutant Town's smallest citizens come to pay him a visit.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #121 bySophie Campbell, Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Jodi Nishijima, Ronda Pattison, Shawn Lee, and Bobby Curnow sees Zanna and Mushroom sneak into the room holding Hob's cell as soon as the Turtles finish their interrogation for the evening. The two young mutants have obviously been shaken by all they have lived through recently, yet none of that has diminished their love and loyalty to their adoptive father. When Zanna, Mushroom, and Zink debuted in 2020's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #102 by Sophie Campbell, they had been mutated by Hob at the behest of the Foot Clan, all in a bid to trade the young mutants for much needed winter supplies to hold the Mutanimals over.
The efforts of Diamond, Sally Pride, and a cadre of other mutants ensured that the Weasels would find their way to safety with the Splinter Clan alongside Lita, but Zanna and Mushroom haven't been able to come to terms with Hob's role in their traumatic upbringings the way Zink has. Not only are they overjoyed to see their father, but they seem more than happy to help him escape under the pretense of becoming a real family together. Of course, there is no chance that Hob actually has something so wholesome in store for them all, putting the Weasels once again in harms way without them understanding the gravity of the situation.
Recent months had seen Old Hob make what looked like genuine strides towards becoming a better version of himself, and now all of that has been dashed in an instant. The viciousness with which Hob was attacked was unquestionable, but there is no way he truly believed he would leave the battle in Mutant Town unscathed regardless of his actual role in it. Now that he has once again manipulated the young mutants who are so enamored with him, there is no hope left for Hob to find redemption. And, if there is, it is buried so deep beneath the surface that it likely doesn't matter at all.