WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #107, by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Sophie Campbell, Ronda Pattinson, Nelson Daniel, Bobby Curnow and Shawn Lee, on sale now.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has been carving out a new chapter for Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael in their cozy little pocket of New York, aptly titled Mutant Town. After Old Hob detonated a mutagenic bomb, the area's been quarantined, with the government barely sending any supplies over to the humans who turned into mutants.
However, as Teenage Mutanta Ninja Turtles #107 reveals, the Turtles have a lot more to worry about as they try to establish a sense of community as the franchise's most sinister villain, Baxter Stockman, is back to his mas science tricks.
In the Turtles' current comic book world, Baxter's not the mutated fly he was known from the old cartoon. Instead, he's a shrewd businessman who worked with Shredder and Krang in the past. He used his science and tech firm to try to create new mutants and tried to usurp his bosses with his MOUSER robots. Eventually, Baxter worked with April and the Turtles to save the planet, from those villains and also from the Triceratons.
Thanks to his business and political acumen, Baxter ended up becoming Mayor of New York, a coronation that saw Old Hob release the mutagen. Since then, Baxter has been playing games in the shadows, but Baxter's true colors reappear when the monster known as the Slithery arrives on the scene.
The Turtles are trying to find the missing kids that the mutant eel kidnapped, including Lita, but the Slithery knows the sewers inside out and hides them well. In fact, it rekindles memories of living there with Splinter. As the crew -- including Jennika -- scour the underground, they realize the bomb has created new monsters by turning animals into mutated versions of themselves and not humanoids. Donnie's taken aback because it means the blast effect is as unpredictable as ever. In time, the Slithery starts abducting them one by one, taking horror cues from Jaws, proving how smart it is.
They manage to contact April, who uses her connection to Baxter to break into his office. She sees him monitoring the creature as it snatches the Turtles. Considering his love for experimenting with creatures, this isn't too surprising. The Slithery seems to be precisely the kind of mindless drone tat he can control, but it's not clear how he's exactly communicating with it.
From the way he's positioned himself as a Lex Luthor-esque mastermind, it's clear that Baxter is working towards something larger. He's already been rationing supplies to manipulate the Mutant Zone and the freedom fighter Mutanimals, and this is just another move on his chessboard. Although we don't know what other creatures he may have created, this move is in keeping with Baxter's character. No matter how heroic he pretends to be or how much he says he wants redemption, it seems like Baxter Stockman always has a selfish goal in his sights.