'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Comic Reveals New Female Turtle, A Former Foot Clan Leader

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic from IDW has introduced a new female turtle. The most recent issue of the comic series saw Foot Clan member Jennika turned into a turtle after an emergency blood transfusion using Leonardo's blood to save her life. Now she's a full-fledged mutant ninja turtle, and some new artwork has revealed her full turtle form, including the color of her mask. Check out the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles female turtle below.

Congratulations to the creative team of #TMNT! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #95 is now sold out at the distributor level and going to 2nd print! Until then, head over to your local comic shop and pick-up your copy...rumor has it there's a huge cliff hanger! 👀🐢 pic.twitter.com/PjYdajBoIA

— IDW Publishing (@IDWPublishing) July 8, 2019

You might be wondering why the Ninja Turtles would use a blood transfusion to save the life of a Foot Clan member. Well, in the current run of the comics, Splinter has taken over the Foot Clan. After defeating Shredder in a battle, Splinter was offered leadership of the Foot Clan by Shredder's granddaughter, Oroku Karai. Surprisingly, he accepted, thinking he could remold the Foot into a more honorable, less bloodthirsty form, one which would not be a danger to his family. But his use of the Foot Clan has caused him to fall away from his moral convictions, and he's on the verge of following the same dark path that made Shredder a villain.

Jennika is Splinter's second in command, and when Oroku Karai comes to a disagreement with Splinter about the Foot Clan, her loyalty to the rat results in her being stabbed by Karai's blade. After they are thwarted at every turn in attempting to get Jennika to the hospital, and another life-saving opportunity is stopped by Metalhead, the turtles have no choice but to do this risky blood transfusion, thus turning Jennika into a mutant turtle. As you can see, now Jennika is armed with claws on her hand, wrapped in a cloak, and donning a yellow ninja mask.

Hopefully Jennika will be better received than the last female turtle that was added to the ranks. The live-action Fox series Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation introduced Venus into the mix. She was accidentally left behind in the sewer when Splinter discovered Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Having been trained by master Chung I, a friend of Splinter (quite the coincidence), upon her master's death, she went off to see the family she never met, and the rest is history (albeit history that has basically been expunged from canon).

Considering that the latest issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is sold out and heading into a second printing, it sounds like fans are enjoying where this story is heading. The question is whether Jennika becomes an integral part of TMNT canon or if this is something that's only temporary. After all, there's a chance they could figure out how to reverse the mutation at some point. That might be something Jennika wants since she also has a romance with the turtles' ally Casey Jones, which could be a little weird now that she's a mutant turtle. We'll find out soon.