By: Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, Tom Waltz (story), Mateus Santolouco (art), Ronda Pattison (colors)
The Story: Follow the pizza, and there find ninjas.
The Review: I’m the kind of guy who loves to root for the underdog, the second banana, that guy who always gets overshadowed by his more popular, interesting friend. All along on this title, I’ve been hoping for Donnie and Mikey to have their turn in the spotlight, instead of the focus always landing on their more charismatic brothers. Why should the brain and heart of the family constantly have to fight for attention from the devotee and rebel?
This is why I very much appreciate Donnie not taking any crap from Raph on supplementing his ninja skills with some advanced tech. It’s about time that his intellect was treated as a real advantage for the Turtles instead of an eccentricity. In response to Raph’s dismissive attitude towards the levitation gadget he acquired for their impending battle, Donnie witheringly replies, “It was your bright idea for all of us to do what we do best and this is what I do best. But be a luddite ninja if that makes you happy—I’m gonna do my fighting in the 21st century.”* That’s the spirit!
His tech comes in real handy during the battle, too, allowing him to singlehandedly shove Shredder (and Apolex) aside and clear a path for their allies to escape. Mikey’s use is a little more limited, mainly by putting his connections (read: Woody) to work and showing a bit of grit in uncovering the location of the big Foot brouhaha. It’s not quite as impressive as Donnie’s contributions to the arc, but it sure beats being relegated to support duty all the time.
In fact, this whole issue seems to be about sideline characters stepping up to the plate as the situation in the city worsens. I don’t know how it happened (maybe it was in one of those micro-series I keep meaning to buy, then forgetting), but Karai has shed the resentful inferiority complex she used to carry. Though clearly no longer in Shredder’s father, she takes her secondary position to Leo in stride, even growing so bold as to mock him when the opportunity presents itself. By the end of the issue, when the tide turns against the Foot and her grandfather shouts for her as a last resort, Karai is ready to step out of the shadows and reveal all the preparations she’s made for this moment
But the character who’s gone through the most radical change (of his own volition—Leo’s brainwashing to the dark side doesn’t count) has to be Casey’s dad, who goes as far as to rebrand himself Hun and vie for control of the Purple Dragons. Again, missing out on a micro-series leaves me baffled as to how Hun could go through that much alteration in such a short amount of time, but kudos to Eastman-Curnow-Waltz for putting him to use beyond an obstacle for Casey.
As for Leo, the one thing that always undermined his character was how easily everything seemed to come to him. He just came out of the story oven pre-baked with the lion’s share of talent and spirituality. Under those circumstances, it would’ve been nice to see him pushing back against Kitsune’s mind-games on his own terms instead of a lot of melodramatic assistance from his imagined mother.**
You wouldn’t think Santolouco can get any better on this title, but he just does. It’s pretty clear that his comfort level in drawing the Turtles has peaked; gone are ever-so-slightly too exaggerated features on their (and their friends’) faces. His lines in this issue are extra sharp, confident, full of detail, and their agility remains undiminished. The action sequences really have a sense of movement to them, in a way many other mainstream comics sadly lack. Shout-out to Pattison for her striking colors, but especially the cool, turquoise glowing effect when Donnie uses his levitation device.
Conclusion: Santolouco’s art pushes the issue over the edge, but the story itself is pretty strong already.
Grade: A-
– Minhquan Nguyen
Some Musings: * A luddite is someone who opposes new technology, but mostly technological or industrial change in general.
– It kind of makes you wonder, though: if the entire Turtle family was reborn into the world, why is momma Turtle the only one who hasn’t residence in a mutant-animal body?
– Boy, that is one brutal execution Shredder puts Savate through. This is definitely not your mother’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
– Love the burgeoning fox-bond between Kitsune and Apolex. Very clever.
Grade
Conclusion