By: Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, Tom Waltz (story), Ross Campbell (art), Ronda Pattison (colors)
The Story: If you’re going to crash your cycle, it might as well be in the face of your assassin.
The Review: I never know whether I want to roll my eyes good-naturedly or groan whenever someone says in a story, “Make sure you don’t do so and so!” It’s basically a guarantee that whatever they want not to happen will definitely happen. So when April warned the Turtles not to burn anything down after offering to house them at her parents’ country home in #29, we all knew that place was going down in flames eventually.
To be fair, it’s not as if the Turtles can just hold back when attacked by Foot assassins, especially mutant ones. The introduction of Koya, the falcon leader of these killers, adds a fairly deadly opponent to the Turtles’ ever-growing roster of enemies. She’s sort of the ultimate Foot boss besides Shredder himself: the size and strength of Bebop and Rocksteady combined with top-notch ninja skills as well as special falcon abilities, like far-sightedness and flight. Seeing as how it takes the combined skills of the Turtles to finally bring Koya down, their war against the Foot has gotten that much harder.
And it’s one they can’t simply avoid anymore, either. The very fact that Koya tracked them down means that even if they run, they’ll always remain in the Foot’s sightlines (“My eyes see for miles. I will find you again!” Koya promises). So it’s heartening to hear Splinter declare that they’re “through with running,” and ready to bring the fight to the Foot. They’ve been playing catch-up for too long; it’s about time that family and good values won the day, especially if it means some power-ups for the gang in the process.
Meanwhile, this arc has left us with some big developments to chew on. Having already complained about how quickly Leo’s gotten over his brainwashing, I will say no more on the point except that he completes the reconciliation here, giving Splinter an assist against their assassins and calling him “Father” again. Raphael roller-coaster relationship with Apolex hits a loop-de-loop when he realizes she didn’t actually betray them; even though she leaves in a gloomy huff despite his evident chagrin, the door will be open if she ever chooses to return.
And finally, the Turtles have gained two more (reluctant) allies in April’s parents, who take the weirdness their daughter’s gotten into with admirable calm.—maybe too much calm.* It really doesn’t take too much effort on April’s part to get Mrs. O’Neil to accept April’s insane living situation and freaky bunch of friends, or to give the stolen Ooze to her husband on April’s recommendation alone. It’ll be interesting to see how the O’Neils will fit into the series (and if Mr. O’Neil ends up sprouting extra appendages or fur or something, later down the line).
How nice of Campbell to sign us off on this arc with the strongest art from him yet. I maintain everything I ever said about the overly cute look of the characters, but those action scenes are pretty fearsome in spite of it. There’s a terrific splash of Mikey crashing a motorbike into Koya in midair, sending the falcon and bike skidding across the floor, loose feathers in flight, with Mikey protecting himself by spinning on his shell. The perspective is pitch-perfect, taken at a sharp angle that instantly conveys the speed and height of Mikey’s feat. And Pattison just better realize that she’s not anywhere on this series, at least not against her own volition.
Conclusion: After keeping things on the down-low for the better part of this regrouping arc, the writers kick up the pace to make up for lost time, getting us hyped for the arc to come.
Grade: A-
– Minhquan Nguyen
Some Musings: * If I had gotten that overload of information, I’m pretty sure I’d be wrapped in a straightjacket, strapped to a gurney, and halfway to the asylum by now, drooling helplessly from a corner of my mouth.
Grade
Conclusion