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Review of IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Issue #40 (Spoilers)

COMIC SERIES: IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

ISSUE: 40

WRITERS/ARTISTS: Tom Waltz, Kevin Eastman/Mateus Santoluoco, Kevin Eastman

PLOT:

While Casey helps April’s Father at the Second Time Around Shop, the Turtles and Old Hob’s Mutanimals continue their fight with Rocksteady and Bebop. But just as things look grim, Nobody (Angel) and Alopex join the fight.

VERDICT:

This series continues to impress and I definitely think that it is the best incarnation of the ‘Heroes in a half-shell’ since their first appearance back in 1984 (it has a perfect mix of the best aspects from all the previous versions, as well as giving us a great re-imaging of their origins), and I don’t think anything that has come up recently (the 2012 series and this year’s movie) even comes close to it’s quality.

Now onto this issue which despite simply being the concluding part of Rocksteady and Bebop’s gate-crashing of the meeting between our Heroes and Old Hob (which really is a small incident when compared with the continuing battle with the Foot Clan), the story of it  is so well drawn and written that I found myself sucked into the action and drama that was unfolding on each and every page.

This issue though did not just keep the focus on the Mutant smack-down as we got a quieter but no less engaging scene between Casey Jones and April’s Father, with the two Men bonding over basic DIY. It was a touching scene and showed how much the young Jones is appreciated and cared about by the O’Neills.

But the main focus of this comic was the brawl and it did not disappoint as every character involved got their moment to shine (even Pigeon Pete got in on the action, though if it was only to stop Raphael and Alopex’s talk from turning romantic). This fight had it all as the Turtles and the Mutanimals worked together to bring down Rocksteady and Bebop (I loved when Nobody hooked up her tazer to the latter’s nose ring, as well as Splinter teaming up with Gecko), it was certainly tense and exciting stuff to read (those two bruisers are for more of a threat in this series than they ever were in the original cartoon).

I do really like the new characters that have been introduced during this story-arc, Mondo Gecko and Herman the Hermit Crab have been excellent along with the dim-witted Pigeon Pete (I just love his design).

The artwork in this issue was excellent overall and really made it look like human-like animals were having a fight in down-town New York (all those hits looked really painful and brutal and made you feel for everyone that took them).

And then when the fight was won at the end of the day (I think that this was the first time the Turtles and their friends had actually beaten the Foot Duo, as the last time they fought end with the Turtles retreating), the surprises just kept coming when Metalhead (under Donatello’s control) turns up at the Foot’s HQ asking for Shredder’s help in stopping Krang and his Technodrome (though recent issues have shown his distrust and frustration with his family’s focusing on the Foot and not on Krang, I still can’t believe that Donatello would betray them like that), it is a tense moment and I cannot wait to pick up the next issue to see where it all is heading.

Review Overview

Overall

An action packed issue that does not disappoint.

This was another smash hit for TMNT, even if it was only focused on one small part of the story.

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