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Review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Issue #43 (Spoilers)

COMIC SERIES: IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

ISSUE: #43

WRITERS/ARTIST: Tom Waltz, Bobby Curnow, Kevin Eastman/Cory Smith

PLOT:

The forces of Shredder and Krang clash as the Technodrome is now only moments away from activating. But as the Turtles attempt to shut down the Doomsday device and save the world, another player executes his plan and threatens to bring down everything the heroes have been fighting for.

VERDICT:

After the slow build-up of the previous two issues in this ‘Attack on the Technodrome’ story-line, issue forty-three finally gives us the battle promised in it’s title and…boy is it action-packed. This is a very fast read (probably one of the fastest in this series), but it gets a hold on you and never lets go, with virtually no slow-down except for a frame or two in it’s first two pages.

There is so much happening here as this installment jumps between the battle of Burnow Island, that in lesser hands everything could just fall apart under it’s own weight. But Eastman, Waltz and Curnow have such a good grasp on the story and their characters, that there is never any doubt in my mind that this event is going to be anything other than amazing. It just keeps getting better and better with every new issue, leaving me wanting to have the next one in my hands and ready to read straight away.

Now with the action switching between two different locales and focusing on all the characters that are involved in them (seriously, there are a lot taking part in this story-line), the Turtles themselves do not appear as often as you would expect. But this is in no way a negative to read into, as this series has an extremely strong supporting cast and nearly everyone gets their moment in the spot-light (the only characters not to show up somewhere in it are April, Casey, Alopex, Kitsune and April’s Parents).

We have round two between Shredder and Krang and though it is not as good as their first fight (back in issue 37), it is still a joy to watch and makes you want to see when they will face off again (though I am still expecting them to eventually…though reluctantly team-up against their common enemy). We also get to see Honeycutt and Stockman as they are being held prisoner in Krang‘s facility, with the latter playing out his plan to take control of the Technodrome from the General (continuing to sabotage the Turtles/Fugitoid‘s plans even more). This of course only backfires and gives the advantage back to Krang at the issue’s end, giving us one of two great cliffhangers (I’ll mention the second later on).

Then there is the fight happening at the Foot HQ as the Mutanimals take on what’s left of the Foot’s forces (with the majority at Burnow Island) and we get to see that Hob has an ulterior motive for wanting to attack the place, as he wants to get his hands on the remaining mutagen that Shredder keeps and stop him from creating more hybrids. And the moment he does this, he is quick to tell his team to retreat and leave Splinter as he fights Karai (can’t say that I am surprised at this). But we do get an interesting moment between the Turtles Father and Shredder’s Granddaughter as they fight, with the former suggesting that the later has a different fate than the Man she loyally serves.

Finally we get back to the main battle where thanks to Stockman’s interference, Krang appears to be close to victory and Shredder relays a message back to Rocksteady and Bebop, telling them to kill Donatello (which is our second cliffhanger). It definitely leaves our heroes in dire circumstances, at least until issue forty four comes around in a month’s time.

On the art-front, Corey Smith continues to impress in this story-arc with the way he draws the characters and their expressions (Mikey gets some really great ones) and the action scenes are very well drawn and presented, with great use of color as the mayhem unfolds on the pages.

Overall, this issue of TMNT certainly lives up to the hype that it’s previous installments promised with the ‘Attack on the Technodrome’ story-line and I cannot wait for the following comic to see what happens next.

Review Overview

Overall

The action never lets up or let's go of you as you read this battle filled installment.

The fight has really started now in this action-packed installment of the 'Attack on the Technodrome', living up to the hype and build-up of it's previous two issues.

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