Heroes in a Half-Shell, Turtle Power!

by Jayden Leggett, Reviews

Cowabunga! Fans of the heroes in a half-shell can rejoice, as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have finally returned to comics in this exciting reboot by IDW Publishing.

 As readers of the original Mirage TMNT comics would be able to tell you, the last “proper” issue by Mirage was published back in May 2009. Some Tales of the TMNT and a Donatello 4-issue mini-series have since been released, and Peter Laird posted one more issue on his blog site in October 2010 (which was never actually physically published), but the continuation of the storyline left unfinished from Volume 4 Issue 31 of the main series had never been concluded. Fans hoping for closure on this storyline sadly will still have some waiting to do as this is a reinvention of the TMNT universe, and not a continuation of the previous stories (although original Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman is involved – Booyah!). So with the history lesson out of the way, lets move on with the review, shall we?

As an unashamed lifelong Ninja Turtles fan harking back from my childhood, I will endeavour to approach this review from a purely objective point of view and not that of a drivelling fanboy.

The first thing worth mentioning as part of this review is the use of colour, as the original TMNT comics were printed in black and white (apart from Volume 2 and the occasional special issue or compilation). Fans of the black and white originals may be dismayed to hear this, but if it is any reassurance I did not even notice this change until halfway through the first issue when I came to the sudden realisation “Oh yeah, that’s right, this thing is in colour now. Nice!”. In contrast to the bright and “cartoony” colours of Archie’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures series, the colour palettes used in this series are overall much cooler in feeling and tone, and help generate the “night-time” atmosphere of this modern day ninja tale, thus working nicely within the context of this new TMNT universe.

Another cool aspect of this series (at least so far) is the amount of cover variants on offer. In particular I love seeing Kevin Eastman’s classic interpretation of his turtles being scrawled across the front of these new books (especially the black and white cover versions, for that really big dose of nostalgia). The art within the books is also of excellent quality, with artist Dan Duncan (check out some of his works on his Deviant Art web page) putting his own modern style over Eastman’s layouts, with a visual aesthetic that sits quite comfortably between realism and sketched comic-style art. The turtles look positively bad-ass when they are brawling, and during quiet times of conversation the visual style displays a wide range of emotional expression, without becoming super-realistic (well, as realistic as a giant mutant turtle can look anyway). Later in issue 5 artist Mateus Santolouco (again, look at this guy’s stuff on DeviantArt.com) is responsible for the art in the scenes depicting a flashback to Feudal Japan, breathing life and energy into this intriguing plot development from a time long past.

As mentioned previously, due to this series being a reboot of the TMNT, many elements of this re-imagining differ somewhat from the origins of the turtles in the original comic series. For starters, April O’Neil is indirectly involved with the turtles’ mutations, and was even responsible for naming them when they were ordinary turtles. Another drastic change is the inclusion of a new mutant villain (more on this later). However fans of the original worried about being completely alienated can rest easy in the knowledge that there are also many familiar themes and characters from the original comics.

From the opening pages of the very first book there is a showdown between Splinter and three of the turtles (Raphael is noticeably absent) against a group of thugs being lead by a one-eyed mutant alley cat named Old Hob (a character who is new to the TMNT universe). The reasons for this fight are relatively unknown at this point, however we do get glimpses of a homeless Raphael (minus his weapons and ninja garb) fending for himself on the streets, eating out of dumpsters to survive.

As the series go on, flashbacks are gradually revealed as to the origins behind the mutation of the turtles and their rat father, and it is in these snippets where we are first introduced to April, who is in work-placement at Stockgen, a lab owned by none other than the infamous Dr. Stockman (who in this iteration is true to his original roots as an African-American, and not the Caucasian stereotypical mad-scientist version you may remember from the classic cartoon series). Through more flashbacks we learn of Stockman’s intentions behind his experimentation on the turtles as he reports to a mysterious and unseen General Krang (where have I heard that name before? I’ll have to rack my brain to figure that one out…), whom eagerly awaits results from Stockman so that his experiments may be implemented into military weaponry.

These flashbacks also contain an assault on Stockgen by a gang of deadly ninja thieves, the turtles’ exposure to the mutagen responsible for their transformations, and their first encounter with a certain vicious alley cat who manages to separate one of the turtles from the rest of his kin.

Although April has already met the turtles in their earliest stages of life (this life, at least…) as of Issue 5 they are still yet to cross paths after the turtles’ mutation. Also definitely worth noting for fans of the hockey mask-wearing vigilante, at the end of the first issue Raphael interrupts a drunk dad beating up his son, a teenager by the name of Casey…

In terms of the story being told, I found myself hooked from the very beginning and upon finishing an issue I constantly found myself desperate for the next issue to be released in the hope that more questions will be answered and more mysteries will be revealed. It is in this where I find my only possible gripe for the series, yet what also makes it so compelling. On one side of the coin there are many interesting narrative elements and story arcs introduced that make this book so hard to put down: the turtles’ continuous search for their missing brother, the reason and history behind Old Hob’s hatred towards our heroes, tales of a possible past life harking back to feudal Japan, the list could go on.

However the tempo just seems that little bit too slow at times, with the narrative events occasionally crawling along at a turtle’s pace (unfortunately not a mutant turtle’s pace), as some of the smaller story and back-story elements span more than two issues when they could have probably been condensed into fewer books. An example of this is how the main plot-line regarding Raphael’s separation from his family is not resolved until towards the end of issue 4. Having said that, each issue so far has been packed with plenty of action, stylish fight sequences and other interesting events that have kept me reading eagerly without any dull moments.

Having mentioned the minor quibble regarding pacing, it could very well be written off as simply the eagerness of this reviewer’s need for more TMNT getting in the way of what is undeniably a very cool and very exciting return for the heroes in a half-shell, and I am sure many would argue that the flow of events is more than adequate for the amount of new content being presented as each issue is released. If it was the intentions of the series’ writers Tom Waltz and Kevin Eastman to get this reviewer hooked and thirsty for more, mission accomplished.

Another boon for old fans is that both Casey Jones and April O’Neil are given attention in the narrative: Casey carries out his own vigilante justice while he simultaneously struggles with his school work and putting up with his alcoholic father as per his mother’s dying wishes, and April’s encounter with the ninjas at Stockgen leads to her subsequent ordeals with police interviews and her want for self-defence teachings.

All in all I have found this to be a very exciting and rewarding return to comics for everyone’s favourite heroes in a half-shell, and one that I will undoubtedly be keeping a close eye on in the coming future.

ComicsOnline gives Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles issues One – Five 4 out of 5 ninja pizzas.

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