IDW’s TMNT series continues to draw from the best of everything that came before, while managing to distinguish itself as a successful comic in its own right.
Following their pyrrhic victory at the conclusion of City Fall, the Turtles, along with April, Splinter, Casey and an outcast Alopex, escape to the safety of April’s parents’ home in Northampton, in the hopes of regrouping and healing the damage inflicted upon them by the Shredder.
People have complained loud and aplenty about the New 52 reboot of the DC Universe, the second time DC Comics has opted to restart their continuity. Two times in, I can’t be certain, but let’s just say 76 years? The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the other hand, existing for less than half that time, have seen their continuity restarted fresh, again and again, through various movies, comics and cartoon series, and somehow, it never manages to be extraneous. I realised just the other day, that in regards to the many incarnations of TMNT: I’m currently reading the new IDW comic series, watching the new Nickelodeon cartoon, and rereading both the old Mirage and Archie series as IDW releases them in trades. Four separate Ninja Turtle continuities, all with essentially the same characters, some with stories similar to the others, but all strong, distinct and possessing of enough merit to stand on their own, and that especially includes the fantastic original work IDW is doing with the property.
There isn’t much “ninja” in this issue of Ninja Turtles, however it isn’t missed. The gargantuan success of the 80’s cartoon notwithstanding, TMNT at its best has always benefited from long-form storytelling, and having these quieter, more personal tales, multi-part no less, makes those epic battles that they precede and succeed, seem that much more grander. And for those readers concerned that this storyline follows Peter Laird & Kevin Eastman’s original too closely, this issue’s surprising cliff-hanger all but promises otherwise.