Gizmo's Profile

This is a must-read for anyone reading the main series and I'm not just saying that because Mikey is my favourtie turtle. Here more than anywhere it is clear, the dynamic within the Hamato family is changing rapidly. Leading the Foot Clan is wearing down Splinter's polish to reveal the flaws just under the surface. Whether of not these flaws were always there, it adds dimension to this mentor figu re; a reminder that no one is perfect.

Michelangelo was always the goofball, but he's also the youngest in the family and the heart of the team; he intuits when something isn't right. Splinter crosses a line: he only agrees to house and feed a score of orphans if they are inducted into the Foot Clan. This is not the decision of a compassionate father, it's the decision of a clan leader, and while the other brothers recognizes this, they're conditioned to defer to Splinter's wisdom. As the youngest, Mikey is the least indoctrinated, and most naive, so of course he takes it upon himself to break with the family on the rational decision without a thought-out plan. Mikey's compassion and sense of justice override his loyalty and rationality.

I've been in a position where I've had to defy my father; I refused to get into the car while he was driving in a more plastered state than I've ever seen him in before or since. It felt awful in that moment, seeing the look of betrayal on his face before he sped off in a huff. But I held my ground like Mikey holds his against Splinter on the sewer pipe. Sometimes, acts of defiance are necessary to coerce our leaders into making better decisions. That's what this issue says to me.more

Here we are, at the end of the first arc, with the series expected to return in late 2026. It could end here, but it would be a bleak ending that is nonetheless consistent with the realpolitik nature of the series, which is depressingly realistic. Instead we are left dangling at the end of a single lifeline, hope for more positive outcomes in the next arc. However, I'm certain Act 2 will be just a s complex and compromised as the first arc. Kieron excels when he plays with the social implications that history has taught us. If that sort of thing interests you, I highly recommend picking up a collection of the first 16 issues when you have the opportunity.more

It's the last issue of the initial launch, and a nice place for an intermission, but the story needs a real ending. Thankfully, it continues in Night's Terror. I hope that nets it more readers, this is my favourite ongoing fantasy comic right now.

Our heroes rot away on and island gulag and on indentured servitude on some self righteous farm. It's a new low to crawl out from.

Major points lost for Mondo and Casey suddenly appearing in a helicopter to catch the turtles and Spinter in free fall, especially after we just saw Casey is in the street. Also, reporters don't typically get to fly their friends around in private jets.

A good setup. Splinter recalls the Foot's previous attempt to stop Godzilla, and it wasn't through hand-to-hand combat.

Omar Franca is very good at matching the art styles of the various versions of TMNT over the years. Donny shines bright in this issue. I haven't watched Rise of the TMNT, but that version of Donatello seems like a twat.

We get a completely different artist and art style in this issue and it's fantastic! I'm guessing Vitor Cafaggi was cast on this issue for their anthropomophic fox drawing skills, as they are excellent. We get not one, but two fox characters out of it, as some of Ninjara's backstory is revealed in the opening pages.

The emotions are raw, the line work is kinetic, the characters feel au thentic, and the layouts flow seemlessly. Alopex delivers just enough exposition in the dialogue to know why she's so angry (which is helpful for me as I haven't read the issues she's referring to yet) without bogging the flow of the page down. I'd love to see more of Vitor Cafaggi's work.more

The situation is looking dire, I'll give it that. OG Shredder has the right voice; want to see something more interesting done with him.

Savanti Romero has taken over the Battle Nexus, seeking revenge. Three of the four opponents on the cover make an appearance. I expect this series will serve as a showcase for fan-favorite characters, without disrupting the main series.

The artworks starts out kind of janky (see Rocksteady's arm on page 1) but finds its groove after Rocksteady is knocked out and begins emitting a distress signal... That makes me about as confused as Donnie is with his emotional motivations, except his confusion is compelling. The art in story find its groove and shines in the character-driven moments between Harold and Donnie.

Olympian is a cool mutation we haven't seen before. I don't care for the ending, the Earth Protection Force just seems to give up after Olympian fails. Be sure to flip past the ads at the end for the epilogue.

We give the new character intros a rest, finally. I enjoyed their hijinx over the intercom.

Savanti appears in this issue to add extra-dimensional hkjinx to the mix and give Bebop a cool robot x-ray arm.

Things get real cartoony. At one moment, Mondo rips off his clothes for reasons unknown... We saw his camouflage functioning last issue just fine without calling attention to undressing, so I guess he was indeed naked in those panels... but he doesn't even camouflage in this issue after getting naked, it serves no purpose other than a hilariously creepy, clunky comic book moment. Seriously, he's complement for a "remarkable trick," which comes off as the agent complimenting his skill at ripping clothes off XD

The emotional ending saves the story from total failure.more

The artwork is getting a bit simpler than the first issue. It's fun to see Bebop and Rocksteady suck at regular jobs and be unable to defend themselves for once, but I'm not a big fan of having a new foil introduced in each issue.

I'm kind of impressed with how much Ben Bates can get on a page and still make it read clearly. I hope this isn't the last we'll see of Wingnut and Screwloose.

What a lovely send off to this spinoff series. I'm not sure if the art is true watercolor, but it has that feel and it's perfect for the Astral Plane.

I can't help myself, I have to point out that it's not capers and calamari on the pizza at the end, as Mikey says, it's clearly pepperoni. Never lie to me about food!

Maybe this is better if you already know who Agatha Harkness is, I did not enjoy the stretched out banter and light show personally. At least the dynamic between Wanda and Chthon is kind of interesting.

The layout and art are quite nice. I absolutely love Wanda's new design, both in her uniform and in her civvies. Repurposing the Cloak of Levitation as a skirt is inspired. I can't say the same for the plot. Unless you enjoy magical conference meetings with obscure support characters?