Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #28 – Review

By: Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, Tom Waltz (story), Mateus Santolouco (art), Ronda Pattison & Ian Herring (colors)

The Story: Just because they’re all a bunch of reptiles doesn’t mean they can’t be family!

The Review: City Fall has been by far the most ambitious storyline on this series yet, not only for its scope—the sheer number of characters involved is nothing short of impressive—but also for the layers in its plot.  On one level, the arc is about a city under threat from a massive reorganization in its society from an invading force.  Yet beneath all that, this arc is about family, and the loyalty one does or doesn’t owe as a result of that bond.

So even though City Fall ends with Shredder’s ultimate and near-absolute triumph, having taken effective control of the city’s underworld, the issue spends hardly any time relishing in the event.  Instead, we see the members of Shredder and Splinter’s respective camps grappling with the consequences the battle they just survived, all forced to reevaluate their definition of family in light of this most recent trial.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #25 – Review

By: Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, Tom Waltz (story), Mateus Santolouco (art), Ronda Pattison (colors)

The Story: Brothers don’t let other brothers kill cops.

The Review: If you ever get into this reviewing gig,* you have to be careful to keep your expectations under control.  We critics too easily fall into the trap of growing too experienced and thus jaded about storytelling.  With the excess of fiction we have to wade through, we soon learn to see all the patterns in plot, all the archetypical foibles of the characters.  You risk seeing only the clichés and tropes, and failing to appreciate everything else that’s done well.

For example, I can easily spend the review pointing out how predictable it is for the remaining Turtle brothers gather to make one last-ditch effort to free Leo from the Foot’s clutches, or for Shredder and Kitsune to pointlessly stall on converting Leo permanently to their side, or for April and Casey to hook up.*  Make no mistake, these are undeniable defects to the story, but certain formulas are unavoidable in the world of serial comics, and at least Eastman-Curnow-Waltz do their best to make the course interesting, even if the destination is pre-ordained.