Well, It's finally here. For those of you just tuning in, I made a post quite a pit ago, that I was starting my journey into IDWs version of the TMNT. While I know I am nowhere near the first person to start something like this, but the IDW turtles have always alluded me when it came to their books, but they've always interested me, form people all over the turtles community saying they were either very good; or very fucking awful. Either way, I was intrigued, so I finally nutted up and bought the first couple hardcover collections and started on my epic journey of awesomeness and insanity. Now when it comes to TMNT, I am a pretty tough customer to please, but that's just because I really do love this world, and the characters they have to offer, and I get rather pissed if this franchise isn't represented in a way that I think it should be. So these will be my accounts on what I thought of IDWs very own iteration of the heroes' in a half-shell. Lets. Fucking. Go.
(These are my opinions, it's ok if you don't agree with me. All I ask is that you don't bitch at me. P.S. Spoilers.)
THE GOOD:
As far as introductions go this was a fairly solid start, one thing that I liked about this book is that it doesn't waste any time getting started. I appreciate all the parallels there are between the IDW and Mirage turtles. While not too surprising, considering that Kevin Eastman was heavily involved with the books at the time(How I wish that were still the case). It pays respect to Mirage; without retreading the same ground too much, and really becoming their thing.
The characterization is on point, the turtles are the turtles, Splinter is Splinter, so on and so forth. They’re different enough to where I want to know more about them and familiar enough for me to still be invested in these characters.
The art was great (for the most part, I’ll elaborate more later. BELIEVE THAT.) Dan Duncan is easily my favorite artist so far, and I really wish he stayed on to do most of the series. Everything looks like what it’s supposed to look like and jeepers, can he draw some fucking action. It flows and is easy to look at, but still has that rough edge that TMNT comics are known for. Real solid stuff here guys.
Old Hob is a pretty cool villain. I am thrilled that IDW wasn’t afraid to create its own villains and Hob is an example that creating new villains isn’t a waste of time. We don't know much about him (Yet), but the story does a good enough job in keeping me invested in him. The turtles are there and they fuck Old Hob's shit up something fierce. Right off the bat, Baxter Stockman is still just as good of a villain as he ever was, which is pretty apt, he's such a bastard and I love him for it. Shredder and the Foot are what I expect them to be for the most part, they haven’t done much for me to really be wowed by them, but so far I am digging this version of Shredder quite a bit. Krang, I’m just excited to see more of this guy, mostly a non-entity, as he’s just there to be a foil for Baxter.
Supporting cast is still solid, I don’t hate anyone (Yet) April is April, but the real stand out is Casey. Dudes, Casey is a fucking badass; as he should be, his relationship with Raph is touching and the struggles that he goes through are some of the most heartbreaking and grounded bits of character building that I have seen for quite some time. Especially when relating to Casey, as he’s sadly often left to the waste side when it comes to characterization.
As far as first arcs go, this was some solid set up.
THE “BAD”:
I don’t have much to say here, for the overall quality of the book wasn’t bad for me. So this is mostly going to be me nitpicking and what I feel should have been done better. First I really wish that the use of flashbacks in the first couple of issues were used sparingly, I don’t know if it was too much of a problem for anyone else but I just found it a little confusing jumping back and forth from different points in time. I would have much preferred that they opened up with the fight with Hob, as is, and then flashback to eighteen months before and then have the story play out in chronological order and build up to the confrontation with Hob.
Cliche? Maybe, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it and at at least it will be easier on the reader. I may be burned out from it, but I can’t say I care too much for the mystic stuff. Some of the other fill-in artists I don’t really don’t care for, I can’t say I’m a very big fan of Andy Kuhn’s art. Granted, I’m not saying his style is awful, it’s just not exactly to my tastes. If they wanted to go with a more blocky indie-comic style I would have preferred Jim Lawson, I just had enough time for that style to get used to that style. (Plus, he’s literally doing fuck all) I wish the Foot Clan had a bigger presence, for me it just felt like they were dumped near the end of the arc just because they wanted some last minute conflicts.
I just can’t help but feel like they’re already introducing way too many storylines and I just wish it had more focus, that the first twelve issues were more of a self-contained arc. For me at least they should have held off for a bit introducing Krang or hell if not that, even the Foot. The main bad guys for the first arc should have just been Baxter and Hob, there was no need to just drop everything all at once.
I fought with myself on whether or not I should put this here, but I feel like there was a missed opportunity when it comes with Hamato Yoshi’s back story and the ties he and the turtles have with feudal Japan. This may be just me being a Mirage fanboy, but I don’t think that Oroku Saki should have been one in the same in the past and present. I feel like Oroku Nagi should have been Yoshi’s rival in the past, and Saki in the present. I feel like Nagi is often purposefully forgotten about when it comes to TMNT history, for those who don’t remember, Oroku Nagi was Yoshi’s original rival during Issue #1 of the original TMNT. The whole point of Nagi’s existence was for Yoshi to experience the cycle of violence. I feel like events in Japan should have played out the same as it was presented at first, but when it comes time for the assassins to kill Shen and the boys, instead of Saki, it’s Nagi that comes to kill Shen and the boys. But instead of Shen being the only one to perish in the first attempt, it was Nagi that came and killed both Shen and the boys and Yoshi comes to discover what Nagi had done, and Nagi’s there to rub what he did in Yoshi’s face and sends the goons that are with him to deal with Yoshi, but he escapes and vows revenge on Nagi. He trains day and night to become a killing machine, the man is barely human anymore, the voice of Shen and the boys are in his head telling him not to go through with revenge. But he just can’t let it go, and just wants Nagi dead, so he assaults the Foot Clans main castle, he kills everyone left and right, his wounds increasingly become more fatal as he makes his way to Nagi, and he finally finds him. Nagi is wait for him and the rest of the Clan, with arrows ready at the draw. Nagi doesn't give him the honor of facing him in one-on-one combat and just continues to throw all of Yoshi’s failures to his face. In return Yoshi curses Nagi and his entire bloodline, promising that in another life he will make sure the entire Oroku bloodline suffers for all the crimes that have been done to the innocents they have made suffer and the crimes committed to Yoshi's family.
It’s the present, and Yoshi is now Splinter, and it reunited with his sons through the turtles and is more or less trying to start over. Events play out relatively the same, Yoshi is kidnaped by Hob, but later kidnaped by the Foot.
Yoshi isn’t happy that the Foot is still alive but he keeps to the new promise to not kill anyone, that is until he enters into combat with Shredder and it’s revealed that Shredder is Oroku Saki, a direct descendant of Nagi. Yoshi tries not to focus on his anger, but all Splinter can see in Saki’s face is Yoshi and so Splinter disfigures Saki’s face(let's say this is how Shredder gets his iconic scar), and is nearly successful in killing Saki but Karai interventions at the last minute and the turtles come and Splinter realizes that they need to escape. So finally Splinter realizes that he needs to prepare his sons to not only face Shredder but to kill Shredder once and for all, again he feels the voice of Shen call out to him but he reluctantly ignores it, saying that Saki’s death is a necessary evil to ensure the world is rid of the Shredder and the Foot as a whole. In tow Saki is humiliated and calls for the death of not only the turtles but the Rat that nearly killed him, and tragically the cycle of violence continues anew in a new millennia.
I feel like if they did that, it would have made the story more engaging and paid a respectful homage to the Mirage comics. (It’s not like Kevin Eastman wasn’t involved…)
I’ve never been a big fan of painting the turtles as pacifists, that get hung up on not killing anyone. While yes, I do think the turtles should never go out of their way to start trouble, but that doesn't mean they shouldn’t be afraid to defend themselves to the fullest. They are STILL ninja’s at the end of the day, and I feel like they should be presented as such.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
This was some really solid TMNT, while there was a lot for me to nitpick, that doesn't take away from the amount of fun that I have with these comics. I thought the mystical stuff was much, but I can’t help but feel that the turtle's ties to feudal Japan is an original and interesting concept. I did like those flashback scenes, I’m a sucker for that kinda thing. While I do have some hang ups on how the turtles are portrayed, mostly their whole “no kill” rule, I feel like that’s not a necessary thing to do with the turtles, as these guys are not superheroes and thus aren’t anchored down by the same sensibilities that those characters are. But that’s just me. However, for the most part, this is still the same grounded and mature TMNT that I love. Great stuff, and I can’t wait to read more. Stay tuned for my review of Volume 2 (I can feel my fucking sanity slipping as I wait for the obvious drop in quality.)
OVERALL SCORE: 8.5/10
(What do you guys think?)
