Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection, Volume 15
(collects Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles issues #113–124 and the Jennika II miniseries)
by
Sophie Campbell (Writer/Illustrator), Brahm Revel (Writer/Illustrator), Ronda Pattison (Writer/Colorist), Jodi Nishijima (Illustrator), Nelson Dániel (Illustrator), Ken Garing (Illustrator)
My reading of the fantastic rebooted TMNT franchise by IDW continues! Truly this has been in my view one of – if not the best – versions of this beloved franchise I’ve seen since the original. The question now is that well over 100 issues in, as the status quo keeps changing, how do the creative teams fare taking the story forward in new directions? Let’s find out!
(NOTE: Apart from the images used throughout the review, I’ve kept an image gallery at the end for your enjoyment!)
This edition is covering issues #113-124 and is helmed by the very talented Sophie Campbell who I have to say, has proven herself thus far to have both a deft hand with this world and its characters but also been able to tell some very compelling and deeply human stories – which is a big part of what a lot of people have traditionally loved about the TMNT world, the best parts of it have been the ones that are not just an action adventure but have depth and emotion and layers.
This edition and review are also covering the 6-part second arc of the solo series for breakout character Jennika, the newest member of the Hamato Clan, as she struggles to find her place as both a mutant and dealing with the fallout of that + her place in the newly founded Mutant Town. In this series, Jennika is on the hunt for something affecting people in Mutant Town and finds herself involved with a myriad of characters and is eventually trapped and forced to make an impossible choice – she must now confront her violent past to find a way forward. An interesting choice made by the team behind this is that there is a split of two different styles through the series – there is part of it that is in the style of the main series it has spun out from but there is also a more funky (can’t think of another word) and brightly coloured style that is used and frankly it works quite well to differentiate it a bit.
Overall I found the mini-series’ art and story to be quite compelling and well paced. The action is fluid and fast-paced and the quieter moments are nicely crafted and balanced between the more personal moments for our heroine and the darker moments that challenge her sense of self and her purpose in the world.
Meanwhile, in the main series, the story of Mutant Town continues as everyone tries their best to hold this fragile world together in their walled off little bubble, surrounded on the outside by a city of humans that is afraid of everyone within the walls and a Mayor in the form of the ever-hateful Baxter Stockman constantly looking for a way to profit and gain from and also bring down Mutant Town.
April O’Neil gets a good chunk more time in this volume as she finally confronts Baxters machinations head on and has to face more than a few dangerous consequences with fatal implications; we also have the TMNT trying to keep the peace as they run their Splinter Dojo and act as a calming and guiding influence as well as helping out in an informal peace-keeping/policing role when no one else can or will. Raphael and Casey Jones find themselves at odds as Casey wallows by his lonesome and likewise, Leonardo finds himself floundering as everyone seems to have a role and purpose and he is not sure where he fits in anymore since he doesn’t feel much like a leader anymore – something comes that might be good for both wayward sons but only time will tell. We’ve also got the return of Bebop and Rocksteady and Tokka and Rahzer as well as Karai acting in the shadows to “recruit” mutants (whether they want it or not) for purposes unclear, but clearly nefarious! And last but not least, we see the actions of Old Hob finally cross lines, including working with Karai in secret, and forces his Mutanimals to come into a major collision with not just the TMNT but Mutant Town itself as people who were giving them the benefit of the doubt, now have nothing but rage against the Mutanimals – all begging the question of what will be the face of Mutant Town when the dust settles
On a side-note, there is also the introduction of a time-travelling member of the TMNT extended family who makes her entry into the narrative with the implication of many repercussions down the road. And alongside her, we see the return of the dreaded Oroku Saki who has recently been through Hell (literally) and is now back with a mission to help his former foes, the Turtles, but how does an enemy as reviled as he was, gain forgiveness? We’ll have to follow the story ahead to see if he succeeds or fails in this endeavour.
Oh and there’s even one hell of a rocking “battle of the bands” happening in the midst of it all as Jennika makes some new friends who form a band together – the whole story thread adding one more layer of just people living life in Mutant Town and making it seem like a more real place with real people!
WOW! That’s a lot going on and you wouldn’t think they could fit this much into 12 issues of a comic, but the IDW TMNT division and the creative team on this series do with aplomb! I am clearly a big fan of the franchise but you have to bear in mind that this also can make me a very harsh critic if something beloved is handled poorly – but it’s not just me, the ongoing success and great reactions to this series prove that they’re doing something right. There is a remarkable density of stories being told for a comic medium but the huge cast of characters, the multiple angles and events and handling of the broader over-arching story arcs are kept together extremely well in my opinion and this volume has been one of the best since the whole Mutant Town storyline kicked off and does a nice job of dealing with some long-running threads that then lead to newer threads but it feels naturally a part of the ongoing narrative and not as if one is being led from cliffhanger to cliffhanger just so you HAVE to keep reading – a trend in many modern franchises that irritates the hell out of me. I want to know more because your story and characters are great, not because there’s some mystery that you refuse to explain.
The art, as always, is stellar and the style they’ve broadly maintained has been one I’ve loved since the beginning and the more it settled and cohered into the one we’ve now gotten used to with this incarnation, the more it has become a kind of cozy, familiar vibe and for that I give the art team here and before kudos for keeping their pages dynamic, alive, vibrant and wonderfully expressive – no mean feat considering that almost the entirety of the cast is non-human and portraying the varying emotions and experiences with them all continues to impress.
Bottom line: It’s damned good! I recommend it to everyone, besides of course recommending the series itself to anyone who likes a good story!
One Happy Monk 
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