Chris Cooper reviews the latest in IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series…
“From the start, two villains have dominated the Turtles’ lives: Shredder and Krang. Now, for the first time, they come face-to-face with each other in the present day! Will they be able to overcome their differences and join forces? It’s a very special stand-alone issue that guarantees some major surprises!”
I had completely forgotten that Mateus Santolouco would not be working on the art for this month’s issue of TMNT. So my heart sank a little when I noticed his name missing on the first page. But! Then I noticed who was on art duties this month.
Cory Smith’s name rang a bell, so I went hunting to find out why. Turns out he provided the art for the Karai issue in the ‘Villains’ micro this time last year…
“Cory Smith has performed admirably here, with his art of a similar standard to that set by Mateus Santolouco in the main TMNT title. His placement of panels, and the ease in which they flow into one another is a joy to follow. The amount of thought no doubt put into their composition results in an easy to follow piece.”
Now you could call me lazy for pasting a section from my review of his work last time, but it sums up how I feel now. Smith’s art is very easy on the eyes, following Santolouco’s design lead with his own detailing. Shredder and Alopex comes across particularly well I feel. His Krang looks marvellously malevolent too. All I’d change this time around is that I think this art is of the same standard as the Mateus’ work. I’d like to see him take on the turtles in the future.
For an issue that involves a lot (entertaining) talking between two characters it sped by really quickly. I was hoping for more pages! But on reflection it was a good balance. Sure it drops in action near the end, but it had to really didn’t it?
We’ve recently seen Leo spoken to by the Rat King and struggle to remember, and here we find Alopex in a similar situation. To me it looks as thought Shredder and Krang might not end up being top of the threat list.
Another month and another strong issue of TMNT. With a three part story coming up I’m very curious where it will be heading next. So many ways it could go, and that’s a great thing.
Chris Cooper is a Flickering Myth Staff Writer, and owner of the blog Super Duper Stuff. Follow him on Twitter @SDCCooper or visit the blog’s Facebook page.
Originally published August 13, 2014. Updated November 7, 2019.
