Chris Cooper reviews Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #45…
The Turtles return from Burnow Island to find unimaginable tragedy. As the family struggles to cope, an enraged Foot Clan prepares its revenge. It’s all been building to this…the start of the final storyline leading to #50!
After any huge story it’s reasonable to assume that you’ll need time to decompress. You can’t just keep going hell for leather without processing what happened before or you’ll burn out. It’s tricky though, as you also don’t want to completely put the brakes on and completely deflate the reader; coming down after the excitement can be quite the bummer.
Unfortunately I do feel a bit bummed out after reading #45, and it’s the first time I’ve felt at all let-down by IDW’s take on the TMNT.
If you’ve read my reviews before you’ll know I’m pretty glowing about it all, and overall the latest issue still contains the qualities that define the series; amazing artwork from the returning Mateus Santolouco, brought to life by brilliant lettering and colours from stalwarts Shawn Lee and Ronda Pattison, married to well written dialogue from Tom Waltz. We also have several pages served up by returning artist Charles Paul Wilson III, who was impressive on #2 of Turtles in Time. Here it’s a bit less exciting, though no less important and very fitting.
So what am I going on about then? The problem I had is that I read this issue in the same week I read the finale to the latest Batman story, and whilst it shares many similarities it also makes some very different choices; choices that give the decisions made real weight.
I don’t think a hard decision has been ducked, as all the places have been in place for some time to take the story in the direction it’s going. Comics are known for letting characters go and bringing them back, so why not use to that to your advantage? Make us believe that actions have true consequences, at least for a few issues. Here we just move straight on, no doubt into the run up to the promised extravaganza that wraps up the current story threads in #50. Maybe in the course of time it will all make sense and I’ll be eating these words. I hope so. Argh, it’s tough to keep non-spoilery sometimes! I try my best.
Right now though I’m perplexed, since I’m deflated due to the fact the story is just charging on. I didn’t think I’d ever be in that situation, and with the way TMNT flows thought I’d be happy with it. But the Northampton storyline juggled the different aspects of reflection and action better I feel.
It’s still a quality comic, and had my bar not been set so high by not only the previous issue but the series overall I’d probably have not been disappointed and let it off. No can do though.
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.
https://youtu.be/8HTiU_hrLms?list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5
Originally published May 8, 2015. Updated November 7, 2019.
