Chris Cooper reviews Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Casey & April #2…
“Casey and April struggle to keep their relationship afloat as they look for answers in the desert. Someone is striving to cut their journey short—the Rat King!”
Last month I was surprised to find that there was a TMNT comic I was completely indifferent about. Despite April and Casey being fully deserving of their adventure together, both for the fans and for themselves in the world IDW have created, I was left cold. If anything the month since the last issue has left me with even less positive feelings than when I first read it, despite the artwork and hope that things would pick up.
Upon reading issue two though my fears that this mini-series wouldn’t get in gear are being confirmed. It’s so boring! When one of the most main scenes of the issue involves helping someone change a tyre…it’s not going to be the most riveting of stories.
Of course April and Casey realise the error of their ways whilst away from each other, and then realise that they’ve been played far too late. It’s really obvious what’s going on, which could be forgiven if what was happening was remotely interesting.
I finished reading, and thought I’d missed something. So I went back and read it again. Nope, I hadn’t missed anything. Two issues and we’re not that much further on from a month ago.
To be positive for a moment, I think the style suits April well. Not so sure about Casey but April’s thoughtful nature and gradually growing out hair comes across really well. The duo’s phones are drawn well too, as I saw them seemingly every other page (it turns out we have a panel filled with a phone screen four times, but it felt like too many).
Apologies, I can’t get away from being a bit snarky. As I’ve said many times, IDW have maintained an extremely high standard with their TMNT work, and this just doesn’t meet it. I feel that I can already say it’s the weakest story arc we’ve had. Still, I’m an optimistic chap so here’s hoping next month’s issue makes a bit more progress.
Rating: 3/10
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/IWWtOQOZSTI?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published July 22, 2015. Updated November 7, 2019.
