The Good
Last issue left off on one of the most profoundly dark, distressing cliffhangers in this franchise’s history and this issue picks up directly after it for some good ol’ fashioned fallout. It’s interesting to see how each of the turtles deals with the grief, while Splinter and Honeycutt get a little more...proactive in their solutions, and each in their own way. There’s also a check-in with the Foot Clan as the devastating loss to General Krang in Dimension X has put everything into disarray, even in the face of what should be a great triumph for the ninja, and finally Shredder may not be as out of commission as everyone thinks, but he’s sure as hell not in a good way as an unlikely interloper finally plays his hand. Oh and Casey’s back to his old vigilante ways, but he seems to be growing increasingly vicious and having less and less regard for his own safety, especially as he’s about to cross one very particular path again. Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow and Tom Waltz all have story credits, while Tom Waltz is credited for the script, and both are fantastic, mostly across the board. The overall story holds together remarkably well, balancing the weird whimsy of the Turtles’ cartoon with the dark grit of the original comic, resulting in a comic that knows when to take things very, very seriously and when to make it a little lighter. This issue also gives us some very unexpected interactions among the brothers themselves, with people taking on roles that almost seem foreign to them, but the issue never comes off as feeling forced as the situations demand these kinds of results.
Mateus Santolouco handles much of the linework, with Charles Paul Wilson III jumping in when things get a little more, let’s say, spiritual and both styles look fantastic, lending a cartoonish bend to the whole thing that keeps it from ever becoming TOO grim, but also does a great job juxtaposing what’s happening with how it all looks. The two styles are very, very different, but in this issue’s case it’s completely justified and actually feels fine as it’s clearly delineating another time and realm. Ronda Pattison’s colors across the issue also help this feeling, giving the parts that cut away to something more off a sense of place, like it still belongs within the issue.
The Bad
There’s no sugarcoating it: last issue’s titanic reveal gets severely kneecapped within the first few pages of this issue beginning. It’s not without consequence, and it looks like it will still result in some massive changes, but it’s still disappointing that there wasn’t as much follow-through, or dire consequences, of the last arc’s breakneck storytelling as it looked like there was going to be. There’s also one particular page transition that makes very little sense from a blocking standpoint where Splinter seems to have found who he’s looking for, but on the next page is still searching.
The Verdict
There still look to be some interesting, long-lasting changes for what happened last issue carrying on with this one, even if they aren't AS grim as they at first appeared, which helps to balm what feels at first like a total fake out. The writing and art are also strong enough to tell a solid, compelling story driven by its characters, which also goes a long way to helping the swerve not come off as a total gimmick. This is still one of the best comics at balancing its light-heartedness with gritty drama, and while it’s hard to entirely agree with the direction this issue takes, it’s easy to see the quality of the creative team shine through.