The fight from last issue was so good, it had to keep going in this one! Is it good?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #40 (IDW Publishing)
Remember how Bebop and Rocksteady were basically just comic relief in the cartoon from the late 80’s/early 90’s? Yeah… not really the case here.
Oh sure, they’re stupid, but also incredibly deadly. This issue does a great job showing just how dangerous they are as the duo absolutely wrecks the Turtles along with Hob and his new mutant recruits. Even the additional firepower of Splinter, Alopex, and an armored up Angel (which is all types of awesome) can’t bring them down.
Even super smart Slash seems to be struggling a bit.
In the midst of this epic smack down (which talks up almost the entire issue), we actually manage to get some pretty major character moments in, as well:
- Alopex and Raph flirting (which despite the interspecies weirdness is pretty adorable).
- Armored Angel (once again, awesome).
- Mondo Gecko’s dialogue (so bad and over the top that it hurts).
- Mondo Gecko’s powers and skill set (pretty cool).
- Herman the Hermit Crab unleashes his full arsenal (so amazing that my head almost exploded).
The fight ends with a pretty solid resolution, save for the fact that Old Hob seems totally fine with Angel joining their crew despite being a human.
That minor quibble aside, however, it’s one of the best fight scenes we’ve had in a series that’s given us some great ones. If there’s ever a TMNT Artist Hall of Fame, then Mateus Santolouco should be one of the first people inducted into it.
The story also features more adopted father/son bonding between Casey and Mr. O’Neil (meh) and a cliffhanger ending that will smack you in the face harder than one of Herman’s surface to air missiles.
The cool thing is, the ending (along with its implications) doesn’t just come out of nowhere -— writer Tom Waltz has been building towards this for a while now. It manages to be shocking and completely make sense at the same time.
Is it Good?
Do we really even need to ask this question about IDW’s TMNT series anymore? Waltz’s scripts and a rotating team of fabulous artists have made this one of the best books on the shelves for the past few years, turtle-based or otherwise.
The scary thing is, it just keeps getting better. Now if we could just get a decent movie made, Ninja Turtle media would truly be firing on all cylinders.
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