Metalhead is back…and VERY mentally unstable. (I almost said METALLY unstable, but I already hate myself enough already).
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe #8 (IDW Publishing)
Observations
- Huh. Guess he had phasers set to stun.
- Argh! Flashbacks…so painful!
- You know things are weird when Mikey doesn’t wanna party.
- Uh oh. No problem ever gets better when you add a giant mech to it.
- Needless violence is permissible when it inconveniences Baxter Stockman.
- Reformatting is always a scary decision.
The Verdict
I give the issue a lot of credit for a powerful and chilling ending. Considering my penchant for smugly complaining about obvious plot twists, the subtle misdirection offered here—and the possibilities it presents for the future—were a welcome (and humbling) treat.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t a huge fan of everything else.
For starters, the art is incredibly uneven. Adam Gorham’s pencils are never bad, but they shift wildly and often from looking fantastic to average—sometimes in the span of two panels. Nowhere is this more apparent than the issue’s major fight sequence. In one page, there is a panel of Leonardo leaping toward Metalhead that looks like Gorham barely cleaned things up from the initial sketch. A few panels later, however, there’s a much more complex/dynamic shot of Metalhead punching Leo in the face that is one of the coolest looking things ever.
Story-wise, a lot of the dialogue between the Turtles feels forced, especially Donnie’s. And I’m not sure if this is supposed to be a running theme through Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe or something, but once again, Raphael is even more of an oblivious asshole than usual.
Still, that ending was pretty darn good. I really hope one of the two Turtles books picks up the plot thread—and if it’s this one, I hope it’s the same creative team so they can have another shot at knocking it out of the park.
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