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COMIC REVIEW: TMNT #114

by Chris M. P.
written by Chris M. P.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #114

Story by Sophie Campbell 

Art by Sophie Campbell & Ronda Pattinson (colors)

Published by IDW 

Released February 10th, 2021

Jennika comes face to face with the person who almost killed her—Karai! Will the other Turtles be able to stop Jennika from exacting revenge before Bebop and Rocksteady find her first?

Some vocal fans within the TMNT social media bubble have had a “take it or leave it” attitude when it comes to Sophie Campbell’s run on IDW’s TMNT. While I’ve taken my fair share of turtle-trash over the decades as a TMNT fan (I willingly bought Turtle Pies, folks) I see where they’re coming from. Fanfare and familiar faces fall flat when the meat of your story isn’t gripping. Just ask Star Wars fans about the past few years (please don’t). But I’m a “pizza half full” kinda guy with the patience of a Splinter Clan Ninja. So after a hefty previous issue that covered a little too much ground and left me feeling pretty torn about the overall direction, can TMNT #114 lead us down a clearer, better path? 

Yeah. It does. 

TMNT #114 proves to be a step in the right direction, taking the bundle of storylines (time traveling and all) and untangling them one at a time for a satisfying read in the Turtleverse. Campbell has done a great job in this chapter blending drama, action, and humor. Lita might have beaten Bill and Ted to be one of the most ignorant time travelers of all time. But the way she interacts with her child self (and the disappointment in child-lita’s observations) is wholesomely hilarious. 

Jennika has an interesting side shown to us as well. I’m not sure of the direction, but Jennika confessing to Donatello that she wants BeBop and Rocksteady dead shows the difference between her ideology and the TMNTs’. Exploring this deeper could make for some impactful storytelling, itching the “Frank Castle” side of Jennika…and the eventual clash between her and the TMNT (which is touched on with Raphael in #114). 

It’s always great to see Bebop and Rocksteady back. And though it was interesting to see Tokka and Rahzar in the same issue, it’s a bit of a shame that these two intimidating monsters are given the baby treatment once again. Though I did enjoy the Secret of the Ooze nod during their confrontation and I eagerly await the battle about to ensue. Campbells and Pattinson’s artwork is also stellar throughout issue 114. The great stylistic use of stark shadows and textured colors make this issue especially sleek. All in all, TMNT #114 gets the story moving once again and provides humor, heart, and action that the story has been recently missing. It set up some interesting paths and ended on a cliffhanger that’ll make me want to read #115. And it feels good to say that again. 

Nom noms indeed.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #114  is now available wherever comics are sold! 

 

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Comic BooksReviews

COMIC REVIEW: TMNT #111

by Chris M. P.
written by Chris M. P.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #111

Story by Sophie Campbell 

Art by Jodi Nishijima

Published by IDW 

Released November 11th, 2020

The Turtles’ new home is infiltrated by Old Hob’s spies! A game of cat and mouse begins as the Turtles begin to question how far they will have to go to protect themselves and the innocent mutants around them.

“I want The Wolf and The Snapping Turtle…”

Old Hob is back and at odds (as usual) with the Splinter Clan. Thanks to an eavesdroppin’ Leo (that could be a future action figure), the planned ambush turns into a fighting chance for our Turtles and their buddies . After a mundane previous issue, Campbell and company pick up the slack with TMNT #111 which offers a brisk story cemented with thrills, heart, and tension. 

I feel as if I’ve been reading a lot of padding lately with TMNT’s current issues. But #111 is very much an adrenaline rush that the story arc currently needed. A great blend of stealth turtle-action and story progress concerning The Foot Clan, Mona Lisa, and the Mutanimals. The Turtles “home-alone” their dojo to take on Old Hobb’s goon-ambush. The Mutant Town ordeal is given some more depth with a heartbreaking scene between Mona Lisa video-calling her parents. It shows the effect the mutation has had on our previously “normal” residents and reiterates the idea of this “curse”. I believe this story arc needs more of those moments of humanization and rejection. Afterall, this is a city of regular people turned into mutants. Not some sort of cute furry fan-fic. 

We go the The Foot headquarters and meet with Karai as she decides Old Hobb just isn’t cuttin’ it for her anymore and we need some more mutants to shake things up. That’s where this issue ends…with the introduction of Tokka and Rahzar. Oh baby. You got me back. Nishijima’s artwork continues to be stellar with vibrant colors and great use of shadow. Campbell’s best when it comes to almost “slice of life” stories with the Turtles, but now we’re getting somewhere threatening…so I’m eager to see where she takes us.  

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #111 is now available wherever comics are sold! 

 

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ReviewsTV/Cartoon Series

TMNT – “The Forgotten Swordsman” Review

by Dan Spitaliere
written by Dan Spitaliere

Well, would you look at that? I was not expecting Tatsu to get a cameo in this series, but what a pleasant surprise. And he looked just like Toshishiro Obata from the movies! “The Forgotten Swordsman” was full of little surprises and highlighted by a unique fight scene. The episode served mostly to inform the Turtles what Tiger Claw’s ultimate plan was, as well as draft Karai and Shinigami into the fight. By the end, the episode accomplished this goal, and created some tantalizing questions to think of moving forward.

The episode started off with a pair of surprises: First, Fishface didn’t die last season! Second, Rahzar most certainly did! We never had confirmation that Rahzar died, and we even saw him survive getting run over by a subway, so it made sense to assume he was alive. But no, Leatherhead totally killed him, drowing him at the bottom of the bay! What a time to be alive…for Rahzar. Tiger Claw put Kavaxas up to the task as a test of his resurrection abilities, and it totally worked! In order to revive Shredder, however,  Kavaxas needs Shredder’s heart and his helmet, The Kuro Kabuto. The helmet would be the focus this week.

Side note, where is Shredder’s heart? How did Tiger Claw recover his body without the heart? Did Leo take Shredder’s heart? How weird.

Multiple parties were after the helmet, with Fishface and Rahzar looking for Tiger Claw, Raph and Casey looking to stop them, Karai and Shinigami looking to control the Foot, and Tatsu trying to do the same. Eventually, all parties converged. Tatsu tried to lure Rahzar to his side. Karai and Shinigami teamed up with the Turtles. It all culminated in a Foot hideout, with our heroes vs. Tatsu.

In this iteration, Tatsu remained Shredder’s second, but ran the Foot in Japan. He was blind at birth, and became a master swordsman, leaning on his superior hearing to defeat his foes. Shredder was the only one who saw potential in him. When Tatsu learned of the power vacuum in New York, he decided to come to America to stop his former pupil Karai, and take his place as Master of the Foot.

What a great way to introduce Tatsu into this universe! He’s suitably badass, and while he talks much more than his movie counterpart, they pay homage to the character with his importance in the Foot Clan. The “blind warrior” may be a trope in many genres, but it served Tatsu well here. We got to see another reason for how Shredder breeds such loyalty. It also gave us a visually stunning and unique fight scene, highlighting the way Tatsu hears his enemies, and what happens when that hearing gets taken away from him.

Karai and Leo make a great team! The animation in this show can be so fluid, and that white splash taking over when Tatsu lost his hearing was striking. I’m really going to miss the CGI when this show ends.

In the end, the party was crashed by Kavaxas. Rahzar stayed loyal to Tiger Claw, and Tatsu seemingly had his life energy robbed by Kavaxas. With the Kuro Kabuto in hand, Kavaxas, Tiger Claw, and company leave, one step closer to their goal.

But are they unified in their goal? Tiger Claw clearly wants to resurrect Shredder, but how long will he able to control Kavaxas with that medallion? You definitely get the sense that Kavaxas has his own plan, and it’s only a matter of time before he puts it into action, if it’s not already.

And now that the Turtles and friends know that Kavaxas can resurrect the dead, how long is it before Leo or Karai try to make a deal with him to bring back Splinter?

“The Forgotten Swordsman” shows that the creative team of TMNT got their groove back after last week’s solid, but weaker episode. Fans were treated to another Turtle homage, an arc that pushed the season forward, and unique action scenes. Finally, we continue to see how powerful Kavaxas is. Putting a stop to this being currently seems insurmountable, but watching the Turtles try to change that should be entertaining.

 

 

 

 

 

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ReviewsTV/Cartoon Series

TMNT – “The Power Inside Her” Review

by Dan Spitaliere
written by Dan Spitaliere

In the comments of last weeks episode, one of our readers stated their concern that the show might be getting too dark and wondered if the show might lose some of its core audience – children. I posited that the show was just finding it’s line and probably wouldn’t go much further than what it had during “The Super Shredder” and “Darkest Plight.” “The Power Inside Her” just proved me wrong.

That’s not to say that “The Power Inside Her” wasn’t a strong episode. It really was. Circling back to April’s addiction to the Aeon Crystal, we got a powerful episode that focused on the apex of that addiction. Let’s think back to when April received the crystal. The Turtles, Casey, and April landed on their home planet that had been consumed in darkness. After being attacked by giant bat-like creatures, the crew found themselves at an ancient pyramid. After scaling the pyramid, they saved the day by replacing the Soul Star artifact at the top of the pyramid, cleansing the planet of the darkness. The bat-like creatures were actually the Aeons, and ancient and powerful race, who gifted April the crystal for saving them.

Well it turns out the crystal held the spirit of one of the original Aeons, who had been slowing taking over April’s mind as she used the crystal to augment her abilities. April wasn’t just dependent on the crystal, she was losing herself to it. And that’s when things got really crazy. April completely succumbed to the Aeon, named Zal-Naron, who made it her mission to cleanse the Earth, starting with New York. The Turtles, Splinter, and Casey kept trying to help April, but she proved too powerful.

Watching Splinter and Raphael get twisted into torturous positions was difficult enough, but the scariest part of the episode happened when Zal-Naron obliterated Donatello. Donatello, trying to save April and ultimately his own life, pleaded with April to overcome the Aeon, but in the moment April wasn’t strong enough. With a flash of his skin, skeleton, and organs, Donatello exploded. Just writing that feels gruesome. It’s hard to believe that this was, of all things, in a Nickelodeon cartoon. The description feels more like the non-canon Image Comics run.

Now Donatello was revived at the end of the episode. April used the last of the Aeon Crystal (she broke it trying to escape its hold on her) to reform Donatello from the “quantum smear” she reduced him to. But it was still hard to believe the whole episode. April/Zal-Naron was on a tear, force choking people, throwing them around like rag dolls, and twisting them into awful shapes. Hadn’t Splinter gone through enough in the last couple episodes? Blowing up Donatello was just the icing on the horrifying cake.

A couple side notes:

-Rahzar is apparently still alive! No idea how he survived getting crushed by a train, but the episode wisely glossed over that. Besides, April just crushed him with a dumpster anyway, so hopefully Bradford has a couple more lives saved up.

-One of our readers asked about the crews’ space weapons and where they were. Casey pulled out one of his space hockey pucks, and Donatello brought back his space staff again. I guess the writer’s were on the same wave length!

-Shredder’s henchmen are collecting all the mutagen they can get their hands on, in order to maintain Shredder’s super form. I wonder what happens when they run out of mutagen? I’m still trying to figure out why Tiger Claw would seek out Kavaxas in the upcoming episode. Maybe it’s to save Shredder from his mutation?

“The Power Inside Her” took yet another turn down a more mature path for Nick’s TMNT, touching on the topic of addiction and its fallout. More than that though, it felt like a crazy “What If?” episode, where a possessed and super-charged April tore through the ranks of friend and foe alike. You have to wonder how April will deal with this moving forward, and how this will impact her relationships with the Turtles, Splinter, and Casey. The episode ended on a positive note, with April breaking the control of the Aeon Crystal and forming better control over her powers, but after what happened, things can’t be the same moving forward.

 

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Poster Artwork for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
Movie NewsNews

25th Anniversary of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze

by Justin W
written by Justin W

Today we are celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, the sequel to the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. That’s right, it has been 25 full years since the release of this fan-favorite film on March 22nd, 1991. Perhaps it’s fitting, or perhaps it was all by design that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is due for release in just a few short months. Almost 25 years after the release of the first sequel to a TMNT movie, we’re now getting yet another sequel. Sometimes it’s funny how these things tend to work out.

Screenshot from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze was notable for several reasons. The movie was released just one year after the first film in the franchise, which ended up becoming a runaway hit at the box office and securing the sequel. It’s almost unheard of to see an untested franchise break onto the scene like this, producing two films within the span of two years. The studios had to know that they were onto something big, but it’s still pretty impressive to note that they managed to pull off this sequel in the span of just one calendar year.

The Secret of the Ooze featured far less physical violence with weapons, as parents were beginning to become concerned that children would violently mimic the actions they were seeing on the big screen. For this reason, much of the fighting action seen in this movie takes place either without weapons, or with items in the area that could be used as weapons. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II also marked the first time that we’d see Ernie Reyes Jr. outside of a suit; the actor performed as a stunt double for Donatello in the first movie, but became his own character as Keno in the sequel.

Ernie Reyes Jr. as Keno in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze

In addition to Keno’s introduction to the franchise, we also got our first good look at the enemies of Rahzar and Tokka. Any fan worth their salt could tell you that these two were clearly just a different take on the characters of Bebop and Rocksteady, and they weren’t exactly popular with most shellheads. It is perhaps for this reason that we didn’t see much of either character beyond their appearance in this movie. Of course, it doesn’t really matter if you introduce a couple of weird mutant goons in your TMNT movie when you also include a surprise guest appearance from none other than Vanilla Ice!

As many fans will remember, the famed rapper was a huge fan of the franchise and jumped at the opportunity to star in the film as himself. The Ninja Rap may not have much social relevance today, but it was a pretty popular song back in the early 90’s. Heck, there are still fans who get down to the funky fresh beats of Vanilla Ice in his unforgettable performance for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II. We even got to see him humming the tune while stocking shelves full of TMNT goodies in a recent advertisement, which is a clear sign that he’s still got a lot of love for our heroes in a half shell.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze raked in $78.65 million at the domestic box office, making it yet another successful TMNT movie. Of course, it wasn’t as successful as the first movie, but many fans still prefer the sequel to the original. The film was successful enough to encourage yet another sequel, but we won’t talk about that until the time comes to celebrate one of its anniversaries. Hey, the less we have to talk about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, the better!

Rather than ruminate on that spectacular failure, let’s all grab some microwave popcorn, find our copies of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, and relive the fun we had with this awesome movie one more time in honor of its 25th Anniversary.

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