TMNT Vol. 2 Retrospective

The penultimate issue of the TMNT’s second series has finally arrived, and it is a doozy. The creative team manage to pack this issue to the brim with action, tragedy, plot twists, and continued running gags.

RETRO REVIEW: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #12 (VOLUME 2)

(W/A) Jim Lawson, (I) Eric Talbot, (C) Eric Vincent, (CA) Peter Laird & Kevin Eastman

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #12 is one of the most consistent and strongest issues in the entirety of Volume 2. Despite a slow opening sequence designed to set up the final battle, Jim Lawson and “the Erics” pull out all the stops to deliver readers a complete and satisfying TMNT experience. Nearly every emotional beat that fans expect from a Turtles comic can be found here. There is humor, heartbreak, and a whole lot of action.

Before digging into the good stuff, there are a couple flaws that ought to be highlighted. Like most of Volume 2, TMNT #12 does suffer from pacing issues. While he has shown improvement over the course of this series – and will go onto do great things in the Tales of the TMNT series – Jim Lawson’s writing still requires some polishing. Lawson tries to compensate for this through visual storytelling, but often his use of big panels prevent character movements from being successfully conveyed.

Now that that’s out of the way, we can talk about what worked. The Turtles finally reunite with Raphael (for real this time) in a moment that is emotional and – more importantly – earned. There has been significant time between Raphael’s disappearance and now, giving this reunion a true impact. But while the Turtles regain one member of their team, another meets his end. And while this character did not play a significant role in the series, the loss of a character who dates back to Volume 1 is noteworthy nonetheless.

This issue also features a healthy mix of humor and intrigue. Casey still thinks he’s Arnold Schwarzenegger, continuing the gimmick from the previous issue. However, he takes on a less pronounced role here. As a result, his occasional quips provide welcome tension breaks instead of overstaying their welcome. Meanwhile, the Triceraton that has jointed their party has shown himself to be as helpful as he is deceptive. In all, Lawson has put the pieces in position for TMNT #13 to be an explosive final chapter.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #12 is a strong issue. Despite the series’ ups and downs, Lawson has woven a compelling, overarching narrative that is reaching its apex. With one issue to go, all signs point to this series ending on a high note. After all, this issue was good.

The Turtles and their friends are on their way to rescue Raphael. The result is a high-octane, action-packed issue that sees the series tie into one of the TMNT’s earliest stories.

RETRO REVIEW: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #11 (VOLUME 2)

(W/A) Jim Lawson, (I) Eric Talbot, (C) Eric Vincent, (CA) Peter Laird & Kevin Eastman

Volume 2 of Mirage’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has been, to put it kindly, an uneven ride. This is partly due to series’ writer/artist Jim Lawson still developing as a writer at this stage of his career. However, the series has managed to overcome this shortcoming to provide readers with questions and their subsequent answers. And in this issue, Lawson and his collaborators answer the burning question, “what would it be like if the Mirage Casey acted like an Arnold Schwarzenegger character?”

The creative team has Casey acting like the former governor of California (under the influence of his neighbor/ally Lou) for the majority of the issue, and while the gimmick is initially entertaining, it wears out its welcome very fast, especially when Casey begins pulling of physically impossible feats. It isn’t believable, particularly when Casey has been portrayed as a strong, but relatively normal guy. With Casey pulling off the “impossible” feats normally reserved for the Turtles, they are left with little else to do. The idea of a Casey-centric issue is not necessarily a bad thing, but for a series that has been careful to ensure that there are real stakes and actions have consequences, this whole sequence (which takes up about 2/3 of the issue) is less TMNT and more Looney Tunes. It’s action-packed, but absolutely ridiculous.

They ultimately rescue Raphael, and in the process discover all the other creatures that DARPA has been accumulating over the years. One of these creatures is a Triceraton. Not just any Triceraton, but one of the three Triceratons that were transported to earth back in Volume 1, Issue #6-7 (1986). In all honesty, this would’ve been a good place to end the issue. But it doesn’t end. Not for another few pages. When the final page comes, the story is just cut off suddenly, without warning. It’s so clunky and unnatural, I had to read over the last few pages to be sure I didn’t miss anything. But I didn’t. Issue #11 just stops dead in its tracks.

Issue #11 of Volume 2 had all the potential to pull this series out of its funk, but instead a series of bizarre creative decisions will leave readers scratching their heads. It’s not a bad issue, but it isn’t necessarily a good issue either – a problem that has persisted throughout Volume 2. And unfortunately, it doesn’t appear likely that the final issues will be much better.

Raphael is still missing, and his brothers seem to have lost their only lead. But is Baxter Stockman really gone for good? And what’s with this shadowy government organization? This chapter of Mirage Volume 2 has a lot to unpack, and after the previous issue, it has a lot to live up to as well…

RETRO REVIEW: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #10 (VOLUME 2)

(W/A) Jim Lawson, (I) Eric Talbot, (C) Eric Vincent, (CA) Peter Laird & Kevin Eastman

If you came into this issue of Mirage Volume 2 expecting the same amount of high-stakes action found in the last few installments, you’d be disappointed. However, those of you expecting a natural progression of the story (with a twist or two thrown in) are likely to walk away in a relatively pleasant mood. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #10 does a lot of heavy lifting to set the stage for a grand, 3-issue finale.

The issue opens with a conversation between Casey and April, and it’s a welcome if rarely seen slice-of-life vignette. Granted, it’s still out of the ordinary. Casey and April are talking about ways to increase security since their apartment was broken into and the fact that one of their turtle friends is missing, but it still offers a peek into what these characters’ everyday lives are like. The conversation continues when Casey goes out for a walk with Lou, his Mr. Clean-esque neighbor who is just full of revelations.

These two sequences are simultaneously the best and most frustrating parts about this issue. When Lawson is playing within the sandbox that is the Jones/O’Neil household, its genuinely enjoyable. However, it’s only a brief 3 pages with April cast aside in favor of a new character readers have very little connection to. A common complaint is that April is useless character, and outside of the early canon established by Eastman and Laird in Volume One it’s true. Lawson has shown throughout the series that he is not comfortable writing the character, and only uses her as an accessory to move the plot forward. She has no agency of her own.

Likewise, Casey’s conversation with Lou is full of reveals and factoids which serve to build the world these characters inhabit. However, it is also a clunky exposition dump. The creative team had spent so much building up Baxter Stockman as the main antagonist, that using a shadowy government agency as the real baddies comes out of left field. There’s no sense of pacing, and while this does provide the necessary set up for the remaining issues, an info dump in issue #10 of a 13 issue series could have been resolved by dropping in little nuggets throughout the preceding chapters.

Now, this issue isn’t all bad. It actually does a lot more right than wrong. Lawson delivers artwork which is once again up to his standards of quality and consistency, accented by the thick inks of Eric Talbot. The colors by the other Eric – Vincent this time – are flat (not to be confused with “fall flat”) and give the book a distinctly indie aesthetic. There’s also the bit with Raphael which sees the book dip its toes into the horror genre. However, the flaws found here cannot be overlooked, and as a result Issue #10 of TMNT Vol.2 is a stunningly mediocre installment.