The Good
To say there's been a good amount of buildup in IDW's TMNT would be a pretty big understatement. Seriously, it's hugely impressive just how many plots and character arcs this creative team has been juggling, and this chapter is loaded with payoff and even more buildup! Ever since City Fall, this series sure has applied the "go big or go home" mentality with its stories. It's basically one big aha moment before hyping up all of the fun and craziness that's right around the corner. We even get just a brief taste of all the chaos, too! As for the bigger picture, it's not the most mind-blowing plot twist around and they did spend a little too much time spelling out some of the obvious points, but it's still solid and once again manages to focus on what this franchise is really all about: family. There's a surreal war on the horizon that involves aliens, ninjas, mutants and all other kinds of madness, yet the minds behind the story remembered heart is an essential part of this book and really delivered a good family moment. I won't spoil it, but there's a bit of a role reversal going on, too, so it's great to see they're constantly learning from each other.
This is the kind of chapter where they could have dropped the simple (yet still gripping) cliffhanger right after explaining what's going on. Honestly, that's what I expected and, of course, we do eventually get that cliffhanger, but what really impressed me was they dished out just a bit of excitement before hitting us with the teaser of what's to come. After some well-written focus on the bigger plan and characters, it's great they managed to sneak in some action as well. One can never have too many fights between ninjas and soldiers, right?
The Bad
I think Cory Smith's a great addition to the series, but this chapter doesn't feel quite as polished or visually creative as the others he's worked on. There's a noticeable number of panels where the background is absent (it's fitting for moments of strong emotion and intensity -- especially because of Ronda Pattison's great coloring -- but those are limited) and some of the character work appears a wee bit stiff. If I had to take a guess, I'd say the fact this issue is very crowded (especially the last few pages), meant there was a tighter schedule while working on each panel. None of it is "bad" and there's definitely plenty I enjoyed. The final few pages are downright badass and I like how he handled something as simple as General Krang squishing a fly. Even little things like the handling of Bebop and Rocksteady goofing around with Donatello made me smirk, but given just how incredible his work was on other issues (e.g. 36, 37, 41), the difference was noticeable.
The Verdict
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES continues to prove it's consistently great and always manages to leave me thinking its future will be even better. Instead of offering simplistic stories and an abundance of action, the creative team has made the wise decision to really focus on character and story. Sure, there's all of the fun and silliness you'd expect from a TMNT story, but they're going all-out with the mythos building and creating a story that always has me wishing I could read the next issue right away. If you grew up with the franchise or just want to see why some people are so passionate about it, you need to read this story. It'll prove to you there's so much more to TMNT than just pizza and catch phrases.