Category TMNT

TMNT: The Armageddon Game – The Alliance #5 Micro-Review – Spotlight on April O’Neil

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***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

TMNT Armageddon Game Alliance 5, cover, March 2023, Roi Mercado, William SoaresTITLE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Armageddon Game – The Alliance #4
AUTHORS: Paul Allor, Erik Burnham
ARTISTS: Pablo Verdugo, Gigi Dutreix (Colorist), Shawn Lee (Letterer), Roi Mercado, William Soares (Colorist). Cover by Mercado & Soares.
RELEASED: March 8, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

This is a nice little April O’Neil-focused issue. Nothing too complicated. She’s running from some bad guys. It’s a fine little piece of the larger Armageddon Game story, which is a big mess.

We don’t actually see the Turtles in this issue. But I like Pablo Verdugo’s take on their world. It’s got a nice animated look to it. I’d enjoy seeing more from him.

Nice to see Paul Allor and Erik Burnham working together on an issue. Reminds me of their work together on Turtles in Time.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

TMNT: Mutant Mayhem Trailer – A Few Thoughts…

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

As many of us have seen by now, the trailer for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem dropped yesterday…

Looks great stylistically. Very Spider-Verse. Can’t complain too much…

I do have a question, though…What’s up with Donatello’s voice? Has he not hit Turtle puberty yet? I mean, I guess that’s how it works sometimes. But still…

Also, can we stop putting glasses/goggles on Donatello? It needlessly clutters up his design. If Michelangelo can have braces, Donatello can get contact lenses.

They’re going to get my money for this one, which is more than I can say for TMNT: Out of the Shadows.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

An MMPR/TMNT II #3 Micro-Review – Dan Mora’s Main Event

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

MMPR TMNT II, cover, February 2023, Dan MoraTITLE: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #3
AUTHOR: Ryan Parrott
ARTISTS: Dan Mora, Raul Angulo (Colorist), Ed Dukeshire (Letterer)

RELEASED: February 22, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Dan Mora really gets a work-out in on this one. He draws the hell out of Shredder, gives Krang a bitchin’ new robot suit, and then debuts the “Mighty Mutant Power Rangers.” Somebody give that man a cookie. He earned it.

In truth, Mora’s art is really the big draw for me on this book. As good a writer as Ryan Parrott is, especially when it comes to the Power Rangers, the plot here feels a little too convoluted for my taste. Too many characters, too much to keep in play, etc.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A TMNT #137 Micro-Review – Storylines Converging

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

TMNT 137, variant cover, February 2023, Kevin EastmanTITLE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #137
AUTHOR: Sophie Campbell, Kevin Eastman & Tom Waltz (Story Consultants)
ARTISTS: Fero Pe, Ronda Pattison (Colorist), Shawn Lee (Letterer). Variant cover by Eastman & Campbell.
RELEASED: February 15, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Great variantscover by Eastman and Campbell. One of my favorites the series has had in awhile, despite Casey Jones not actually being in the issue…

Storylines seems to be starting to converge in this big Armageddon Game story, as four of our five Ninja Turtles are now back together. That’s a good thing, as I’m dying for us to have a more focused narrative. Great art notwithstanding, this story continues to be a big mess.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

TMNT: The Armageddon Game – The Alliance #4 Micro-Review – More Old Man Donatello

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

TMNT Armageddon Game the Alliance 4, cover, February 2023, Roi Mercado Wiliam SoaresTITLE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Armageddon Game – The Alliance #4
AUTHORS: Sophie Campbell, Erik Burnham
ARTISTS: Brittany Peer, Roi Mercado, William Soares (Colorist), Nate Widick (Letterer), Shawn Lee (Letterer). Cover by Mercado & Soares.
RELEASED: February 15, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Artistically, this issue is really strong. Brittany Peer has a knack for the TMNT universe, and she does her own inks and colors to boot. Meanwhile, Roi Mercado’s work is delightfully clean, with figures that are dynamic-looking even while not necessarily doing anything dynamic.

This issue gives us another version of Old Man Donatello in the IDW continuity. Granted, it’s not the same Old Man Donatello we saw in the Turtles in Time book. But still.

I like this duo of Venus and Bludgeon (the big shark guy). More of them, please.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A TMNT: The Armageddon Game #5 Micro-Review – Struggling to Catch Up

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

TITLE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Armageddon Game #5
AUTHOR: Tom Waltz
ARTISTS: Vincenzo Federici, Alex Sanchez (Inker), Matt Herms & Heather Breckel (Colorists), Shawn Lee (Letterer)
RELEASED: February 8, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

This issue features two aliens fighting. One is in a big robot suit, the other is in the corpse of an anthropomorphic mutant triceratops. Pretty cool, right?

And yet, despite the inherent coolness, every time I read one of these Armageddon Game issues I feel like I’m struggling to catch up. There’s so much going on, so many characters, etc. In essence, I’ve got the same complaint with this issue that I’ve had with most of the other ones. Nothing new to report in that sense.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Astonishing Art: Raphael by Neil McGregor

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Hyper-real takes on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles aren’t usually my thing. I find that artists tend to lean a little too hard into making them look like realistic turtles, when there’s really nothing realistic about these characters. So why go there? Just my opinion.

This Raphael piece by Scottish artist Neil McGregor is an exception, though. He manages to find the right blend of ninja and turtle. It resembles what we remember from the comic book, while still retaining enough of the realistic turtle likeness. I like this enough that I’d actually be open to seeing McGregor do the other turtles as well.

TMNT Raphael by Neil McGregor

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

AN MMPR/TMNT II #2 Micro-Review – The Witch in Leather

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

MMPR:TMNT II 2, cover, January 2023, Dan MoraTITLE: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #2
AUTHOR: Ryan Parrott
ARTISTS: Dan Mora, Raul Angulo (Colorist), Ed Dukeshire (Letterer)
RELEASED: January 25, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

“Ranger X” is the name of Rita Repulsa’s new brainwashed Power Ranger. That’s a cool name for a Ranger…

Between this book and the storyline in the MMPR ongoing right now, there seems to be an impetus to put Rita in tight leather outfits. What’s the deal with that?

The TMNT and MMPR worlds seem much more integrated in this book. For instance, there’s talk of there being Rangers in Dimension X’s past. The two teams even shout “Power-Bunga!” together. Not sure how I feel about that last one.

Either way, Mora and Angulo make it all look epic.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A TMNT: The Last Ronin – Lost Years #1 Micro-Review – Why is This a Good Idea?

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

TMNT The Last Ronin 1, variant cover, January 2023, Kevin EastmanTITLE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin – Lost Years #1
AUTHORS: Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz
ARTISTS: SL Gallant, Ben Bishop, Eastman, Maria Keane (Inker), Luis Delgado (Colorist), Shawn Lee (Letterer). Variant cover by Eastman and Bishop.
RELEASED: January 25, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Part of this issue takes place after the events of The Last Ronin, and we see Casey Marie Jones training with who I’ll call the “next-gen” Ninja Turtles.

One thing I found puzzling at the end of The Last Ronin was that it’s never made clear why April and Casey Marie have mutated these four Turtles. Why did they think it was a good idea? Did they just do it because they could? That’s a question I hope we get an answer to, at some point.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Toy Chest Theater: Rahzar by tone.toys

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Doesn’t get much more primal than a wolf howling at the moon, does it? Or a mutant wolf, in Rahzar’s case.

Is the animated version of Rahzar in this image from tone.toys somehow less pure than the original version we saw in The Secret of the Ooze? Nah. I’d actually argue this version looks a little more wolf-like than the suit they used in the movie. So it actually works better for the purposes of this shot.

Rahzar, tone.toys

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.