Tag Sophie Campbell

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 #136 Micro-Review – A Game of Thrones Connection?

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 136, cover, January 2023, Fero PeTITLE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #136
AUTHORS: Sophie Campbell, Kevin Eastman & Tom Waltz (Story Consultants)
ARTISTS: Fero Pe, Ronda Pattison (Colorist), Shawn Lee (Letterer)
RELEASED: January 18, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

No Casey Jones in this issue, contrary to what the cover might have you believe. *sigh*

This “Armageddon Game” story is like the TMNT equivalent of Game of Thrones, only there’s no gratuitous sex or violence. And without that, what do we have? Great characters, sure. But we’ve also got a lot of story elements in play at once. And you practically need to read with a notebook to keep it all straight.

Fero Pe continues to impress with the art, though. So at least there’s that.

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

A TMNT #135 Micro-Review – Lost in the Woods

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 135, cover, December 2022, Fero PeTITLE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #135
AUTHOR: Sophie Campbell, Kevin Eastman & Tom Waltz (Story Consultants)
ARTISTS: Fero Pe, Ronda Pattison (Colorist), Shawn Lee (Letterer)

RELEASED: December 7, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

This might be the first time in the decade-plus long history of this TMNT comic that I’m not enjoying myself. Which is a shame, as the art by Fero Pe and Ronda Pattison is about as strong as it’s ever been. It just feels like they’re lost in the woods on this “Armageddon Game” story. Between the three books (Armageddon Game and The Alliance being the other two), everything feels very disjointed and convoluted. It’s very uncharacteristic of this book.

And this story is supposed to stretch into the spring? *groans*

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

A TMNT #134 Micro-Review – The Other Mutant Turtles

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 134, cover, 2022, Fero PeTITLE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #134
AUTHORS: Sophie Campbell, Kevin Eastman & Tom Waltz (Story Consultants)
ARTISTS: Fero Pe, Ronda Pattison (Colorist), Shawn Lee (Letterer)

RELEASED: November 9, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Fero Pe draws a damn good Casey Jones. He draws a damn good TMNTverse as a whole, to be honest.

This issue raises an interesting question. We’ve seen these four imposter Turtles attack Mayor Stockman, right? So how many other mutant Turtles did the big mutagen bomb create? We know about Jennika, obviously. But there could definitely be more. Leo, Don, Raph, and Mike aren’t the only mutant turtles in the world anymore. So what does that mean for them going forward?

Despite the cover, no Krang in this issue. Just sayin’.

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

A TMNT #133 Micro-Review – The Long (and Slow) Game

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 133, cover, 2022, Fero PeTITLE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #133
AUTHORS: Sophie Campbell, Kevin Eastman & Tom Waltz (Story Consultants)
ARTISTS: Fero Pe, Ronda Pattison (Colorist), Shawn Lee (Letterer)

RELEASED: October 12, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series has always played the long game, to an extent. For more than a decade now it’s been great about planting storytelling seeds, setting things up for the future, etc. It’s one of the book’s greatest strengths.

But this “Armageddon Game” story is one of the rare occasions that I would accuse the series of going too slow. We’re several issues in, and while we’ve gotten our inciting incident, it feels like the story has stalled. I’m not sure if they’re dragging things out, or if they’re just going at a very, very deliberate pace…

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

A TMNT #132 Micro-Review – Into the Fire

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 132, cover, 2022, Pablo TunicaTITLE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #132
AUTHOR: Sophie Campbell, Kevin Eastman & Tom Waltz (Story Consultants)
ARTISTS: Pablo Tunica, Ronda Pattison (Colorist), Shawn Lee (Letterer)
RELEASED: September 7, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

As fans of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie will recognize, this issue calls back pretty heavily to the campfire scene from that film. We’ve got a very similar scene, complete with lines plucked directly from the movie. And of course, there’s the cover.

Most of it hits me in the feels, as I love TMNT: The Movie. But they might have laid it on a little thick for my taste. In other words, maybe a few too many recycled movie lines. Even with something as great as TMNT: The Movie, its possible to tip your hat too many times.

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

A TMNT #131 Micro-Review – A Lone Voice of Reason

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 #131
AUTHORS: Sophie Campbell, Kevin Eastman & Tom Waltz (Story Consultants)
ARTISTS: Pablo Tunica, Ronda Pattison (Colorist), Shawn Lee (Letterer)
RELEASED: July 27, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

There’s only one person among the Splinter Clan (i.e. the Turtles and their extended family) that puts up a fight about aligning with Shredder. And frankly, they’re right. Why do the Turtles align themselves with Shredder so readily? This guy was their worst enemy at one point. What gives?

This story is tying back to City Fall in a big way. Fans that have jumped on since that event might be a little lost. But for those of us who’ve been around since issue #1, it’s pretty cool.

Pablo Tunica and Ronda Pattison continue to do awesome work together.

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

A TMNT #130 Micro-Review – Falling Action and Groundwork

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 130, cover, 2022, John YurcabaTITLE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #130
AUTHOR: Sophie Campbell, Kevin Eastman & Tom Waltz (Story Consultants)
ARTISTS: Pablo Tunica, Ronda Pattison (Colorist), Shawn Lee (Letterer). Cover by John Yurcaba.

RELEASED: June 29, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

This issue gives us the falling action and conclusion to the story arc with the Punk Frogs, Dr. Barlow, Venus, etc. It’s not a thrilling read in that sense. But there’s some groundwork laid for future stories.

Pablo Tunica and Ronda Pattison continue to do great things with Venus’ IDWverse look. I realized as I was reading this issue that it’s a little reminiscent of Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas. She’s definitely distinct among the other Turtles, which is important.

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

A TMNT #129 Micro-Review – Hovering Near Horror

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 129, cover, 2022, Pablo TunicaTITLE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #129
AUTHORS: Sophie Campbell, Kevin Eastman & Tom Waltz (Story Consultants)
ARTISTS: Tony Gregori, Ronda Pattison (Colorist), Shawn Lee (Letterer). Cover by Pablo Tunica.

RELEASED: May 25, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

That cover, while very well done, isn’t indicative of what’s in this issue. If it were my choice, I’d have depicted a fight between the Turtles and the Punk Frogs.

Raph and Casey Jones get into a scuffle here that’s very well written, and true to both characters.

I like the detail Tony Gregori puts into Dr. Barlow and his mutant creations. He’s not going for a horror vibe, necessarily. But he’s not far removed from it.

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