Tag Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Armageddon Game

A TMNT #139 Micro-Review – “I Know You Wish For This to Be Over…”

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.***

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 139, cover, April 2023, Fero PeTITLE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #139
AUTHORS: Sophie Campbell, Kevin Eatman & Tom Waltz (Story Consultants)
ARTISTS: Fero Pe, Ronda Pattison (Colorist), Shawn Lee (Letterer)
RELEASED: April 26, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Kitsune, early in this issue: “I know you wish for this to be over, and so do I.”

This whole Armageddon Game story? You have no idea, lady.

The Turtles learn some more meta-physical, extra-dimensional stuff in this issue. It results in a big exposition dump early on where the returning Kitsune essentially has to explain what it all means. On the upside, we then get some pretty cool splash pages, each featuring an individual Turtle. I don’t think I’ve ever complained about Fero Pe and Ronda Pattison’s art. Just the story they wound up in…

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

TMNT: The Armageddon Game – The Alliance #6 Micro-Review – A Larger, Messier Picture

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 The Armageddon Game the Alliance, cover, April 2023, Roi Mercado, William SoaresTITLE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Armageddon Game – The Alliance #6
AUTHOR: Erik Burnham
ARTISTS: Roi Mercado, William Soares (Colorist), Shawn Lee (Letterer)
RELEASED: April 19, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

In the smaller sense of things, this final Alliance issue is executed fine. The art is good. The characters all feel true to themselves. It’s everything you’d expect from the creators involved.

But the overall Armageddon Game story still feels like a jumbled, bloated mess. That’s not Burnham or Mercado’s fault, per se. But their work is caught in the middle of a larger, messier picture.

On the upside, in this issue Rocksteady gets to do a “thunderclap” like the Hulk does. That’s a fun little moment.

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

A TMNT: The Armageddon Game #6 Micro-Review – Herman’s Time to Shine

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 The Armageddon Game 6, variant cover, March 2023, Vincenzo Federici, Matt HermsTITLE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Armageddon Game #6
AUTHOR: Tom Waltz
ARTISTS: Vincenzo Federici, Heather Breckel (Colorist), Shawn Lee (Letterer). Variant cover by Alex Sanchez & Gigi Dutreix.
RELEASED: March 15, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Herman, the hermit crab with heavy artillery, gets a nice moment in this issue. That was nice. As was the Krang-centric moment we get toward the end. So we’re getting isolated character moments that are fun and memorable, even though the larger tapestry of The Armageddon Game is a mess.

Raphael has been wearing a trench coat during fight sequences for several issues now. An interesting choice, as you’d think that would restrict his movement, and what not. But what do I know? I’m no ninja…

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

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

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 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.

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.

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: The Armageddon Game – The Alliance #3 – A One-Two Punch

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 The Armageddon Game The Alliance 3, cover, January 2023, Roi MercadoTITLE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Armageddon Game – The Alliance #3
AUTHORS: Juni Ba, Erik Burnham
ARTISTS: Ba, Roi Mercado, Ronda Pattison (Colorist), William Soares (Colorist), Jake M. Wood (Letterer). Cover by Mercado.
RELEASED: January 4, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

This is far and away the best issue to come out of this Armageddon Game storyline yet. Juni Ba’s writing and art on the main story (along with Ronda Pattison’s colors) are a tremendous change of pace, delivering a great character story for Alopex. Then Burnham and Mercado’s back-up makes for a great one-two punch.

Mind you, I’m still not enthralled with Armageddon Game as a whole. But this the first issue from the storyline that I’ve enjoyed from start to finish.

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

TMNT: The Armageddon Game – The Alliance #2 Micro-Review – The Art of Exposition

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 The Armageddon Game the Alliance 2, cover, December 2022, Roi Mercado, William SoaresTITLE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Armageddon Game – The Alliance #2
AUTHORS: Will Robson, Erik Burnham
ARTISTS: Robson, Roi Mercado, Andrew Dalhouse (Colorist), William Soares (Colorist), Shawn Lee (Letterer), Neil Uyetake (Letterer). Cover by Mercado & Soares.

RELEASED: December 14, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

There’s a lot of expositing going on here. We start off with a monologue from Casey Jones that goes on for three pages. Then the Punk Frogs exposit fairly heavily. Then for our back-up we have a mostly one-sided dialogue between Casey and Karai that goes over her situation.

In terms of Casey, I found myself wishing they’d found another, quicker way to get that information to us. As for the expositing overall, the scope of this Armageddon Game story is just THAT big that we need to constantly be reminded of what’s going on with everybody….

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