TMNT 22 - City Fall Pt.1
City Fall begins here!
The Good
Unfreaking believable! I've known that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have had a comic book for sometime now, but I never bothered picking it up. Always looking for the right time to read this series. However, when I saw the teaser images for City Fall, I knew I had to start reading this series. In this issue, we find out that the Foot has plans for the Turtles.
The writers did an incredible job with this issue. Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, and Tom Waltz put 110% into the story and script of this series. Seeing Kevin Eastman's name on this title amazed me. Having been the writer and co-creator of TMNT in the early days, I'm just glad to see that he is still key in the Turtles character development. However, I absolutely love the tone of this comic. It is dark and resembles more of the inner Ninja within the Turtles that has not yet been seen in media form (I'll go into more of that later). What captured my attention was the second page of artwork in this issue. The overview shot of Shredder and Kitsune looking at Manhattan really got me hooked into this issue.
When I picked up this issue and started to read the first page, I already had the mindset that this was going to be an adventure where the Turtles have trouble but always win in the end. However, once the Turtles started fighting the Foot, I was like, "The writers aren't messing around! These are real threats for the team." I like being proved wrong. Thank you writers for giving me what I always wanted, NINJA TURTLES!
It never crossed my mind that the TMNT would actually curse and be open to [optionally] killing the enemy. I've seen the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV series, from the classic cartoon to the modern one, however it never crossed my mind that the Turtles would be so dark, violent, and overall an actual Ninja assassin. They've always been portrayed [in television] as these four dudes who are all unique in their own way, but work real well as a team. From this issue, I compared comic book Turtles to TV turtles and I realized that the TV turtles are really watered down Ninjas. I respect what the writers did with the tone of this series because it shows that not all forms of media are the same.
The artwork by Mateus Santolouco is beyond words. I mentioned earlier, that this issue captured my attention with the second page of art with Shredder and Kitsune, which is true. All of the detail of artwork that goes into this comic book is beyond words and it is all thanks to Santolouco and the colors by Ronda Pattison. Wow, the colors just make this issue come to life. My hat is off to the art team.
I'm not gonna lie, I like what I saw in this issue and this is my first exposure to the Turtles in comic book form. I have no idea what has transpired from issues 1-21, but after reading this 22nd issue I want to go back and read 1-21.
The Bad
I absolutely loved this issue. Is that so bad?
The Verdict
If you love the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, then you will love this issue. Shell (I'm a TMNT fan, I know), you'll love this entire series I bet. City Fall is just beginning and I'm sure you are not going to want to miss what is in store for the Foot and Turtles. Overall 5 out of 5.
Next review:
TMNT 23 - City Fall Pt.2 (June 26, 2013 release date. Reviewed June 28, 2013.)
P.S. If you were wondering, my favorite turtle is Leo.
