“Rat on the run”

This month its high-octane right out the gate as our beloved “heroes in a half shell” are under siege in their subterranean lair. The Stockman Swarm is closing in hot and fast and it’s getting dire. Leonardo, being the fearless leader that he’s always been, orders his brother and father to leave the quarters immediately. Since the swarms primary target is Splinter, the main priority is protecting the comatose body of their fallen brother Donetello above all else.

Raphael and Splinter make it quick to get out of dodge with Leo, while Mikey remains behind to protect his brother. Mikey assumes the battle ready when a robot Donetello (Metalhead) tells him there is no way they can remain there despite the damage to his real body. Donnie.. er Metalhead wants to keep all communications encrypted so he utilizes codenames: Kirbyfan01 (a nod to the late great King of Comic Books, Jack Kirby) and Duz_Machines 84 (recalling the creation date of the Ninja Turtles themselves). This was just a cool little in joke to long time comic fans like myself that I enjoyed greatly.

Continuing on with the action, we see two members of the police transporting the incarcerated Hun. Detective Lewis explains to her partner there is a lot of concern as he is a particularly dangerous individual. She warns him they need to keep their eyes open. Having said that, at that very moment the transport becomes under attack! A small band of Meta Mutants free Hun from his human captors and form an uneasy alliance with him. This will spell bad luck for the Turtles for sure.

Meanwhile, The Shredder is planning his next move as he plans to double cross Baxter Stockman once he outlives his usefulness. (Who couldn’t see that one coming?) All the pieces are soon to be in place for the ultimate revenge and Shredder wants a front row seat to the ultimate destruction of Hamato Yoshi and his green offspring. He intends to finish it once and for all.

Things are looking more dire by the second for Splinter and the Turtles as they leap from the frying pan of their sewer lair to the fire of the harbor. They fight off a mega horde of mousers and flybots to no avail as they are controlled by Stockman’s neural link and there seems to be an almost endless supply of them.

The remainder of the issue is the Turtles making their harrowing escape from certain doom and preparing for what’s to come.

Overall: While I didn’t enjoy this issue quite as much as last month’s, it was still pretty good overall. I loved the banter between Mikey and Donnie as his “Robo Bro”. Also seeing the Shredder of old back in rare form was a great sight. I know things are building and it’s so palpable you can taste it, I just wish we got a bigger piece this time around. Plus that retro style cover below is just freaking rad!

Story: Kevin Eastman Art: Mateus Santolouco
Story: 7 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5 Recommendation: Read

IDW Publishing provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review