Writers: Juni Ba, Paul Allor
Artists: Fero Pe, Andy Kuhn
Colorist: Luis Antonio Delgado, Ronda Pattison
Letterer: Nathan Widick
Cover Artist: Juni Ba
Publisher: IDW
Price: Free
Release Date: May 4, 2024
A masked and armored figure stalks the night. Who will fall prey to his fury? And what does Splinter get up to when the Turtles are away? Let’s order a pizza, leap into the FCBD 2024: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles issue, and find out!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher
Story
The Mutagen bomb changed everything. Humans are clannish and born to prejudice. They exclude others who don’t belong. One person realizes this. He sees how people punish the victims of the tragedy. He will not allow Mankind to exploit these unfortunates who never asked to become mutants. So, he dons a mask and armor. He stalks the night. He protects mutant interests and instills fear in the hearts of any who threaten them.
Who is this masked vigilante? He is the Nightwatcher!
Writer Juni Ba puts you into the mind of the Nightwatcher in the FCBD 2024: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles issue. Letterer Nathan Widick places the vigilante’s thoughts into red narrative boxes. The Nightwatcher’s thoughts share panels with the thieves’ black dialogue in white balloons as these opportunists venture into a mutant neighborhood to rob a bank. While the two narratives fight for your attention, Fero Pe’s art carries you along, telling you everything you need to know.
Art
A full moon illuminates streets filled with uncollected trash. Scaffolding surrounds damaged buildings, while others await structural repairs. Three mutants approach a tall, thin structure sporting a grand, columned façade. But no goblins guard the treasures inside this bank. The mutants walk past counters filled with ransacked trays. Discarded documents cover the floor as they enter an open vault. Some of the safety deposit boxes hang open. Who knows what treasures the others might contain?
A figure awaits them in the darkness. Closeups focus on the violence of the fight: a mailed fist punches a face, a hand grabs a gun from a canvas bag, and gunfire bounces off the Nightwatcher’s armor. And then, all too soon, flight follows.
Luis Antonio Delgado provides appealing color to Fero Pe’s art in the FCBD 2024: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles issue. Delgado conveys the darkness of the street and the abandoned bank. Yet everything is visible, illuminated by a flashlight or the rays of moonlight that find their way inside. Much is gray as the Nightwatcher hides or hurtles like a shadow through the night. Yet light reflects off his mailed arms and shoulders, even in the darkness. And then, there are his glowing eyes.
Splinter’s Day Off
Story
On a rare night off, Michelangelo plays video games, Rafael pounds on his punching bag, Donatello tinkers with a robot, and Leonardo hones his pizza-making skills. Yet errant dough initiates mutant mayhem, dispelling Splinter's attempts at meditation. Splinter chastises the Turtles for their behavior and sends them out on patrol. While this displeases the Turtles, Splinter realizes what this means. He doesn't have to maintain his aura of dignity. He’s got a night off from being a role model. He can have fun like his children!
Paul Allor’s tale in the FCBD 2024: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles issue reminds us that adults don't have to grow up. Parents can enjoy play as much as their children. Nathan Widick’s large-size dialogue allows adults to share this comic tale with their children and hopefully instill a lifelong love of reading.
Art
Kuhn's art conveys the Turtles' camaraderie, emotions, and personalities. We see how they function as a team. Backgrounds convey depth and reality, and fight scenes between the turtles and others convey violence and energy. Inset snapshots pepper pages with closeups amid larger panels. Yet Splinter’s humorous exploits are what lingers when the tale (sadly) ends.
Brown dominates the turtles’ domicile in the FCBD 2024: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles issue. The turtles add a fleeting touch of green as they leap between roofs against a blue night sky. Blue stars reveal impacts as the Turtles exchange blows, yellow stars blaze as they fight the Foot Clan, and white and blue stars accompany the robot’s antics. Ronda Pattison adds interest by coloring inset panels with contrasting colors, while Nathan Widick’s sound effects help us hear Splinter’s fright and delight in Splinter’s Day Off.
In addition to these two new stories, the FCBD 2024: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles issue also promises to preview IDW’s upcoming TMNT series.
Thanks to my compadres at IDW for providing a copy of this cowabunga issue.
Final Thoughts
An antihero rises to haunt the mutant neighborhoods, while Splinter takes a leaf from his children's book in the FCBD 2024: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles issue. The first appearance of an exciting new character is reason enough to camp outside your comic shop and be first in line when the doors open!
Rating 9.6/10
To pick up a copy visit your local comic store today (before they're gone)!
To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
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