Writer: Erik Burnham
Artist: Sarah Myer
Colorist: Luis Antonio Delgado
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
Cover Artists: Sarah Myer, Ramon Rosanas & Gigi Dutreix
Publisher: IDW
Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 22, 2024
Ogg The Magnificent challenged the Turtles to a Best Of Three Contest. If the Turtles win, Ogg loses his powers. If Ogg wins, the Turtles lose their lives. Michelangelo’s genius brought his brothers their first win. But are the Turtles capable of defeating The Enemy Within? Let's order a pizza, tune into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures #13, and find out!
Story
Mister Ogg is tired of people not living up to their potential. He craves originality, not sequels and variations on a theme. So, he’s getting to the heart of who the Turtles are by forcing them to fight their evil selves. Perhaps the Turtles will achieve greatness by beating versions of themselves that value victory over principles and achievements over a good time. If not, Ogg will wipe them out of existence. No pressure.
As Raphael points out, Ogg's stacked the deck in his favor. He's forcing the Turtles to fight five evil Turtles in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures #13. Too bad, Raph! Ogg’s throwing the party. Or rather, he’s hosting the Ogglympics. Versions of the magnificent Ogg sell drinks, snacks, pennants, and foam fingers to the cheering crowd. To make things interesting, Mister Ogg throws out an additional incentive. If the Turtles don't give their best, he will wipe their evil twins from existence.
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures #13, Erik Burnham forces the brothers to go against their instincts. Ogg tricked them into this contest by appealing to their vanity. He nearly won Round One because most of the Turtles were overthinking. Round Two will test their compassion and what unites them as brothers. But most of all, it will push each Turtle before a mirror and force him to confront his greatest weakness.
While their unprincipled evil selves go for the win by any means necessary, Ogg makes our Turtles' task harder. He splits them up so they cannot function as a team. Should just one of them lose his battle, all four lose Round Two. Man, Burnham, that Ogg is evil! Like Michelangelo, I think I liked Ogg better when he was just a weird little guy who ate porcelain!
Art
Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo confront their evil sides in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures #13. The rascally Raphael resembles a pirate. The dastardly Donatello packs bulging muscles. Lawbreaking Leonardo looks ferocious in Black And White. Bizarrely, menacing Michelangelo resembles a wide-eyed innocent. Still, the sinister Shredder Turtle looks more dangerous than any two of the other reptile reprobates!
Sarah Myer does All-Mighty Ogg’s bidding by tossing Leo into a Hoth-like snowfield. She spirits Donatello to a ramp evoking the elevated bridge of Darth Vader's Star Destroyer. She hurls Raphael to a savage land with an active volcano. As for Michelangelo, he lands beside a small spaceship outside a futuristic pizza palace. Who knew there was a thriving Italian community on Coruscant?
Purple and blue dominate a packed stadium. Lights glare before a planet- and star-filled purple sky. When Leonardo’s sword transforms into an Oggish snake, white dots and a starburst appear. Green foliage and vines surround a Black-And-White Turtle. Leonardo battles in blue-white knee-high snow before purple and pink mountains. Luis Antonio Delgado lavishes a loaded palette of attractive and vibrant colors on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures #13.
Ed Dukeshire's uppercase black letters in white dialogue balloons will please pizza lovers of any age. Words rarely shrink and embolden for inflection, while every word lawbreaking Leo utters is bold. Energetic and colorful sound effects help us hear Ogg banish the turtles to their separate trials, blades clash, and the Oggling crowd boo. While some sound effects coordinate with turtle colors, the red letters that announce a table-turning development have nothing to do with Raphael.
Thanks to my compadres at IDW for providing a copy of this cowabunga issue for review.
Final Thoughts
From a jungle to a futuristic city, the All-Powerful Mister Ogg tests the Turtles' mettle using a divide-and-conquer strategy in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures #13. The pressure is on Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo. If anyone stumbles, they all could die!
Rating 9.8/10
To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
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