Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures #16 Review

 

Writer: Erik Burnham

Artist: Dan Schoening

Colorist: Luis Antonio Delgado

Letterer: Ed Dukeshire

Editors: Thea Cheuk & Nicolas Niño

Design & Production: Johanna Nattalie

Cover Artists: Dan Schoening & Luis Antonio Delgado; Michael Kazaleh

Publisher: IDW

Price: $3.99

Release Date: August 28, 2024

 

After helping defeat the Troubladours, Old Hob, Manmoth, and Aka request the Turtles' assistance. The next thing Michelangelo knows, he is swinging on a dance floor with his brothers and their villainous foes. Worse, his Jive Talkin’ brothers haven’t heard of pizza! Can Michelangelo help Leonardo, Donatello, and Raphael escape this Disco Inferno? Let's tune into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures #16 and find out!

 

Story

Old Hob reluctantly frees Michelangelo from the brainwashing machine. Old Hob explains he wants to brainwash the Turtles. But Michelangelo's resistance threatens to break Golgotha's machine, so he must break Mikey’s will another way.

 

Aka and Golgotha bring the brainpower to Old Hob's Pantheon. Drako and Manmoth supply the brawn. Yet even the brightest people can be overconfident. Old Hob believed the Turtles would pose no more difficulties, so Scratch took the minions offline to update their software. Nor did the Rat Queen heed Old Hob's warnings about the Turtle's indomitability as she sent her legion of rats away. But Aka makes the worst mistake in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures #16. She allows Michelangelo to trick her into releasing his brothers.

 

We don’t learn what simulations Old Hob trapped Leonardo and Raphael inside, but Donatello believed he was aiding them with his understanding of technology. Now they’re free of Golgotha’s brainwashing machines, but they're running around the castle, and no one has posted handy notices explaining how to escape this pocket dimension. As Old Hob wants them away from Earth so he can use it as a smuggling base, they can’t talk him into letting them return. So Leonardo tricks the interstellar gangsters into showing them how Old Hob, Aka, and Scratch traveled to Earth to subdue the Troubladours. It's a risky move, as Leonardo must split the team to make his strategy work. But if the Turtles want another Mega Gut-Buster Special from Perry’s Pizza, it’s a risk they’ve got to take.

 

Erik Burnham's story showcases how the Turtles fight defensively. They use their skills to deflect attacks rather than injure others unnecessarily. They also find fun ways to control and confuse the villains. Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo never seek a fight in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures #16. Yet they win their battles all the same.

 

 

 

Art

As Old Hob, Drako, Aka, Scratch, Manmoth, and the Rat Queen close in, Michelangelo raises a hand and offers a pleading gaze. Drako lashes him with his tail. Manmoth charges him tusks-first. The Rat Queen launches a flying kick. Aka hovers above Michelangelo. The owl opens her beak, and energy rings descend. Michelangelo covers his ears and moves in front of the glass surrounding his friends. Aka’s soundwaves launch a blizzard of shards into the air.

 

While Old Hob, Golgotha, and Scratch stand before a large computer terminal and study a giant screen, the Turtles regroup outside. The golden castle sits on a slab of floating rock and gleams like Ming’s palace against red space. The orange, brown, green, and blue instruments that sustain this artificial dimension hover nearby. The Millennium Falcon couldn't land outside, but Princess Aura's shuttle might if the Turtles left the circular landing platform.  

 

Luis Antonio Delgado lavishes a loaded palette on Dan Schoening’s fanciful characters in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures #16. Manmoth’s orange skin suggests a link with Michelangelo, who gets the better of the Elephantine Champion Of The Multiverse in his brown boots and singlet. The Rat Queen's hair forms a link with Raphael as they compare their fighting skills and outlooks. Aka's lavender skirt suggests a link with Donatello as she recognizes the threat his technological prowess poses. Old Hob's blue-green shirt suggests an interesting comparison with Leo's fighting and leadership skills. The purple and orange smoke also touches on characters and themes in Erik Burnham's story.

 

Ed Dukeshire's uppercase black letters in white dialogue balloons will please anyone who saw Princess Aura's shuttle and the Millenium Falcon cruise through cinemas during their respective films' original broadcasts to Earth. Words rarely shrink, embolden for inflection, and swell and change color for raised voices. Colored block letters introduce characters and time/space changes. Energizing sound effects help us hear soundwaves, smashing glass, laser blasts, and Manmoth punch through a wall in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures #16. Thanks to my compadres at IDW for providing a copy of this cowabunga issue for review.

 

Final Thoughts

The eyepatch he wears reminds Old Hob to be cautious. So, he surrounds himself with capable people. Old Hob assesses, plans, and strategizes to achieve his goals. Alone among the pantheon, he wears a gun and isn’t afraid to use it. To beat a guy like Old Hob, Leo must take a page from Face's playbook and employ distraction, diversion, and division. If Donatello can take a leaf out of the Doctor’s 1000-Year Diary, that might also help the Turtles escape Old Hob’s pocket domain in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures #16.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.