Writer: Alex Paknadel
Artist: Amancay Nahuelpan
Colorist: Luis Antonio Delgado
Letterer: Darran Robinson
Cover Artists: Amancay Nahuelpan & Max Dunbar
Editor: Dave Wielgosz
Publisher: IDW
Price: $4.99
Release Date: December 17, 2025
Casey Jones wants to keep moving toward something that matters. So he seeks to prove that people still need him. Everyone in his life wants him to sit still. But as Raphael told April, that means his memories can catch up with him.
April thinks Casey needs to remember that he almost died when Hieronymous Hale shot him. Raphael believes Casey can't exercise sound judgment until the doctor gives him a clean bill of health. Is Casey seeking suicide by defending Mutant children and searching for Annabel's father? And can he still discern heroes from villains? Let's grab our masks and clubs, leap into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Casey Jones #3, and see!
Story
Ludovic is a snow leopard. His specialty is breaking opponents’ ribs. He works hard to earn his employer’s respect. But unlike Casey, Jack Marlin knows where to draw the line. Humans stand atop the evolutionary pyramid. Mutants and animals can never be his equal.
April and Raphael don't see eye to eye with Casey. Still, they want to help him. So after April shares her concerns, Raphael agrees to seek out his friend. When Raphael finds him, Casey is working with one of Leo Ban's enforcers. Just as Annabel lost her father, some of the underworld boss's underlings have gone missing. But when Ludovic attacks Casey, Raphael defends him, while Leo Ban's people flee.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Casey Jones #3 takes us into the heart of a dark operation. We see who Jack Marlin works with and the market niche he targets. Alex Paknadel draws on folklore motifs and HG Wells' classic novel about the evolution of the species as he contemplates what it means to be Human. Yet his story compares a man who believes he is superior to Mutants with a vigilante who knows his reptilian friends will always be his superiors.
Art
As Geena Gets sits before a lighted mirror, she erases crow’s feet with an applicator pad. Shimmering in her black sequin dress, Geena studies her reflection as Jack Marlin studies her in his suit and broad-brimmed hat. Amancay Nahuelpan shows Jack’s weathered hand placing a container of moisturizer next to her empty one. An inset panel shows his pearly whites gleaming beneath his black handlebar mustache. As a talk show host's face swells beyond the TV screen, Geena's smiling face shrinks into the lens of a video camera in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Casey Jones #3.
Heaven weeps as Ludovic picks up a fallen mutant and heaves him atop his shoulder. Luis Antonio Delgado paints the night red, orange, and pink as Casey and Ludovic fight. Yet the rainy night turns scarlet when Ludovic attacks Casey in a way that belies his self-image. Then pink-edged lightning bolts fill the sky, highlighting Raphael's muscular development. White, glowing eyes showcase his determination.
Darran Robinson fills white dialogue balloons with uppercase letters that grow bold for intonation and shrink for lowered voices. Colored narrative boxes reveal thoughts and offscreen dialogue. Raised voices swell letters and make balloons spiky. Sound effects help us hear fighting on a dark and stormy night, a talk show guest’s ire, and a master rebuking his subordinate in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Casey Jones #3. Thanks to IDW and Comic Book Dispatch for providing a review copy.
Final Thoughts
Skills and physical size make a difference. But Casey knows that determination matters most. So, he throws everything he has into his fights, never backing down despite the odds against him. As villains step on the weak as they climb toward godhood, Casey's having none of it in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Casey Jones #3.
Rating 9.6/10
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