FCBD 2024: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Review

 

Here's an edited review that I originally published two years ago. The issue is free to purchase this week at Neon Ichiban.

 

FCBD 2024: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Review

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 inherently clannish and often born with prejudices. They exclude others who don't belong. One person sees how people punish the victims of the tragedy. They will not allow Mankind to exploit these unfortunates who never asked to become mutants. So, this individual dons a mask and armor. While stalking the night, the self-made hero protects mutant interests and instills fear in the hearts of anyone who threatens them.

 

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.

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher: 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. Panels 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 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 dialogue allows adults to share this comic tale with their children and hopefully instill a lifelong love of reading.

 

Splinter's Day Off: 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 linger.

 

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. Thanks to IDW and Neon Ichiban for sharing this story with us.

 

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.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

Read FCBD 2024: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles free this week at Neon Ichiban.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Power Rangers Prime #1 Review

 

Power Rangers Prime #1 Review

Writer: Melissa Flores

Artist: Michael Yg

Colorist: Fabi Marques

Letterer: Ed Dukeshire

Designer: Madison Goyette

Editors: Kenzie Rzonca, Caroline Butler, Allyson Gronowitz & Matt Gagnon

Cover Artists: Dan Mora; Juni Ba; Bon Bernardo; Doaly; Joëlle Jones & Jordie Bellaire; Rafael Albuquerque; Inhyuk Lee; Jae Lee & June Chung; Michael Yg; Lauren Marshall; Matthew Waite; Guillaume Martinez; Ivan Tao; Lipwei; David Sanchez & Sean Lee; Shawn Daley; Marcelo Matere; Alina Urusov

Publisher: Boom! Studios

Price: $4.99

Release Date: November 13, 2024

 

Rita Repulsa spread Dark Specter’s infection through space and time. Billy Cranston shattered the Morphin Grid to halt the infection but spent the rest of his life trying to recapture what he lost. How did Billy’s act affect Earth? How might his unsanctioned actions have warped the histories of other Earths in the multiverse? Let's grab our Morphers, leap into Power Rangers Prime #1, and see what happens!

 

Story

Seventy years ago, the Beast Brigade of Gamma VII invaded Earth. Humans were rebuilding their homes, cities, and nations after the destruction of World War II. They weren't prepared for their first alien contact, let alone an interstellar invasion. A race of galactic protectors came to Earth’s aid. The Eltarians brought technology far in advance of Humanity’s capabilities in 1954. With their help, Earth repelled the Beast Brigade. But victory came at a price. 

 

In Power Rangers Prime #1, the students of Angel Grove University come from many worlds. They take classes from professors like the Eltarian Professor Barall. Earth is an Eltarian colony and takes in refugees from many planets. Whether they are Andresian, Aquitan, or other species, the refugees are haunted by the destruction of their homeworlds. They may be glad they found a new home on Earth. But they live in a society where non-Eltarians are judged guilty until proven innocent by the Earth Security Taskforce.

 

 

 

In Melissa Flores' story, Mark Zhao risks his place at Angel Grove University to protect and hide a Human. His roommate and their canine companion welcome her to their dorm room. While students train on the athletic field to become VR Troopers and protect society from Mutants, a young Eltarian from a prominent family is interested in Mark's visitor. Jun quietly disagrees with the official view that Earth is better off now that his people are in charge. He also knows about the mythic Power Rangers who once protected the endangered and oppressed. 

 

Art

As Lauren flees through the night, gunfire and explosions hasten her steps. Armored soldiers carrying laser rifles and bows pursue her. After shouting a familiar phrase, Lauren wades into the Eltarian troops with a sword. Yet when a young student opens a dumpster, he finds Lauren inside. Michael Yg fills Power Rangers Prime #1 with epic scenes. The students attending Angel Grove University are expressive and relatable, and one's painful past shows through his profile.

 

 

 

Fabi Marques lavishes a loaded palette on a campus filled with rounded towers, organic shapes, and a central dome. Inside an auditorium, blue-skinned Eltarians, a red-skinned elf, a bald, green-skinned student, and a humanoid with red facial markings wear blue vests adorned with school patches. Yet scarlet fills the sky as spaceships evoking Chitauri and Boglodite designs rain yellow and orange destruction on high-rises while purple-tinged people flee through the streets.

 

Ed Dukeshire orders black uppercase letters into white dialogue balloons and narrative boxes. He shares Rita Repulsa’s musing as purple text in rounded lavender boxes. The lettering emboldens for inflection, swells for volume, and changes color when a hero shouts a familiar catchphrase. While sound effects enhance battles, explosions introduce heroes and villains in Power Rangers Prime #1. Thanks to Boom! Studios for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

A utopian dream perches atop a repressive regime where Humans are a repressed minority, and Power Rangers are Public Enemy Number One in Power Rangers Prime #1.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

For more interior art see my preview at The Dragon's Cache.

 

For more cover art see my cover art preview at The Dragon's Cache. 

To refresh your memories of Billy's actions, see my review of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Darkest Hour #1.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher #1 Review

 

Writer: Juni Ba

Artist: Fero Pe

Colorist: Luis Antonio Delgado

Letterer: Nathan Widick

Editor: Thea Cheuk

Cover Artists: Fero Pe, Jon Lankry, J Gonzo & Eric Talbot

Publisher: IDW

Price: $3.99

Release Date: August 14, 2024

 

Terror stalks the streets of Mutant Town. Some Humans fear the Mutants. Others prey on them. But the Mutants have a new protector. Who is the hero who haunts the night and strikes down those who would harm the Mutant community? Let's strap on our armor, leap into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher #1, and find out!

 

Story

A car roars through the streets, dispelling the festive, if guarded, calm of Mutant Town. Behind the glaring headlights, a figure crouches atop the automobile. Unlike Scott Howard in 1985’s Teen Wolf, the armored mutant isn’t street surfing. Nor is the hero savoring the chill thrill as Michelangelo did atop the armored SUV in the Turtles' 2014 film. The masked driver’s eyes bulge as a gauntlet shatters the windshield. Like the Terminator, the armored assailant reaches inside for the driver. The car swerves and plunges into a dark alley. Squealing brakes send the attacker flying.

 

In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher #1, the driver isn't inclined to flee. He pulls a semiautomatic from his overcoat and straps on a metal gauntlet akin to his attacker's. Suddenly, the fight isn't so uneven. The driver knows he can fight off the Nightwatcher. But the noises and thuds coming from the car’s trunk suggest there’s more going on than a driver protecting himself from an unprovoked attack.

 

Juni Ba interposes a highspeed chase and fraught fighting with insights from the Human and Mutant community. The Mutagen Bomb created more Mutants than ever before. Since Mutant Town became an incorporated borough of New York City, Mutants gained a legitimacy that many regret. Mayor Stockman’s lack of leadership and the Turtles' departure threaten the fragile peace between Humans and Mutants. While the new hero protects them, the Nightwatcher’s vigilantism could rebound against the Mutant community. 

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher #1 delivers an action-packed rescue plot while reminding us of the threats facing a diverse community. Juni Ba’s story shows how the Nightwatcher’s actions inspire some and worry others. Yet the stakes seem highest for the Mutants' latest vigilante. Living a double life could destroy what the Nightwatcher values most.

 

Art

Mutants walk the streets or hang out by cars and mailboxes stuffed with uncollected mail. Snapshots of frightened faces scatter across the top of the page as a car hurtles across the bottom. As his roof bulges inward, the masked Human’s eyes reveal he shares their fright. Fero Pe devotes a page to Nightwatcher reaching through the fractured windshield and intersperses the battle with four nine-panel pages. The Tic-tac-toe pages introduce not the Brady Bunch but two Humans and two Mutants. Despite the concerns over the vigilante's activities, a ghostly bust of Mutant Town's newest hero rises above the dilapidated buildings of this troubled borough on Fero Pe’s final page.

 

Colorist Luis Antonio Delgado shines orange light upon the purple-gray buildings. A purple-gray haze rises from the rooftops but cannot obliterate the white stars in the black sky. Green, orange, and yellow shine amid the street life, while red often fills the backgrounds of Nightwatcher’s battle. The red echoes the marks on the silver armor and the scarlet liquid that splatters the pages of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher #1.

 

An energizing Skree circles the clock from 7 to 11 across the frightened neighborhood and races alongside the protesting tires. A terrifying Krish joins the glass shards flying toward the driver's eyes. A Krzssh rises as the classic car plunges into the boxes near the dumpsters. Amid the spectacle, black uppercase letters in gray boxes relate to one person's hopes and fears. Nathan Widick’s white letters in black balloons with red borders signal the vigilante's reluctance to fight. Words embolden, change color, occasionally swell, and rarely shrink as the speakers in Juni Ba's Turtle Tale share the concerns of a community in crisis. The balloon and box shapes underline the precarious nature of the participants and the stakes facing everyone in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher #1. Thanks to IDW for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Adults fear New York's latest vigilante. Children admire their protector, even if they wish they didn't need one. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher #1 is a tale of heroism, sacrifice, and resistance to change.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

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

FCBD 2024: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Review

 

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.

TMNT Best Of Alopex #1 Review

 

Writers: Brian Lynch, Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Juni Ba, Erik Burnham & Sophie Campbell

Artists: Sophie Campbell, Juni Ba, Roi Mercado & Gavin Smith

Colorists: Sophie Campbell, Heather Nunnelly, Ronda Pattison & William Soares

Letterers: Chris Mowry, Shawn Lee & Jake M. Wood

Cover Artist: James Biggie

Publisher: IDW

Price: $6.99

Release Date: April 10, 2024

 

Once, she ran with her pack in the Alaskan wilderness. Now, the Mutant Arctic Fox dispatches her opponents not with her teeth but with her martial arts prowess. What is Alopex’s story? Let’s grab a pizza, leap into the four stories in TMNT Best Of Alopex #1, and find out!

 

 

 

TMNT: Villains Micro-Series #4: Alopex

Story

For Alopex, the mission is everything. She fights for the Foot Clan and follows Master Shredder's orders without question. One assignment awakens old memories. Alopex returns to the land of her birth. Walking through the Alaskan snow reminds her of life hunting prey and avoiding bears before the scientists mutated her. In this first story in TMNT Best Of Alopex #1, Brian Lynch forces Alopex to compare her old life with her new identity. She leaves with a less naive view of her ninja master.

 

Art

Sophie Campbell brings an Old School sensibility to TMNT: Villains Micro-Series #4: Alopex. The Mutant Arctic Fox crashes through windows, fights rival ninjas, and remembers battling the turtles. While reds and blues dominate, Sophie Campbell and Heather Nunnelly use other colors sparingly to highlight killing blows, the mutation drug, and the purple surrounding Alopex’s eyes.

 

 

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #66

Story

Alopex fled New York City for Alaska. She thought she could escape Kitsune’s grasp. But the witch who controls the Foot Clan refuses to let her go. Raphael and Angel pursue her in this second story in TMNT Best Of Alopex #1. The mutant reptile lacks Alopex’s fur. Yet he braves the cold to save her. He's conflicted about his feelings for her. Raphael uses two methods he learned from his fellow turtles to find her. But in Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz’s story, Alopex must discover how to win her freedom from Kitsune before returning with Raphael to New York City.

 

Art

Campbell's art lends a softer, feminine appeal to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #66. Raphael's love for Alopex knocks his confidence for a loop, leaving him open and hesitant before Angel. Ronda Pattison paints the Alaskan land and sky in gray and white, while red dominates Kitsune's scenes. Campbell's atmospheric art and Pattison's limited colors bathe Alopex’s battle with Kitsune in mysticism.

 

 

 

TMNT: The Armageddon Game: The Alliance #3

Story

Alopex’s life grows more confusing when the turtles ally with Shredder to combat the Rat King. She now blames Shredder for experimenting on her and ripping her away from her home and family. Although it hurts, she turns her back on Raphael and the turtles in this story in TMNT Best Of Alopex #1. She helps Angel take on Ravenwood’s Earth Protection Force squad and entertains an offer from Oroku Karai. Juni Ba and Eric Burnham address how our circle of friendships and our concept of family adapts to changes life throws in our path.

 

Art

Juni Ba's art in the first story in TMNT: The Armageddon Game: The Alliance #3 features sharp angles and fraught action. Ronda Pattison's limited coloring electrifies scenes where characters often revert to silhouettes or negative silhouettes, visualize Alopex's scent, and limbs resemble lightning bolts. Roi Mercado's characters approach photorealism in the backup story, while backgrounds often fade. Ronda Pattison fills null backgrounds with brilliant colors that evoke the aurora borealis from the land of Alopex’s birth.

 

 

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #140

Story

After the Rat King's defeat, everything is different. Leonardo tries to keep the group together, but the turtles can't even agree on whether patrolling the neighborhood is necessary. Raphael glimpses Alopex and texts her. But the Mutant Arctic Fox doesn't answer. Alopex has left the turtles behind. She leads the Claw Clan in this final story in TMNT Best Of Alopex #1. Despite her pack’s enthusiasm, Alopex strives to find a purpose in their activities. Sophie Campbell’s story places the turtles front and center, with Alopex limited to one scene. But a series of mutant murders and a cliffhanger featuring Raphael suggest the Arctic Fox's return.

 

Art

Gavin Smith packs this final story in TMNT Best Of Alopex #1 Review with breathtaking reality. The turtles and other mutants convincingly (if not always harmoniously) interact with their Human neighbors. Ronda Pattison enhances Smith’s inked shading and illuminates her characters under the city lights and a full moon. Pattison's loaded palette and nuanced coloring portray a community rocked by change. 

 

Final Thoughts

From ferocious arctic fox to streetwise ninja leader, the mutant Alopex has endured the trials and hardships of modern life. She navigates a maze of twists and turns, pulling Raphael into her struggles before leaving the mutant turtle behind. TMNT Best Of Alopex #1 showcases her struggles with change and her unending search for a home.

 

Rating 9/10

 

To preview TMNT: Villains Micro-Series #4: Alopex, the first story in TMNT Best Of Alopex #1, see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.