Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Alpha #1 Review

 

Writers: Jason Aaron & Tom Waltz

Artists: Chris Burnham & Gavin Smith

Colorist: Brian Reber & Ronda Pattison

Letterer: Nathan Widick

Cover Artists: Chris Burnham & Brian Reber; Gavin Smith; Esau & Isaac Escorza; Vicenzo Federici; J. Gonzo; Rod Reis; Sophie Campbell; Chris Burnham (Gold Foil)

Publisher: IDW

Price: $6.99

Release Date: June 5, 2024

 

A safari park reinvents itself as a mutant fight club. A researcher experiments with a new and improved mutagen. How will these unrelated incidents reshape the mutant landscape? Let's grab our bō staffs, leap into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Alpha #1, and find out!

 

Long Way From Home

Story

When Sunshine Safari Park closes its doors, the security guards discover a lucrative new opportunity. Two thousand dollars buys customers five minutes with the mutant of their choice. If they bag the mutant and want a trophy to show their friends, taxidermy services are available for an additional fee. But wait, these mutants are just animals, aren’t they?

 

In Long Way From Home, a white-collar worker needs a reason to hold his head high. The captured mutants want to survive and escape. A Turtle eggs on customers until they agree to fight him. But can they survive the battle with this trained warrior? Jason Aaron's ten-page story finishes too quickly and doesn't end well for the guards or the man who paid to take down a Turtle.

 

 

 

Art

Chris Burnham’s gritty art in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Alpha #1 pulses with vitality and drama as the office worker attempts to prove himself to the dismissive guards and the hungry, determined Turtle. The customer grows furious while the guard grins behind his back. Panels reveal a foot, then intent eyes, before a hooded Turtle leaves his cell. The pens and fencing fade as the mutant dwarfs the would-be hero. The reptile bursts into action. And the guards watching the monitors lose their lunch.

 

A dark blue sky welcomes visitors to the glowing arena. Overhead lighting paints the ground yellow as the tanned guard in a blue shirt leads the gray suit toward barred pens. Highlights brighten the intent man's features and the green hands clutching the gray bars. The customer picks up a blue crowbar, and a star bursts behind him, shooting orange rays in every direction. Brian Reber lavishes a loaded palette on this dark story illuminated only by the artificial lights, Sunshine Security's cattle prods, and one Turtle’s determination to survive.

 

 

 

Monster Island

Story

Old Hob watches over Mutant Island, aka North Brother Island. Beside him crawls Herman the Hermit Crab, ready to shoot down any drones his boss spots. But while Old Hob worries about outsiders spying on his new home, he ignores growing problems among those in his care. After the crab destroys his latest surveillance drone, Colonel Wesley Knight sneaks onto Mutant Island under cover of darkness. What is his unsanctioned mission?

 

Monster Island updates readers on crime and politics in Mutant Town and lets Jennica and Angel Bridge reconnect. But the central focus of Tom Waltz’s story is Colonel Knight's mission on behalf of his mutant-traumatized wife and a research experiment gone wrong. It's a fraught action feature starring unlikely partners and a monster who begs forgiveness as she kills.

 

 

 

Art

A full moon shines down on Mutant Town’s three-story buildings and clustering tents in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Alpha #1. The moon illuminates the Cat and Crab on the wooden pier. As the sky darkens, a boat pulls onto the rocky shore, and a soldier clad in armor holds a rifle in readiness as he charges across the grass. The Colonel trades night vision goggles for a flashlight and ventures into the compound. He follows a trail of blood and finds mutants wrapped in webbing and hanging from the ceiling. 

 

Ronda Pattison lavishes a loaded palette on Gavin Smith’s art in the thirty-page Mutant Town. Pattison portrays darkness while hiding nothing as combatants seek their prey. The subdued coloring energizes the moonlit fight as guns blaze, a rotary cannon smokes, and a fierce creature with deadly talons bursts from the shadows.

 

 

Nathan Widick contributes large, uppercase black letters to white balloons and colored narrative boxes in both stories. The words grow bold for inflection and shrink for lowered voices. A monster hisses white letters into blood splatter, while vicious sound effects intensify the struggle for survival in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Alpha #1. Paragraphs of white letters accompany portraits for profiles of nine characters in Mutant Town. Thanks to IDW for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

One leader rallies the drugged and dispirited captives of a mutant trafficking ring, while another realizes that Humans and Mutants need each other in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Alpha #1.

 

Rating 9.5/10

 

Preview "Long Way From Home," the prelude to Jason Aaron's forthcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, on 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.