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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2024) #1 Review - RIB12

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2024) #1 Review

Disclaimer: This is the first TMNT comic I think I’ve ever read, I try not to spoil anything.

TLDR: The story is very intriguing though that’s not surprising knowing who the author is. The interior art is rather disappointing but I’m super picky and not an expert in that sort of stuff. On the plus side the artist did very well with the layout, it’s super readable and flows nicely. I want to see what happens next but will probably buy this in trades unless the covers are nice or I hear great things about the story as it releases.

        I’ll start off this review by saying that although the turtles were a huge part of my childhood, I’ve never read one of their comics before so I didn’t really know what to expect going into this, but I thought that as a first issue it would start from the beginning. Instead, this really is a comic first issue, so it’s a jumping on point but the characters have loads of history prior to this release. I’m not mad about this at all or anything, I’m used to it and it was cool to see something new (to me) though of course as a Gen Z individual who grew up mostly with the contained stories from Japanese media, lacking context really sucks (I don’t think this should impact your purchasing decision though, unless you swear off comics entirely or something).

        I should say that the reason I bought this issue in the first place is because of the cover. I’m not a reseller/scalper or anything like that, I thought that it looked really cool, it appealed to me deeply and so I spent fifty bucks on it, which is a fair price in today's market but I’m not going to sit here and say that it was fun making the purchase. I’m glad I did though, a huge shoutout to Dan Panosian who made the cover, it’s gorgeous and a wonderful piece of art. Also shoutout to Midtown Comics for sending this sort of protective plastic sleeve with the bagged and boarded comic, it was my first purchase with them and it’s a really nice touch.

        The premise of the story is really cool, I won’t spoil it for you but I really want to see what happens next. The writer is Jason Aaron and although I haven’t read a complete run of his before, I do remember starting his run on Thor when I was much younger and I have to say that he’s really good at hooking you in with intrigue. Unfortunately, I really wasn’t a fan of the art. If you’ve read some of my other comic reviews you’ll see that I’m super picky about art, not in the sense of having an artist’s eye or anything but really either something appeals to me or I don’t like it, it’s weird but I can’t really say I have a middle-ground unless it’s something that I acknowledge takes high skill but isn’t to my tastes. I’m not trying to say I know better than the artist here but maybe look at some preview pages before buying. If I were pressed on what the issue I had with the art is (and remember, I don’t know what I’m talking about) it would probably be that I personally felt like the artist skimped badly on detailing the backgrounds, even some of the outfits, and the coloring was quite muted or flat. A plus, though, is that the layout is quite readable. I know it’s an odd compliment but comics differ in how well they flow visually, at least for me, and when it goes well the experience is much smoother and enjoyable.

        Luckily, I’m really a story-over-art sort of person, the story alone has me interested (admittedly without the IP this wouldn’t be the case) so it’s a cool book at the end of the day and I enjoyed reading it. I’m not sure what else to say, it’s cool and has potential but I think that I’ve really got to wait before making a blanket statement on the series thus far because there’s a lot of potential, but we haven’t even seen how Aaron can juggle all of the turtles’ personalities and interactions yet, not to mention the lack of a core villain, although there are definitely hints for what’s to come.

        What I’m trying to say, and this may sound like I’m contradicting myself, is that this really is a beginning issue. Yes, there’s context and stuff that came before but this is a whole new scenario and the stage is still being set, I want to see what comes out of it and if you love the turtles too then consider picking this issue up, I won’t say it’s a waste of your time but it’s definitely not a waste of money either. I’ll be keeping an eye on what’s to come but it might be a while before I write another review for this run.

Nikhil Saxena

Founder, Destrier Studios

https://linktr.ee/destrierstudios

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