Review IDW TMNT #14

The roller coaster of surprises from IDW's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has had me on the edge of my seat waiting for the next issues.  While I learned after reading the Fugitoid comic that it was suppose to come after issue 14, I find there was no spoilers in Fugitoid that made our newest TMNT edition any less exciting as Tom Waltz pulls out another amazing adventure for the Turtles.

In issue 13 of IDW's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles we end with Splinter holding a sai to Casey's father's throat about to kill the man for beating his son.  With a very surprised Raphael.  I remember holding my breath at the end of that issue, curious how they were going to get out of this spot.  As I've never seen Splinter pull a move like this.  I found it both interesting and exciting.

TMNT issue 14 we start off with Splinter asking if killing Casey's dad would make Raphael happy... Raph's in shock by this.  Splinter gets Raph to admit that he was acting out of anger and was out of control.  And to Raph's surprise, Splinter shares the story that he too had anger issues when he was young.  And all the things that helped him through this anger, including the trust of four who depended on him.

Once again they brought Andy Kuhn back to do the art work, and while I want to give him a fair chance I have to say that his art of the Turtles is still not working for me.  I realize this is his style, and like many other artist in the past I've had to except and get use to their styles.  Though this is one of the few times where it's the art of the turtles themselves that's gets to me.  The humans and back grounds remain really well done, though at one point I did mistake Splinter's shadow to think someone was sneaking up to attack Splinter.

With the story used here, I really liked how it was approached.  In the past Splinter has always just tried to tell Raph to calm his anger.  He never expressed that he too has gone through this sort of anger.  It gives Raph a new and great way to relate to Splinter.  And maybe a chance for Raph to start feeling he can open up more to Splinter.

While Raph understands what Splinter is saying, he tries to express how he's feeling and starts to get angry again.  Feeling that Casey's dad does not deserve another chance to beat Casey.  Splinter, agrees with him.  Which scares Casey's father.

What a great way to end that section of the comic for the time being, they got us held even more so as one moment it sounded like Splinter was talking Raphael but the next moment he's agreeing with Raph.  Will Casey's dad live through the night?  Tom has a great way of writing this to keep me wanting to read.

Else where we find Krang and Baxter Stockman, where we finally get to hear Krang's story in this comic.  He is one of the Utroms, and he has all that is left of his kind from a lost in a great war... with mistakes from his father who was the ruler of the Utroms.  Now Krang is trying to rebuild and wants Baxter's help.

There is so much more to this story, including a fun battle scene.  Andy did a great job with the art all through this scene.  And it is a bit thrilling to finally be learning something about Krang.  Though there is stil much to learn about him.  I do have to say, I really love what Baxter was brought in to help with.  I highly recommend reading the comic to see.

The Turtles are with April and Casey, as April is still attending to Casey's wounds.  Leo makes them some green tea as the group talks things over.  Leo and Don try to assure Casey he's not alone, though Casey turns this on the guys giving them a pep talk of their own.

I love this scene, how Casey's able to see the other points that the Turtles themselves do not see.  The art with April and Casey is good and some of the Turtle art is ok.  For example, I really like the look of Leonardo on the last scene of this bit.  I also like the expression on Don's face as he hears Leo made Tea for April and Casey... they're expressive and don't look as old.   A good family moment for the crew which was truly well written.

While the crew is having their family moment, Splinter is not done with Raphael.   As Splinter is now asking Raph if would be please to see Casey's dad die.  Raph realizes that would not solve anything, only make things worse.  So Splinter and him come to the next best answer.

Once again this could of gone so many different ways.  Tom did an amazing job at getting us through this and seeing Raph learning a few very important lessons.  And what I'm most pleased about is that Splinter is able to go through the full lesson in this issue.  It's not one of those times where Splinter is going to try and teach Raph, but they get found by bad guys and the full story gets over blown... this goes all the way through and is interesting for the readers.   Wonderful job Tom!!!!

Splinter and Raphael return to the others, with the news of choices made with Casey's problems.   Though Splinter also throws everyone for a loop with his next choice of topics, this is one you'll have to read for yourself for Tom's writing here is brilliant.

There is one last scene in this comic that will bring trouble the the Turtles.  It's one I saw coming, with issue 13.  Though I do love how this is drawn and written.  Another great ending for another exciting IDW issue.

With every issue I find myself more drawn in, and this is true even now.  I highly recommend the IDW series to any TMNT fan.  Just give it a chance and ride through the first five issues... after that you'll find yourself getting hooked!

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