Review: TMNT Infestation 2 Part 2

Last week we shared a review of a totally awesome TMNT Comic, Infestation 2 TMNT.  It was part one of a two part story.  This week we’re bringing you a review of the second half of this comic, where we learn how the Turtles deal with these creatures that are below the streets of New York City!

Once again we get the awesome team from the last issue working on it.  Tristan Jones as the writer and Mark Torres art, so the story stays smooth and could be put in one book.  This has me excited to know that the team that made the last issue so great is back to make this comic just as enjoyable!

We left off with the Turtles being split up as the tunnels were caving in on them.  Leo was being dragged away as Raph and Mike are buried by the falling rocks with Don trying to find his brothers.  We pick up right there, as Don unburies Mike from the rocks and Raph comes up behind Mike scaring him, as Mike takes a swing at Raph.  Raph catches the chucks and tells Mike off for this plan and gives him a bap.  Then storms off about finding their bro.

This is a great interaction moment for the brothers, where they are trying to pull themselves together during this hard time and having character growth showing how each of them handle it. Mike and Don are there for each other and Raph is straight down to action.  Unlike the last issue, you can tell Raph is not going to take the back seat this time around.

 Now we find out where Leonardo is, as he is wrapped up in red tentacles including one that goes in his mouth. He’s totally out of it as this dark figure who wears a long purple cloak is talking about how they’re going to feed Leo to Shub Niggurath.  All of the creatures that have been attacking the Turtles seem to be under his control.

The art work on these pages is really cool, I like the image of Leo sitting there with the blank look on his face.  This is really a great image showing how they got Leo and just the look on his face is priceless.  This is a nice area to see some character growth for the villains of this comic.  You see the big main guy who seems to be nice to his red creatures as he’s telling them how good they were for getting Leo, he even pets one.  When he places his hand on Leo’s head, you can see some fear in Leo’s face.  Once again the artwork here is really well, Mark caught the right expressions all the way.

Back to the other Turtles. Donatello is realizing that Leo is leaving a trail for his brothers to follow where he went.  So Don is trying to keep his brothers on Leo’s trail as they realize they need to go for a swim, scared they’ll find Leo at the bottom.  Once swimming, the Turtles are attacked under water as Michelangelo is almost pulled down. Through teamwork between Donatello and Raphael, Mike is saved an they made their way back to the surface.

I really like how Don is keeping his cool and leading his two brothers through these caves.  I also like that Raph is trying not to just follow, but search for the marks as well when that is pointed out to them.  Once again the art helps move this area along nicely as you can see what the brothers are doing as they’re searching.  When they go underwater it turns into a cool action scene as the brothers are underwater fighting these creatures down there.  The thing I liked most about it is that Don uses Leo’s sword to help save Michelangelo.  Overall that’s a great touch.  It kind of shows that Leo helped as well, even though Leonardo was not there.   Well written and drawn, this is showing just how well IDW is getting teams for these comics together.

At this point in the comic, Don realizes that what he’s seeing looks like what he’s seen in his books, a Shrine to Elder Gods.  He starts to direct his brothers in what to do next, as Raph realizes that Don knows more than he’s saying.  Raph gets Don to tell them what he knows, which fills us in a little bit more on what Don was reading about in the last issue of Infestation 2.  Don leads the way as he fills them in and forming a plan on how to help save Leonardo.  They get to where Leo is, and are ready to put their plan into motion.

I love how Raph was not going to just sit there and remain in the shadows.  He forced himself forward demanding to know what Don knows.  This shows that driving need and desire to be a leader.  Don buckled really fast, as he realizes his family needed to know and it helps take some of the tension off of him for others to be informed to help with things.  Though just like in the last issue, this is a really strong Donatello story line, his brothers need him to pull through this full mess.  Overall I enjoyed seeing this team come together, without Leonardo there to take the stress off of their shoulders.

Now comes the fun part, saving Leonardo.  Mike is freaked out seeing Leonardo and how he is. Though Don tells him to stick to the plan as Raph and Don run out to start working at freeing Leonardo.  Using Leonardo’s sword, they start to cut him free.  Big, tall, dark and purple shows up angry that they’re trying to stop what is going on here.  Don gets caught, as Raph is being attacked by the characters.  Don holds a discussion with the boss of these creatures. It turns out that this tall guy is the same guy that Don was reading about in his books.  Though Mr. Bloch thinks he has the upper hand, he’s not use to fighting Ninjas.

Once again the art helps as the words are falling into place.  You can see the plan starting to come into action as both Don and Raph are down, Mike is in the background getting things together for the plan.  Don is getting Mr. Bloch to speak about what is going on and is pissing him off.  One has to wonder at this moment what Mike could do to save his three brothers, they keep you at the edge of your seat as you read.

Michelangelo shows up with his same attack as last time, but this time it’s planned.  Dynamite to the rescue.  As Mike thinks he’s doing a distraction plan, Raph and Don is able to get away as Don goes running to Leo, explaining that they cut off how this thing was eating.  Leo is awake now, though Don is not with him for long before Mr. Bloch grabs Don up threatening him, saying how Don will suffer for what he did.  Though the threats soon end thanks to one of Don’s brothers.

This is nice, showing how the plan just all comes together.  Though one has to wonder if Don had planned to be Mr. Bloch’s target at the end there.  I’m leaving which brother takes care of Mr. Bloch to you to find out in the comics, though it is an interesting death scene and one you really want to see with your own eyes.  This lead up here gives you the feeling that their problems should be over. The main bad guy is dead. The Turtles are together.  Leo just wants to go home, but their problems are only just beginning.

The Turtles are surprised to find Shub Niggurath waking up!  Don fastly comes up with a plan, they cut off the food supplies. They have to just keep it from eating and it will die.  So Don decides they just need to pin it down, and what better way than a giant statue down there.  Once again strong teamwork brings the brothers together as they take down a large statue on Shub Niggurath.  As the statue goes down, the four brothers get away from the danger.

A nicely drawn out ending to this mission, and great writing.  I do love all the teamwork needed and pulled off in this issue.  Tristan did a great job at showing the brothers working together, not just one Turtle could of done all of this. This story is just as good as any of the cartoons or films out there.  Most of the storylines out there have each of the Turtles having their hay day, where they could do the story without one or two of their brothers.  But this is not a story like that.  Each of the guys played a big role in fighting both Mr. Bloch and Shub Niggurath!  True, Donny really shined with his mind, but he needed his brothers as much as they needed him.

The ending of this comic shows a week later, things seem to be going back to normal with the city.  Don is returning from an outing.  He says he didn’t find much just a few books, and heads to his room.  There you learn that Don can’t stop thinking about things that happened, as much as he wants to.  He just wants to try and understand it, study what went on even though he knows it should be left in the dark.

The interesting thing about this ending is how it’s left open here.  If you read the first issue or the ashcan you know that these whispers will start up in the minds of certain people.  Is this ending leading up to Infestation 3?  Only time will tell!

Overall I highly recommend these comics to anyone who is enjoying the IDW series, or just likes a good horror story.  Originally when I started to read part 1, I thought that this storyline was going to remind me of "The Darkness Within" episode from the 4Kids series.  Though I was totally off, this story is better.  Tristan gave us a really good read with keeping everyone in character and making each of them glow at some point in the comic.  I liked seeing each Turtle play a major role which is why this story arc is so impressive.

Have you picked up Infestation 2?  Are you reading more than just the TMNT comics?  What are your thoughts?  We would be interested in reading!  Please post comments, reviews and questions below.  And remember all email addresses are kept private.