3 out of 5

Whew, back to some lower-key business as usual.  See, I don’t mind this, the lower rent gang scuffling stuff with minor family squabbling.  I appreciate the IDW team trying to turn Turtles into something “respectable” for the masses by treating it like an A-level title with huge events and whatnot, but it’s a lot of dramaturgy for a funny animal book.  A funny animal book I love and will always love, I just think the essence of the boys is better suited to things that are… if not exactly grounded (I mean, the space adventures in the first series are a blast), not wholly Earth Shattering either.  So I haven’t been all that big into the lumbering mess that resulted in Donny’s death and the rather silly issue 50 clash, even though the Shredder / Splinter dynamic is obviously a core feature of things…  It just felt like it was built up rather much.  I liked the book when it was kicking around back alleys with Kraang and Hob whatnot, and these issues – which flash forward, with Splinter now leading the foot, Mikey having gone solo, and the boys trying to maintain order in New York without resulting to Footy ways – are more in line with that.  I think we got into trouble when nostalgia glasses went on and the writers wanted to turn Northampton and City Fall into massive tributes to the original storylines, instead of sticking to their own quirky thing.

Whatever.  At this point, I like that it feels like we’re starting fresh, although I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before we get to some overwrought nonsense again.

Ken Garing does art on these issues.  His blocky, post-teen Turtles are a nice way of underlining the changes the team has undergone, whether intentional or not, though in general his panels lack definition.  And some of his action panels are, frankly, atrocious.  But: he has a sort of Andy Kuhn looseness / energy that could evolve into something really cool if they give him some further issues to develop his look more.

So with my initial shock of Turtles awesomeness (the comic, the rereleases, the show) having worn off over the past couple years, the IDW book has sort of cooled off for me into something pretty average.  And not really the fun average of Tales volume 2, but something that tries a bit too hard to be taken seriously.  Of course I’ll stick with it, but I hope future arcs start to actually get me eager to read instead of just waiting it out.