3 out of 5

Waltz is still a clunky writer but there are some great moments here; Santolouco’s art has settled into a style that’s not so stylized and the book is all the better for it; and I’m still much happier reading post-Shredder shenanigans where things aren’t so serious all the time.

These issues essentially fully bring the mutant-hating Agent Bishop into the fold, after a fairly dull intro over in TMNTU.  He kicks off – along with Dark Water mercs – a siege upon the Mutanimals, which results in the rather underwhelmingly easy capture of all the group save Hob.  This is, for better or worse, the kind of high dramatics / low stakes plotting I’ve come to expect from this series, but it was less tolerable when they (our writers) faked like they were writing real drama.  There’s still tonal question marks – like the puns dropped when the Turtles spring into Hob-helping action I think actually intended to be cool and not dumb, which marks this as a kiddie comic, and then the overwrought prattling of the bad guy, which reeks of Bendis gabby ten-dollar-word overkill, and suggests “smart” social themes that adults who converse in gabby ten-dollar-words can use to prop up this comic as literature.

(I GET IT – YOU THINK THE WRITING ISN’T GOOD)

Ahem.

But.  With Shredder gone, and with the initial shock of being separated from Splinter similarly passed, the plots can be more compact and less reliant on forced, tumultuous “twists,” I.e. I can enjoy this book more.  There’s even some legitimately great moments that provide more ‘natural’ stakes and humor: Splinter chuckling at his sons still being teenagers; Pepperoni taking a bath; the violent takedown of the Mutanimals was an effective quick sell as to Bishop’s intensity (it was underwhelming because the cover art suggested a manhunt, and not just a one-stop bag ’em and tag ’em), and the last few pages were well-earned character evolutions / reveals.

I’m rolling my eyes still while reading, but back in a mindset of curiosity toward the next issue.  Progress!