3 out of 5

A new artist and writer to the TMNT club; a mini-series highlighting the main relationship in the Turtles universe; and a heart as part of the title design’s motif…  C & A didn’t much have me excited to read it, as these elements suggested some lovey dovey fanfic stuff.  But it actually shaped up surprisingly well; Tamaki is a more patient writer than the main series’ Tom Waltz, and while Irene Koh’s art leans a little on the delicate side, it’s such a change from the look of most of the other IDW crew that it was a refreshing change.  Even the relationship aspects that did come up in the mini were well handled, with Casey appropriately (for his character) dropping a topic before the reader gets schmaltzed with pat “wisdom” about boys and girls, thus leaving the takeaways up to the reader, which is an appreciated mature route to take.  Unfortunately, it’s something of a bumpy ride to establish a direction for the issues, and once we’re there, the last book completely cuts out just as things have gotten interesting.  If the Turtles didn’t need to be the primary stars, there was enough story here to have woven it into the main book or, alternately, have let the creative team have more room to work things out.

Casey & April features the titular duo on a road trip to track down some info on the scroll obtained in the ongoing.  But because it seems like a lot of guesswork as to what the scroll means, this is too clearly a device used just to isolate the two, and sure enough, Tamaki has to use a further distraction – they hit a car, then have to go speak to the other driver’s sister for various reasons – to get to the meat of the story, which involves a big name villain and was a cool surprise (for those of us who don’t read previews, I guess).  I really liked the direction they took with said villain here (not recalling how much, if any, of this was established by Waltz and the gang), but as mentioned, just when things are shaping up into something more concrete, someone snaps their fingers and the series ends.

Koh’s art is pleasantly simple, and is therefore ill-suited to the latter half of the series which requires visualizing some more complicated ideas.  But man, we get a brief glimpse of her take on the Turtles and I loved them – sleek and youthful but believably mobile looking.  Paul Reinwand colored the first issue – which I preferred, as his take was a bit more primary and bold – and then Brittany Peer takes over, who uses a lot of blah blends for backgrounds.  So the look is a mish-mash.

End of the day, Casey & April was a pleasant surprise, and I hope the IDW team continues to experiment with these minis – different genres, different creatives – because it’s definitely a nice change from the ongoing.

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As a side complaint, the “logo” for Casey & April is a heart with two hockey sticks crossed behind it.  Cute, but indirectly suggests that, as hockey sticks clearly indicate Casey, a heart indicates April.  Sorta demeaning, ain’t it?  You can’t win.