Reaching The Breaking Point: Reviewing ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ #141

Rat King’s game is over. As Mutant Town enters a new era, its former protectors might not weather the changes. All the small fractures amongst the Splinter Clan have grown and the once-strong family is close to a breaking point.

One of the best things about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, on a list of many things, is how it changes. Too often long-running comic book series can become somewhat stuck in a rut, become a bit predictable. Not because of anything that the creators have or haven’t done in most cases, but company status quos. Any major changes to some of the major superheroes are going to be short-lived because of the status quo.

With TMNT, though, the presumed status quo was left behind long long ago. This is a growing shifting series that pulls out different elements to highlight or move around as needed. Mutant Town’s birth was one of those moments with the mutagen bomb. It’s being removed from the rest of the city was the status quo for almost three years. Now the creative minds behind these stories have torn (literally) those walls down for something else entirely.

Focusing on human and mutant integration is a wide focus, but Sophie Campbell wisely puts a point on it. Our eyes into this world have always been the Splinter Clan and that’s where it stays. All of them are very different individuals who have been through different events and traumas. From the sewers, to the farm, to Mutant Town, they have always had to operate in particular ways. Everything has radically changed as they are thrust into the light of the world at large for the first time.

Campbell knows these characters well, both as a fan and as their writer for these past few years. Each of the ways that the characters are disengaging and drifting from the others fits them to a T. Of course, Leo would be even more into patrols and protection, while Donny obsesses about magic/time travel/the things he saw. Mikey sees a route to “normalcy” that is enticing, while Raphael is angrily caught in the middle unsure of everything. Jennika naturally fits that middle space in her own way being someone that was human previously and experienced that world.

There are action beats as Leatherhead returns and a recent foe, and forgotten element of The Armageddon Game, Doctor Jasper Barlow returns. Mainly though the throughline as usual is the main cast of characters and their development. Superhero-style books need action and fights and all that but it’s the character work that keeps most of us coming back. This series always has that in spades and the thick emotional energy of this issue is prepared to perfection.

A particular artistic touch is often beneficial with character-heavier types of stories. Gavin Smith very much has that touch. It’s a style that is very deep, with tons of details and a lot of weight to the characters and their setting. This feels like a slice of life transcribed to the page which gives it that tangible powerful sort of feeling. Chiefly the main aspect that fits into the realm of that particular touch is the facial expressions/body language.

Smith captures it well and knows how to frame panels in the best way to maximize those emotional tells. We can feel Raph’s irritation, Donnie’s detachment and worry, Leo’s excitement, Jennika’s amusement and contentment, and Mikey’s distraction radiating off the page. It’s clear on their faces and in their movements, just like how fluid and smooth the action sequences are with the chosen panel styles keeping us down in the action.

Rhona Pattison is a stabilizing force on this series because her coloring can be found throughout the whole run, across various artists. There are elements of that coloring style that are clearly Pattison’s in every issue. Yet, she tweaks just enough with every arc so that those colors match the energy of whatever artist has joined to help tell a tale.

Here they are very down to Earth, with the city itself feeling real and almost gritty, dotted with shadows and darker tones. Various bits that have to do with the mutant characters and the more fantastical elements of their lives get slightly brighter bits of color. It makes sure that they feel part of the world that we could see outside the window but also remain something outside of that world in appearance.

Another artistic change that came with this current arc has been the arrival of Rus Wooton on lettering. Through this run, Shawn Lee has brought a particular energy with his consistent lettering, across the TMNT slate of titles. Wooton nails much of that same energy while also bringing a ton of his own to the party.

I became familiar with Wooten’s work thanks to the recent Image Comic series Stillwater. In that series, there was a very grounded very real energy that could be found in the lettering, and that carries over here. As I noted before, this is a very grounded and personal type of story arc so that type of energy can be found through every aspect on the pages. Volume and tone are very clear in the way that Wooten presents the words on the page so that we can very much hear the emotion as we see/feel it.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #141 is now available from IDW Publishing.