The Fate In Our Hands — Reviewing ‘TMNT: The Untold Destiny Of The Foot Clan’ #1

For too long two men’s wills dominated the destiny of the Foot Clan. Oroku Karai is ready for a change.

A whole new clan has risen and must fight to control their own fate in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Untold Destiny of the Foot Clan #1. An action-packed and illuminating debut issue from Erik Burnham, Mateus Santolouco, Marco Lesko, and Shawn Lee.

First off, it’s good to see the plotlines began in the event tie in TMNT: The Armageddon Game – The Alliance paying off. Seeing Karai bring together an eclectic bunch of characters, human and mutant alike, was a highlight of that really solid event story. It was her standing up and declaring that she was tired of doing things the way a bunch of old guys put into place before her.

Burnham was behind the full issue and backups that birthed this plot, and gets to continue the threads here. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a franchise is full of a lot of colorful, literally and figuratively, characters beyond the Turtle siblings and their rat-like father/mentor or their bladed arch-foe. Here Burnham has collected numerous of those colorful characters and has given them space to do something outside of assisting or fighting the Turtles.

I mean we get to see Casey Jones in a new space, trying something new after previously finding himself stuck in a rut.

Overall this is a very solid action-packed character piece. It lays out a lot of what will make this story tick, like who the new foes are to Karai’s mission and the price that will be paid for her to continue that mission.

Working with that energy is Santolouco, who really gives this world and characters defined life.

I’ve not encountered Santolouco’s work in the past, but I definitely will be seeking it out now. There is a quality to the work that captures both the outlandish fantasy element that naturally comes with these characters as well as the very grounded real energy it needs. Dense backdrops and detailed pages allow the characters to move smoothly, making each moment, whether character or action based, have weighty impact.

Panels that slip and slide over one another, with odd sharp shapes, are my kind of thing. It brings a very different unique energy to comics that isn’t better than the standard paneling, just very different. Going this route really works well with stories that are heavier in action, especially this type of kinetic bouncing all over the place drag out brawl action.

All of the artwork has a very light feeling, even with the heaviness, and so too do the colors. Lesko brings a very vibrant, smooth, and striking palate to play. Again, it bridges the two types of tones so well. With heavier, shadowy, natural tones filling the setting spaces while the characters and some backdrops are bright and striking. Just like the artwork behind it, the colors have a slickness to them and just flow like water.

I’m always happy to see Lee’s name attached to any and all TMNT projects. Having that thread moving through each book gives them something in common beyond the characters and world. Sure, some writers are moving back and forth, but Lee’s work transcends beyond writers and specific books. This creates an easy to follow baseline across the line so that voices and their emotional energy are always similar while also unique to the characters.

Finding ways to use modifiers to ramp things up, all while keeping things at a steady space. Personality and every type of energy are loud and clear. Almost like a warm blanket, his work just brings a comforting feeling.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Untold Destiny of the Foot Clan #1 is now available from IDW Publishing.