Destiny Waits For No One — Reviewing ‘TMNT: The Untold Destiny Of The Foot Clan’ #2

Oroku Karai’s attempts to build a new modern destiny for the Foot Clan have hit a few, almost deadly, snags. Unfortunately for those standing in her way, she won’t accept defeat and has a new mission to tear down those who oppose the clan.

An action-packed romp through the streets of Japan is the centerpiece of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Untold Destiny of the Foot Clan #2. This really engaging colorful affair comes from Erik Burnham, Mateus Santolouco, Marco Lesko, and Shawn Lee.

One of the things that works wonders for the TMNT-verse is the bevy of truly intriguing characters. There are lots of mutants and ninja types, but no two are alike. Just like the turtle clan at the center of the universe, each character within this series and beyond has their own particular flavoring.

Mixing those varieties of flavors together creates something even more delicious.

Burnham weaves a character and lore rich tale with a deft hand, gliding between action and talkative moments with relative ease. On the surface it would appear that not a lot happened here, some fights and characters beefing, but actually looking closely obliterates that idea. We get so much here as we see how the new Foot Clan functions, the issues amongst them, and how Karai handles her last issue defeat.

Spoiler not spoiler alert, she doesn’t handle it well.

Santolouco’s artwork gives such vivid life to the whole affair, making each type of moment so big. Backdrops are diverse and deep, feeling like one could leap through the page into these spaces. Characters have fluid motion, ready to burst from the page. I know, a lot of page bursting mentions here, but bear with me.

It’s this lifelike quality that works wonders here. That’s because half of the characters and concepts on the page are beyond anything we see in reality. Yet, with Santolouco’s careful rendering the fantastic and the realistic blend together in a way that feels authentic. Dynamic panel choices with varying shapes and sizes help with these moments. Giving things a unique flavor, keeping the audience gaze right in the thick of things, sometimes right up close to the characters.

A light yet heavy feeling is present on each panel, and in the colors as well. As Lesko brings a very diverse palette into play. Characters costumes, skins, and other elements at times are the vibrant very out there color aspect that we expect from comics such as these. While things that might feel more real tend to have toned down or neutral tones to keep them in that more realistic space.

Heavier aspects come into play with the shadows and often darker backgrounds, giving even more weight and depth to the whole affair. Both the colors and the artwork share a really neat slickness to them, giving things an almost shiny sheen at times. It works with the overall fluid and energetic nature of the characters and story.

Keeping things in order lettering wise is TMNT-veteran Lee, bringing the same level of energy as always. Modifiers and choices for placement let the emotions and energy of characters flow through the words, striking the reader with their power. We can create ‘authentic’ voices in our heads as we read, despite never actually hearing these characters.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Untold Destiny of the Foot Clan #2 is now available from IDW Publishing.