It’s Pizza Party Time — Reviewing ‘TMNT: 40th Anniversary Comics Celebration’ #1

Time really flies when there are sewers to live in, ninjas and aliens to fight, and pizza to be eaten. Suddenly four decades have passed and a quartet of mutated brothers are still going strong.

That’s right, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles debuted forty years ago, still rocking their teenage status. A bevy of creators past and present have come together for IDW Publishing’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 40th Anniversary Celebration Special #1.

Perfectly, the issue finds a way to touch on various eras of the characters, both from print and television. Up first, are three stories taking on those classic Mirage era comics.

Character and series co-creator Kevin Eastman brings to life a classic style story using the poetry of Edgar Alan Poe. Right away those old school vibes are super strong, as they would be with Eastman leading the way. So expressive, rough, and kinetic, with this very specific era flavor to them. It’s just four pages of the various Turtles, concluding in the reveal of Michaelangelo in his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin garb.

It just works. Weaving the Poe poetry in there is a nice addition. Just those images stand as a reminder of why these characters are so beloved with longevity.

Jim Lawson writes, draws, and letters a story alongside colorist Steve Lavigne with the simple but poignant title “Monsters.” Rat King terrorizes a kid and the Turtles come to his rescue, but to this traumatized child they are all monsters. It’s a tough story, and the artwork really plays that up. It’s got a whimsical but rough aesthetic, with Lavigne’s colors remaining very natural or toned down, with various elements rising in vibrancy.

The focus of this issue is moving through the eras, but in their piece, Tristan Jones and Paul Harmon present that theme in a specific way. A classic Tales Of The TMNT type of story, following a reporter who is writing about the things she saw over the years, and showcasing various bits of TMNT history as well as the things that could have been. It’s pretty engaging, and Harmon has a very moody, light but also heavy art style.

The colors are very washed out and toned down, with flashes of some colors really dominating. Creating almost a filter flashy effect.

Things get a bit extreme as Gary Carlson, Frank Fosco, and Adam Guzowski leap right back into the Urban Legends years. What a wild and wacky time that was, with a robotic Donatello, burned face hocky mask wearing Raph. Oh, and Master Splinter as a giant bat. Carlson makes sure to reference all the things, as the brothers mostly drop exposition in the sewers together.

A moment in time sort of story coming from these original creators. It reads simply but fits what the series was aiming for back in the day. Fosco and Guzowski keep up the really rough, outlandish, and tempered visuals that the series was known for.

Tackling every aspect of the story, Chris Allan gets those Archie Comics era vibes spinning with a TMNT Adventures era story. Just a really heartening and relatable story, dealing with heartbreak and loss, that gets funny when it brings in a familiar face. Casey Jones never once appeared in the Archie Comics era, but here he meets Raph and April, and April knows her newest disaster boyfriend has arrived.

Allan just nails the really fun and vibrant but muted color palette stylings.

Speaking of animated feelings, four of the stories dive headfirst into different versions of the cartoons from different decades.

First up is Erik Burnham, Sarah Myer, and Luis Antonio Delgado continuing the stories from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures series. Which of course pulls from the classic 1980s cartoon series. Just such a delightful art style that really feels modern and classic at the same time, just radiating fun. So colorful, and the story is about day-by-day heroics and a glance to “what will we be in the future.”

Father figure Splinter takes the lead in a story from Lloyd Goldfine, Khary Randolph, and Emilio Lopez set in the midst of the 2003 cartoon series. It’s been quite some time since I watched this particular series, but Randolph and Lopez perfectly capture the vibes and visuals I remember. That perfect mix of really heavy/dark and light/colorful. Love the flashback filter used, as Goldfine takes us through the life of Splinter and how he went from normal rat to ninja master rat.

Pages of slash shape panels showing off the fighting styles of each Turtle as Splinter breaks down who they really are? Umm yes please. Just so dang fun all around.

Switching things up, Ciro Nieli leaps into the 2012 cartoon series for some Kraang action. Interestingly this picks up after big events in the series, namely the defeat of the Kraang. It starts off one way and quickly flips to really horrific, which was very much the vibe of the series. Nieli has a very intriguing art style, that is really sharp and kinetic. Twisting and turning, with colors that feel very heavy at times.

Very fitting for the darker yet still fun tone that the show was shooting for.

Last for the animated tributes is a story from Andy Suriano set in the very recent Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. Not being familiar with this particular series, I can’t speak to how well this captures any vibes or feelings. It’s an intriguing tale, with time travel, and closure, and Suriano’s artwork really fits what I’ve seen of the animation style. Very fluid, with rough edges, but whimsical with a mixed color palette.

Closing out the special are two stories from creators that have been deeply involved in IDW Publishing’s era of comic stories. After thirteen years, the franchise is getting a bit of a shake up with a relaunch and some new stories set within the same IDW continuity.

Before that though original series writer Tom Waltz (who has continued to write various stories for the franchise) and artist Michael Dialynas also bring a story with closure of sorts. April, Casey, and the Turtles take their time to speak to the departed Master Splinter, saying their goodbyes, and really getting emotional.

Dialynas gives everyone of them such vivid life and distinct forms, really homing in on the emotional aspects. Waltz really pulled out everything that I’ve loved about the series since IDW began it. All that character development and big-time emotion. This is a very open story for new readers, yet everyone can feel that there is so much depth, history, and feeling behind it. Even if they don’t know the details.

Rounding things out, longtime series colorist Ronda Pattison picks up the writer’s baton once more alongside artist Pablo Tunica. Together they tell a story from the middle of a recent arc that they both worked on, where Oroku (the former Shredder) trained the Splinter Clan/Hamato Clan for the Armageddon Game event.

Having colored the series since it began, and having written some things along the way, Pattison just instantly understands these characters. Really hitting the mark and picking up the baton from Sophie Campbell who wrote the original arc.

Tunica has such a unique style. It has a natural rougher texture to it, giving great energy to the facial work and movement, with a touch of whimsical feeling. All of the Turtles various personalities shine through, as together Tunica and Pattison really let them do their thing. It’s a very solid moment between the moments type story, speaking again to what makes these characters stand the test of time.

All the stories, except for Lawson’s and Allan’s, see fantastic letterers Tom Napolitano and Shawn Lee switching off (and even teaming up for the Splinter story). I love the work of both of them so much, because they just nail the emotional and visual power of lettering so splendidly. Really giving every voice the right amount of life, volume, and tonal range that it needs. From the captions to the dialogue bubbles to big bold SFX.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 40th Anniversary Celebration Special #1 is now available from IDW Publishing.