More Than A Gap Filler — Reviewing ‘TMNT: Mutant Nation’ #1

Scattered to the winds over a year, the Splinter Clan brothers left behind their city and their bevy of friends. While the main Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series works to bring them together again, there are still stories to tell to fill that time void.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Nation aims to tell those stories, the big and the small with the wide cast of eccentric TMNT-verse characters. It’s Raphael time (once more) as former main series scribe Tom Waltz is joined by Vincenzo Federici, Ronda Pattison, and Rus Wooton for the first story of this issue. Then we get some Casey Jones action from Erik Burnham, Mateus Santolouco, Marco Lesko, and Wooton.

Being a story led by Waltz, the first story instantly has all the right energy, focus, and fuel to fit within the universe at large. The man did have a wide hand in crafting said world after all. It’s here that we get some more focus on how the brothers started to drift, and some hints at what happened around the monumental conclusion of the previous series.

All the pieces are well delivered while not deviating from still presenting a fun Raphael story, and the return of a familiar not so friendly face. While the era of this universe’s Metalhead is not one I’ve reached in my TMNT-back reading, I feel the history and menace right away. One reason is the way that Waltz writes their back and forth.

Another reason is how Federici continues to bring this franchise to life. ­His work was key to the final story arc of the previous volume of the main TMNT series. By nature, the TMNT world and characters come with a sharper, rougher edge. Federici’s work taps into that energy, presenting figures that fit both those descriptors while being lively and deeply weighted. Tons of detail and focus, allowing the overall spaces to feel fully used and lived within.

Both the action scenes are so similar, but so different. Framing choices and placement create battles that are in one case very close and more personal and another in wide open distant spaces where anything is possible.

Speaking of familiarity from the beginning, there is something comforting about how much of Pattison’s coloring fingerprints are in this universe. Time and time again she brings it all to the page, mixing and matching to meet whatever the artists are bringing to the page. Yet, keeping her own stylistic flourishes, adding to them over time, no matter what. Slick with plenty of smoothness, creating a very natural neutral tone level that allows the more fantastical color palette choices become poppier.

Love those faded filters that cover the dimmed artwork to create flashback feelings. Making sure that the past and present are clear from one another.

It’s time for another reunion in this book, as the team behind TMNT: The Untold Destiny of the Foot Clan returns for the story’s next chapter. That being a Casey Jones-focused tale where he must reckon with his place in the Foot Clan as Karai’s advisor and her shifting behaviors.

One of the things I have liked about Burnham’s previous work in the TMNT-verse is how rich yet still welcoming he can make it. This allows readers to ease into things while respecting that these characters have been around the track numerous times already. Plenty of great moments here, with Casey and April, but a natural change with Karai that really plays into some hints we’re seeing in the main series.

Just like the previous miniseries, Santolouco and Lesko work so smoothly to bring these characters and moments to life. Plenty of diverse rich detail spotted in every panel, as the colors are kept very natural with splashes of more vibrancy where things take a more fantastic turn. Everything moves fluidly and feels authentic, as the characters move and exist within their spaces. Plenty of shadowy tones are mixed into it all to give the world an even richer depth, playing at the darkness that is rising around Karai and her Foot Clan endeavors.

Double duty goes to Wooten, bringing the various personalities and voices even more life on the page. Letting the big to small amounts of dialogue flow effortlessly across the page, framing and building up the rest of the artwork. Doing so in a way that lets the words inform but also provide a visual feast thanks to shifts in presentation and modifiers.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Nation #1 is now available from IDW Publishing.