Dino On The Run — Reviewing ‘TMNT: Mutant Nation’ #5

Pepperoni. It’s one of the most common ingredients found on pizzas. It’s also the adorable awesome dinosaur companion to Raphael.

A baby protoceratops from the Cretaceous period, Pepperoni has been a stalwart friend to the often-angry ninja turtle. Being one of the few beings that he has no issue showcasing affection for, and not unleashing his anger upon. That affection goes both way.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Nation #5 comes from Paul Allor, Joe Jaro, Adam Guzowski, and Rus Wooton. The first story sees Pepperoni go solo, on a mission to return stolen goods to her turtle companion. Alongside this story is one by Caleb Goellner, Ilias Kyriazis, Auguste Kanakis, and Wooten, which pits the punks of the Purple Dragons against the mutated Punk Frogs.

Stories that feature animal companions doing their solo thing always have a spot in my heart. We can’t hear their thoughts or see voices for them, so the art really sells their desires, reasons, and feelings in all of this.

Jaro really captures all of that, letting Pepperoni take the spotlight smoothly. The artwork that really feels light and fun in most respects. Some rougher textures added into the style give characters a lived, worn, and solid feeling through the whole affair. Action moves like smooth liquid, guiding the eye across the page expertly.

Similarly, the colors lean towards the more scene-setting, toned down quality for the most part, with Guzowski creating a familiar foundation. This allows the more vibrant or flashier colors, such as Pepperoni’s coloring to blend into the setting more while still standing out. They are fantastical but within this space and given world, they feel authentic.

As one of the originators of the character, Allor, naturally, has a firm grip on how to write Pepperoni. He really shows off the character’s whole being and personality in just these handful of pages. This gives us a view of why she and Raphael are so connected.  Overall, this is just a fun tale that balances the cuteness and the danger evenly. It’s a great snippet of story befitting the series overarching goal of spotlighting things outside of the main TMNT series scope.

‘Punk on punk’ violence is an interesting, actually kind of fun story.

Essentially, the Dragons are hired to do security protecting property that an investment corporation has bought up in Mutant Town. Luxury condos being built in the town, classic gentrification. Puke. Anyway, the Punk Frogs come in and they rumble with the dragons. Unfortunately, their actions wreck the building, and therefore make even more money for the corporate landlords.

Double puke.

There is a bit of fun though with how the gangs interact, as Goellner really finds their voices and gives them good interplay with each other. Even the ending has some goofiness to it with how over the top the developer guy happens to be. A real boisterous oddly dressed loud mouth type…one seen way too much.

Artistically, Kyriazis and Kanakis do a solid job. It’s really smooth and fluid, really capturing the whimsical and more serious natures of the story at the same time. The pages are filled with colors that tap into the more vibrant end of the spectrum boosted by the heavier darker tones of the chosen palette.

In both stories, Wooten brings the noise and energy for the lettering, capturing volume, tone, and emotion with ease. Whether it’s through font modifications (size, color, etc.) or just the placement of the various lettering beats. Plenty of SFX are sprinkled throughout to heighten the environmental elements and add color to the story.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Nation #5 is now available from IDW Publishing.