Weeping In The Darkness — Reviewing ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ #8

Never have the streets of New York City been further from safe than under the Foot Clan’s boot. District Attorney Hale’s personal army is terrorizing anyone and everyone that breaks the laws this man decides.

Criminals have been empowered to join this reign of terror, as the Splinter Clan brothers struggle to come together. Their minds, bodies, and spirits are splintered beyond recognition. The fight for New York City’s soul gets tougher in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #8.

What Jason Aaron, Juan Ferreyra, and Shawn Lee are doing in this series is rough, tough, and inspired.

What a striking gorgeous artistic approach we’re seeing from Ferreyra. We open with some bold scenes showcasing battles aboard a subway train. There is a dense fluid motion to the action sequences. Panel choices make the whole ordeal feel authentic and bolder than life, ready to just pop off the page.

Every single character we see on the page wears their emotions on their proverbial sleeves. Emotive features are on point, as their faces and bodies tell everything. It’s so raw and powerful at ever turn.

Colors are very neutral in many cases, feeling washed out and saturated in most cases. This allows the spots where more vibrancy appears to stand out even more. There is an almost paint-like quality to this color palette. These choices make various types of lighting feel genuine.

When this series was announced, I had a bit of a fear. It kept being called a return to grittiness, which can raise some hairs on the back of my neck. Far too often stories turn to grittiness as a shortcut to darker stories without the building blocks or character work.

That’s not the case here. This run is the Aaron of old, the one that had so many years of comic book runs that were the hits people were devouring.

Every bit of these characters’ development from the previous volume is still here. Buried, but still visible. Despite their broken nature, the characters are still true to themselves. Aaron is able to make them at odds and scattered in a way that still feels honest.

There is plenty of mystery and depth still to keep the intrigue rising. Enough that it might have caused some anxious feelings at how long it’s taking if this were another series. Instead, the character development and interactions make the slow build of other elements tolerable.

Having Lee on board is always a bonus for TMNT books.

There is a power he is able to infuse each word on the page with so easily. This lets voices carry further than they might otherwise, taking the words from the script and hammering in every ounce of emotion we’re meant to hear and feel. Things shift just right to let the volume and specific tone clear as day.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #8 is now available from IDW Publishing.