New York City Has Spoken — Reviewing ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ #11

Behold the stunning end of the court case between the City of New York and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Court is in disorder as the truth has been set free, and the true culprits entire plot has crumbled like so much sand.

A monstrous development changes the game as Jason Aaron, Juan Ferreyra, and Shawn Lee present the penultimate issue of this run with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #11.

When it was announced that the thirteenth issue of this series would kick off with a new creative team, I wasn’t sure how this current run could really wrap up. It seemed like there was still a lot to handle with the Foot Clan and District Attorney Hieronymus Hale stuff. Well, this issue demonstrated there was no reason to fear. A lot was brought to a really poignant head while setting up a pretty large situation for the concluding installment.

Aaron gave the Turtles something to come together and unleash their fighting style upon. No doubt the hits that Hale has coming in issue #12 will feel great — for character and audience alike.

That’s the upcoming issue, though. Let’s talk about this one.

While I’m excited to see what Freddie Williams III does with a regular run with the Turtles, I’m going to miss Ferreyra’s work with these characters. It’s got that right rough edge with a lot of sharpness and smooth dynamic energy. Muted color palettes bring the vibrancy alongside heavier dark shadowy colors. It really soaks into the pages and gives the imagery even more depth and weight.

Details are paramount and we get a ton of them. From the backgrounds that feel authentically tangible to the emotional body and facial language. These characters are emotive, and their personalities shine through at every turn.

A true heaviness and lightness are built into every panel; because the paneling style lends itself to best showcase the moments and characters.

Pairing it with Aaron’s scripting was a very solid choice.

In the beginning, Aaron spoke about returning the characters to their roots, finding that gritty street feeling of old. That is delivered, alongside the more modern lore working in their favor. Seeing the people rise up to defend the Turtles and drag Hale down was really powerful. In real life, we have Hales of our own (but even worse) and it will be the people that have to tear them down. The other powerful people sure as hell aren’t going to do anything!

Too bad we don’t have four ninja turtle mutants to come save the day. Wouldn’t that be nice?

With the shifting creative team, I’m hoping that Lee’s name will still be on that credit page come December. Chances are high since that name has been on a credit page of TMNT books since the beginning of IDW’s franchise journey.

There’s just authority and presence to the lettering and voices under his care. Having really worked with their voices for so long, he knows the characters front-to-back and how to deliver each bit of dialogue and worldly sounds. Lee peppers in the right modifications, from sizes to fonts to colors, to boost the visual dynamic-ness or the volume. Meanwhile, the work never loses the tone or mood that the story or moment is calling for.

No matter the writer, it’s Lee that helps really sell the voices of these characters within my mind at this point.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #11 is now available from IDW Publishing.