The Class Is Pain 101 — Reviewing ‘TMNT: Casey Jones’ #1

Watch out criminals of New York City, the vigilante with a hockey mask and sporting equipment is back in action. That’s right, Casey Jones is hitting the streets once more, this time doing it solo(ish).

Fresh off a life and death encounter, Jones has a whole new type of threat to tackle in his first title series in decades. One brought to life by Alex Paknadel, Amancay Nahuelpan, Luis Antonio Delgado, and Darran Robinson.

Let’s start this off by stating how much I utterly loved this issue.

While the softest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles spot in my heart is reserved for Leonardo and Jennika, the rest of the Hamato Clan isn’t far behind. Casey Jones, though, is a character who, along with April O’Neil, stands tall behind them. Chiefly, this is thanks to the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film being a major part of my formative years. Hell, I just saw it again for the anniversary in theaters and Elias Koteas still kills it in that role.

These additional titles that IDW has been launching alongside the flagship TMNT series have been a revelation. They really delve into the richness of the world and its depth of characters. Each series also taps into some really compelling creators to play in this world that myself and so many others have loved for decades.

Paknadel is a writer whose work has been at the top of many lists for me over the years. So, coming in, I knew this would be good and it didn’t disappoint. From Casey’s narration about the hotness of the city to the mutant hunting villains to Casey’s struggles with being shot, everything was raw-yet-focused and mired in grand character writing.

Having the Turtles show up isn’t one of those gratuitous cameos in another character’s book. Besides the fact that these characters are deeply entrenched together, it offers some great character and storytelling depth. It also demonstrates where Casey stands right now, pushing back against friends who are trying to have his best interest at heart.

Another spot where the rawness is felt in a specific way is the artwork. Much like with the writing, I’m a fan of the work that Nahuelpan always delivers; finding that sweet spot where the whimsical meets the firmer, harder textures. It creates a style that embraces the lighter aspects of comics, but also the grittier elements that make the harder books work so well.

Swift, keen panel choices really ramp up the emotional atmosphere. Everything has space to breathe and shine, allowing facial expressions and body language to truly speak. It keeps the characters in focus, in differing ways, while giving room to be something bolder and bigger in many respects. Such fluid kinetic energy running through it’s proverbial printed veins all the time.

No stranger to working on the Turtles side of things, Delgado brings the same heat with the coloring. It shifts from more neutral scene setting color palette choices to those of a darker heavier variety as well as more vibrant fantastical befitting tones. That really lets the colors seep into every crack of the artwork to boost the work and deepen the detailed denseness. All of which offers this world a really special kind of feeling.

Both these elements of artwork make sure to recall how much fun these stories can be without lessening the darker, grittier aspects that have been part and parcel for the franchise since inception.

Thanks to the recently launched TMNT: Shredder series, Robinson’s name isn’t as unfamiliar to me as it once was. There are a lot of similarities between Robinson’s work in each book, with a ton of differences. Which is natural, they are very different characters with very different tonal structures to their lives and stories.

All of the voices are even and thorough here, feeling powerful and slight at the same time. Each flows through the pages with care and ease. The bubbles, fonts, and colors really pop at the right time, giving the words the volume and tonal shift required to convey the true voices as we read and replay them in our minds.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Casey Jones #1 is now available from IDW Publications.