Bad Blood Between Buddies — Reviewing ‘TMNT: Casey Jones’ #2

Mutant Town mutants are going missing and the only one on the case is the barely put-together Casey Jones. Blood, sweat, and tears are sure to be spilled as the hockey mask wearing vigilante fights to keep a promise.

Friends and enemies collide in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Casey Jones #2 from Alex Paknadel, Amancay Nahuelpan, Luis Antonio Delgado, and Darrin Robinson.

One of the great things about the TMNTverse is how many compelling characters are running around. Just ready to be given a little spotlight of their own outside of the main Turtles crew.

There is a liveliness and grittiness to this series as it really takes to the streets, dealing with the gray areas of Mutant Town and beyond. Paknadel utilizes the tapestry that the previous IDW TMNT series brought to life while naturally adding new bits. We’re given a lot of Casey’s mindset during this time and there is no stone left unturned as we really feel the tenacious, albeit not quite self-healthy, spirit in spades.

Things are raw as Casey butts heads with his best friends in the pursuit of the missing mutants. The new foe that he faces here is one that is powerful, hateful, but with their own potentially tragic element involved.

A slick roughness runs rampant on the pages as Nahuelpan really gives everything such grand depth and detail. It also adds a bit of whimsical softness to the whole affair while not shying away from the harshness. All of the spaces have a fullness to them and actually have a sense of scale to them at all times. Keeping the story grounded and able to balance all of the fantastical that is attached.

Plenty of visceral kinetic action going on here since we have Casey fighting various people. None of them more frantic and really engaging than the fight with Raph. Which just has power running through it.

Swathes of more bold colors run through the artwork, especially with all the colorful mutants running around. Delgado makes sure to really set the foundational tone with the more natural, often darker, toned backgrounds around the characters. Giving it a familiar aura that can be build upon easily. There is a moody darkness that permeates the whole thing, even in the brighter panels, befitting the mood and status of the title character.

Casey narrates much of the story and there is a distinct voice built within those words. Each of them hits just right as Robinson adds depth and emotional hooks into all the lettering. Making sure to vary things just a bit here or there to bring clear vision for the tone or volume of any given dialogue or caption. It really digs in to keep the flow of all things going alongside the creative sound building.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Casey Jones #2 is now available from IDW Publishing.