A New Brand Of Vengeance — Reviewing ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ #13

It’s a whole new day in New York City. The more things change though, the more they stay the same.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #13 kicks off a whole new story arc from the bold new creative team of Gene Luen Yang, Freddie E. Williams II, Andrew Dalhouse, and returning veteran Shawn Lee. Their new take mixes a classic feeling dynamic with fresh ideas born of the refreshed playing field that the IDW series has enjoyed for the last year.

-SPOILERS FOLLOW-

There were a lot of things that I liked about the first twelve issues, and things that I wasn’t as fond about. One of the things was how the toughness of their parting and their lives wasn’t something glossed over. The Hamato brothers didn’t just patch things up and become like the past. Because trauma and hardship are just not things one brushes away.

At least, not usually.

There is a part of me that isn’t too keen on the brothers being very classic coded here, but on the other hand it feels kind of refreshing. Yang is a creator whose work speaks for itself in most cases, and has earned the kind of trust that gives grace and time. There is a rhyme to the reason, especially with the reveal made about their new possible foe, the Ujigami.

That reveal being that the returned form the dead Master Splinter (returned in the final moments of issue 12) has become this deadly assassin out to “protect” his sons. It’s a wild twist that alters the dynamic between the characters greatly, and promises to not just easily slot the father-figure back into their lives. Which is intriguing because it’s part of the balance that Yang is trying to strike between the classic and the new.

Visually there is a particular energy running through this debut issue. While he’s (more than) dabbled with the Turtles in the past, Williams II hasn’t gotten a chance to really cut loose regularly with the heroes in a half-shell. Now’s the time, and it’s pretty darn good.

There is always this softened roughness that permeates his artwork, playing quite well for the street-level grim that can be found with these stories. Yet, it’s got that aforementioned softness with a dash of whimsical fun that also fits the more fun aspects of this family of characters.

A grand sense of scale and depth are present in all the sequences, as the action moves in firm yet fluid ways. There is a murkiness that kind of actually heightens things, boosted by the palette choices that Dalhouse has made. With a lot of dark colors swirling around and giving the whole sequence that harder feeling. Those choices contrast perfectly with the more vibrant colors that pop while still being in the realm of realistic with their tone. I like that the colors include a rougher texture as well to match the artwork and together really hit the mark well.

Through lines of the IDW Turtle era in the pages can wax and wane, as events are noted or not noted from the long timeline. What remains a firm foundational piece to the whole era though is the lettering. A veteran hand that crafts and wields the voices of these beloved characters like a maestro.

That is what Lee provides for this series, time and time again, persisting through run after run: Hitting the same solid marks here as always. Delivering the different tones and personality quirks necessary for the variety of voices and world sounds. Letting it all soak in with flourishes that enhance the emotional output and give it all some visual flavor.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #13 is now available from IDW Publishing.