It’s A Shell Of A Good Time — Reviewing ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ #20

There is a thin line between life and death, even hinner when there are ways to breach those lines. Alliances are formed and weakened. Lines are crossed, betrayals occur, and the dead prepare to come for the living as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #20 arrives.

A new story line begins in this massive anniversary 300th TMNT issue from Gene Luen Yang, Freddie E. Williams, Andrew Dalhouse, and Shawn Lee, with a backup story from Tom Waltz, Ben Bates, Dan Duncan, Frank Fosco, Jim Lawson, Eric Talbot, Luis Antonio Delgado, Ronda Pattison, and Lee.

-Spoilers Follow-

From the top I’ll say this, I’m very divided on this issue but also the overall direction of the series as it stands.

I’ve written before that I’m not really a fan of having Splinter back but having the Turtle’s mother back too really complicates things. Which isn’t a problem for stories as conflict and complications and drama are fuel for stories. It just feels like the world of the Turtles has been shrunk in this recent run and the way they are brushing of allies who also lost someone feels off. I’m never a fan of heroes being able to bring loved ones back while others have to watch as their loved ones always stay dead.

It creates a weird dynamic.

The villains of course come for the Ujigami Mask or Door Knocker as the Turtles have taken to calling it at this point. We get Casey Jones tempted by Karai, since the Turtle’s mother already shot down his request, only to turn her down and trick her. Leading to Raph trying to help Casey so he can see his own mother again until Raph’s mother Shen takes her away again. Leading to Raph trying to (stupidly) barter with Karai who is now working with Baxter Stockman who has created his own version of the mask through science.

Oh and the recently introduced General Eight Thunders turns out to be the mastermind behind the mask and the threat to the veil between living and dead. Turning on the goddess Lady Izanami so that she can’t stop what is going to happen.

Whew, that was a lot. Yet, it also wasn’t a lot because there are a lot of wholes where character beats could be explored more. Granted, I get that this is an issue that is setup for the whole of the event to come. For a milestone issue though it feels kind of hollow and paint by numbers. I wish Yang was spending more time writing the Turtles and their dynamics rather than having them so focused on playing at a normal family for so many issues and this whole weird dynamic.

Their usually large world feels relatively small currently.

Williams continues to bridge the gap between the fantastical side of whimsy and overall main dish of rougher quality textures. Giving the story the harder tone that it necessitates with this direction. Even with the fantastical elements in play, it still feels very much like a series that is street-level and rough and tumble vigilante style. Emotions are very properly displayed and conveyed with the facial features and body language that we can pick up on. Some of the paneling feels crowded at times as there is a lot happening but it’s never too overwhelming.

Playing into all of that is a color palette which is toned down in all regards. Keeping most colors sort of washed out or neutral, where the various Turtle masks and magic and some other elements take up the baton of more vibrant flashes. All while still standing firmly together as Dalhouse keeps them all in line with one another.

We get a return of former series head writer Waltz in the backup, that takes a step through the multitude of Turtle-filled eras.

This slew of artists bring to life a variety of full page spread montages honoring the different interpretations of the Turtles. From the original Mirage debut days to the more colorful Archie Comics era to the bizarre bloody extreme Image Comics years to the overall years that IDW has been at it with the Turtles. All of the artwork feels on point to the spirit of the different interpretations with the colors, or lack of colors, being very fitting as well.

It was great to see Pattison’s name in the credits again, after all she was the colorist for pretty much the whole original 150 issue run at IDW.

Speaking of originals, the whole issue features the lettering of Lee who has also been here since the beginning. His hands on various other TMNT related books over the years as well. The voices of the Turtles during this IDW era have been very much honed and delivered by him time and time again. Hitting all the right notes, no matter the assignment, and keeping our boys and all their comrades sounding just right in our heads.

Here’s to another 300 issues of Turtleiffic awesomeness.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #300 is now available from IDW Publishing.