Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2024] #3 - IDW Publishing

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES No. 3, October 2024

Despite Jason Aaron’s skilfully penning an absorbing tale about a flesh-eating turtle colony on the banks of the Ganges, this twenty-two page periodical’s predominantly peaceful plot is debatably a bit slow for its opening two-thirds. In fact, its early storyline is so soothing, even failing to heat up once the reptiles’ existence is directly threatened by some poachers, that its low-key tone will probably fool most of the media franchise's fans into thinking that little action will actually be taking place within its covers; “I lose track of how many days I kneel. And the turtles never once acknowledge me. Until they do.”

Cue the deadly Foot Clan, and suddenly all semblance of tranquillity is immediately replaced by Leonardo battling his numerous black-clad arch-foes yet again. Admittedly, this particular fracas disappointingly isn’t actually shown in the comic book, with artist Cliff Chiang seemingly preferring to pencil its aftermath as opposed to a complicated sequence of rapid martial art moves. But such pacing is merely the quiet before the storm, as the Alabama-born writer disconcertingly throws his readers back to Tokyo where two of the pizza-eating mutant’s brothers are fighting for their lives against even more mask-wearing assassins.

This subsequent high-octane sequence is arguably the publication’s highlight, with Michelangelo and Raphael rather humorously taking angry pot-shots at one another during the intense, sense-shattering scrap. Indeed, in many ways this issue of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” is worth the cover price alone, simply to read the two veteran close combatants banter as they both protect and berate one another simultaneously.

Just as successful as the “legendary” comics scribe’s script though, are “fan-favourite” artist Chiang’s layouts. Whether the American illustrator is simply pencilling a pack of snap-happy shelled turtles scuttling across the shore, Leonardo standing alone surrounded by a veritable army of fanatical killers in the night-time jungle, or a room filled full of sword-wielding scum who plan on hacking its occupants to pieces, there’s an incredible amount of physical dynamism on show. Furthermore, the formerly assistant editor at “DC Comics” does a terrific job with his colour palette, making a strong contrast between the events taking place in India during the strongly-lit day and purple-hued night.

The regular cover art to "TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES" #3 by Rafael Albuqerque