Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2024] #10 - IDW Publishing

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES No. 10, July 2025

Whilst District Attorney Hieronymus Hale’s hours long opening speech might not have got a single member of the captivated jury yawning, the same can probably not be said for those bibliophiles perusing Issue Ten of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”. Indeed, apart from a couple of all-too brief moments of action, Jason Aaron’s predominantly sedentary script surely had a fair portion of this comic’s audience switching off in their droves as the titular characters do nothing but bicker with one another, as well as quietly sit through a lengthy show trial; “Anybody know a good lawyer.”

Infuriatingly though, the Alabama-born writer arguably makes things appear even more lethargic by raising his readers’ hopes at the start of this book, that the likes of Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo might finally be coming together again as a team. This somewhat sentimental scene, which depicts the half-shelled heroes embracing one another in a zoo cell, genuinely appears to promise that the quartet are about to make a dramatic come-back after they all “got beat up by the cops.” However, within seconds two of the brothers Hamato are at one another’s throats again, and the entire ‘magical moment’ is replaced by the aforementioned lacklustre court room antics.

So disappointing a decision by the American author really does just leave Raph’s recognition of three Foot Clan members who “killed the warden” as this twenty-two page periodical’s sole source of fast-paced fisticuffs, and even this potentially pulse-pounding punch-up during the trial is reduced to a single splash page. Such a missed opportunity seriously seems to sap any remaining life out of the book’s atmosphere, to the point where even the appearance of a hockey-stick wielding April O'Neil at the publication’s conclusion isn’t likely to generate that loud a cheer by any remaining onlookers.

Instead, this comic’s biggest asset lies with Juan Ferreyra’s layouts. The Argentinian artist clearly has a lot of work to do with Aaron’s soporific script. Yet still manages to pencil some truly memorable visual moments, such as when Raphael flashbacks to his time fighting inmates at the San Quentin State Prison and the Turtles’ group-hug. In addition, the illustrator is also able to imbue the magazine with a few laugh-out-loud moments, with the Judge’s stupefied reaction to Donnie’s extremely short defence statement debatably being the best of the bunch.

The regular cover art to "TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES" #10 by Jorge Fornes