Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2024] #7 - IDW Publishing

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES No. 7, February 2025

Arguably making this ongoing series’ titular characters even more disagreeable than ever before – at least to one another, Jason Aaron’s script for “this explosive second arc of the all-new era of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” probably wasn’t seen by its audience as the Alabama-born writer turning “the volume up to maximum” as its publisher had hoped. Indeed, if anything this publication’s twenty-two page plot must have proved pretty depressing on account of all the Heroes In A Half-shell getting repeatedly beaten into next week by District Attorney Hale’s baton-wielding goon squad; “Little turtle? Haven’t you gotten the message? We own these rooftops now.”

Of course that doesn’t mean for a moment that Part One of “The Sewers Of Newark” doesn’t contain a captivating dose of martial arts and breath-taking close combat. However, once the four brothers do finally escape the clutches of New York City’s “new Foot-enhanced police force” and relocate to the sewers of New Jersey to eat one of the most rancid-looking, fungi-covered pizzas on the planet, the quartet seemingly do little else except argue with one another. Such rage-fuelled feuding certainly helps keep the deadly warriors apart, thus allowing this comic’s American author to repeatedly have each mutant confront a group of enemies single-handedly. Yet it also starts to wear a little thin on the patience once the likes of Raphael begins furiously berating his siblings for the umpteenth time out of sheer frustration.

Possibly a little more palatable is Donatello’s sub-plot, which depicts the mentally unstable turtle tapping ever deeper into the teachings of his dead father, and rather surprisingly proving himself to be the sanest of the troubled quartet. Whether or not Donnie can actually see and hear the spirit of Master Splinter is a matter for debate. But the shock upon his fellow turtles’ faces when he makes mention of their recent intimate, personal failings as individuals strongly suggests some sort of magical link has in fact been established with the much-lamented Sensei.

New series artist Juan Ferreyra also brings a lot to this book, with some impressive action sequences – most notably those depicting Raphael, Leonardo and Michelangelo taking on a considerable number of Hale’s henchmen during their solo missions. Furthermore, the Argentinian illustrator can really imbue his figures with plenty of personality, such as when a wide-eyed, optimistic Mikey attempts to persuade Donatello to give up his long-deceased sewer rat for a live one.

Writer: Jason Aaron, Artist: Juan Ferreyra, and Letterer: Shawn Lee