I continue with Ninja Turtles review with the final issue of the series. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for IDW has hit a fantastic run.
The Book
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #150
Story by Kevin Eastman
Written by Sophie Campbell
Art Vincenzo Federici, Fero Pe, Dan Duncan, and Sophie Campbell
Colors by Ronda Pattison andLuis Antonio Delgado
Letters by Shawn Lee
Edited by Nicolas Nino
Publisher: IDW Publishing
So I have to be honest, this wasn’t as fun as issues 50 and 100, as momentous events for those issues played out, but even though this was in my view a quieter story, it was a poignant one.
Throughout the series, Donatello is often hinted at being alone at the end of his life. He tried to take measures to take control of the situation, but in that fate, he created the monster Armaggon, a time-traveling monster aiming to devour the turtles throughout history.
Donatello and Venus are in the far past, and through it get to see the very beginning of the turtles themselves. You see the four turtles and splinter being created back to issue two. Donny and his kids with Venus try to learn all they can about the monster Donny created. He meets his future self, who explains to him that there is no way to alter the timeline to make Armaggon not exist. Other methods would have to be found.
In the end, Donatello and company lure the beast to the point that they have the hope of trapping him. Not without paying a price, and not without a brief and final touching reunion.
Sophie Campbell had a heck of a tough job to follow Tom Waltz’s footsteps in this wrong. For fifty issues she did so. Wrote and sometimes illustrated the book and told her kind of turtle stories which were very personable, with themes of family and community throughout her entire saga. This honored everything she did, as well as taking us back to the very beginning of the series. This was as much a love letter to the whole run as it was finishing Donatello’s arc about this need for control. It’s a nice ending to the series. The last six pages of it were illustrated by Campbell and it was a heartwarming epilogue to the entire run. Well done.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the other creatives involved with the book. An issue this big was tackled by a multitude of artists. Fero Pe did a wonderful job drawing Donatello and the company’s journey to discovering how to defeat Armaggon. It feels like a classic turtle story, and in many ways it is. Vincent Federici captures the horror of the fight with all of the monstrous illustrations you see. He captures the horror of the moments perfectly. Ronda Pattison deserves love for her additions to Federici’s pencils as they add to the mood of what Armaggon represents perfectly. Her additions at the end of the issue also capture the essence of what turtles are all about. Luis Antonio Delgado does a wonderful job with the rest of the issue, keeping the tone lighter on the parts of the story that had more of the quest for information.
All in all, the book is a solid end to a great series. Jason Aaron has his work cut out for them. Thank you everyone for making the book as amazing as it is.
The Business
Been in the business of doing a lot of projects since the new year began. I’m working very hard on my novel. It’s in an agent’s hands. No guarantees what’s happening next, but I’m happy I got this far. It’s been the second-biggest project so far this year.
My podcast course is just about finished. The eighth module is being edited and I’m hoping to upload the rest of it tonight. I’m writing a story for a client and I’m looking to help people advertise or edit. You can check out the course here, and see what else I’m up to.
Finally, I’m working on a graphic novel. Right now you can see me creating the characters for Lights Out on my webpage, newsletter, or Patreon. I’ll be starting to post the story soon. I’ve come a long way as an illustrator. It blew me away to see where I’ve gotten to working on this. I can’t wait to finish the story. Is it a traditional graphic novel? No. I would recommend checking out Thomas Wheeler and Frank Miller’s Cursed for the inspiration for the design.
My next column has a ton more turtles love. I’m going to review my favorite story of the current run (No really). Should be a good tale to tell.
Stay inspired out there.
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