Written By: Dean Clarrain
Art by: Chris Allen
Publisher: IDW
The Turtles are back with a bang in the latest volume of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Adventures” series. Volume 8 combines issues 28 through 31 and sees the Turtles arrive in Japan to rescue Fu Sheng and Chu Hsi from the grips of the evil mastermind, Chien Kahn and to stop him from summoning an interdimension demon. The Story is great with a strong narrative running through the whole adventure. Later on in the story, there is a character twist. I was genuinely taken aback by this twist and is, in my opinion, a great testament to the writer’s ability.
Each of the turtles’ personalities is hammered down to a tee; Splinter is very well written and his character expanded upon in a rather touching and heartfelt way. The scriptwriting is top notch, although sometimes it does tend to get a little bit carried away with itself during some moments and once or twice gets a little too convoluted. Other than this, it really is a well written script.
The art is wonderful. It is reminiscent of old 80’s-esque comic book art which I personally prefer over more modern art styles. The art is very fitting, almost drawing me back to the original animated series from the 80s. The shading is done fittingly and the tones are varied but fit the Turtles and their adventures very well. The cover art for each of the issues within this volume blew me away. That is not an understatement. I sat there gaping at the cover art for issue #29 in particular. The effort each of the artists put in is evident just from the cover art alone. Seriously.
The main villain was believable and authentic. There is a part where Chien Kahn was threatening Fu Sheng and it seemed like it could go any way from that point and the rest of the villain’s story could have went any way.
Overall, if you are looking for a series with great heart, storytelling, art style and characters that are faithful to the original Turtles, this is the comic for you! There are one or two occasional problems, but the positives far outweigh the negatives, in my book. I, personally, will be looking to pick this and the other volumes in the series in physical form and it will make a great addition to my collection.
