Written by: Gene Luen Yang
Art by: Fero PE
Coloring by: Luis Antonio Delgato
Lettering by: Shawn Lee
Cover by: Freddie E. Williams II
Published by: IDW Publishing
Summary:
This issue’s titled “Family Fun Day” and it starts exactly as it’s named, with the turtles’ mother named Shen. Shen, wants to do something different for the day with Master Splinter and the turtles. After discussion, the family decide to head to New York to go sight-seeing when they are approached by Casey Jones and April O’ Neil. Casey speaks up about the mystery surrounding the appearance of Shen, when they are interrupted by a Rhinoceros monster.
This issue changes speed when a Rhinoceros named Papa Beng and his minions called the ghost boys start to cause chaos. Fast paced action scenes and dialogue that jumps from here to there. The turtles kick Papa Beng to the curb but it brings back uneasy feelings for Shen as she concludes that she can’t stay in their version of reality anymore.
The second half of this issue focuses on Shen summoning a portal to go back to the afterlife, as the turtles beg her to stay. General Eight Thunders and Lady Izanami appear to reiterate that Shen has not kept her end of the deal by staying in the world of the living with the turtles by letting the veil between the living and the dead lower each day.
The issue comes to an end as the turtles find a new place for Shen to live.
Yang’s writing keeps the turtle lore intact; and it packs a punch. Fero’s artwork is solid and hits the target with expressing the personality of the turtles; Mikey is playful, Donnie is the voice of reason, Raph likes to be in front of the fight and Leonardo is the de-facto leader. This was a decent read, but readers will find this more engaging if you are already tied into the existing ninja turtle universe and lore. This is a continuation from the previous issues, so readers will need to read previous issues of TMNT in order to understand the flow of the story.
Overall: 7/10
India Williams is a comic writer and reviewer based in Florida. She is a lifelong comics fan, with favorites including Thor, Conan, G.I. Joe, and Speed Racer. When she’s not writing comics or reviewing them, she enjoys toy photography.
