Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #41

By Tom Waltz, Kevin Eastman, Cory Smith & Ronda Pattison

Finally, the “Attack on Technodrome” arc begins! Fans have been waiting for this storyline to come to fruition for some time now. Donatello has entered into an obviously dangerous alliance with Oroku Saki and the Foot clan to take down Krang and his terra-forming goliath. Meanwhile, the rest of the turtle family prepares to face the Foot with their new mutant comrades. With such shaky partnerships at play, there will definitely be amazing conflicts as the plot unfolds.

Right off the bat, it must be pointed out that Cory Smith does fantastic work on this property. His artwork on issue 37 was a great introduction to what he is capable of. Knowing that Smith is working on this arc only serves to fuel my enthusiasm. In this issue specifically, the panels with Krang are stunning. He’s not afraid to do a close-up of the utrominion. The book ends on a stoic, yet foreboding dramatic image…perfection.

Of course, the tone is fully fleshed out with resident Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles colorist Ronda Pattison. It’s impressive to see how she is able to collaborate seamlessly with various artists on this book. Seeing her name on the cover the comic is always a good sign.

Causing a rift in the turtle family is always great narrative fodder. Normally, this comes from the hothead Raphael, so placing Donnie in this role is an interesting, bold move. Even more so now that he has aligned himself with Shredder. It’s refreshing to know that this creative team is not afraid to shake up audience expectations and reaffirms why this series and its characters have such staying power.

TMNT fans will be tickled pink with the direction the comic is heading. IDW has yet to disappoint and it looks like that won’t happen anytime soon. This is part one, so it’s best to be in on the ground floor, pick this book up, because it can only go up from here!