Today’s Comic> Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #23

Ninjas…are watching you sleep.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #23

IDW Publishing (June, 2013)

As April and Angel keep watch over Casey in the hospital, Leonardo is being brainwashed by Kitsune. Events in motion lead to Splinter and the remaining Turtles to agree to an offer of assistance by Old Hob…and Slash!

What they got right: There is decent moment where Casey’s dad overhears Angel talking about what a horrible father he’s become, which I hope leads to some growth for that character. We also get a bit of Angel’s backstory and her history with Casey. But what makes this issue interesting are the visuals on two different forms. One is the regular art, where the scene showing Casey being admitted into the hospital is mirrored by the Foot readying Leonardo. The other is Leonardo’s brainwashing. The extra artists listed above each drawn a moment of the brainwashing, as Kitsune tries to “convince” Leo that Shredder is his friend and Splinter actually betrayed him. The style each artist brings as well as the look each artist’s pages share make for a stunning look as to how Kitsune is warping Leo’s mind. I love what they’ve done with this issue.

What they got wrong: I really can’t come up with anything. While storywise this is setting up events it’s necessary. Visually it’s something comic artists should study.

Recommendation: I can’t choose one moment for Best Scene because of how good the visuals are. This is worth getting for any comic artists to study but if you’re going to get into this comic start with #22 and pick this up as well.

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• Today’s Comic> Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #22
• ‘City Fall’ Tensions Rise In ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ #23 [Preview] (comicsalliance.com)
• Kevin Eastman Confirms TMNT Are Not Aliens (teenagemutantninjaturtles.com)