IDW Publishing 2019
Written & Illustrated by Mateus Santolouco
Coloured by Marcelo Costa & Mateus Santolouco
Lettered by Shawn Lee
The Story So Far…
Foot Clan leader Oroku Saki, also known as The Shredder, was resurrected in the present day by his love, the immortal being known as Kitsune. Saki was defeated and killed by his former clan brother, Hamato Yoshi, also known as the mutant Splinter. Saki was able to achieve some semblance of peace in his final moments with Splinter. Kitsune, though, has hinted she is not done with Saki’s soul, and aims to use it to resurrect her father, the all powerful Dragon God, Saki’s journey is far from over….
I never have been a real fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I just never got in on the craze. So when I read and review one it means something, at least to me from my perspective. First things first I took a look at the interiors and they were impressive so then I read the book and overall I have to say this is extremely well done. Not only is the concept for this a little more deceptive than I had thought, that folks is a good thing by the way, but the way the characterisation is done here is beyond anything I could have expected. So yeah this is a book that casual fans of the franchise can pick up and enjoy while kind of marvelling at Mateus’ skills and talents.
I like the way that this book is structured. The opening is certainly one of the more eye-catching moments you are bound to see. So seeing Kitsune doing what she is as she begins to perform this ritual there is this very much of a magical feeling and not because of the act itself. Also if this is something you are picking up and haven’t been reading it or knowing like myself that Shredder was dead there is a sensational sequence bringing us up to date on what’s been going on to get to where we are.
The forests in Japan are usually very mystical places and if you aren’t familiar with them you should be for the Suicide Forest is the most famous of them. So to see a young Saki and Yoshi together in this gorgeous place that just symbolises everything it possibly can and so much more is so amazing to me. Now aside from Kitsune the people that we see are deceased in this story and that for me anyway makes it much more compelling.
The interiors here really are utterly gorgeous. The linework here is amazing I mean the attention to detail and how the varying weights of the linework are utilised to create such delicate or bold work really is stunning. There is this grace and beauty to the work that we are seeing here that is somewhat haunting and always intense. The emotions through the faces and facial expressions exude off the page. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a spectacular eye for storytelling. The way we see backgrounds utilised is truly magnificent, the trees, the rocks, the dead all of it expands the story exponentially like it’s supposed to. Also these colours WOW so much enhancement to the mood, tone and feel of the story.
I was so totally impressed with this story. The layers, the depth of characterisation we see is so damn good and it’s so unlike what I think of when I think of this franchise. The journey of self-discovery here is unlike any we’ve been privileged to see and I have to say I am finding a newfound respect for Oroku Saki the question remains will you?