Writers: Kevin Eastman/Tom Waltz
Artist: Mateus Santolouco
Colorists: Ronda Pattison/Ian Herring
CITY FALL: PART SEVEN
“I hear ya, pal. But Karai signs our paychecks, and she says it’s killin’ time. Wait-we get paychecks?”
The battle with Shredder is being more dangerous and deadly, and now Karai brings her backup, Bebop and Rocksteady! With Leo losing a battle in his mind and Shredders grip slowly leaving him, can Splinter and the rest of the turtles save Leo and defeat Shredder in time to stop him from taking over New York City?!
The Ups: If you were a fan of the classic Ninja Turtle comics and the more recent animation series than this series is for you. Eastman and Waltz have done such a wonderful job mixing the two worlds giving the best of animation with the all the characters unique personalities but also keeping the great stories from the original comics. The huge joy to my childhood was the return of Bebop and Rocksteady from the original 1987 animation. Thankfully Eastman and Waltz have written them a little more serious than their previous incarnations and making them a much more powerful threat to the turtles. I felt the mixture of intense action and emotions going on during all these battles is so well done, from seeing Leo struggle with who he really is to seeing Casey battle with Angel against his father who decided to stop being a drunk and return to being the leader of the Purple Dragons. All these different key plot points have mushed really well to bring this action packed and emotion driven story-arc to a close. If the story is the best of the animation and the comics then so is the artwork. Santolouco, Pattison and Herring have all given the turtles their unique body proportions and color schemes they have become known for with the cartoons but also keep the intensity they always had in the comics. Leo’s chunin design is one of my favorite in this story-arc looking even cooler than Shredder (and I always thought Shredder was cool looking.) But I think Bebop and Rocksteady takes it for being two giant powerful looking and well designed mutants with a chainsaw and sledgehammer respectively.
The Downs: All good here!
Overall: Such an amazing and explosive end to the ‘City Fall’ arc, I couldn’t have asked for anything better to please my inner child. Whether or not you are or were a Ninja Turtle fan, this series is definitely a great getaway from the super hero caped norm of DC and Marvel. Make sure to pick up this issue and the whole series if you haven’t you will not be disappointed!
Grade 5 of 5
ComicsRefueled 