Released on January 8th, 2020
About ten years or so ago, Image rebooted Glory, which had been a forgettable Rob Liefeld book from the 90's. Surprisingly, this new Glory was a masterpiece. Joe Keatinge wrote it and Ross Campbell (now Sophie Campbell) penciled it. After that series ended, I would read whatever Keatinge put out because I had loved Glory so much. And I often looked around to see what Sophie Campbell was doing because her artwork was so beautiful and unique. Finally she's back on a major book and she's writing and drawing the new IDW Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles book. I shouldn't say new because it's already at #101 but it is a reboot of the famous Kevin Eastman/Peter Laird book from the 80's and 90's. I think most people don't really even think TMNT started as a comic book, they probably just remember the cartoon, movies, and toys from when they were kids. But the original comic book was darker, grittier, weirder, and a classic for a reason. This reboot actually was pretty popular and selling out and talked about a lot online around the time #25 to #50 came out. Then interested seemed to wane and I hadn't heard much about it until I found out Sophie Campbell was working on it. I'm definitely glad I picked this issue up, as it's probably the best comic I've read in this "30 Reviews in 30 Days" piece (and we're on the 25th day). First off, Campbell's art is fantastic. It definitely looks like a comic book (Ronda Pattison did the colors), if that makes sense. It's organic looking and fluid while also being obviously fantastical and cartoon-esque. The story is great, too, although Campbell is mostly just picking up the pieces of the "City at War" story line that ended with the death of Splinter in #100. A bomb was set off in NYC that turned a section of the city's inhabitants into mutants. The rest of the city walled off that section and it's become a wild west Mutant Town. Raphael has gone rogue and become the Batman of Mutant Town. The others are still struggling with Splinter's death. There's a new mutant ninja turtle, Jennika, that was caught in the bomb blast and transformed. She heads to Mutant Town and ends up fighting some of the animal/mutant goons that control the streets. This book is one wild ride, and pretty to look at, and compelling enough that I'm eager to read the next issue and find out what happens. Definitely a win-win. ***1/2
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