‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Annual 2014’ Comic Book Review

Kevin Eastman. The man. The myth. The legend. Eastman returns to fully write and illustrate a new issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and it’s an annual!  Over 40 glorious pages of Eastman’s definitive style I love. The annual also has a story credit by series regular Tom Waltz, who’s been on the book since the turtles were re-launched.

TMNT Annual Comic 1

The story, itself, honestly feels like a long lost issue from the ‘80s Mirage run both in writing and art.  As I was reading, I kept thinking that this could have easily fit in back, then and had trouble trying to connect it to the current series.  The dialogue can be a tad cheesy and overbearing at times.  Man, it’s a thick read.  This could have easily been a multi-issue story line, but instead it’s all packed into one over-sized annual.

The story is still a fun read though as we get to shake off some of the drama of the previous storylines.  It’s good to just have the Turtles running around and fighting without all the melodrama that the series is currently seeped in.  Eastman could be setting up some new characters for future storylines, at least I hope, otherwise this annual is pretty pointless.  Even if we did get a fun ‘cowabunga’ and ‘booyakasha’ out of it.

The art is really the star here, especially for fans who’ve been around for a while.  Colorist Ronda Pattison shines as usual, but her colors are only at the beginning and the end since the rest of the book is black and white, for story purposes.  This makes it tough at times to decipher who’s who with Donnie, Raph, and the gang as none of them use their traditional weapons.  Here and there, in the writing, their voices do stand out, but then I’m lost again on the next panel wondering if this is Leo or Mikey.

TMNT Annual Comic 2

I enjoyed this annual despite its flaws, hell, I always enjoy a Turtle story (even the crappy The Next Mutation).  This issue will fit right at home for fans of the classic Mirage books, but it may be tough for newer fans who have come over from the new Nickelodeon show or the newest film.  It’s possible this would have been a better read if it wasn’t delayed three months and came out before the Turtles in Time mini-series.

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