Originally published in: TMNT Magazine (Panini) #1
Publication date: May 2 - May 29, 2013
Script: Landry Walker and Ed Caruana
Pencils: Ryan J. Neal
Colours: Jason Cardy
Letters: Alex Foot
“Chasing Shadows”
Review:
Down in the sewer lair, Donnie comes rushing to see April
with great news. He’s been scanning for
energy spikes from Kraang tech (“Krenergy” as Mikey calls it) and says he found
one. It’s a long shot, but it may clue
them into where April’s dad has been taken.
The Turtles and April crash a Kraang warehouse. Leo and Raph take on the Kraangdroids while
April, Donnie and Mikey search for clues.
Well, April and Donnie do. Mikey
gets thrown into a filing cabinet and gets a papercut (which April dutifully
heals with her First Aid kit). Once all
the Kraangdroids have been felled, Donnie laments that he couldn’t find any
leads. Mikey begins cursing the paper
which cut him and Leo notices that it has an address to a TCRI shipping
facility. The Turtles and April decide
to follow the lead.
At the facility, they begin browsing through all the
shipping containers. They spot one which
looks like a makeshift prison (with barred windows and massive locks). Mikey and Donnie crack it open and step
inside, but instead of finding April’s dad, they’re reunited with Spider
Bytez. They slam the door shut before
the arachnid can spit acid at them.
Donnie theorizes that the Kraang must have him locked up for tests.
Raph spots another container that looks like
a prison and the Turtles try their luck again.
It’s empty, but a small device that belonged to April’s dad was
left on the floor. April says her dad
designed it and that it’s part of a two-piece gadget. The other half is still with her dad and the
device left behind can track it.
They follow the signal to a Kraang stronghold. Leo wants to do some recon, but Raph brashly
plows through the Kraangdroids guarding the gates. All they find inside is an empty interrogation
facility and the other half of the tracking device, discovered and discarded by
the Kraang.
Later, down in the lair, Leo valiantly promises April
that he and his men will not rest until her father has been rescued and evil
has been vanquished. April breaks out
laughing, having recognized Leo’s canned speech from an episode of “Space
Heroes”. April tells Leo that even
though she misses her dad, she’s grateful that she isn’t totally alone; she has
them. Mikey, skateboarding, crashes into
Don, holding a stack of papers, and is subjected to yet another papercut. April unpacks her First Aid kit and tells the
Turtles that they’re lucky to have her, too.
Turtle Tips:
*This story was published alongside “Takeout”. The series continues in TMNT Magazine (Panini) #2.
Review:
“Chasing Shadows” is a victim of the setback I mentioned
in my last Panini review: That these comics cannot advance any storylines in
fear of contradicting the unknown future of the Nickelodeon TMNT cartoon. Still, from the getgo there’s a
self-awareness to this comic that the investigation won’t lead to anything more
than a dead end. The thing is titled
“Chasing Shadows”, after all.
Walker and Caruana have thus far been really good at
capturing the voices of the characters.
Mikey and Donnie are at the forefront in this issue and their banter
feels really sincere and natural. Not
just Mikey’s habit of dramatically naming everything, but Donnie’s manner of
passively humoring Mikey’s suggestions, too.
And again, Leo channels the attitude of his hammy “Space Heroes” idol
and it’s a great little moment. The
“Space Heroes” stuff is best utilized in small doses, lest it get obnoxious,
and so far the Panini comic has been wise enough to limit Leo to just one brief
cornball outburst per story.
Even though I really don’t care much for Spider Bytez,
his cameo was well executed; a quick little surprise that ends as soon as it
begins. He doesn’t stick around long
enough for that stupid design to get on my nerves. Although, I’ll admit that I’m curious to see
how well the writers might be at capturing Lewis Black’s voice.
April, despite being the focal point of this issue, sort
of plays second fiddle and hangs around while the boys do all the rough
stuff. I take it April’s more-or-less
helplessness indicates this story takes place earlier in the first season than TMNT New Animated Adventures #1, where she’s already getting the hang of her kunoichi training.
Artist Ryan J. Neal draws a good April, by the way. Brizuela’s April over at IDW adheres too
closely to the animation model, which looks like a mannequin (or an action
figure, I suppose is a more appropriate comparison). Neal’s April is more angular and expressive
and just livelier overall. She may not really
do a whole lot in this story, but at least she never stops the momentum dead by
looking like a statue.
Grade: B (as in, “But those massive blocky feet of hers are still
all sorts of crazy”)
