Publication date: September 18 – October 15, 2014
Script: Ed Caruana
Art: Bob Molesworth
Colours: Jason Cardy
Colour assist: E. Pirrie
Letters: Alex Foot
“Breakout”
Summary:
At Hellsgate Maximum Security Prison, Foot Soldiers
spring a gang of 5 notorious cons: Brian “Bulldog” Brooks, Frankie Grimes,
Victor Schmitz, Dax “Drive-By” Delany, and Leroy Flack. The Foot leave them a case of Kraang weapons
and a meeting point. If they can make it
to the spot by 9pm, the Foot will remove their GPS tags and allow them to join
their ranks.
Down in the lair, the Turtles hear the news about the
escaped cons and Don hacks into the police GPS tracking system. They break up into two teams (Leo/Don and
Raph/Mike) and head out after the thugs.
Raph and Mikey encounter Grimes first. Armed with a Kraang freeze ray, he tries to
zap them with it but can’t get it to work.
Inevitably, he zaps himself and the Turtles leave him to the police.
Leo and Don take on Flack, who has stolen a motorcycle
and figured out how to use his energy blaster.
Leo throws his katana into the wheel of the motorcycle, sending Flack
crashing in time for the police to pick him up.
Meanwhile, Rahzar and Fishface wait at the meeting point
for the initiates. They grow paranoid,
fearing that the Shredder might be trying to replace them for all their recent
failures.
As for the Turtles, Raph and Mikey are pursuing Schmitz,
who has stolen a cab. They jump on the
roof and the distraction causes Schmitz to drive the vehicle into a sharp sheet
metal fence. The fence slices the cab in
two right down the middle and the Turtles tie Schmitz up.
Bulldog and Drive-By make it to the meeting point in
time, but before Rahzar can remove their tags, the Turtles arrive in full
force. A fight breaks out and Bulldog
and Drive-By prove formidable with their Kraang tech. Suddenly, Rahzar and Fishface bonk them over
the head and help the Turtles tie them up.
They explain that destroying the Turtles is THEIR job, but before they
can go at it, the police show up and both sides scram.
Turtle Tips:
*This story is continued from TMNT Magazine (Panini) #18. The story continues in TMNT Magazine (Panini) #20.
Review:
It’s amazing how much story Caruana can pack into 12
pages. The pace is hectic, but not quite
rushed. Each escapee gets their moment
to shine and there’s even time for the Foot mutants to trade paranoid jabs at
one another. It’s an impressive bit of
economic scripting.
The dialogue is perhaps a bit pun-heavy, but that’s
pretty typical of these one-shot comedy relief strips. Mikey spends the issue quoting a TV show
called “Back to the Slammer” (presumably a parody of “Cops” if that show even
still exists) and his antics can get a little irritating. But it’s Mikey; his antics are almost ALWAYS
irritating.
I liked seeing Rahzar and Fishface trade barbs. The cartoon has sort of forgotten about their
dynamic ever since the cast became bloated with evil mutants and this issue was
a fun reminder of their earlier relationship.
I guess if there’s one thing these IDW and Panini comics are good for,
it’s going back to ideas that the Nick cartoon left behind seasons ago.
Bob Molesworth provides some serviceable art and Cardy's colo(u)rs are as awesome as always. Once
again, I’d really recommend picking up the trade paperback collection of Panini
TMNT comics (you have to get it from Amazon UK). If you haven’t been digging IDW’s
cartoon-based comics, then Panini’s stuff might be more up your alley.
Grade: B- (as in, “But if you’re gonna have a villain
named ‘Drive-By’ in your comic, then maybe he should’ve been the one driving the
motorcycle and shooting at everybody”.)
