Don't be afraid to shell out your money for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2...despite some of the reservations by my fellow co-host Jason Dyer on the FANBOY BUZZ podcast on this series after my review of issue #1. This series has the momentum to become a hit right under the radar of the recent major DC rebootimagining of most of the mainstream titles they publish.
In this issue, Raphael is still MIA from the rest of his family after almost a year of being on his own. He confronts a father beating his son and unleashes some turtle power on his butt. This son is revealed at the end of the book to be CASEY JONES, who long-time TMNT fans will recognize as the hockey-mask wearing vigilante who is part of the Turtles mythology. We also get more glimpses into the origin of the IDW TURTLES, including their creation and possibly the introduction of SHREDDER, the Turtles' arch-enemy.
Now this issue isn't without its' shortcomings. There's not alot of Ninja Turtle action in this issue which I didn't like. Raphael is a great character, but you don't want to bog an issue with a title that invokes ninja action and teenage angst with too much heavy dialogue and sideways storytelling. Also, Dan Duncan's artwork is honestly not as exciting as it seemed in the last issue...with little emphasis on background and detail.
BUT, everyone seems to be jumping on the NINJA TURTLE bandwagon. I challenge you to find every variant cover to the first issue...and good luck getting the 5 associated with issue #2 as of this review. In short, this issue is my CCL Pick based off of the interest and secondary market value generated in this title since it launched last month.
So get your shell in gear and head over to ComicCollectorLive.com and grab yourself a slice of Turtle goodness...before Michaelangelo beats you to the punch, dude.