When reading Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White & Green #3, I was surprised by how many different genres of story were covered in just one issue. But that’s the beauty of anthology series: you can let creators loose on a variety of stories that wouldn’t usually fit in an ongoing. The Turtles have a world diverse enough to support all kinds of stories is a major plus.
Black, White & Green #3 kicks off with a story from Jock and Dom Reardon titled “The Beast That Bleeds Green”, which has the Turtles chasing down a mysterious mutant whose blood is laced with the same mutagen that transformed them. Jock and Reardon’s artwork feels very horror-laced; the titular bleeding beast is a misshapen mass of warts and fangs. It towers over the Turtles, wounds leaking a bright, vibrant green. Even Nathan Widick’s lettering has an edge to it; letters and speech bubbles are more slanted, more haphazard than regular lettering work.
From there, “Sin Sewer” by Dave Wielgosz and Riley Rossmo throws Raphael into a noir-influenced tale when a mysterious girl asks for his help rescuing her sister. TMNT co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird both cited Frank Miller’s work as an influence on the Turtles, and “Sin Sewer” leans all the way into that. Wielgosz’s dialogue is mostly confined to Raph’s inner thoughts, which reflect on his connections to his brothers, while Rossmo refines his style to resemble Miller’s rain-soaked cityscapes – Raph’s signature trench coat and fedora also make him resemble a private eye!
Rounding out the issue are “Miami Vacation” from Alexis Ziritt and Carlos Giffoni, and “Green Means Go” from Cameron Chittock and Michael Shelfer. “Miami Vacation” is a low-key comedy of errors that sees the Turtles trying to take a vacation (and said vacation being upended when Michelangelo runs afoul of a mutant alligator) and “Green Means Go” has the Turtles battling New York’s rush hour to stop Baxter Stockman.
These two stories couldn’t be more different, yet both hooked me from start to finish due to the premise as well as the art; “Miami Vacation” has a Mad-esque art style while “Green Means Go” feels like a fast-paced shōnen anime. It’s a great example of how the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles seem to fit into almost every story, and a great read to boot.
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