Any Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles story tends to focus on one of four key words in the title. The “Mutant”, “Ninja”, and/or “Turtle” do most of the heavy lifting, especially when it comes to the Turtles’ periodical revamps or the various crossovers. It’s only in recent years that the “Teenage” part has taken center stage – most notably in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II – Re-Evolution #3.
Re-Evolution #3 continues to explore the new abilities the new batch of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have gained, but it also mixes in a healthy dose of teenage angst, particularly when it comes to Yi. Tom Waltz and Kevin Eastman’s script ping-pongs between past and present, shedding light on how Yi first discovered her powers and how she’s struggling with them. It’s one thing to be a teenage mutant turtle, it’s another to be a teenage mutant turtle with superpowers, and it’s another way that the new Turtles stand out from their predecessors. The Turtles’ fight to keep the peace also takes a surprising turn, which makes it a little frustrating that things end on a massive cliffhanger.
The shifts in time also mean shifts in art, with a trio of different artists handling different time periods. The Escorza brothers handle the modern day art, still keeping elements of the post-apocalyptic era they developed during the original Last Ronin miniseries; they also draw an impressive series of pages dedicated to Yi’s new powers that lights up the page – literally. Ben Bishop handles a flashback that turns into a trippy nightmare, which is reminiscent of his reality-shaking work on Drawing Blood. Eastman draws a sequence that takes place during the original days of the TMNT, which feels rather mythic in stature.
The color work from Luis Antonio Delgado also helps shape the three different periods. For the Escorzas, he uses more muted hues, primarly a midnight blue to represent New York’s night sky. For Bishop, it’s warmer, more eye catching colors. Eastman’s is rendered in black and white, both to capture the feeling of the original Mirage comics he worked on with Peter Laird and to feed into the original TMNT’s mythic status.
Though Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II – Re-Evolution #3 ends on a cliffhanger, it’s introduced elements that could keep this version of the Turtles going for a long time. Teenage angst, superpowers, fighting for a legacy you might not fully recognize but also for a future you want to live in – that’s been a component of many books I love, and it makes the TMNT franchise all the stronger for embracing these elements.
