Hello folks, Crooker here, and as of this issue I’m taking over talking about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Battle Nexus #2, of which this is issue #2 by… a whole host of people! Tom Waltz, Paul Allor, Sophie Campbell, Caleb Goellner, Erik Burnham, and Paul Allor are all contributing to the story in some way, with artist Ben Bishop on pencils. Man, that’s a lotta folks. It’s almost enough to make a guy worried, but… this comic friggin’ rules. Let’s talk about it.
To get this out of the way: I’m a huge, huge, HUGE Turtles fanatic. You want a guy who’ll talk your ear off about reptilian shinobi? I’m your guy. That is to say, I’m the perfect person to recognize just how DEEP the cuts get in this book. Like, holy cow guys, you really nailed this. From a franchise lore perspective alone, this book delivers and delivers hardcore. The Battle Nexus is a fan favorite place originally introduced with the blessing of franchise co-creator Peter Laird in the 2003 4kids cartoon, and later brought into the canon of the original Mirage comic books by Laird himself… as the EXACT same multiversal location! A really cool precedent set that went a long way to connecting the various Turtle stories over the years under one multi-dimensional roof, something us diehards always appreciated, and was seemingly abandoned when Viacom bought the property and it fell into hands less concerned with that sort of consistency.
IDW
But no longer, it seems! As far as I can tell, this is indeed the exact same Battle Nexus introduced all the way back during 2003’s “The Big Brawl” and featured in Mirage’s TMNT Vol. 4! It even goes so far as to tie together all conflicting versions of Savanti Romero, a reoccurring villain in Turtle lore who is generally associated with this kind of cosmic, time-bending stuff.
I know it seems I’m just gushing about fan service… but, frankly, that’s what the Battle Nexus has always been about. The story, for what it is, serves as an excuse to have some awesome fights and callbacks to other corners of the Turtles multiverse. Lest we forget its debut appearance introduced a new version of Stan Sakai’s Miyamoto Usagi. So, you’ll have to forgive me for saying the fan service is in fact, the good part. And booooooy is it good! Seriously, I’m barely scratching the surface. As a turtles fan, I’ve often felt at odds with a lot of creative choices in the IDW-verse, but it’s really hard to not recognize a love letter when you see one. This is so full of passion for the property, and more specifically, the various creative hands that have had their time with it, most especially Peter Laird. Regardless of how this story goes, I’m happy we got something like this at all.
IDW
The art by Ben Bishop is great and puts in a fantastic effort to create a Battle Nexus that really feels like it was pulled right from the screen of the 4kids version, with little visual nods everywhere meant to sell you on the fact this is indeed the same place. I feel like every few panels I was pointing at my screen going “IT’S THAT THING! FROM THAT ONE!”, which goes to show how much care went into crafting the visuals. It helps that Bishop works well in a Mirage-esque framework, given his experience with The Last Ronin.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Battle Nexus #2 is, in all senses of the term, a stellar celebration of Turtles history. It doesn’t feel corporate, in the way you may think it would, you know? It feels like something made with fans in mind, which can often feel more like “pandering” these days, but this feels earnest, honest, and sincere. The level of detail to get things right, so that nerds like me will recognize every little thing, is so much more crafted than a cheap nostalgia tug. It wants you to know that this book is made by fans just as neurotic as you are, and I love the hell out of that.
The only question remains… where’s the one, TRUE Shredder?
You must be logged in to post a comment.