Teenange Mutant Ninja Turtles #75

Writer: Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz
Artist: Cory Smith, Mateus Santolouco. Chris Johnson, and Damian Couceiro

Before Reading:

I was just thinking and realizing that this book has been with me in my own life for quite some time. Since this book's launch in 2011 I have: Gotten engaged, married, graduated college, secured my first teaching job, and had my first child. Wow.  TMNT from IDW has been with me that whole time, month in and month out. Yet another reason to love the comics medium. It is truly crazy that this book has NOT been relaunched in that time frame.

This series has reached yet another milestone with issue #75. This feat is even more impressive when we look at the age that they have accomplished it in. Constant reboots, new launches, issues # 1's, and earth shattering crossover events reign in most titles. Yet somehow this title has managed to stay strong since 2011. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series and while I feel it is at its weakest when the turtles are not on the streets, it is still usually a fun book. We pickup with what will be the trial of General Krang in Dimension X. To fully grasp what is going on here you will want to have read"The Krang War" from way back in the run.

During Reading:

With this book being a huge milestone and the final part to "The Trial of Krang" I don't want to spoil too much. I will say that the book is split into many different parts: The actual trial in the courts, and the space battle between the Neutrinos, the Swarm, and the Triceratons. The book has a lot going on as it is a double-sized issue. Krang is crankier than ever especially as witnesses and the like show up to testify against him. After a lengthy trial with quite a few twists and turns, a major situation takes place with which to nearly end the issue.

After Reading:

TMNT #75 is a milestone in the comics medium. It is now the longest running TMNT comic ever and I wouldn't be shocked to see this issue reach the pinnacle of one hundres issues. However, this comic feel very flat. "The Trial of Krang" hadn't been great reading up to this point so it wasn't entirely surprising to see that it didn't end so great either. As mentioned above, this comic is at it's weakest when the turtles are in Dimension X. The Neutrino's and the other characters in these stories aren't very interesting. The turtles (specifically Mikey and Donnie) do have some good interactions with the Neutrino royal family, but the buck pretty much stops there. The story is very convoluted and somewhat all over the place. The trial scenes from the book are the opposite of an interesting court room drama which is really unfortunate. I do love this book still, and hope it can turn it around with the next arc.

The art is handled by Cory Smith, Mateus Santolouco. Chris Johnson, and Damian Couceiro. The book is visually beautiful. Even the court room scenes pop, and that is also due to Pattison's colors in the issue. I have enjoyed nearly every artist that this book has put on rotation and that doesn't change here. However, the art alone can't save the many issues with this book.

This series can't always have Shredder as the main foe, and that is understandable. However, the books soars when the turtles are in the streets and the book is dealing with street level type problems. If it weren't for one big development towards the end of the issue I would highly recommend skipping this one ($7.99 is steep) altogether. Here's to hoping this series gets back to the ground and it's next milestone issue can be more like issue 50 (which was excellent) and not what we were given here.

4/10

Regardless of the score, the art is excellent