YES! A story featuring two of my favorite supporting characters/Mutanimals, Man Ray and Sally Pryde. This one’s sure to be a slam dunk…
…right?
Writer: Rich Douek
Artist: Aaron Conley
Publisher: IDW Publishing
First Read Reactions
- This opening conversation could have saved a lot of lettering work and space if someone would just call it a “radar jammer.”
- Can’t go wrong with dog soldiers.
- I’m not sure that’s the Jersey Devil, but I’m definitely digging his style.
- Wow. Ray is kind of racist (or at least a huge jerk).
- Any character that says any variation of “I’m not good; I’m bad” post 1986 makes me cringe (even if they are an awesome dog soldier.
- Good thing those bullets were actually just poison darts…being used on a humanoid manta ray.
- Good thing Ray suddenly learned not to be racist anymore.
The Verdict
Aside from a couple great action sequences, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe #11 leaves a lot to be desired.
I understand that this is a franchise that has primarily flourished as a children’s media property, but we’ve grown accustomed to the IDW series’ scripts having a more mature feel. In this issue, however, the dialogue varies from forced to painfully cartoonish (i.e. saying things like “I’m baaaaaad” without any irony). Also, the character arcs are extreme and condensed. That could be a result of this being a single issue story, but watching Man Ray go from Old Hob-style racism to total acceptance of human-first mutants is a bit jarring.
I did like the new character, Dreadmon, although we barely got to know him before the issue was over. The design of the dog soldiers was pretty cool, too. But aside from those things (and an intriguing bit of backstory for Ray), this is one of young title’s more disappointing efforts.
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