Chaos erupts, as Doctor Barlow’s latest would-be victims make a break for it, while the remaining Turtles attack the Punk Frogs right in their home turf…and is that a Triceraton crashing down from the sky? TMNT #192 is written by Sophie Campbell, drawn by Tony Gregori, colored by Ronda Pattison, and lettered by Shawn Lee, with story consulting by Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz.
This was not the most enjoyable issue of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
This has been a very busy comic for a while now, the current arc especially so. Punk frogs, warring Utroms and Triceratons, mad scientists, Splinter Family discord and more new characters than you can shake a stick at, one of which is a brand new (and, in my opinion, most excellent) revamp of the Turtle most fans would rather have forgotten about entirely. Things are getting crowded, and the most that can be said about this particular issue is just that it moves things along.
What makes it all exhausting to me is the art. Tony Gregori is a considerable step down in terms of art quality, and contributes a lot to the crowded feeling of the page. There’s also a cutesy crudeness to the characters. It’s ugly, and while I’ve had great fondness for ugly art before, this ugliness contributes nothing to the story. It’s taking away any enjoyment I could have from the comic, which is especially unfortunate for a bridge issue like this one, whose main purpose is resolving just enough plot issues to get us through to the next issue.
After a quick (and somewhat unnecessary) origin for the Punk Frogs (they were human punks caught in the mutagen bomb, there are no big surprises here), we check in on Raphael and Casey Jones, who’ve been building up to a fight in the background for a long while, now. Casey feels abandoned by Raphael, and Raphael is worried that Casey’s turning into a mean, self-destructive alcoholic like Casey’s father was.
The two finally come to blows, and my favorite moment of the issue was the way Jennika lowers the tension with a grin and a chuckle; “Haha. Of course you guys are beating the tar out of each other down here.” Tensions released with fighting, and simmered down with laughter, it speaks so much to Raphael and Casey Jones’ friendship that that’s how they break through the wall that’s been building up between them. It’s also heartening that Jennika has enough history with the two of them to be able to realize that despite the rage that’s been simmering between these two, this isn’t a fight that should be taken seriously at all. It’s the kind of thing only family can recognize, and it’s just what Casey needed to finally open up and admit that things have been hard on him.
In the meantime, Donatello, Alopex (whose art I dislike the most this issue, she looks almost unrecognizable — more pup than fox) Sheena and Venus get to make their escape after a little roundabout astral projection. Venus helps Donny find Leonardo’s spirit but help comes when they manage to bump into the Turtles’ Fairy God-Shredder. After Oroku Saki frees the four mutants, they begin to make their escape, during which we find that the Dragon Scale inside Venus’ shell can shoot out lightning, officially making her the Coolest Turtle, can someone make her a playable character in a video game now, please?
The rest of the Splinter Clan is following their only lead — the Punk Frogs, and a fight breaks out in the Frogs’ home turf, although Michaelangelo realizes that in different circumstances, the Frogs and Turtles could have been friends. I’m hopping they still might be (Dear Editor, don’t you dare fix that typo), but for now, the fights between the two gangs are still pretty vicious; Carmen takes a particularly nasty swipe from an ax.
Just in case things weren’t chaotic enough, the rapidly-aged Triceraton Regenta Seri finally makes her explosive entrance into Mutant Town, crash landing right into Doctor Barlow’s facility before we have a chance to see whether Donatello and company have escaped.
I’m about ready for this arc to be over. It feels like it’s been going on for a while, and I feel like we’ve gotten all we could have from Doctor Barlow, and misunderstanding-based antagonism from the Punk Frogs. Sophie Campbell is still a great writer; I’m still invested in the numerous threads running through this book, but it’s an effort, and if the art isn’t worth getting excited about, then it’s effort that drains rather than rejuvenates. Comics shouldn’t be a slog — I could use a dragon scale of my own, right about now.
