Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #17 – Fears Conquered

Master Splinter’s worst fears come to life. The Ninja Turtles attempt to help but are baffled by Splinter’s actions!

Creative Team

Gene Luen Yang (Writer), Freddie E. Williams II & Fero Pe (Artists),
Andrew Dalhouse & Luis Antonio Delgado (Colorists), Shawn Lee (Letterer)

Nathan Widick (Designer), Jake Thomas (Editor), Tommy Stella (Assistant Editor),
Ben Bates (Ujigami Designer)

Publisher: IDW Publishing

Fears Conquered

Issue seventeen of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) by Gene Luen Yang is another action-packed issue! I say that with such excitement because not every issue within this TMNT series has had action in it. Which is beautiful within itself because that shows the range of Gene Luen Yang‘s writing ability in regard to action issues and more plot-oriented issues. This issue has a ton of action as well as emotional plot dynamics.

This issue is a continuation from issue sixteen, and you can find my review of that issue below in the “links” section. At the end of issue sixteen we left off with Master Splinter being forced to face his worst fear in life. In this newest issue you will learn the reason for that! And the way the writing is done for this particular section of this story is absolutely devastating to the readers emotions. Especially if you are a father.

Now comes the action! The Turtles make their way to save their father from the grasp of the villains in this story. But what they see when they arrive causes them to lose focus on the task at hand because this whole scene is like nothing they’ve ever seen before. Magical elements are at play, and they are witness to their father acting in a fashion they cannot register.

As the story moves on there are things that take place that will make you stop just to gather your composure. Previous characters from this story also play a role in you losing your emotional composure. As well as one cliff hanger that you are left with on the final page of this issue…

The Writing

Gene Luen Yang continues to bring a shock & awe essence to this series with every issue. Previous issues have drawn on the emotion factor within that essence. But this issue brings the emotional with the action. Gene gives you multiple different aspects between all the characters within this issue. And that is very impressive considering he has only so many pages to complete that task in. Love this series, this story and Gene’s unapologetic way of toying with my emotions.

The Artwork

Freddie E. Williams II, Fero Pe, Andrew Dalhouse and Luis Antonio Delgado come together again after issue sixteen to continue their delivery of beautiful art. The combination of these artists brings this story to a whole new level. The art is PERFECT! The pencil work, the color choices, the shading and the details are all fantastic. Freddie has expressed recently in an interview with Nerd Initiative about having a passion for drawing for TMNT and it shows within his work.

Let’s not forget about Shawn Lee! His lettering for this issue is spot on as well! If you are an avid comic book reader you know that the way lettering and comment bubbles look adds to the telling of the story. It adds texture to the dialogue and narrative. You get more of an emotion feel based off of how the lettering is presented. Shawn does an amazing job lettering this issue!

Covers

My Thoughts

If you couldn’t already tell, I am a big fan on this TMNT series. This series by Gene Luen Yang is taking you down emotion tunnels that need to be explored. I will say that this series of TMNT is meant for fathers out there with early teenage kids. The emotional draw you receive from Splinter and his fears as a father are so relatable to fathers of today. This issue helps to better solidify that claim, and you will have to pick up a copy to see what I mean.

Grade: 9.5/10

Links

Comic Book Review & More: Nerd Initiative
Previous TMNT Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #16: Ujigami Pt. 4 – Fear Factor
My Nerd Initiative Reviews: TravisComicHaven – Nerd Initiative
My Personal Content: Travis’ Comic Haven

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