Here it is! The wrap of our TMNT “City Fall” reviews! After this we’ll have an internal struggle to see who continues to review the book solo, but for now… Each of the writers/reviews of Comic Bastards will give the issue a score of: Buy, Borrow or Pass along with a short reason for the score. Here’s a blurb about the issue from IDW before we begin: The epic conclusion to City Fall is here! With the heads of the New York underworld gathered, Shredder stakes his claim to rule the underworld of NYC! But the Turtles, along with their allies, aren’t going down without a fight! What role will Leonardo play? It’s all been leading up to this major battle -- don’t miss it!

Adam: BUY

So this issue was pretty much what I have been waiting for the whole time I’ve jumped on these group reviews.  Watching Casey finally stand up to his dad and nail him with the bat was both enjoyable and unexpected.  His hockey mask a-la Jason Vorhees was a nice added touch.  The appearance of Bebop and Rocksteady was awesome as well; they brought in some awesome action as well as some humor.  I guess it’s kind of the nature of this book to not have any deaths, but that would be my only critique: I feel like nobody really won this battle.  Sure, Leo escaped Shredder’s mind control, but to me there was no clear winner and still a cliffhanger even though this arc is over.  That said, the art was awesome and I think the storytelling and ample amount of action makes up for it, so this is still a buy for me.

Erik: BUY

My heart broke while I watched Leonardo’s defection. Watching his family go through everything to get him back was exhausting; I had to take a coffee break midway through. Seeing the changes in Splinter specifically forced me to see a side of him that I never had seen before and never thought that I ever would see. And witnessing Leonardo’s battle within his own mind made me legitimately question whether or not he would ever be able to come back from this and lead his brothers again. I’ve read some pretty dramatic stories in my time so far, but City Fall has raised my expectations of what an ongoing series should be. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to take the next comic that I read today seriously. I may have to take a day off.

Now about this issue specifically. I needed a moment of silence after I finished it, but I couldn’t have ended it any better. Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, Tom Waltz and Mateus Santolouco have taken these characters to a whole new level. I never could have imagined that this is the caliber of stories that would come from a book filled with quick talking, crime fighting turtles. City Fall ends here, folks. Don’t have any distractions when you sit down to read this. You’re going to want to pay attention. Will the turtles be able to rescue Leo before his mind completely belongs to Shredder? Will Casey Jones finally be able to cut himself off from the destructive relationship with his father and survive? And if so, will the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ever be able to fully recover from the fallout of it all? Maybe the real question is, will you?

Samantha: BUY

If this issue didn’t open with some full on fight scenes from Bebop and Rocksteady, I am pretty sure the nation would have gone ape shit. So don’t worry fans, you get all those elements of these villains with their strong hits and weak jokes! The whole issue is a free-for-all action packed of awesomeness. The best fighting came from Raph and Leo; both battling for their brothers. I loved this ending, and thought the action was handled with immense care. It showed how each character has grown in City Falls to an even higher level of discipline.

City Falls did not disappoint me at all. Although I wasn’t the biggest fan of the art and the way the Turtles were drawn, it grew on me. I couldn’t wait for each issue to unfold. I have a feeling that TMNT may have to slow down in the next couple of issues, but with writing like that coming out, it is hard not stick around and wait for the next big thing.

Steve: BUY

Now this? This is the moment I’ve been waiting for during the “City Fall” event running through the main TMNT title, and holy shit did it not disappoint! As it jumped between the various fierce and fun donnybrooks, I have to say my favorite part was seeing Bebop and Rocksteady continue their transformation from bumbling, incidental idiots to hilarious, yet legit bad-asses. I’m hoping that will continue as the series moves forward.

Everything else with Leo, Alopex, Hob and the rest wrapped up in a nice little cap that came furiously, but I don’t think too quickly, and I’m interested to see where both sides will go after issue 28’s tempestuous conclusion. As a minor plot note, I loved the Slash bit at the end, getting his mask and claws from Leo; that was a nice little nostalgic nod to the iteration most old fans like me remember.

Mateus Santolouco’s art, which I just recently praised the hell out of in Image’s Zero #3, is pretty much on-point throughout this entire issue, and I really liked his stylized yet realistic turn on Bebop and Rocksteady, while the impact of his action scenes (which were thick and many) were sick as hell! Great, sinewy stuff! Altogether, this issue benefitted from smooth storytelling with piercing dialogue and fantastic character moments. This whole event has redefined the turtles for me, with this issue being paramount to that change of heart.

James: BUY

This is the grand wrap up to the “City Fall” story arc and the issue delivers its punch in multiple ways. The action is fierce as we get to see a huge battle pitting friends against enemies, friends against friends who think they are enemies, enemies who have become friends who are fighting those friends’ enemies, and well… old enemies brought back to do battle (and hopefully get a paycheck in the process).  The art is beautiful and the turtles despite their age have never looked better. We even get to see a Splinter vs. Shredder battle with is always supercharged and exciting.

All in all the final “City Fall” issue was a fantastic conclusion to arguably the best series running in the IDW universe right now. I know that it brought me back to the Turtles after many years of staying way. There is even some very heavy emotional stuff happening with Leonardo that may take some time to explore added to the standard “butt kicking” turtle action that we all love and expect to see. Well done Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, and Tom Waltz. You guys have told a wonderful tale here. And as for Mateus Santolouco…Man your art brings us old lovers of the Turtles franchise a nice sense of nostalgia while entering us into a darker and more intense realm. It rocks hard Dude.

Dustin: BUY

There’s action in this issue. Maybe not enough for everyone and even I thought it was a bit light, but I think it was a great sacrifice considering how fantastic the arc turned out and where it sets up the world for the next arc. To be honest there’s only a few storylines that actually resolve in this final issue, but the treads for future storylines for practically every character is set up here. We see that Bebop and Rocksteady are something the Turtles can’t handle in the same way as they have with their other foes or even other mutants like Slash. They’re dumb, loyal and tough as shit. Granted their one-shot was better because it was all them, but there were good here and Santolouco has a great rendition of them. For me this was a rewarding conclusion for the story arc and got me excited for the next issue, next arc and next year of the Turtles.

Score: Buy’s All Around!

Story: Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow & Tom Waltz Writer: Tom Waltz Artist: Mateus Santolouco Publisher: IDW Publishing Price: $3.99 Release Date: 11/27/13