Everything old is new again this month as the Ninja Turtles continue their resurgence with the second issue of their new ongoing series from IDW. While other companies are trying to bring the golden era of the 90’sback, Ninja Turtles is a different kind of excitement. For starters its one I can really get behind. With the Turtles there really isn’t that cynical fan waiting to attack the series for starting over again, in fact everyone reading the comic seems to be really excited about their return. The last issue scored our first 5 out of 5, which set the bar pretty high for this second issue. Right off the bat the second issue shows us that this first story arc is very well connected as we pick up right where the last issue left off, but without the cheap recap of recycled pages to get the reader up to speed. Raph has busted in to a young Casey Jones’ house to stop his dad from beating him. Casey’s dad doesn’t back down though and must be too drunk to realize he’s fighting a big green turtle. After destroying a lot of the house, Raph chases the old man off. In our past storyline we see the very beginnings of the Turtles and Splinter. Non-talking rat Splinter gives the unaware intern April O’Neil some very key evidence as she studies late into the evening at the lab. That is until some ninja’s break in and nearly kill her. Splinter is fast to act as he pulls the fire alarm and saves her, but not before they take the turtles.

The rat is quick to chase after to get the Turtles and manages to attach one of the ninjas scratching them on the face (we all know who that is!). Splinter and the turtles are dropped from the top of a roof top and come crashing down into the ooze! As they get their bearings a one eye cat grabs one of the baby turtles and runs away with it.

There’s plenty more to this tale and frankly that’s what I’ve enjoyed the most about this series, it gives you just enough to satisfy, but also entice you to come back for more. It hasn’t been this exciting to read the Turtles in years and thankfully IDW is doing everything right with this series. Not all of their adaptations have been great, but I think they’ve learned from their shortcomings and really treat their new adaptations with a lot of respect and understanding for the audience that likes them.

I really don’t have anything new to say about the writing or art on this issue since it’s still really good. Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz make a great team and it’s very interesting to see the different areas of responsibility they have. The Turtles have been through a lot over the years and mishandled plenty, but this time around everything seems as tightly knit as their first run of popularity. Dan Duncan is still producing some great pages and even though this issue was lighter on the action it was still very good. It shows what a strong artist and storyteller Duncan is that he can make a rat and baby turtles interesting to look at.

Do you like the Turtles? Well then there is no reason not to be reading this series. I don’t know what other recommendation to give since that’s really what it boils down to, people who read Turtles and those who don’t. Often times we don’t want to share our cherished childhood memories with the youth of today, but I have to say that I hope that this book finds a young reader and gives them the same excitement that the Turtles did for me. You know how you top the first issue? You don’t stop producing the same level of material in the next issue, which is what our creative team has done here.

Score: 5/5

Publisher: IDW Publishing

Price: $3.99