Raphael graced the cover of this week’s TMNT Animated Adventures. Raph has always been my favorite. Don’t ask me, because frankly I don’t know. When I was young, I always loved him then upon growing wiser I realized that I had no support to back up my choice. I mean Raph is the most powerful turtle. No doubt about it, but he is also a little baby and stubborn as hell. But like a child, I stuck to Raph and decided long ago never to abandon him. Once a favorite; always a favorite. Ok now that I have wasted some time talking about my life, let’s get to the review. Like all the other issues, this comic is just plain fun. It has so many jokes that keep entertained. The jokes don’t have an intentional punch line either. What I mean by that is you never know when a joke is coming. You read and then bamm! They don’t set anything up which lots of children comics tend to do. I like when the jokes are cleverly put in place, that way the reader has to pay attention in order to laugh; not just say the word pooh and expect kids to only get that.

The Turtles sneak out the Foot Clan after getting a tip from April. The boys, unexpectedly, encounter a full-on Clan attack. Turns out the Clan has got some tricks up their sleeves when they pull out a new dart. The dart is laced with kyosuu, a Japanese drug that causes a knock out. It also causes hallucinations, as well as, a long-term effect of the patient losing balance, permanently. Leo, Donnie, and Mikey must now find some key ingredients to make an antidote for Raph. This is all part of Shredder's plan to take down the Turtles once and for all. Shredder knows where the shops are that sell these ingredients, so he decides to again ambush the Turtles; well not directly but instead Dogpound is sent on the mission.

From the perspective of an educator, I love how each issue tries to teach the reader some lesson; especially this issue in which Splinter teaches the boys that having different viewpoints on something is a strong attribute. Splinter is always the voice of reason. He is such an iconic character. I really do believe that. In every comic, movie, or show that comes out, Splinter is the same rat. That goes to show how all people see him as this universal character, like God or Morgan Freeman. I hope the writers keep these lessons up, because it adds a nice touch.

Score: 3/5

Writer: Erik Burnham Artist: Dario Brizuela Publisher: IDW Publishing Price: $3.99 Release Date: 10/23/13