At this point, the central theme has revealed its self: Rocksteady and his life partner Bebop are hugely inept failures, stumbling in and out of danger with few consequences. Or, at least, they are unaware of the consequences. Their's is a relationship built on an unhappy cycle of changing fortunes. A momentary brush with competence inevitably devolves into petty bickering, they realize how much they need each other, they combine forces, and they live to fight another day. Grim madness ensues. Grim madness that delights in amplifying the seemingly inevitable and irreversible damage inflicted by our lead buffoons. Almost all of the destroying is through hapless bumbling. I can't think of a pairing that needs to split up so badly, but needs so desperately to remain together. And it's pretty funny. Moreover, it's getting funnier. And, importantly, it promises to improve with the story's increasing scope.
Without giving anything away, I'll say this issue benefits from a more unified look. There are pages absolutely crammed full of characters. And the book as a whole would be even harder to follow in the absence of visual consistency.
Some of the dialog feels like it could be placed in the mouth of any of the turtles, as if the words were written without concern over who would be speaking. Overall, though, the characters behave uniquely. Thankfully Donatello is the book's royal smart person. He understands the situation on a technical level and, unlike the time wizard Renet, he understands there’s a mounting confusion created by multiple, branching timelines. So, other than the title mooks, Donatello is the most visible and vocal. He stands out, but is never obnoxious in his necessary know-it-all position.
This issue, being the midway point of the mini-series acts as fulcrum. And, boy howdy, does it enact a bunch of changes to increase the book's momentum. It's a really confidently written farce of both time-travel stories and event comics.
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