Well the Turtles are in a new place and time with a new writer and artist. With Pepperoni stealing my heart last issue, I knew it couldn’t last. I knew that little rhino couldn’t come with us, but I was hoping that what Paul Allor and Ross Campbell set up for us would. Unfortunately issue #2 went through a deep rut that kept sinking lower and lower. Let’s start with plot. The Turtles are back in Japan. Not sure about the time period until they stumble upon some Samurai’s bathing in the pond. They decide to steal their garments in order to fit in. At first, I didn’t think much of it as the comic is jumping throw all these time periods issue by issue, but then Yoshi walks in. And he is married with his four kids. With so many adventures to dive into it is odd that the Turtles happen to land right in Yoshi’s backyard and see their former selves and even eat dinner with the family. I think most readers will find this strange. Plus I think even these Turtles would know to not mess with the time continuum by eating dinner at Yoshi’s. It is also very odd that Yoshi doesn’t sense some strong feeling for these disguised Turtles. Everything just felt wrong.

As you would suspect, one of the Turtles takes it upon himself to kill Saki so Yoshi and his human self can live on. I am not saying what Turtle it is, but it is completely out of character for this Turtle to make such a rash decision and the voice of reason is all out of whack too. The plot moves but with no interest in mind of making it entertaining. Obviously, he isn’t going to kill Saki, someone will stop him, and Mikey will love his human self. It doesn’t move to any unique places. I mean these Turtles can do anything, why go to a place where the writer can’t change anything?

The characters are very boring too. The jokes seem dated and forced. Plus I hate the look of the Turtles. Their faces are smushed down, and they look more like late 40s than teens. Luckily they have Samurai outfits on to hide their faces for most of the issue. Saki and Yoshi were drawn well but with so much ridiculousness in the Turtles faces, I couldn’t take it seriously. Some of the action was well panned out but again with knowing how the plot will move, it makes it less exciting for the readers.

I guess my biggest concern now revolves around how this series will affect TMNT. Are these Turtles the same because they reference back to that series quite a lot, but when did this all take place? The questions are endless. I really don’t want this series to mess with TMNT because it is so sweet right now. I am hoping someone can come in next month to give us what we want; the Turtles doing some crazy shit that they can’t in trouble for. That’s what I want at least.

Score: 2/5

Writer: Erik Burnham Artist: Charles Paul Wilson III Publisher: IDW Publishing Price: $3.99 Release Date: 7/23/14 Format: Mini-Series, Print/Digital