Review by Ian Keogh

This fifth collection of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a slight improvement on the previous two.

Landry Q. Walker is again the writing workhorse, but unlike previous collections he extends his stories over two twelve page chapters. He sets the stakes on his opening script high, with a plan by the mechanical Kraang to drain Earth’s water from the ocean via a passageway to another dimension. Once they reach the Kraang base, however, the turtles find unexpected foes adding to the danger of the situation. It doesn’t match the best of Walker’s previous work, as there’s not a lot to the plot, but his second two-parter is great. Splinter has sent the Turtles away from their hideout for a night on a stakeout, but it’s opposite the pizza takeaway. Will they be able to keep their minds on the job with temptation across the street? Of course they won’t. There’s a ridiculous villain, some silly surprises, and hallucinogenic pizza. This is Walker back on form.

Two new creators are involved in this collection and they both raise the standards. Actually the art has only very rarely been a problem, but Paulina Ganucheau (featured page) is a real find, depicting happy, smiling turtles in a clean style that’s simple without sacrificing background detail. Writer Caleb Goellner is also new, but hits the ground running. He nails the buddy relationships the turtles have, and his plots have novelty. The first has the turtles constructing a giant water slide within the sewer system, and the second is a pizza-making test.

Chad Thomas doing his usual competent job contributes most art overall, but there’s also Dario Brizuela, David Alvarez and Marcelo Ferreira, all of whom have been seen in previous collections, and all of whom are good. The other newcomer is Billy Martin. The story he’s given by Paul Allor is obvious, but Martin can’t match the regular artists for dynamism or detail.

For those who’d prefer, the content of this graphic novel can also be found in the second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles New Animated Adventures Omnibus, along with the previous collection and volume six, which concludes the series.