After battling The Foot Clan, mutated vicious amphibians and Krang’s army in another dimension, what’s the best way for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to start their next story arc? How about with original artist Kevin Eastman stepping up to the penciling table. TMNT #21 doesn’t really hatch the next story until the end, but that doesn’t matter – it’s so awesome to view Kevin Eastman’s art that the plot is irrelevant. Perhaps that was the point, to have an easy issue so readers could feast mainly on the pencils.
Issue #21 begins with our four heroes taking care of their normal patrol. Something is wrong in their city, a foul wind blows through it, bringing petty crime and an uneasy feeling. Suddenly, the Turtles are attacked by a small, masked, ninja. This masked warrior knows them, and he knows of Splinter, the Turtles’ master. Threatening to kill him, the masked ninja takes on all four brothers, making quick work of them.
Dumbfounded, the Turtles give chase and are repeatedly beaten down. The end is tense as the Turtles swear to lay down their lives to save Splinter. The masked ninja is revealed to be Splinter. He had to test his boys to find their weaknesses. Something terrible is happening and Splinter needs the boys at full strength. Meanwhile, Shredder and his granddaughter have dug up the perfectly preserved form of a man called Kitsune. Who he is remains a mystery, but nothing Shredder does can bode well for the Turtles.
TMNT #21 does little more than allow us to step back from the onslaught of action over the last twenty issues. Splinter’s warning is a nice segue to the Kitsune story arc, but the real star here is Kevin Eastman’s pencils. From the first appearance of TMNT to now, nobody has captured the spirit of these books like Eastman. His pencils are savage, almost punk rock in their unrefined style. Eastman enjoys working with odd angles, allowing buildings to bend into bizarre mountain ranges. Streets twist into darkened roads. Eastman’s work has a surreal element to it that cannot be duplicated. One can only hope that he continues to pencil TMNT.
(5 Art, 3.5 Story)
