Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 #5 – James Tynion IV, Ryan Ferrier, Writers; Freddie Williams II, Artist; Jeremy Colwell, Colorist
Rating:
Ray – 7.5/10
WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW
Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 #5, The penultimate issue of the second Batman/TMNT miniseries brings a lot of elements together in anticipation of a big final showdown next issue, but something still feels like it’s missing.
The conflicts feel a bit more forced, starting with the key threat of the issue – Donatello has taken an unstable Venom cocktail and transformed into a giant Bay-Turtles inspired version of himself, and is tearing apart the Foot Clan in revenge for the injuries they dealt to Splinter the last issue. Batman and Leonardo track him down to stop him, but he’s out of his mind with grief and rage and proceeds to fight his brother and ally. Speaking of Turtles and Bats fighting, Raphael and Damian are back at the lair with Splinter, and they decide to take the risk of going back to Batman’s world to use the Lazarus pit to heal him – despite the risk that the pit brings.
Part of the problem with this series is that a lot of the most dramatic things happen off-panel. Case in point – we’re warned that Splinter is the most dangerous ninja alive and that when he comes out of the Lazarus pit he’ll be consumed with insanity. That sounds like a great moment…except it’s skipped over and Splinter later shows up at the lair recovered with only a brief mention of the fact that he recovered quickly due to his mental strength and a shot of him beating up League of Assassin members. Bane’s plot to take over New York and impose his twisted sense of order has many shades of his plot in The Dark Knight Rises, but he never quite rises above more than a one-dimensional villain here. Really, the main strength this issue has going for it is the interaction between the various Turtles and their allies, which remains strong as ever.
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Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
