Comics! TMNT Micro-Series: Casey Jones

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series: Casey Jones

Script by Mike Costa & Ben Epstein
Art by Mike Henderson

The Solicitation
Casey Jones has a peculiar life— hockey-playing student by day, vigilante by night. Throw in an alcoholic, abusive father and it’s no wonder you’ve got a guy who likes to whale on criminals with sports equipment! One night though, the criminal element strikes too close to home, and Casey is forced to decide how far he’ll go to keep a very important promise. A crucial moment in the life of Casey Jones!

Preview

Why I Bought It
I've wanted to get to know more about Casey since his appearance in the main Turtles book, which hasn't really brought much in terms of character development for him. Let's see how a solo story works out.

What I Liked
From what we got out of the main series is that Casey gets beat by his father, his mother isn't around, and he connects with Raphael. He didn't seem to mind the abuse from his father too much, and it always made me wonder why. It gets fleshed out here, and that's what makes this comic good.

There could have been a couple of different ways that you could take a "kid gets abused by his father" type of story, and I'm glad to see it go down in this issue like it did. Something tells me that Casey won't be able to keep up this charade for long, and when things hit the fan, its really going to mess him up.

The art was phenomenal in this issue. Great use of colors throughout the issue to encapsulate the different worlds and times. The Turtles also didn't look too awkward. Just flipping through the book gives you a strong sense of the story, so you know that the artist has some story telling skills.

What I Didn't Like
Outside of Casey and a little bit with his dad, most of these characters are one dimensional. That's all they needed to be with the story, and I would hope that if they ever featured again then we will get more out of them.

Panel to Remember
I like the one panel that is a close up of Jones' eye. There is some intensity in that eye that makes me wonder if Jones didn't bust open the guy's face off panel. Nicely done.

Quotable
"I've thought about using a pool cue. Just hate the smell of chalk." - Casey Jones on why you don't see a pool cue in his armory.

Grades
Words: 8/10
Pictures: 9/10
Buy Next Issue: Next up is April's issue. I'm down for it.