Comics! TMNT Micro-Series: April

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series: April

Script by Barbara Randall Kesel
Art by Marley Zarcone

The Solicitation
April O'Neil's life has been turned upside down in the aftermath of meeting the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Rather than running from the choas, April decides to meet it head-on. Determined to make a difference, April starts to investigate suspicious circumstances at Stockgen Labs. What she finds will have serious repercussions for herself... and the Turtles!

Preview

Why I Bought It
Keeping things going with the Turtles Micro-Series. Its been fun so far, some ups, some downs. When you come to think about it, April hasn't really been seen much in the main book, so this is a perfect time to catch up with her and get into her head.

What I Liked
This is what Batgirl should be.

I really don't care about the sex of the creative team. Male/female/transgender, it doesn't matter to me. What matters is a good story and some strong character work. Kesel took this character of April, which we didn't have much to go on before, and fleshed her out completely. When you think about it, it is the same character traits you would expect from April. Calm, collective, let's her mind and reason explain the world around her. Not afraid to take chances, and keeps her cool despite being in a world that is obviously radically changing around her.

Again, this is what Batgirl should be. And if you have read my Batgirl reviews before, you would know where I am coming from. In case you haven't, let's just say that Batgirl tends to play the victim card to move the story forward and develop the characters. April could easily have been playing that card, but you don't get that sense about her. She knows she isn't really in control of the world around her, and instead of having an internal dialogue that involves her questioning herself repeatedly, April finds reason and uses her intelligence to get out of some sticky situations.

Damn, I really liked this book.

The Turtles and their personality was clearly shown, especially between Don and Mike.

What I Didn't Like
The art was tremendous. I really did enjoy it. My one complaint that I didn't like about it was that it felt kinda stiff. The art had an easy flow to the eye and was good whenever there wasn't action in the panels.

I did catch one minor error with the art though. One panel has a sign talking about Stockgen. The words "scientific" and "innovation" were next to each other, not on top of one another like it shows in the following panel. Minor nitpick, but the look of the spider as maybe a homage to Spiderman was distracting enough not to notice at first.

Panel to Remember
I'm going with the last panel. It showed April running from the scene of the crime brimming with confidence. It was just note perfect to go with the rest of the book.

Quotable
"But I could...be a spy." - And with that, April cements where her new place in the Turtle lure will be. Nicely put, and nicely executed.

Grades
Words: 9/10
Pictures: 7/10
Buy Next Issue: Next up is Fugitoid, and it is already purchased. Review time will be in later.