Beaten, broken, bonkers, Donatello is hanging on by a thread! Can he last twelve rounds in the cage? Find out in our review for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #4!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #4
Written by: Jason Aaron
Art: Chris Burnham
Main Cover: Rafael Albuquerque
Variant Covers: Chris Burnham, J. Gonzo, Kevin Eastman, Danny Earls, Darick Robertson, Lee Bermejo, Paolo Rivera
Page Count: 28 pages
Release Date: November 27, 2024
The story so far: After a dispute goes too far, the ninja turtles flee their separate ways – until, one by one, the foot clan ambushes them. Putting aside their differences, they regroup to defend themselves and get to the bottom of these attacks. Each of the first four issues, differentiated by a new artist, follows a where-are-they-now style narrative that gives the spotlight to one of the four protagonists. With Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo safe and accounted for, that leaves only one brother out in the cold…
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #4, we find Donatello walking the side of the highway in Upstate New York, disheveled and haggard. Bad turns to worse when, at a gas station, he discovers a truck full of kidnapped mutants; before he can intervene, he’s sedated and abducted!
Our story moves to an illegal fighting pit in the Deep South, where miscreants can shell out two grand and beat a mutant. From his cell, Donatello antagonizes these violent patrons so that they choose him and spare his untrained friends. Day in and day out, he fights and wins, but only by the slimmest of margins. Which will give way first: his mind or his body? Emaciated, talking to himself, the geeky teenage Donatello we once knew is lost to us… and to him. Kept company by a rat he’s convinced is his deceased father, Donatello’s psyche is fraying at the seams. His only hope of regaining his identity is escape!
Jason Aaron’s decision to take us down a path this dark, at this point in the series, is surprising but effective – and reminds us of the tremendous tonal range the Ninja Turtles IP can travel. In many iterations, Donatello falls by the wayside as writers pull more attention to the machinations of conflicted leader Leonardo or the bloodthirsty Raphael. The creative conceit of isolated Ninja Turtle stories has finally given equal artistic autonomy to the four brothers; this issue provides depth to a character that has largely been deprived of it.
Chris Burnham’s frenetic art in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #4 is hard to look at, and I say that gleefully. The shaky hatchwork evokes the sight of a mirage in the dry desert – we’re unsure of the very existence of what we’re seeing. Donatello, rail-thin, looks feeble against the brawny cage fighters; each clang against his bones makes my skin crawl. Returning to Eastman and Laird’s original work for inspiration, this scuzzy atmosphere stands apart from the cleaner, serene colorwork of issue #3 or the glitz and glamor of issue #2.
IDW’s 40th-anniversary Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series has been consistent in quality and distinct in substance. The brothers may have reconvened, but their greatest challenge still awaits!
Editor’s Note: IDW Publishing provided The Comic Book Spot with an advanced copy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #4 for review purposes. You can find this comic and help support us in the process by ordering this issue digitally on Amazon or a physical copy of the title through Things From Another World.
