Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #97

After several solid, story-building chapters, this is easily the best issue of the arc so far, and injects the proceedings with a real sense of purpose as Karai finally makes her decisive move. IDWs TMNT series is always at its best when its different storylines unite into one single narrative, and thats exactly what happens here. Highly, highly recommended. Read Full Review

TMNT #97 made this storyline exciting again. Not that the last issue was bad; it did what it had to do to get different story plots going. But the focus on Karai and the Foot Clan helped get the City at War storyline back on its electrifying track leading up to the monumental issue #100. This issue has gotten me very excited to see what happens next. Plus the solicit for issue #98 is very intriguing! Read Full Review

It's another stellar step on the road to issue #100. Read Full Review

Cpd113

Aug 30, 2019

This issue has a great plot, good art and great pacing. It has me excited for the next issue

I Review Comics

Sep 07, 2019

When I finished reading Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #96 I thought it was a foregone conclusion that Splinter was gonna be killed off in this issue. Then I saw the solicits and I knew he'd survive. Thanks for Spoiling the Issue IDW. TMNT: City At War Pt 5 covers a lot of ground and gives adequate attention to pretty much all of the principal characters in play right now. I think the only major characters not involved in the issue are Old Hob and the Mutanimals. Jennika gets a cool moment with Casey and she dawns her mask for the first time. I get the feeling that she may be the x-factor when it comes down to dealing with Metalhead down the line. The main piece of the conflict centers around Splinter and his fight with Karai and he r mutants. Splinter holds his own but the outcome is a foregone conclusion as he's simply overwhelmed and defeated. I found myself somewhat taken aback by the brutality within this arc but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. We've seen beheadings, characters beaten to death, eaten, etc. The standout character for me this issue is Leonardo who manages to keep his cool even though the looming situation is about as bad it can get for our heroes. I rarely mention covers but I thought it was worth mentioning that this issue has 15 variant covers. Most of them feature Jennika. This is cool but I think it's overkill since the character hasn't really done anything in the actual comic. I understand the excitement surrounding a new ninja turtle but there's potential that the push may turn off long term fans. I love the look of the character and look forward to her being naturally integrated into the team. City At War may turn out to be my favorite IDW TMNT arc. The pacing is great and even the slower moments have been meaningful. The character dynamics are solid and I have no idea how the story will play out. I'm sure the heroes will overcome Karai but at what cost? more

Hislight

Mar 17, 2021

Damn it's getting real for the turtles. This arc is everything that's good with the series. To bad we didn't get more of this street level action throughout the run

myconius

Aug 28, 2019

a pretty ok issue. the pacing of this series is way off. so many issues where nothing really happened. now it feels rushed with too many loose ends needing to be tied up far too quickly. many of these plot points should have been dealt with so sooner instead of cramming them all in before issue #100. some of the character interactions felt a bit forced and contrived. they feel too all-of-the-sudden rather than built up organically.