Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Universe #6

TMNT Universe has established itself as a different take on the Universe of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.Instead of placing itself as part of the ongoing story line, it is an opportunity for talented artists and writers to stretch and explore not only major characters and relationships, but minor characters as well. It is a place for them to "play in someone's sandbox," to explore the Turtle's universe without worry of disrupting continuity. This issue is well worth the read. Read Full Review

Conclusion:This reviewer was not a big fan of the previous issue of this series, but this issue brings TMNT Universe back into good favor with me. The main story delivers a very eerie one shot story and digs deep to bring a villain that not many TMNT fans will be familiar with. The backup also starts an interesting story about the foot clan member that has the beginnings of a great tale. TMNT Universe continues to a great job in not only expanding IDW's TMNT universebut crafting great stories with its vast array of characters. Read Full Review

Overall then, while the tone and artwork provide a marked departure from the established TMNT style, thats sometimes not a bad thing, and watching Lees and Pitarra working in perfect synergy here to craft a truly unique story based around a cult favourite character like Wyrm is thoroughly captivating. Great stuff, and hopefully this isnt the last we see of these two creators playing in this particular sandbox. Read Full Review

After the really rather dreadful Leo backup in the first few issues we now have a different tale, this time drawn and written by Brahm Revel. Perhaps it will make more sense in the future, but I'm guessing its focus is on former Foot Assassin Jennika. It's mysterious and interestingly written as the current crosses with the past. Maybe I'm just dense but it is well put together. Read Full Review

John Lees script for this issue is great. From the very first panel with the sewer worker, he pulls you in. His portrayal of Mikey is spot on, giving him a strong, clear voice. Nick Pitarra's art style is kid friendly, and reminds me of the early 90's cartoon show, with a hint of the original Kevin Eastman comic. While I find the comic to be child appropriate, readers under the age of 8 may be a little scared of the villain in this story. As always, be involved in what comics your kid is reading, and enjoy! Read Full Review

But even with those complaints, along with a few other plot contrivances (like the aforementioned "death delay"), there's a really good horror story lurking somewhere inside this issue. It just doesn't quite come together like I'd hoped. Still, if you'd told me I would be able to tolerate reading a Wyrm story before now, I wouldn't have believed you. This one was not only tolerable, but fairly enjoyable, too. Read Full Review

Mister Bungle

Jan 18, 2017

Writers aren't afraid to show fatality. Could have used more gore.

Gizmo

Feb 03, 2017

I don't know if I've seen a hoarder villain before, that's an interesting idea. Incidentally, helium is a Noble Gas, and therefore not flammable. This means that Wyrm must be filling his balloons with hydrogen gas, making each individual balloon a potential miniature Hindenburg (or the writers screwed that up). I like this officer character, but it is difficult to buy into how rapidly she accepted a giant talking turtle. We had a different female officer character in the previous arc, it would have been interesting to use that character here instead and create a temporary alliance between her and Mikey as she searches for Calvin, but then I suppose it would give away that the turtles live in the sewers. I'm sure the writers have other plans for that character. I love the moment where Mikey uses techniques that he learned from his brothers, we saw Raph do something similar in TMNT #66 and it demonstrates the continued character growth of the turtles. The backup story was a significant improvement of the previous backup arc, it is incredibly dense for just four pages of story. more

myconius

Jan 18, 2017

the main story revolving around Wyrm was pretty terrifying. it probably had a better feeling of horror and isolation than most actual horror comics i've read.
the art style really fit the mood perfectly. the warped/surreal style added to the unsettling feeling throughout the story.
Wyrm has been successfully portrayed as a horrifying sentient monster.
i also like how some of his points (though warped) were pretty valid.
it was also cool how he was injected in the world, as if he had always been there though not seen.

i've seen this artist Nick Pitarra do bits and pieces for IDW TMNT before. his style has a very European comic art look to it. it has a lot of movement and personality to it, and i really hope to see him do more in the future.

i really loved the main story, and was feeling this issue at being somewhere between a solid 8 or 8.5 . . .
that was until i read Brahm Revel's back-up story!
the back up had so much going on, but it was done in a way that really flowed perfectly.
we see Raphael looking to stop a convenience store robbery in progress, all the while Jennika (the Foot Soldier surveys from the shadows.
we also get a glimpse of Jennika's troubled past, and some of the events that lead her towards joining the Foot Clan.
i liked how the brief scenes show her transformation into becoming an urban warrior. and while all this is going on we see that Jenny has fully embraced the Shinobi heritage, giving a wonderful history lesson on the birth of Ninjutsu.
and it was that history lesson that i loved the MOST!
i loved anything involving Ninja. but as soon as you successfuly include Monks and Samurai...
well you have me HOOKED!!!

TMNT Universe series starting with a multi-part arc for both 'main' and 'back-up', really makes it nice that this issue is a true break in-between the next starting arc.
i definitely plan on reading this issue again and more