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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection Volume 12 by Kevin Eastman, Dustin Weaver, Tom Waltz
4.0

Easily one of the better volumes. The main plot written by Eastman and Waltz is well paced and has a ton of great twists and turns as the EPF invades the Triceraton/Utrom haven on Burnow Island, and the side stories are all phenomenal.

Ian Flynn is the standout writer here. His story focused on Michelangelo finally standing up to his father is *hands down* one of the most powerful stories this series has ever had. Everyone here feels in character and it feels great for someone to finally call out how Splinter's actions the past few books have completely flown against the morals he taught his sons. Flynn's story in TMNT Universe also expands the world by having Leonardo explore the Astral Plane and how it functions. The way artist Daniel Nelson illustrates Leo's focus and how otherworldly the Astral Plane is is fantastic and I really hope this is how the Plane is depicted from now on.

Ben Bates and Dustin Weaver return for another hilarious romp with Bebop & Rocksteady Hit the Road. Weaver stays as the story's main artist and the action scenes he composes are kinetic and easy to follow. We also get an interesting new character in the form of Agent Ravenwood, a far more capable and empathetic agent of the EPF who I hope sticks around. The EPF has mainly been an antagonistic force and having a character who prefers to handle things peacefully is a welcome change.

Lastly we have Sophie Campbell return to write and draw a Leonardo focused story that aims to set up Karai's return to New York. It's full of great action between Leo and Koya and promises a bombastic finale for the 100th issue of TMNT.

All around this is a great collection that fleshes out the world and characters, but also has some great turn-your-brain-off action. If you've fallen off this series since TMNT #50, this isn't a bad place to pick it back up.