Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #78: Invasion of the Triceratons Part 3

I’d been looking for a Ninja Turtles comic for a while, having grown up on the cartoon, I wanted to check out the comic series.  This was the first issue I was able to find, and even though it is in the middle of a plot arc, I picked it up.

The Cover

Damien Couceiro handled the cover on this issue, and it did catch my eye.  A Triceraton is chained up front and center, with Splinter standing almost triumphant overtop of it, with all four turtles staring on in what appears to be shock.  The question this cover puts forward for me is this: what did Splinter do that has the turtles looking on like this?  Thankfully the issue does answer this question.

The Art

Damien Couciero also handled the interior art, and I liked the look of both the Triceratons, Turtles, and Splinter.  All the mutants look good.  I did find some of the human characters, mostly earlier in the book to look awkward at some points, but by the time Casey Jones shows up that has vanished.  Overall the book does look good, and any awkward moments are made up for by some of the other scenes, like when Casey lights one of the Triceratons on fire.  The art didn’t blow me away, but it did support the story.

The Story

Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, & Tom Waltz penned this tale.  Now, this issue suffers a bit from me as it feels like I’ve literally jumped into the middle of a story.  That said, I wanted to look at it on its own merits.  The issue begins by bouncing back and forth between a government meeting and news coverage of the invasion of Manhattan Island.  The government officials are discussing the Triceraton(dinosaur people from Earth’s past that were kidnapped to another dimension) invasion, and one official is requesting permission and authority to take control of the situation.

We next zip to Manhattan and a homeless man about to meet his end at the hands of a couple of the invaders, until Casey Jones and his gang come to the rescue.  This was probably my favourite part of the book, as it was action packed, well paced, and the art and story come together really well.

The book finishes at the headquarters of the Foot Clan, where it appear Splinter is their leader?  The Turtles have come to Splinter to seek his aid in finding a peaceful solution to the conflict, as they are familiar with the Triceraton commander and feel she can be reasoned with.  Splinter refuses.  We then discover that the politician at the beginning is one of his agents, and Splinter is about to full-out engage the invaders with his new government resources.

All told this was a good issue, though not a good jumping on point.