April O’Neil is the focus point in this latest issue, but should fans care to read her story?  Read on to find out.

This official description from IDW:

April O’Neil’s life has been turned upside down in the aftermath of meeting the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Rather than running from the choas, April decides to meet it head-on. Determined to make a difference, April starts to investigate suspicious circumstances at Stockgen Labs. What she finds will have serious repercussions for herself… and the Turtles!

The new adventures of the Ninja Turtles continue here, as the micro-series continues to build and promote this new dynamic take on this storied franchise.  From start to finish, this latest issue revolves around April O’Neil, and to the creative team’s credit their interpretation offers a lot of interesting introspection while dealing with a somewhat sluggish pace.

Barbara Randall does an exceptional job handling a script that in lesser hands would have been a complete bore.  What we have here is a narrative told almost completely in the first-person perspective, with the sole goal of allowing the audience to get to know this version of April O’Neil.  My only real gripe with the story is that it’s too reliant on inner-dialogue, yielding an experience that may leave some readers with the feeling that they spent a good deal of time working their way through this issue only to find that not that much happens until the final page.

Marley Zarcone handles the art, and he does it in a way that complements the established world and characters.  He doesn’t employ heavy line-work to establish the world, but instead relies on a minimalist style to create a believable extension of the main comic book series.  It’s a solid look that at times can be a little bit too bland, but for the most part it works.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series #7 is a rather slow comic book that manages to still be an engaging read.  Recommended.

3.5/5