In the second installment of IDW’s new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle series, Michelangelo gets the focus after his brother Raph took center stage in the debut issue. I’m really enjoying the turtle-of-the-week approach so far. Jason Aaron has been able to give unique introductory tales after the Turtles’ world was turned upside down at the end of the previous series. Nobody was the left the same and Aaron has done a tremendous job so far focusing on how trauma has affected their new lives. 

It’s not a spoiler (IDW revealed it in the issue’s solicitation) to say that Mikey’s new life includes him being a mega-successful TV star in Japan. On the surface it seems like the perfect fit for Mikey, the most outgoing member of the former Hamato clan. But what we actually see is that this couldn’t be further from the ideal life Mikey would choose if he had his way and it’s severely impacting his mental health. Aaron packs emotional punches throughout the issue with Mikey’s internal dialogue revealing just how down he’s really feeling.

For a family full of such different personalities, all four Turtles share the common element of experiencing past physical and social trauma that prior books didn’t always explored beyond the plots where they were incurred. It will be interesting to see each Turtle deals with their own issues and hopefully they can work on things together once they reunite. Even though they don’t always like to admit it, they’re mentally, and physically, stronger as a unit than they are on their own. 

Rafael Albuquerque and Marcelo Maiolo step in on art and color duties after Joelle Jones and Ronda Pattison nailed the first issue’s art. This new duo provide visuals that play off Mikey’s gilded lifestyle, with bright lights being juxtaposed against the darkness of night when the issue takes place. The action panels are fluid and the character designs look great. However, as a whole, the art felt a tad hollow compared to the gritty tone of the first issue. Perhaps this was intended to underscore how empty Mikey currently feels, but I suppose we’ll see how Albuquerque approaches future issues once he takes over full-time art duties on the series starting in issue #5. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2 closes with its last few pages tying it into the debut issue & sets the stage for what’s to come. Leonardo will get the spotlight in the next issue and I’m keen to see if Aaron will continue this trend of tying the stories together or if we’ll need to wait until these first four issues are complete for our first look at the series main arc. Even without that immediacy, these first entries are still can’t miss issues that will serve as the foundation for all that is to come. I can’t wait!

Rating: 8/10