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• Price: $4.99
• Rating: T
• Pages: 32
• On Sale: March 21, 2018
• Writer: Ian Flynn / Matthew K. Manning (Back up story)
• Artist: Dave Wachter / Adam Gorham (Back up story)
• Colorist: Ronda Pattison / Brittany Peer (Back up story)
• Cover: Freddie Williams II (Cover A)  / Dave Wachter (Cover B) / Tim Lattie (Retailer Incentive Cover)
• Publisher: IDW

From the publisher – “Service Animals,” Part 2 of 2. Raphael and Alopex are trapped in Null Industries and face brand-new enemies that force them to question their future!

Our We Talk Comics WeView – One of our goals for our WTC reviews is to try and pick up books without a lot of familiarity and try and judge the quality of just that issue. By doing this we hope to give a snapshot of how good a series is for readers. While this has many positives it can present its own set of challenges as well.

The main story in this issue of TMNT Universe, “Service Animals”, throws you headfirst into the action immediately. I’m sure this is great for a regular reader but it did give me a little bit of difficulty. Perhaps it’s confidence that your writing can engage a new reader without worrying about giving any context to past events? Or perhaps it’s that doing so smoothly is just a lost art? More likely it’s just that the publisher doesn’t think it’s important, but I do wonder how you hope to grow your readership unless you see every issue as a potential gateway for someone to try it?

They shame of this is that it truly is a well done story. Despite no familiarity with any character outside Raphael, the writing of Ian Flynn left me with no difficulty in understanding any characters motivations by the end. While the action is plentiful, at it’s core this is an emotional tale. The poignant moments are captured well by the excellent facial expressions of Dave Wachter and on-point dialogue.

The second tale in this issue, “Through Red Eyes”, concerns an exhausted Raphael coming home from a night of vigilante action bashing heads with Casey Jones, and he just wants to get some sleep. Unfortunately Michelangelo is loudly playing video games, after all he is just about to break the high score!

This is a fun if not terribly original concept, and it has a couple of chuckles, but at only 4 pages long it never truly gets a chance to get going. I did enjoy the color choices of Brittany Peer quite a bit though. She really highlights the important actions in each panel and gave it a bit of needed grit, but not more than was needed.

One thing that is unquestionable though is how spectacular the covers are. Both Cover A by Freddie Williams II and Cover B by issue artist Dave Wachter are absolutely terrific. The much rarer 1/10 store variant by Tim Lattie has a completely different style and tone than the other 2 but is also pretty cool.

Overall this is solid stuff that I wish was a bit more inviting. When I pick up a TMNT book I expect to be able to jump right in comfortably. It’s also worth noting that it’s a quick read despite the 2 stories and carries a high price tag for what it offers, leaving me to wonder if this isn’t best suited to “trade waiting”. Regardless though, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe #20 is sure to please fans.

Rating: Fine/Very Fine (FN/VF) or 7.0/10

Review by Mo

Love the review? Hate the review? Disagree with me? I’m happy to talk comics on twitter @Mo_WeTalk

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