IDW’s new TMNT has been consistently excellent. And thankfully, that doesn’t stop in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #9, written by Jason Aaron with art by Juan Ferrerya, which comes out next Wednesday.
While the series started out focusing on each Turtle brother, recent issues have brought them together — in the same physical location, though not emotionally. And Aaron has widened out the cast to include mainstays like April O’Neil and Casey Jones, but issue #9 smartly balances those ongoing stories while focusing on Michelangelo. The party dude might be cool but rude, but he’s also got some serious emotional depth under Aaron’s pen.
Mikey is grappling with what it means to no longer be Big in Japan (he starred in a TMNT knock-off TV series), and while the other Turtles treat this darkly and seriously, the focus in issue #9 lifts up what has been a dour series of circumstances to something lighter and fun. Basically, if you were hoping things might turn a corner for our heroes, this issue is it.
But even better than the story (which layers in new mysteries while answering some old ones) is the art by Ferrerya, which is elevated to a new level of difficulty every issue. This time around, we get a superb double-page spread with a cross-section of a building as Mikey fights his way through a bunch of Foot Clan thugs. Full-page spreads also neatly parallel Mikey fighting alone, versus the brothers fighting together, and both are poster-worthy (the highest of praises, for sure).
And in between those big, bombastic moments, Ferrerya also excels at quieter ones, like a 16-panel showdown between Donatello and one of our villains, with the gutters drawn as prison bars. It’s tight, tense, and stunningly laid out.
Overall? The Turtles have never been better than in this current run on the title, which is shaping up to be an all-timer (if it isn’t there already). TMNT #9 might not be the right issue to jump on board, but it makes this nine out of nine in my book. Go back, read from the beginning, and love being a Turtle (fan).
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #9 hits stores on June 11, 2025, from IDW Publishing.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #9 Rating:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #9 Official Synopsis:
Already weakened, weary, and a little deranged, poor Donatello has now been captured by the Foot Clan! The remaining Turtle boys make a plan for an all-out war against Karai, but are forced to think twice when they hear the voice of reason… coming from the body of a dead rat?
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