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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Secret History of the Foot Clan #4
Publisher: IDW
Writer: Mateus Santolouco & Erik Burnham
Artist: Mateus Santolouco & Joao “Azeitona” Vieira
Cover: Mateus Santolouco

In just four issues of this title the TMNT mythos has been taken to the next level, while also producing one of the strongest mini-series to come out this year. History of the Foot Clan has done everything right so far, and the final issue caps it all off nicely. Burnham and Santolouco have intertwined the past and present quite perfectly in a way that makes mutating ooze and reincarnation that much more believable. Also Shredder himself hasn’t seemed this deadly in years. By adding some depth to his back story and that of the Foot Clan, the writers up the ante of danger for the ninja quartet and their father, which gives this entire story a lot more kick. Not only that, but what helps to put this series over the top is that the writing team nails the “voices” of the Turtles not only in their dialog but their body language, as well.

As far as the artwork goes, this is some of the best around, and if we don’t see Santolouco drawing some more TMNT soon then someone is drinking the crazy juice! Sometimes when a story spans two very different time periods with two very distinct looks another artist is brought in with a varying style to help sell the visuals. Well, Santolouco does this by himself by shifting his style between the past flash back scenes and the present time period. Vieira’s colors also lend a huge help with giving the book two very distinct looks. Santolouco also draws some very convincing fight scenes involving the Turtles, which isn’t easily pulled off because of their anatomy. The moves look fluid and match up to any high action martial arts film out today.

If for some very odd reason you skipped out on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Secret History of the Foot Clan, then your comic reading is lacking. The events in this title should have effects in the main TMNT series as it raises the stakes for Shredder’s motivation to continue his search and end the life of Splinter and the Turtles. So do yourself a favor and go find these issues, then prepare to enjoy one of the best adventures of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

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