IDW's 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' #49 Review: TMNT's Donatello Shocker Teases Epic Battle!

An unexpected casualty took place inside the shocking pages of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #44, from IDW Publishing. Before hitting their 50th milestone, tan epic confrontation takes place as the rest of the TMNT family deals with Donatello's heartbreaking defeat in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #49.

As we previously mentioned, in issue #44, Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo were busy stopping Krang from terraforming the planet using the alien "Technodrome." Back at the Turtles home base, Bebop and Rocksteady delivered the death blow as they smashed Donnie's shell with a sledgehammer.

In our previous reviews of issue #47 and issue #48,  while Donnie's consciousness was downloaded into the robot, Metalhead, by Fugitoid, an uneasy alliance took place between Shredder and with Baxter Stockman. Ambushing the Turtles by surprise, Stockman unleashed a seemingly never-ending horde of mousers and flyborgs.

Writers Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, and Tom Waltz ante up the drama with tons of action sequences and unexpected plot twists. In an interesting note, we actually see what members of the Foot Clan actually think of Bebop and Rocksteady. Running out of places to hide, the Turtles keep fighting to protect their father as the mousers are under orders to kill him. To lose Donatello was a travesty to them, but to lose Splinter as well is something they cannot recover from. 

Artist Mateus Santolouco does a fantastic job of keeping the action flowing at a fast pace. There is tremendous detail to the facial expressions as the characters strike their poses. Notice how calm and steady Splinter is stands in front of the Turtles, like a father protecting his frightened children. 

This critic also has to mention, Santolouco has been knocking it out of the park with the climatic two-pagers, and this issue is no different. You just want to frame that last page!  

RATING: BUY IT NOW

A highly entertaining read, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #49 is out in stores now.