By Zack Quaintance — This week brings us Juni Ba’s TMNT Annual 2022 #1. Ba, if you somehow don’t know yet, is one of the most interesting new cartoonists to start working on monthly comics in some time. Ba made a huge splash last year with his debut graphic novel, the TKO Studio published Djeliya (which I wrote about for NPR Books last summer). Djeliya was a hell of an opening statement, introducing Ba to direct market comics readers in a big and interesting way. The book was heavily rooted in West Africa folklore, and rendered with a very hip, fearless style of illustration that took from recognizable inspirations — manga, Big 2 comics, Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim animation — and melded it all into something singular, something new.

The follow-up to Djeliya is the Image Comics anthology series, Monkey Meat, which just delivered its third issue. While it shares some thematic interests with Djeliya, as well as a similar cartooning aesthetic, the series still manages to show Ba’s range as a storyteller. Each issue has been fantastic, standing well on its own and creating a larger story mosaic that raises interesting questions about the ways in which society has lost its way. It’s a fantastic read, and one that I’ve got penciled in for the Best Comics of 2022 lists I won’t be shoring up for another nine months. And now, as noted at the start, Ba brings us the TMNT Annual 2022 #1. This is all a long-winded way to explain why my expectations were so large coming into this book.

It’s also important to note here what’s currently going on with the TMNT comics. All one really needs to know going into this book is that the Turtles have lost their beloved mentor, Master Splinter. From there, Ba launches the audience into a story of grief, of connecting past memories with a lost loved one to the pain one feels in the present, and doing so in a healthy way so you can start looking to the future. To do this, Ba has the familiar four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles out seeking to visit the place where Splinter used to live, but to get there, they must first battle a giant spirit warrior born of a mutated slug that appears within a swirling green mist, shouting, “Your fear…your grief…your pain…my feast!”

It’s a great idea for how to tell a story about these characters — complete with the karate action readers expect — that speaks to deeper themes, and it’s all rendered with Ba’s stylish linework and interesting storytelling sensibilities. This comic has a lot to juggle — staying true to its core IP, reading as entertaining on its surface, finding some deeper meaning beneath — and it handles it all quite well, building well and keeping a great pace.

The book does find a bit of relief without ever feeling sacrosanct, simple, or overly simplistic. In any meditation on grief, I think it’s important not to try to force too many answers on an audience. Doing that can feel like the equivalent of cornering someone in morning and telling them this isn’t a big deal, that it will pass, and then asking them over and over if they’re okay until they say yes. If the book does has a suggestion, it’s to not be afraid of grief, but rather to face it, ideally with those who are experiencing the same thing with you.

In the end, our mutated slug grief monster is defeated by the Turtles sharing their pain rather than suffering individually, which leads to them in turn fighting better alongside each other, getting back to basics in a way that honors Splinter by deploying the early core lessons he taught them. My favorite page comes at the end of the book, and it ties together the contributions of the other members of this creative team too — colorist Ronda Pattison and letterer Shawn Lee. In it, the captioning alternates from turtle to turtle, making known who’s speaking by background each box with the colors of their bandanas.

The narration reflects on what happens when a group of siblings, essentially, grows older. When they lose the parental figure that bound them, when they start to drift apart. And while there’s great meloncholy in this, there’s also a hopeful not, an idea that shared history never dies, never disappears. That no matter what we’re going through apart, we can always reflect on the times shared together, finding courage and strength in the memory. It’s powerful stuff, and as silly as this sounds, it makes the TMNT Annuall 2022 #1 one of the most emotionally satisfying single issue comics of the young year.

Overall: The TMNT Annual 2022 #1 is an emotionally satisfying meditation on loss and grief and growing older, powered by the relentless interesting and stylish cartooning of rising star Juni Ba. Just an all around great comic. 10/10

REVIEW: TMNT ANNUAL 2022 #1

TMNT Annual 2022 #1
Writer/Artist: Juni Ba
Colors: Ronda Pattinson
Letters: Shawn Lee
Story Consulting: Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz
Publisher: IDW Publishing
The Turtles embark on a secret mission to their roots, but a mysterious creature hunts them relentlessly. The Turtles will have to find a new way to come together to escape their foe-and the pain that haunts them. A special story of remembrance and family written and drawn by acclaimed artist Juni Ba!
Price: $6.99
Buy It Here: Digital / Physical
Where to start with TMNT comics in 2022!

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He has written about comics for The Beat and NPR Books, among others. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.