IDW's 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' #48 Review: TMNT's Donatello Shocker Gets More Action!

An unexpected casualty took place inside the shocking pages of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #44, from IDW Publishing. Before marking their 50th milestone, the action runs at full speed as the rest of the TMNT family deal with Donatello's ultimate defeat in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #48.

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 #46 and issue #47, while Donnie's consciousness was downloaded into the robot, Metalhead, by Fugitoid, Casey Jones dealt with Hun and his gang. With Shredder working side by side with Baxter Stckman, they unleashed a seemingly never-ending horde of mousers and flyborgs. The machines have one simple order: kill the rat.  

Writers Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, and Tom Waltz ante up the action with so much drama and plot twists. Even though Donatello is right there as Metalhead, the rest of the turtles don't actually feel his presence. The remaining brothers, who feel like failures, are now up against a bigger threat. After having lost Donatello, they fight for Splinter and struggle at all odds to keep him alive.  

Artist Mateus Santolouco does a phenomenal job of keeping the action flowing at a fast pace. Not only are the mousers chomping through the walls, the flyborgs are swooping in from above. Notice the facial expressions the turtles are making, especially Michelangelo's. They're not not fighting in confidence; they're defending themselves in fear.  

This critic also has to mention, Santolouco knocks it out of the park as he draws the entire Turtles family in one eye-popping shot.  

RATING: BUY IT NOW

A highly entertaining read, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #48 is out in stores now.