Been reading these as issues, and it's so freaking good, I asked Netgallery to send me a review copy to re-read and then spread the word.

THIS is a must-read for any TMNT fan, and it’s quickly become one of my personal favorite stories in the series. The character moments in this volume are fantastic, especially the interactions between the brothers when they finally reunite. There’s something special about the dynamic between Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael that truly shines when they’re together, but what makes it even more impactful is the fact that much of this story has them separated.

It seems like it could be a letdown at first, but the separation actually adds so much depth to their relationships. The tension, the unresolved issues between them, and their personal struggles all contribute to a much more satisfying reunion. This messy, complicated family dynamic really enriches the narrative and makes their eventual coming back together all the more rewarding.

Each issue of this volume also stands out with a different artist, which really helps set the tone for each turtle’s individual journey. It’s not just a stylistic choice, it works to highlight the emotional shifts in the story and enhance the reader's connection to each character. This is especially evident in the darker moments, which Return to New York dives into with no hesitation. The story takes a much grimmer turn, particularly for Donatello, and it hits hard. The stakes feel real, and the emotional weight of the narrative leaves a lasting impression. One that honestly blew me away with some of these issues.

If you're a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, this is definitely one you won't want to miss. It’s a dark, emotional, and action-packed journey that is one of the finest TMNT stories out there. Highly recommended! Cowabunga dudes!!!!!!

I'm so excited to continue this series. My inner kid is healed. The story line is very reminiscent of the X-men anti-mutant story line with the nostalgia of classic TMNT.

I have such a deep love for the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, that every once in a while I will see something pop up as a good entry point for later works and I'll give it a shot to try to recapture the feelings that cartoon gave me. And unfortunately every time I leave a little disappointed. I think where I struggled most with this one was in the art style. It's personally not a style that I love, especially in Issue #2 and Issue #4, which is a shame because generally Michelangelo and Donatello are my favorites and those two issues center where Michelangelo and Donatello, respectively, are after some event broke up the gang. I did find the plot compelling and would be interested in going back to see how the Turtles got to this point and how they recover.

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Return to New York" follows each Turtle and shows us what they're up to, before reuniting them to face a bigger threat.
The idea works perfectly with the art: each character has a unique visual style that helps to differentiate one story from the other.

The pacing is uneven. It makes sense with the story, it feels like a choice. Regarding the plot, Donnie is by far the most interesting one. The book could focus on him and I'll be here for it. Leo has the weakest one, I'm giving it a pass because the art and use of color is incredible but plot wise I felt the story would be the same without dedicating so many pages to him.

The overall tone in the book is dark, but the story manages to add here an there some interactions between the brothers that lighten the mood, and feels on brand.

I really enjoyed the comic. It's visually incredible and the plot kept me hooked. Perhaps the least interesting thing here is the villain, whose plan seems quite simple. But, in general, I want to know more.

Loved the turtles as a child so thought I would give this a go and it was amazing.

It gave me a massive nostalgia hit whilst also feeling very mature. It appeals to all

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc of this graphic novel.

First off, the nostalgia I got from reading this was incredible. I’ve loved TMNT since I was a kid and this made me feel so many things from childhood. I loved it.

Second, the artists who collaborated with the author did such an amazing job on the story telling in pictures. I loved the incorporation of several artists. This was so much fun to not only read but to look at.

The ninja turtles are so badass. This was a great visualization of just how badass they are.

I really enjoyed this entry but it is very adult. While the language and violence are too crazy, the themes and art style feel more adult. I think this is a great entry if you are a fan of the turtles but as a school librarian, I would not get it for my campus.

I like the Ninja Turtles, and I've really enjoyed IDW's run on the series. When I saw a Volume 1 that was advertised as a good jumping in point, I was intrigued. One of my favorite parts of the IDW series, but also one of the downfalls, is the world built up around the Turtles. It's hard to pick up if you don't have all the backstory, but if you do have that backstory, it helps deepen the text, particularly if there's a drag to the storyline.

What's interesting about Return to New York was the fact that it is a good jumping in point, but you're jumping in to a story already in action. I was thinking this would be a reboot. It's not. That's ok! The story is good, it's clearly laying the groundwork for the future, and while I didn't know everything that was going on, I didn't feel lost. I felt like I joined a story in action that would be revealed to me as it went along. But, knowing the story from the earlier titles certainly helped.

The different art styles in the book were enjoyable, and I enjoyed the artistic callbacks to the original series. I'm intrigued, I'll definitely be looking out for the next titles in the series.

This was outstanding! I’m not really sure where to begin since there was so much good in this book. Definitely one of the better comics I’ve read.

My first impression of this series was an image of shrivelled up, weak Donny holding a decaying dead rat on Twitter. I was really not sure this was the right direction for the series, but boy am I glad I gave it a go.

The writing was too notch all the way through. It hits every emotion and blends genres and themes so well.

The artwork was unique for this book as each characters intro issue had their own artists. I thought this really worked well to differentiate where each of the Turtles were mentally and physically at the start of this story. And I believe issue six’s artist is going to be working on the next arc, which I think is a great choice as he blended together a lot of great elements from the other artists in this book as well as his own touch.

I was on a TMNT hiatus for a long time, but I am right back into it now. Can’t wait for more of this series, and for me to finish the original Vol. 1 series that I’m halfway through.

Thank you to IDW and NetGalley for providing this ARC!

This is excellent. Everything from the artwork to the storyline, everything is in sync. It clicks. It works very well. These are the credible Ninja Turtles I have experience with in the movies. Yes, more serious, but powerful. My hat is off to both the story writers and the artists. Well done!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review those books I grew up reading and watching TMNT and this was another great read. The artwork was great and can’t wait to read the next in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley, IDW, and the team behind the comic for the ARC

I was not at all disappointed by this one. When I heard gritty TMNT comics were getting dropped, I was SOLD. Aaron is absolutely the right person to be leading the writing on this, it is easy to make a NYC under the Foot’s heel and the Turtles split and have it be basic and hokey but the directions he took Donatello specifically in were bold. Also, the art style complimented the story perfectly. I’m definitely stoked for Volume 2 when it comes out.

After twelve plus years and 200 or more issues of massive story, IDW relaunched the main Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles book with a new direction and jumping on point. Firstly, I love that they didn't immediately reboot it back to square one. Secondly, I really enjoyed the continued focus on the characters over the plot (although the plot is very good as well). I like that these characters all retained the mileage they've accumulated. I'm very excited to see where it's all going amid this new status quo with some new enemies. I'll be keeping up.

Special Thanks to IDW Publishing and Netgalley for the digital ARC. This was given to me for an honest review.

It felt like a fresh approach to the TMNT franchise, I liked how the story was set up with the individual intros. Im not a huge TMNT reader but i enjoyed the story and the visuals were amazing.

The Turtles are broken up and scattered across the world: Donnie is enslaved and forced to fight cage matches against mutant-haters; Mikey’s starring in a hit Japanese TV show about his life; Raph’s in prison; Leo’s in India, meditating with non-mutant flesh-eating turtles. Meanwhile in New York City, a brutal new mayoral candidate seeks to consolidate his populist anti-mutant platform with the help of the Foot Clan.

When I heard that Jason Aaron was thankfully moving on from his stagnation at Marvel, I was expecting better comics from him either at DC or Boom, which didn’t happen (so far) - but it did at IDW on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles of all places! Return to New York is both Jason Aaron and the Turtles’ best comic in years.

Look at that insane lineup of artists - those aren’t cover artists, they’re all artists that drew at least one issue in this book: Joelle Jones, Rafael Albuquerque, Cliff Chiang, Chris Burnham, Darick Robertson, Juan Ferreyra. All of them incredible artists, and all of them lending their talents to this book - this is such an amazing comic to look at because of this many top-tier creators on it.

And it also makes sense to do it this way too, to highlight the team’s divided self. Each artist draws a different character, including the villain of the story, the Penguin-esque DA Hale, running for mayor of NYC. I like that Aaron took the time to write the character’s background and motivations properly so that the story feels more fleshed out and understandable.

That said, this isn’t totally a perfect jumping on point for new readers. We don’t know why the Turtles have gone their separate ways, what happened to Splinter, and Donnie was a real surprise to me - he seems to be much older than the others for some reason and he’s got a metal shell?! So I feel like if you haven’t been following TMNT for a while, aspects of the story are going to seem somewhat puzzling.

Speaking of Donnie though: despite having known about the Turtles since I was of single-digit age, I don’t think I ever had a favourite Turtle, for whatever reason. Jason Aaron made it very clear to me though who that one is: it’s Donatello. Of course he’s the best. In fact, if this book had been entirely about Donnie only, it might’ve been even better than it was - his storyline was by far the most compelling while the others were… just ok.

The slightly uneven quality of the others’ stories - Mikey and Leo’s were the weakest - and the fact that this is basically an entire book of table-setting, are the only real critiques I have of this one. If Aaron had gotten the gang together sooner and provided a storyline that went beyond mere setup, this would’ve been a more satisfying read.

Otherwise, I thought Jason Aaron’s writing was near-perfect. The tone is exactly what it should be, the voices are dead on - yeah, this is what I’m looking for in a Turtles comic. And I didn’t even know I wanted to read a Jason Aaron Turtles comic!

IDW might have the single worst logo of any comics company ever and be on the verge of bankruptcy, but I really want them to stay around if only for this series to continue.

Jason Aaron’s back and he found his mojo again on a Turtles book - this Turtles book! One of the comics highlights of the year, I found TMNT, Volume 1: Return to New York both unexpectedly moving (luv ya Donnie) and enjoyable. Turtle power indeed.

I loved watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show as a kid and my boys (five and 3) love the Ninja Turtles, still, I had never read any of the comics. This comic does not start at the beginning of the series, but starts in their future when the brothers have gone their separate ways. It was a dark story more for high school students or older, but I really enjoyed the story. The art is fantastic and the story is engaging. It ended on a cliffhanger as many comics do, and it definitely made me want to keep reading! I would highly recommend this to older fans of Ninja Turtles or even newer fans who are high school age or older!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC. This did not impact my review. I thoroughly enjoyed the graphic novel and plan to read more in the series as they are released!

The art? Perfection.
The story? Amazing.
Concept? Yup, loved it.
This was a bit darker than I anticipated and did lack some of the signature comic quips that I love about TMNT. The overall story was well thought out and the inner monologues were true to character.
I like where it’s going and can’t wait for volume two!
Cliff hanger! (Obviously)
Thank you #natgalley for the ARC, I loved this.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a TMNT comic on a regular basis. I was a huge fan of the 90’s animated series. Had all the toys. Even the really cool sewer play set and the van that shot pizza discs. Eventually I fell out of the turtle love. I decided to give this ARC of the first volume of TMNT from @idwpublishing a chance, mainly because Jason Aaron was writing the book. I mean, why skip over Jason Aaron? Exactly, you wouldn’t. All I gotta say after reading this is HOLY ICE CREAM AND ANCHOVIES PIZZA, DUDES! This was absolutely fantastic. Jason does an amazing job telling this story of the new status quo for our favorite reptilian teens. The brothers are scattered, separated into different situation. Whether it’s Ralph in prison or Mikey in Japan as a huge tv star, Aaron makes you hang on to every page as you jump into this great starting point for any new reader. Do you need to read anything before this to know what is going on? No. Sure it may give you some context, but really IDW and Jason Aaron do a great job of getting you caught up in this volume on what has came before. I wish I could give this more than 5 stars. It’s that good. Now, excuse me while I go tell my comic shop to put this series on my pull list.

#IDWreviews #TMNT #5stars #JasonAaron

This is such a return to form for turtles comics. Best volume in a while.

Jason Aaron throws the turtles into turmoil and rebuilds them anew from the ground up with some fun new quirks and mania and ends the volume leaving us wanting more. This is the fresh restart I was hoping for.

Another great nostalgic TMNT omnibus comic read with really great illustrations that make the story grittier and more emotional with the storyline.