It’s a big year for geeky anniversaries, particularly if the name of the franchise starts with a T, it seems. There must have been something in the water in 1984, because that year saw the release of the first incarnations of Transformers, The Terminator and (told you it was all Ts) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The Turtles have had a big few years in general, with The Last Ronin mini-series kicking off its own acclaimed, alternate future continuity in the comics and the long-running IDW TMNT series (known simply as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) even reached a pretty significant milestone itself, with its 150th issue being published.

That 150th issue marked the end of an era, with the fantastic, overall saga also reaching a climax of sorts, and a new mainline Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series now being launched.

Critically acclaimed writer Jason Aaron is taking over scripting duties on this new series, which is kicking off with a sequence of issues each focusing on a different turtle’s situation in what’s being seen as a new status quo.

This first issue focuses on Raphael, who’s in prison; however, we don’t know why, or how, he ended up there. Where are his brothers? Will he be able to keep his head down and stay out of trouble? To borrow a phrase from another franchise born in 1984, is there more to Raphael’s situation than meets the eye?

It’s riveting stuff, brilliantly written and with tantalising plot points revealed throughout, mostly told via Raphael narrating. It all builds to a shocking climax and a stunner of a cliffhanger, though given that the next issue focuses on Michelangelo and this first tale is set to last for an entire year, it’s going to be a while before we get a resolution.

Though Joëlle Jones does an absolutely fantastic job with the almost painterly, realistic art style, I do have a pretty big nitpick. Raphael is pictured in an orange prison jumpsuit throughout the comic, and I couldn’t help noticing that his shell sits on top of the suit, with the shirt between his body and said shell. I found that really distracting. Even though, yes, it’s a story about an anthropomorphic, martial arts-practicing turtle, it felt very silly as a detail, and one which also detracted from the serious tone of the story.

Yes, it is a nitpick. However, a quick search online revealed that I wasn’t the only person bothered by this detail, which just comes across as bizarre.

Anyway, that aside, it’s hard to find fault with this first issue. It’s an unusual status quo for the TMNT, and with two other series on the way to run alongside this one (Nightwatcher and Mutant Nation), it’s an exciting time to be a fan of the turtles.

Then again, isn’t it always?