I'm a fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
I was somewhat late to the game. I didn't "grow up" on the 1987 cartoon, per se (as I didn't have access to a channel that aired it), but I was aware of it through a friend and had read some of the tie-in Archie comics. In my tweens, I got my hands on a VHS tape of a couple of out-of-order episodes of the 1987 cartoon (dubbed in Swedish), and I thought it was sort of goofy but fun, and around the same time I rented the first two live-action movies (of which I really liked the first one but thought the second one seemed a bit desperate).
It wasn't until I discovered the original Mirage comics from 1984 in my mid-teens (I was not in my mid-teens in 1984; the comics were already old when I found out about them through an ad in one of my dad's old indie comics magazines, which is still the only place I've ever seen the TMNT title officially translated to Swedish, as "Tonåriga Muterade Ninja-Sköldpaddor" - the cartoon was just known by its UK "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles" title here when I was a kid) and subsequently went hunting for them, that I got really into it.
Not too long thereafter, I got into the 2003 cartoon when that came out (the first four seasons of which I really liked for the most part, save for some bad ideas regarding the Shredder and being a bit low on character development, but the last three seasons of which I felt drowned in stupid gimmicks to the point of treading on Next Mutation territory).
I enjoyed the 2007 Kevin Munroe GGI movie "TMNT" for what it was, but found it to be a bit of a missed opportunity in some respects (such as the opportunity to bring back familiar villains, perhaps even reimagine Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady in a less goofy context than the '87 show, which I know a lot of people who remember the '87 show were hoping for regardless of Peter Laird's apparent distaste for anything that originated in that version, and the opportunity to make a movie that gives all four turtles about the same amount of stuff to do instead of being all about Leo and Raph).
So I'm not one of those "I love everything Turtles-related" type fans, nor am I one of those "I want the Turtles to be exactly like when I was a kid" fan, since I still think the Turtles were at their best before I was even born (I was born in 1987). I love the idea of TMNT, and I love when it's done well and with respect to the core of what it's about (even if some details keep changing, like Master Splinter's ever-changing backstory and the reasons for the Foot Clan to exist and what the relationship between the Japan Foot and the NY Foot is, et.c.).
Now, not long ago, Peter Laird (one of the co-creators of TMNT, who had previously bought Kevin Eastman's half of the creative ownership of the turtles) sold (almost?) the entirety of the TMNT rights to to Nickelodeon. Nickelodeon (owned by Viacom), in turn, handed IDW (known for making a lot of comic books based on licenses from movies, TV shows, et.c.) the task of making the comic book, and IDW decided to do a pretty thorough reboot of the franchise. Some things are familiar, and some things are very different from all of the previous versions, in an attempt to explore the potential of TMNT in new ways. The tone is similar to that of the original Mirage comics, but details of the origin story have been altered (mostly explored in the main series by Tom Waltz and TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman, but hinted at somewhat in this book as well).
Which brings us to this micro-series collection. The micro-series idea was something that Eastman & Laird established in the early stages of the Mirage universe, where each turtle gets their own solo issue, to show how they operate on their own, and very wisely, IDW decided to bring back this idea, and hand said task to writer Brian Lynch, known to some of us for his excellent work on IDW's "Spike" and "Angel" comics (based on characters who originated in the Joss Whedon-created and similarly octosyllabic-titled "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" television series). When I heard that IDW got their hands on TMNT, my immediate thought was "I hope Brian Lynch gets to write for it" (followed by "I hope Tristan Huw Jones gets to write for it" and "I hope Peter David gets to write for it", both of whom have done brief but excellent TMNT writing work for Mirage and Dreamwave, respectively, and both of whom deserve a second try...IDW, if you're reading this, make it happen). Then when Brian Lynch announced he was working on the micro-series, I was glad to hear it and excited to see what he could come up with.
Having now read this book, I can say that the two great tastes do go great together. Brian Lynch, himself a long-time TMNT fan, knows these characters very well, and nails their distinct voices excellently, and also manages to sneak in a few references to the '87 cartoon (even quoting the theme song multiple times in ways that feel completely natural) as well as the original Mirage comics (especially in the Donatello story, which borrows elements from the original Donatello micro but still manages to tell a completely new story with them). The stories are both engaging and fun, and the dialogue is clever and reads very well. The Leonardo story seems to tie in with Volume 2 of the main series, which I've yet to read (as I wasn't aware of the chronology), so I'd probably recommend catching up on the main series to an extent before reading this book, but regardless of my reading things in the wrong order, I very much enjoyed this book, both as a half-picky TMNT fan and as someone who has enjoyed Lynch's previous work at IDW.
Bottom line:
I think IDW should let Brian Lynch do more TMNT stuff. Also, Tristan Huw Jones and Peter David should be added to the list.
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Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2012
- Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2015
Top reviews from other countries
- Amazon CustomerReviewed in Canada on January 10, 2014
Excellent graphic novel about the turtles!!!
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- M. J. AtkinsonReviewed in the United Kingdom on January 2, 2013
Keeps getting better
