Favorite TMNT Comics

[Michaelangelo]

Hey all,

Being the curious person that I am, I figured I'd put up a topic about the different Series of TMNT Comics to find out which ones people enjoy the most and to see people's comments about the different series.   So this topic is covering all the series of the TMNT comics.

Mirage Volume 1
Mirage Mico Series Raphael, Donatello, Michaelangelo and Leonardo
Mirage Tales of TMNT Volume 1
Archie
Archie Specials
Mirage Volume 2
Image
Mirage Volume 4
Dreamwave
Mirage  Tales of TMNT Volume 2

Each of these series have their own fan following and have done different things with the Turtles.  From Mirage introducing the Turtles, Splinter, Shredder, April and many other well known characters in Volume 1 with great stories like "The River" and "City at War"  to Archie bringing in the Mighty Mutanimals and Ninjara with wonderful future stories, romance (the only area I've seen this work with TMNT) and even a great version of April O'Neil.    Though with so many, the fans vary from forum to forum, web page to web page.  I'm curious here with which of the fan base is strongest.  

So please do answer the poll and feel free to make a post about why you enjoy that series more than the other.  Without bashing any of the other series.

[Michaelangelo]

I picked that I loved all the comics, because I do.  Each comic series has a wonderful story line behind them and differences that make them great.  I'll give an example with each area of why I love all of the series:

Mirage Volume 1:  You get to know the characters, you see where they really came from and the art in it is a lot of fun.  I really enjoy Eastman and Laird's work when they were a team on it.  That will always be missed.
Micro series:  Come on... there's Klunk for ya in the Mikey issue!  And Raph's you meet Casey for the first time!
Tales of TMNT 1:   Wonderful story lines done with the Turtles, with the Rat King... and LeatherHead... and the art drool.
Archie:  Wow the Might Mutanimal, the story line connecting from issue to issue, Ninjara... nuff said...
Archie Specials:  Cool new characters!   Fun seasonal adventures!  More than one story per an issue!
Mirage Volume 2:  Jim's art!  The story with Baxter was interesting.  And the Government stuff!!!  (to bad it was just a dream)
Image:  Great story lines!   Took lots of cool risks with changes just to try new stuff.  Raphael as the Shredder!
Mirage Volume 4:  The stories between each of the guys!   Mikey being a dad!   Splinter... poor Splinter... but the timing with my life was just... awwww hard... and touching....  Fugitoid is in it a lot!
Dreamwave:  The different points of view!  Seeing more of the E&L cops!   Baxter and April's histories from series point of view!  

I do so love all these comics and I read them over and over!   There's just a few of the reasons I enjoy them...  share your reasons for what you choose on the poll please.

[Donatello]

Mirage Volume 1
Mirage Mico Series Raphael, Donatello, Michaelangelo and Leonardo
Mirage Tales of TMNT Volume 1
Dreamwave
Tales of the TMNT Vol. 2

The ones listed above are the ones I really like the most out fot eh rest, just because the stories were good, as was the art.  

[Michaelangelo]

Archie had good stories too     Truthfully back when Archie was coming out, I liked it more than Mirage.  I didn't really start to like MIrage till they were all out and I could read them all in order.

[Mindy]

Sadly, I've only read the Image series~ which I still have, woo!!

And Mikey was a dad?! =D To...?

[Michaelangelo]

 Image is an awesome series!  Heh I don't remember how many times my letters were printed on the TMNT Image letter pages *G*

Mikey's a dad in the new TMNT series out by Mirage right now.   I highly recommend checking them out.  

[Mindy]

Awww, I'm poor! Hehehe, tell me?

[Michaelangelo]

I'm sure topics about the different issues out there will start appearing... not just yet though cause I'm still working on a lot of other posts.  Though I'll like to give a lot of different topics for people to read and go through.   Though I'll never give a full comic away in a post, cause I highly recommend getting the comics.  

[Mindy]

Of course

[Fugitoid]

I really gotta catch up with the current Mirage comics. I'm so behind. Stupid bills.  

[Raphael]

Unlike the tv versions of the Turtles, where I had definite faves/non faves, the comics are a different matter. For much the same reasons listed by others, I like all of them pretty much equally.

However, I would like to give a special note for the Archie series. For a series that was based on the 'kiddified' version of the Turtles, put out by a company known for 'kid friendly' comics, they took a lot of risks with some of their stories. I don't think anyone would have expected the "Blindsight" storyline to come from the same company responsible for the compelling drama of "Will Archie date Betty or Veronica?".

[Michaelangelo]

Heh that's my favorite Archie TMNT issue Raphie!     But I totally agree the series is a lot different than most anything Archie put out (could be, because Mirage artist took over the series at issue 5 *G*).   I am a HUGE fan of the Archie Comics myself, esp with all the deep story lines in it.  Wonderfully put together!!

[Raphael]

I'm not surprised. I think a lot of people that read the Archie series would put that storyline at the top of the list. It was just very well done and more than just a little unexpected. Ok, so one of the Turtles has gotten blinded in an explosion...but to add having him captured and "questioned" by the government...it just made for very exciting reading.

[Michaelangelo]

Yeah, I love the cover with him caught by the Government...  I truely do love that issue!!!   Archies over all did a wonderful job on their story line and keeping it interesting all the time, at a good pace that everyone enjoyed, and wow the things they got away with.   I can't believe how many people never gave it a chance just because it was done by 'archie'  they don't know what they're missing out on!

Anyone who hasn't read these yet, pick them up where ever you can find them and check them out!  They're more than worth reading!!!!    

[TurtleNinja]

"Blindsight" was a really good one, got that around here somewhere. Now that I think of it, I'm only missing just a couple of the Archies, actually, if I recall right. And only a few Mirages, too. I think I'm only missing one of Volume 1. Really should update my list one of these days.

There were a couple of other storylines Archie did that I thought kinda pushed the boundaries of the "family friendly" image, can't recall which off the top of my head.

Actually, they kinda got a bit darker towards the end of the run, in my opinion, where they were first kind of a comic run of the original cartoon, then slowly branched off into their own medium, still a bit goofy, but the last few storylines seemed more serious to me.

I think as far as comics go, I started out with the Archies before I first ran across the Mirage series, towards the end of Volume 2.

To be honest, lol, I was shocked out of my mind when I picked those up. So much more hardcore and realistic, not as goofy, saw more blood, got more cursing, I almost didn't buy any more. I couldn't believe that those were the Turtles in any shape or form.

Guess the collector in me won out and I started buying them for the sake of them being the Turtles, and the more I read, the more I learned that was the original story, it grew on me.

[Andrew Modeen]

In summation...

Volume 1, Mirage : The prototype from which everything else TMNT is merely a spinoff. The granddaddy of everything. The best by default.

Tales of the TMNT, Vol. 1 : Solid stories, but we're just talking about 7 issues total. Should have gone longer.

Volume 2, Mirage : Disappointment. After the peace with the Foot Clan following City at War (the conclusionary arc of Vol. 1) they seem to make a big muck about a new direction, a new beginning for the Turtles. Over like 2 years and 13 issues, all we got was Leonardo messing with a giant Turtle in the sewer and some kind of an X-Files tale in Nevada that was only a dream. Am I missing anything?

Volume 3, Image : Seemed like things were kind of hitting their stride when it was cancelled, but ah well. My letter in Vol. 4 really sums my feelings up for this. A fun comic which genuinely did take the Turtles places they haven't gone before and really did add a sense of "anything can happen." Complaints: B&W, but no duotones? No thanks. Also rather short issues, at only 20 pages each (yet sometimes having lettercols running at ten pages!). Something it also suffered from was that there was really no well-defined story arcs... I kept waiting for another "River" or "Halls of Lost Legends," waiting for Carlson to just really knock us on our asses and go "Yeah! This guy really gets it!" He could have, I know it. But what we ended up getting, and while immensely enjoyable, is basically just 23 issues that's 1 big long story arc. They really should have made some effort to let some guys like A.C. Farley or Rick Veitch or others take a crack at an issue or two, would have lended much more legitimacy to the whole thing, as well as being a treat for the fans.

Volume 4, Mirage : Character-wise, Laird is god and I'll take any issue of his as the gospel. But I can't say I like what Laird is doing with the world in this volume... aliens everywhere, the Turtles don't live in the shadows anymore? I'd always heard Laird was so very pro-isolationist about the Turtles, so this strikes me as odd. While I greatly enjoy these stories, I'd much prefer these future stories appear in some kind of mini-series or something.

Tales of the TMNT, Vol. 2 : To me, THIS actually feels more like what Volume 4 should be. Interesting story arcs, not confined to any one period in time. It really feels like Volume 1 of Mirage, vintage, and it's great. I will say, though, I hate what they did with the "Shredder Worms" story... just hate it. What a waste.

[Jephael]

I'll never forget the first time I read "Blindsight" and had a hard enough time dealing with the fact that Mikey actually spoke a bad word.

"Mickey's waking up."
"My name's Mikey! Who the hell are you?!"

I love the Archie series simply for how it portrayed all the secondary characters, especially the Mutanimals!

[Mindy]

Er, spoiler:

               




Was it just me or did anybody kinda....tear up when Don fell out of the helicopter in the Image comics? ; GAH I WANTED TO EAT THE PAPER. Yum.

[Andrew Modeen]

Yeah, that scene was pretty grim.

Interestingly, Volume 4 kind of mimicked that same scene, only with Michaelangelo instead of Donatello, and it's some kind of a hovercraft rather than a helicopter. Fortunately, unlike Don, he didn't fall all the way.

[Mr._Mutant_Man]

From what I've read so far, Mirage Vol. 1 barely edges out Archie.

I just got an oversized copy of #1 and Mirage TPBs 2-5 in the mail last weekend.  

[Gobbledygook]

I love them TMNT comics tons'O'Bunches!  My favorite one for some reason is tmnt v1 issue number 14 you know, the Unmentionables issue.  I love the art and the parody on the untouchables.  It's really cool.  LoL I had to have it shipped from England to my house through the mail because I couldn't find it for the longest time.  I live in California.  So as you can tell with a little simple geography that's quite a ways.  All worth it though.

  Yeah the new TMNT and Tales of TMNT are rad though, that's right don't judge I sure did pull RAD outta' storage.  I'm waiting for this supposed epic issue 61, and I am stoked about the tales Don spin-off 4 parter.  What about you guys.

[ResidentEvil7]

I don't want to sound like a sick-o, but I like the Image series best because of the extreme violence.  And it's funny I declare this my favorite series, considering I only own 1 issue and that issue was bought back in April off of eBay.  Issue #3 when Donatello gets killed by something.  And I love the latest issue of TMNT Volume 4 #30, because it's my first autographed drawing (back inner cover).

Also this part is for Michelle (Michelangelo user ID) were you able to get that autographed scetch back in May?  I did and I think this Peter Laird guy is VERY talented, and I still have the 2-minute drawing you did for me in Chicago of a Ninja Turtle.  I think you both ought to create comic books together,  you're both so talented.

[J 1982]

You forgot the UK "Hero Turtles" comics.

[AprilONeil1984]

I am doing my best to ketch up with on TMNT mirage volume 4 if I didn't have bill

[ResidentEvil7]

I got with Image as my top favorite, even thought I only have just 1 issue.  And I also like the comic book that Peter Laird signed and drew on the inside cover 2 years ago.  I think it was Issue #30 of TMNT.  It's the blue cover with a shark on it.  All in all I enjoy them all.