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Tales of the TMNT #64 [Review]

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Walt

Quick Rating: Good
Story Title: The Burning Man

The turtles race all over the city to deal with a number of threats, and ultimately, a demon-from-a-bottle released in a botched attempt to stop the Foot from stealing its container.

talesofthetmnt064Script: Tristan Jones
Pencils: Jim Lawson
Inks: Steve Lavigne
Letters: Dan Berger
Cover: Jim Lawson & Steve Lavigne
Frontispiece: Michael Dooney
Editor in Chief: Peter Laird
Managing Editor: Dan Berger
Design: Eric Talbot
Published by: Mirage Publishing

Michelangelo narrates this issue, as we find out that he and his brothers wound up fighting some sort of demon. This demon was released after Leonardo accidentally broke an urn the Foot was trying to steal. We go from the turtles’ lair as Leo chews Mikey out for stuff going wrong; then see Mikey’s side to things. With the urn broken and the demon having disappeared, there wasn’t much for the turtles to do, so they went about usual business; these distractions led to Mikey being the one to come across the demon again first, and thus Mikey confronts it alone. The others are brought into things in their own way, as the motivation of the demon is determined and attended to. While Mikey won’t take the blame for everything that went down, we do find out at the end of the issue the one thing that he WILL take responsibility for.

Visually, this is the version of the turtles I tend to enjoy most, and the visual style that I’ve come to primarily associate with them over the past 7-8 years or so. It is a bit stylistic, and detail seems to vary a bit, as dictated by the story and what we’re to focus on as the story progresses.

The story itself is quite good, and I really enjoyed a lot of the verbal and visual cues provided by having the story from Mikey’s point of view. I could almost hear the voice of the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series Mikey recounting these events, and that just made it all the more fun.

Jones has written some of my favorite issues of Tales, and I find it a real shame that this will be his last issue, given the change of ownership of the TMNT property and uncertainty of where things go from here.

This is not a dense book…the story is a nice little done-in-one, mainly focused on Mikey but still involving the other turtles such that it is by no means a solo issue. If you can get the issue, it’s very much worthwhile.

Ratings:

Story: 4/5
Art: 3.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5

Filed under: Classic Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Tales of the TMNT #61 [Review]

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Walt

Quick Rating: Very Good
Story Title: Sometimes They Come Back

While helping to investigate the destruction of several buildings in the city and rising violence of an ongoing gang war, the turtles find more of their past back to haunt them.

talesofthetmnt061Script: Tristan Jones
Art: Andres Ponce
Letters: Eric Talbot
Cover: Andres Ponce & Steve Lavigne
Frontispiece: Michael Dooney
Editor in Chief: Peter Laird
Managing Editor: Dan Berger
Design: Eric Talbot
Publisher: Mirage Publishing

This issue picks up on a story thread that’s been touched on at a few points in recent years. The introduction on the inside front cover provides a quick recap to give context, and then we launch into the story. One of the turtles makes contact with a police detective investigating a collapsed building. As we continue on, the turtles all find pieces of the “puzzle” that comes together in a fairly fast-paced piece of action before quickly winding down as the turtles find themselves facing the small–but terrifyingly plentiful–mousers they’d faced years ago.

It might just be the immediacy of having just read the issue, with its enjoyment fresh in my mind…but this is one of the most enjoyable TMNT reads I’ve had in awhile. Jones builds a story that is both fresh and yet drawn from existing continuity. The result is that the reader is provided not just a peek into a random moment in the turtles’ lives, but a growing story, and (dare I say it) continuity within the “gap” presented when TMNT vol. 4 launched nearly 8 years ago.

The story moves at a pretty quick pace…in some ways, I’d certainly like to see more build, as we do largely just get snippets of stuff as the scenes move along from one turtle to another with the occasional moment from the police throughout. At the same time, the story in this one issue could probably be stretched to at least 2 and maybe 3 issues without feeling padded…but rather than have to buy 3 issues, we get the entirety of the given story right here. Reading through the issue, I get a distinct feel of the turtles being older and rather independent (no Splinter found nor referenced), and the way they’re shown interacting throughout the issue shows where they’ve grown up from the earliest TMNT issues.

Ponce‘s art gives me the impression much of this book takes place at night–there’s a certain feel to the imagery with shadows and overall tone giving that feeling. Unlike a lot of other black-and-white books, where the art looks like it’s ready for color, here it almost appears to have been done in color and printed in greytones. The overall style puts me in mind of the animated series–this certainly does not duplicate that series’ style, but is somewhat similar, and that works very well for me here, as I can easily see the action of this issue being animated.

Probably because this issue is the latest of a several-part ongoing “arc,” newer readers may not get much from this. I think this issue is more for longer-time readers (whether just of this volume of Tales of the TMNT, or going back to the 1990s or even the mid-80s when the turtles first appeared). As one of those longtime readers, this issue was a blast, and very much worth its price.

Ratings:

Story: 4/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 4/5

Filed under: Classic Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Tales of the TMNT #60 [Review]

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Walt

Quick Rating: Not Bad
Story Title: Nobody Does it Better

As Raph and Casey spend some time together, a figure out of their past returns…changed.

talesofthetmnt060Script: Dan Berger
Art: Jim Lawson
Letters: Eric Talbot
Cover: Jim Lawson & Steve Lavigne
Frontispiece: Michael Dooney
Publisher: Mirage Publishing

This issue gives us a tale of an apparently “new” version of the character known as “Nobody.” This character has a history with the TMNT, going back quite a number of years–more than half their existence, really. Yet, he’s made very few appearances (one should note that there’s a handy recap/intro on the inside front cover: enough to remind you of the past appearances/stories if you’ve read them, or just enough to give you a bit of context like the opening text of A New Hope gave before launching you into the story).

We come upon Raph and Casey in the wee hours of the morning–Casey having had a few too many drinks, Raph playing the part of the good friend…as they meet Nobody, who has been ejected from an alien the US government had allied with years ago. While Nobody explains how he came to be present, another alien attacks our group, and ultimately, Nobody has a new status quo while Raph and Casey wind down their night.

This issue’s art is provided by Jim Lawson, the regular artist on the core TMNT book. This story itself is set between-issues of that series, but has a great visual consistency by Lawson‘s work. Berger‘s story actually feels like it goes alongside the Laird-penned pages of TMNT…and given the rarity of new stories from Laird himself, this chapter set within that continuity is extremely welcome.

The visuals, unfortunately, do seem to suffer a little bit from lack of color–there are points that things blend together, and a splash page that I felt like I had to study to make much sense of what was happening (I gave up and trusted to context on that point). Other than that, Lawson‘s version of the characters–especially Raphael’s mutated appearance–is one I associate very much with my enjoyment of a number of TMNT stories.

The recap page did a lot for me in establishing context–I’m almost entirely unfamiliar with Nobody as anything other than some throw-away character that–in retrospect–I actually have read before, though didn’t recall by name.

If you’re a fan of the TMNT–or specifically Casey and Raph–or just this series, this is another par-for-the-course issue. If you’re not familiar with the characters or primarily enjoy the turtles-as-a-team in-action…or are otherwise new to the TMNT-verse, this doesn’t make a good jump-on point.

Ratings:

Story: 3/5
Art: 3/5
Overall: 3/5

Filed under: Classic Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Value of a comic

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Walt

In this day and age of rebooting, relaunching, renumbering, and $3.99 comics…I find more and more incentive to quit the new stuff and go back-issue/bargain-bins only. Especially with Marvel comics.

After all, these days $3.99 will get me this:

uncannyxforce014

Or ~$3.99ish will get me these:

lessthan399

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Booking Through Thursday: E-volution

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Walt

btt buttonE-readers like the Kindle and iPad are sweeping the nation … do you have one? Do you like it? Do you find it changes your reading/buying habits? If you don’t have one, do you plan to?

No, I do not have either of those. Also do not have a Nook, and Barnes & Noble is getting dangerously close to me unsubscribing from their emails because I’m so danged tired of them pushing it so forcefully.

I’m pretty much “sold” on the iPad, in that “eventually…when I can actually AFFORD one” sorta way. A friend has one, and seeing it in action, I’m pretty sure that really, get myself a wireless keyboard that’ll sync with the iPad and a portable stand to prop the thing up like a laptop monitor, and I could pretty much go “computer-free” (“computer” = “laptop” or “desktop” machines).

I do have an iPhone, and recently I’ve dabbled with digital comics on it. I bought the classic Superman #75 a couple months back, just for the sheer novelty of having the thing right on-hand (next week marks the 19th anniversary of “The Death of Superman”). I’ve also bought two issues of DC Comics’ new initiative “The New 52.” Trouble is, the iPhone even is so relatively tiny that the reading experience feels like I’m trying to read through some sort of blinders.

As far as long-form reading…no-can-do. The iPhone is such a tiny thing that it’s even awkward to try to situate one’s self to even consider “settling in to read for awhile” with it.

An iPad might change that, but until I actually have one, I won’t be able to say for sure. And I certainly won’t be getting the iPad for the sole purpose of “reading”…the digital books/comics will just be a small part of the picture.

Right now, I don’t see any sort of e-reader changing my reading habits or buying habits. I’m buying one single comic series digitally and a month behind, for the discount…but that novelty is wearing off already, 2 issues in. Depending on pricing, I could see having an iPad having an impact on SOME of my comic buying, especially for the stuff that I just want to read once and be done with.

Once I’d get an iPad, I’d have to “take the plunge” with a book sometime to see how that experience would go…but really, I’d much rather have a $20 hardcover with me that gets lost/dropped/rained on/etc than a $500 tablet/computer device.

Given that I’m “sold” on the iPad, know there are “apps” for the Kindle at least and pretty sure also the Nook and OTHER e-reader formats, I absolutely can NOT see spending $150+ on something that’s arguably “just” going to be used to read e-versions of books. I don’t think I spend that much on new books in an entire YEAR, so it’s a huge up-front cost, BEFORE even getting to buy new books to read.

Even though $10ish is much cheaper than the $20-$30 most new (hardcover) tend to be priced at, it’s still $10 for something pretty much intangible (music I listen to, whatever the source…but if I’ve already paid $150+ for an e-reading device, the device itself isn’t going to get bigger or heavier for addition of a digital file). And I often feel that if I’ve already invested 1/3 to half the cost, why “settle” when I’m already on my way to the full, actual item?

The e-readers are also like computers to me, though: you buy one, and 3 months later, the next/greater version is out, or announced, and then it becomes a case of “well, I’ve waited all these years already…why didn’t I wait X more months?!?”

Of course…this all presupposes that I have to make the purchase myself: given a Kindle or Nook or such as a gift…I’m sure I’d find excuse enough to certainly make use of the device. Without an upfront cost to me investing in the actual device…that would certainly “level the playing field” in terms of books to be bought. And stuff like The Hunger Games or some of these other series–I wouldn’t mind getting those digitally.

Having the potential to have numerous books all contained in one device would certainly feed my “book-A.D.D.” and allow me to start numerous books and gradually work my way through ’em as the mood strikes for a given “book.”

Filed under: Booking Through Thursday, DC, DC Misc., General Mills, Justice League, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Tales of the TMNT #58 [Review]

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Walt

Quick Rating: Good
Story Title: All Tomorrow’s Yesterdays

The TMNT and the C.O.W.Boys of Moo Mesa team up again, this time to face the ultimate threat to the C.O.W.Boys’ Earth.

talesofthetmnt058Plot: Murphy & Ryan Brown
Script: Murphy
Art: Dario Brizuela
Lettering: Eric Talbot
Frontispiece: Michael Dooney
Editor in Chief: Peter Laird
Managing Editor: Dan Berger
Design: Eric Talbot
Front Cover: Dario Brizuela and Steve Lavigne
Back Cover: Fernando Leon Gonzalez

This issue is the latest installment in a series of teamups between the TMNT and the C.O.W.Boys of Moo Mesa.

Picking up from the most recent installment a few months ago, Utromi Preservi (an elite/secret society of Utroms) has gathered what they need to awaken a cosmic vampire, Galactose (think “Milky Way galaxy” for the joke). While the Turtles and their allies rush to try to save the C.O.W.Boys’ Earth, Donatello may have the secret that will save everyone. We also have a brief appearance by Cudley the Cowlick, who longtime TMNT fans will recognize from the TMNT Adventures series…nothing too significant about the appearance, but a great nod to said fans. There’s also a moment where the Turtles are shown other incarnations of themselves, which was VERY cool to see.

The art by Brizuela is very good. The style is enjoyable, though different from other TMNT artists (while keeping the characters recognizable and other expected things with a comic). The comic’s interior is black-and-white, but as the front cover is done by the same artist as the interior pages, one can see what everyone looks like in color and almost forget the interior is not in color.

One of the thing that’s been great about this title shows through with this issue’s story. For the most part, each issue is its own standalone story. However, creative teams will re-visit and expand upon earlier stories, building larger stories, even if they’re not consecutive issues in this title (which is almost an anthology, except that each story/creative team gets a full issue rather than having multiple stories/creative teams in a single issue).

The story is fun, though one has to really suspend disbelief on a few points. The cosmic vampire as a nod to Galactus is–while derivative–also kinda cool if one recognizes the association–on a metatextual level it adds plenty that there’s not time for otherwise in a single-issue story.

This isn’t the best single issue for one jumping aboard clueless about the characters; but so long as one isn’t looking for lengthy, drawn-out continuity and depth, it’s a fun issue with plenty of action and some jokes thrown in.

Additionally, as I noted when I reviewed the prior chapter of this story, another thing Mirage gets right is not only including a pin up page in the back of the issue with an image related to the story but a color alternate image also related to the story is presented in color on the back cover…no need to seek out extra copies of this comic for these bonus images.

All in all, this continues to be a strong title, telling TMNT stories from throughout their continuity by different creative teams, keeping the book always fresh and with some real heart behind the individual tales.

Ratings:

Story: 3/5
Art: 3.5/5
Overall: 3/5

Filed under: Classic Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

General Mills Presents: Justice League #4 [Review]

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Walt

Breakout!

Written by: Joshua Williamson
Art by: Bruno Redondo
Colors by: Tony Avina
Letters by: Wes Abbott
Cover by: Dan Jurgens, Sandra Hope, Carrie Strachan
Associate Editor: Kristy Quinn
Group Editor: Ben Abernathy
Senior Art Director: Larry Berry

So…Atlanteans are just like normal humans, except they live underwater. That’s ‘interesting.’ And Batman’s determined that no other family will ever be destroyed by crime. Penguin instigates a prison breakout to keep Aquaman busy, but the rest of the Justice League show up to help Aquaman and Batman. And we get several of the common “nicknames” such as “Big Blue” (Superman) and “Caped Crusader” (Batman).

This issue continues the trend of feeling rather generic, as well as having some stuff that feels a bit ‘forced’ in the course of dialogue or story.

The art’s not bad…also as with the other issues of this “mini-series” I’m not familiar with the artist…but, the art overall isn’t anything I actively dislike, which makes it good in my book.

The story is pretty basic, but it DOES have simple stuff worked in that would help inform someone on aspects of the characters–namely, that Batman’s all about not seeing another family destroyed as his was. This issue’s nothing special in the grand scheme…but as a comic that’s likely to be read by someone much younger than me…this isn’t a bad starting point to get someone interested in pursuing more about these characters.

And as a whole, this issue–and the whole “mini-series”–serves as a very basic introduction to the Justice League and several of the individual characters that doesn’t really contradict what I’m aware of about the characters, but this also makes the “real” comics look that much better.

Best of all, these comics are 24 pages of story–making them 4 pages (20%?) longer than current $3-$4 comics. And while totally separate from actual continuity…these even work a lot of “standard” elements in that give a “physical structure” like that of any contemporary comics–varied panel sizes, and even double-page spreads.

If these issues were to be collected as a full size 96-page one-shot in the $5 realm, I’d probably buy it for the novelty–and it’d be interesting to see if it would attract younger readers.

Story: 7/10
Art: 7.5/10
Overall: 7.5/10

Filed under: DC, DC Misc., General Mills, Justice League | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Tales of the TMNT #57 [Review]

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Walt

Quick Rating: Decent
Story Title: Gangs All Here

The Turtles all have different ideas when it comes to what they should do about their housing situation.

talesofthetmnt057Script: Dan Berger
Art: Jim Lawson
Lettering: Eric Talbot
Frontispiece: Michael Dooney
Editor in Chief: Peter Laird
Managing Editor: Dan Berger
Design: Eric Talbot
Cover: Jim Lawson and Steve Lavigne

This issue gives us a glimpse into a time after the color TMNT series from the mid-1990s and the series from the early 2000s, where the turtles were trying to figure out where to live. The argument involved safety–of April, Casey, and Shadow; of the turtles keeping themselves secret from society around them, and so on. Of course, the turtles also find themselves involved in goings-on they’d rather not be a part of, as they encounter a new gang–the Madhattan Maulitia, battling it out with the Purple Dragons for turf.

The art for this issue is classic Lawson–very much “the” visual style that I associate as the “standard” version of these characters…it’s a bit stylistic, and won’t be for everyone, but with these characters, it works quite well.

The story is fairly standard, and felt a bit short. It’s really very enjoyable getting to see the turtles interact this way, seeing some of what happened between series. But the major hangup I have on this issue is that there’s an eight-page “silent” fight sequence–I understand there’s an atmosphere or even “cinematic” effect probably being conveyed….but I just felt like I was turning page after page of action panels trying to find where the story itself with dialogue and such would pick up again. Multiple-page silent action/fight sequences would be fine in a single volume of a manga series, but as something that takes up a quarter or so of an entire issue, not so thrilled.

All in all, an issue that has a lot of potential, but isn’t all that dense or deep. “Worthwhile” for the more hardcore readers. For newer readers not all that steeped in TMNT history, this issue’s probably one to pass on.

Ratings:

Story: 3/5
Art: 3.5/5
Overall: 3/5

Filed under: Classic Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

General Mills Presents: Justice League #3 [Review]

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Walt

Sinister Imitation

Written by: Doug Wagner
Art by: Steve Scott & Livesay
Colors by: Tony Avina
Letters by: Wes Abbott
Cover by: Dan Jurgens, Sandra Hope, Carrie Strachan
Associate Editor: Kristy Quinn
Group Editor: Ben Abernathy
Senior Art Director: Larry Berry

This issue is the classic, cliche robot-duplicates story. I’m not all that thrilled with the art…again, not familiar with this artist. By the end of the issue, though, I wasn’t noticing the negatives of the art, though, which I find likely to be that it’s just not art I actively enjoy…but it’s nothing for me to actively dislike, either. The characters are all quite clearly recognizable, and other than being in their “classic” costumes, nothing really looks all that “off” about them.

The writing is a bit more “off” than the art. There’s something that doesn’t really ring true about this league, and while they claim to be friends, it seems more like a surface detail than anything that’s really FELT. It is cool to see that the villain is a familiar one…though there doesn’t truly seem to be any motivation for him, and it seems odd that he’d actually give the whole league this kind of trouble, when typically he’s been a Superman villain.

However, as with the other two issues so far, this is rooted quite strongly in the realm of being for kids, who most likely aren’t going to care for the stuff I look for in my comics at age 30–deeper character moments, stronger stories, etc.

In connection with the first two issues, this adds a little more to the Justice League as we find out Flash is “Barry,” and that he’s friends with “Hal” (Green Lantern), and so on.

All in all…maybe my least favorite of the three, but for (again) something out of a cereal box, not horrible.

Story: 5/10
Art: 5/10
Overall: 5.5/10

Filed under: DC, DC Misc., General Mills, Justice League | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Tales of the TMNT #56 [Review]

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Walt

Quick Rating: Good
Story Title: Hun

As the turtles and April help Casey clean, they come across some old newspapers that reveal another glimpse into Casey’s past–and the man who helped make him who he is today.

talesofthetmnt056Script: Tristan Jones
Art: Paul Harmon
Letters: Eric Talbot
Frontispiece: Michael Dooney
Editor in Chief: Peter Laird
Managing Editor: Dan Berger
Design: Eric Talbot
Cover: Paul Harmon and Steve Lavigne
Publisher: Mirage

In brief, this issue shows us Casey’s past run-in with Hun, then moves into the “present” (in that time somewhere after TMNT Vol. 2). Having his past brought into discussion with April, Casey takes off to blow off some steam, and finds himself face-to-face with the man who hurt him so many years ago…but with the fight just a little more “fair” this time around.

Normally I’m not a huge fan of bringing a character from “other media” into the “source material,” but the way that Hun (created for the TMNT animated series that debuted back in ’03) has been handled here makes perfect sense, and works REALLY well in tying into Casey Jones’ life–getting to the core of the character.

The writing here works quite well for me. There aren’t a lot of pages–just this issue–for delving into stuff, so it’s not like we have a multi-issue arc to introduce stuff; we just kinda jump into stuff and see both flashback and “current” events. But everyone seems in-character; at the least, I have no problems with how the characters are depicted in this book.

Visually I feel that for the most part, the art orks quite ell with the story; but other times something about it seems almost unfinished and sketchy, like we’re seeing pencilwork minus any inks.

All in all, though, especially for fans of Casey Jones, this is a very worthwhile issue. While this issue does bring Hun into TMNT comic continuity, it’s not forced, and is done in such a way that he can be picked up by others as they choose–or not, and it’s not like he’s gonna be force-fed to readers month after month.

Not sure non-TMNT fans would find this issue all that wonderful; but at least for the story and learning more about Casey, this issue ought to be a good read for TMNT fans new and old.

Recommended.

Ratings:

Story: 3.5/5
Art: 2.5/5
Overall: 3/5

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