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More Grumpiness Toward Variants: An Archie Edition

Posted on November 29, 2016 by Walt

This morning, I was checking out stories at The Beat, and came across a preview for the latest issue of Jughead.

jughead_preview_trigger_variantsSomething about the image used in the header here drew me in–I’ve seen a couple things recently about Sabrina guest-starring or such, and I have a bit of a renewed interest there lately after seeing Melissa Joan Hart in God’s Not Dead 2 and a couple other things that cropped up in my Facebook newsfeed with her…like it being 20 years since the tv show!

I’ve never really considered Jughead to be a character who was interested in romance, so seeing this image of him with Sabrina, it’s a charming image, and got my curiosity.

But upon getting into the article/preview itself, I was "treated" to the first three images being three different covers for the issue.

Instant turn-off!

I hate that Archie got into the "variants game!" I’m sure they had been doing some here and there, but it was never so noticeable as it’s been the last year-plus with the "relaunch" of the various series. And aside from my usual complaints about variants, the very real anecdote from my own experience is having 1. been "interested in" checking out the new series (Archie #1) and 2. finding over 20 copies of the issue…and not one cover was the same. It was impossible to determine a "main" or "regular" or "standard" cover, because there were just simply too many covers, PERIOD.

Then there was the fact that they upped their pricing, jumping from being pretty much the "best value" to having nothing stand-out. It seemed that where Marvel and DC and the other "major publishers" were dealing in $2.99s and $3.99s and in-between… Archie was maintaining at $2.25 or $2.50. Any given issue would be better than DC/Marvel‘s best price, and thus a prime issue for impulse buying (and this is without even getting into the value of the digests!)

But at $3.99, a standard-size, standard-paper comic is NOT an "impulse" or "casual" buy for me, in general. There are the occasional exceptions, but those are quite rare!

And while it’s a matter for another post, in brief, I’ve held to my refusal to utilize Comixology directly for any digital comics purchases (even apparently avoiding a popular buy-1-get-1-free sale for Cyber Monday yesterday). (31 months now, I was NOT just mouthing off with an empty threat of quitting buying through them over dropping in-app purchasing on Apple devices!) But partially due to ill-will I hold toward Comixology, I’m wary of most digital comics purchasing, period. I’ve softened somewhat in that I’ll use the DC app (powered by/interacts with Comixology but allows in-app purchasing) and the IDW/TMNT one (does the same), but I’m not interested in umpteen different apps for buying digital comics, and I’m not going to buy digital comics on a website and then hassle with "translating" that into some sort of e-reader.

Additionally, while it’s great to have the option of locating a key back-issue or such through a publisher directly, it’s not feasible to me to buy individual issues from a publisher directly, unless they would offer free shipping. If I pay $3.99 for a comic and have to pay $3.99+ shipping and/or handling, you’ve DOUBLED the price of THAT ISSUE ALONE. I don’t like paying $4/issue, making it functionally an $8 issue does not begin to improve anything in my eyes. Even if the issue would be "free" the shipping cost still means I’m better off getting the issue(s) at a comic shop…assuming the shop has the issues stocked to begin with.

Perhaps I seem hypocritical in this, as I know that DC and Marvel and virtually every other publisher trades in ridiculous quantities of variants. In this case today, with the Jughead issue, what (I think) particularly set me off was the THREE covers. I can–will–do–mostly turn a blind eye to the existence of variants when there are "only 2" covers. I’ve been beaten into submission on those, and at least can often (yet NOT as often as I’d LIKE) tell which is the "main" cover and which is the variant and can flat-out IGNORE the variant.

But when there are 3 or more covers…it becomes that much MORE likely that I will be unable to get the cover that I actually want! If a shop orders 3-4 shelf copies and there are 2 covers, there’s a better chance there’ll be at least 1 copy of the cover that I am interested in over the others. 3 or more covers further dilutes this and makes it more likely that if I’m not THE first person getting a copy, there’ll be 2 or more copies of the issue, but NOT the cover that I actually want.

And that turns me off and fully discourages buying into the series or continuing with the series at all.

Given the easier availability of stuff from "the big two" and their content being what I’m primarily after, I also have to compromise more. When the smaller publishers or indie publishers pull those same "stunts," it’s a lot easier for me to be harsher and more pointed in my displeasure and avoid them entirely.

I have a nearly-30-year-history with Superman comics and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with Batman virtually on-par with both of those. Batman I’ve been very choosy on over the years, and even walked away from the Superman titles for over 3 years.

People love variants? Variants are essential to sales, to the continuation of a title? There’s no option to NOT deal in variants? They’re fun? They’re "bonus," or any other spin?

Fine–good on the publisher.

But I am an actual real-life example (particularly when calling stuff out in posts like this or comments on Twitter) of someone who is NOT happy with variants, does NOT enjoy them, for whom the chase and ‘game’ of variants is NOT fun, and who WILL flat-out drop a series…and has "dropped" ENTIRE PUBLISHERS over "variants" shenanigans (Valiant and Boom! Studios).

I get that many will complain but buy anyway. I get that I myself will make rare, occasional one-time/case-by-case exceptions. But as a general rule, I’m quick to drop or continue to just not buy stuff over seemingly insignificant things like variants.

Hey, the publisher is selling or banking on selling multiple copies of an issue to people.

SURELY one of those makes up for not selling any copy to me at all.

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Showing Off the Shelves: TMNT (November 2016)

Posted on November 28, 2016 by Walt

I’m showing off the latest configurations of "sub collections" on my shelves.

Here, today, are my TMNT and Usagi stuff. While not officially tied together, I’ve long associated Usagi Yojimbo with the TMNT stuff; and so they fit together well on a shelf. Though I’m basically maxed-out on this shelf now, so the Usagi stuff might end up getting moved to fit elsewhere before too long.

tmnt_shelves_late_november_2016

I’d jumped on the TMNT Ultimate Edition line as soon as it started, and "kept up" with it, including the surprise/addition of the 6th volume. Then I have the 1First graphic novel series, collecting the early Mirage stuff in color the first time. These were my initial introduction to the original/Mirage version of the characters, having had my start with the classic cartoon and the Archie-published TMNT Adventures.

After those we have stuff from Mirage itself over the years–first some of the generic collected volumes; then a bunch of the mid-2000s collected volumes up to the cgi-TMNT film just before Laird sold the property.

From there, the Archie edition of the original TMNT Adventures mini, collected; along with 4 of the 6 TMNT Classics Digest that reprinted the earlier TMNT Adventures issues; and then the current run of IDW‘s volumes collecting the TMNT Adventures run. From there, some other versions of the TMNT Adventures collections, the IDW TMNT hardcover, the 30th Anniversary Special and the 2012 & 2014 Annuals.

Finally, the first 4 Usagi Yojimbo mega-collections from Dark Horse.

I’d had a number of the earlier IDW TPBs of their TMNT series; but stopped with those as soon as I found out about the oversized hardcovers–and though I’m a couple volumes behind, my aim is to use THOSE for my "double-dipping" on the series. They’re the far better value, with about 3 paperbacks’ contents for about/slightly over the cost of 2.

I had at one point figured I’d be getting some of the various other large hardcovers IDW has been putting out for the various TMNT stuff…but they’re all different dimensions, and just don’t look like they go together that well, and thus are quite unattractive to me as a group of books.

tmnt_80s_toys_novemer_2016

Then, of course, there are the TMNT toys. While this is not the entirety of my TMNT toys collection…it is a full shelf’s worth, laid out for display at present.

Filed under: 2016 Non-Review posts, 2016 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

TMNT Revisited: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #9

Posted on November 25, 2016 by Walt

tmnt_adventures_revisited

tmntadventures009Codename: Chameleon

Plotted by: Steve Lavigne & Dean Clarrain
Written by: Dean Clarrain
Pencilled by: Jim Lawson
Inked & Lettered by: Gary Fields
Colored by: Barry Grossman
Cover: Steve Lavigne
Edited by: Scott Fulop
Managing Editor: Victor Gorelick
Published by: Archie Comics
Cover Date: March 1990
Cover Price: $1.00

raphael_mirage_micro_seriesThe cover of this issue has always been a bit distinctive to me…all the more in later years as I realized it was an homage piece to the cover of the Raphael one-issue Micro Series that originally introduced Casey Jones to the TMNT mythos in the Mirage-published books.

Five issues into this “new direction”–of all-new TMNT stories not rooted in the then-current cartoon or “original” Mirage continuity–and we again have our “Mutant of the Month” in a mostly standalone story. Knowing/remembering what these build to means that I say that in a positive light. It’s a bit formulaic, but it also means we’re getting a larger, expanded cast of characters to be involved as the series goes on, as well as said characters’ origins up-front and on-panel rather than having some mysterious figure that we’re left to wonder about until some later “big reveal” or such.

There’s also plenty of “meta knowledge” for me now, recognizing that these issues are from what would now be considered the “early days” of the TMNT property and what was going on behind the scenes at the time…like the creators on this book being given relatively free reign to do as they wanted and using characters they opted to use and so on…and to create/flesh out new characters both for the story and for the toy line, etc.

The story this issue focuses on a double-agent, code-named ‘Chameleon.’ He’s stolen some plans for for a secret super-weapon…and of course, that makes the news…which leads to Shredder wanting the plans, and sending Bebop and Rocksteady to find the agent. Said agent has conveniently decided to try hiding in/traveling via the sewers, so of course bumps into the turtles…while Bebop and Rocksteady have also taken to the sewers. Chameleon is taken when Shredder’s goons surprise the turtles with a Knucklehead robot (piloted by a Foot Soldier robot), and though he gives up the location of the plans, Shredder mutates him anyway…using mutagen and an actual chameleon. When he escapes and tries to retrieve the plans himself, he finds the turtles, Bebop, and Rocksteady in a standoff. Breaking it, he glows brightly and startling the goons, who shoot at him, causing a cave-in that allows Chameleon to escape with the plans, while trapping the mutants under the Knucklehead cutting off the turtles’ access to the room. We close on evidence that Chameleon has been changed internally as well as externally, setting him up for potential return appearances/adventures.

The writing on this issue continues with that certain “simplicity” I’ve been noting for awhile (and will probably quit touching on quite so blatantly moving forward). Yet it also includes quite a bit of depth when one really thinks about it. There’s plenty of room to wonder at the past adventures of the double agent, how it’s KNOWN he’s a DOUBLE-agent, and so on. Then there’s the fact he’s now a mutant, transformed against his will, and what that means for his ongoing life. Also delving into darker territory–we see the turtles contemplating that nemeses Bebop and Rocksteady might have been killed by the cave-in (or the unspoken notion of them suffocating while buried under the rubble). They’re obviously not HAPPY about it…though they don’t put any particular effort into looking for the bodies.

Lawson‘s back on the art for this issue, and it’s another one where I would not have recognized his art as his own were it not for the credits presented in the issue. I definitely like that, as the look is consistent ENOUGH that it doesn’t stand out here as radically different or anything. The overall linework seems fairly simple/minimal, which I notice in relation to plenty of other contemporary comics (TMNT and otherwise) but it works for the story, gets everything across, and there’s really no doubt what’s going on as everything is kept obvious.

This is far from being a favorite issue for me, though it’s not bad. If I didn’t know where the series was headed I might’ve enjoyed this more; as-is I’m eager to get to The Final Conflict and the Mutanimals and Invasion stuff.

Filed under: 2016 posts, 2016 Reviews, The '90s Revisited, TMNT Adventures Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

TMNT Revisited: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #8

Posted on November 24, 2016 by Walt

tmnt_adventures_revisited

tmntadventures008Wild Things

Plotted by: Dean Clarrain and Ryan Brown
Written by: Dean Clarrain
Penciled by: Ken Mitchroney
Inked by: Dan Berger
Colored by: Barry Grossman
Lettered by: Gary Fields
Cover: Steve Lavigne
Edits by: Scott Fulop, Victor Gorelick
Published by: Archie Comics
Cover Date: February 1990
Cover Price: $1.00

Returned to their proper time, Cudley the Cowlick has left the turtles on top of a building in the middle of a storm. Unbeknownst to any, his previous arrivals had opened a space/time hole that allowed a couple creatures from another dimension to Earth–a large humanoid bat-creature named Wingnut, and a giant mosquito creature named Screwloose. Together, the two have been hurling rocks at skylights, smashing them…and seeing the turtles, lob a rock at them as well. When they fly off, the turtles return to the sewers and home, only to learn that the trouble being stirred up by their new alien encounter.

Despite the storm, an Australian blimp was out and about, giving Wingnut something to pop on tv, prompting the turtles back into action with their own blimp. Which is also popped. Capturing the two, Wingnut cries and Screwloose pokes him, putting him to sleep for a moment. He explains to the turtles how the pair came to be like they are at present…including the fact that they have their own reason to be interested in battling Krang. Before much else can happen, Cudley reappears and takes the two, bound for Stump Asteroid despite the turtles’ questioning the (as they see it) kidnapping. With nothing else to do, the turtles again return home.

There’s something about this issue’s cover that really grabs me. And there’s almost a sense of deja vu or some such. This may have been one of the earliest covers I’d seen for the series, some time before I actually owned a copy myself. A friend had it, so I probably read it at his house, though it would have been a bit out of context. Whether this was before or after I actually “discovered” the series at all, I’m not sure. I don’t think I’ve seen any other covers done as homage to this, so it’s not iconic in that sense…it’s just an image I see that brings back fond memories and makes me smile, no matter how hokey the story itself seems.

I find myself reading the issue, this series, AS an adult. A 34-year-old re-reading comics possibly not read in 20 years, almost certainly not in the last 10-15, with an adult eye amidst reading contemporary TMNT comics from IDW and plenty of other comics certainly not AIMED AT a younger audience the way I believe these were.

So the stories seem rather simplistic and hokey, cheesey, and almost surfacey or shallow. I have no problem with four mutant turtles…but a huge space/time-travelling cow-head and giant humanoid bat with his giant mosquito-buddy give me pause…something’s not quite right with that.

And yet, despite all that…this works. Wingnut and Screwloose flying around breaking windows because surely Krang must be beneath one? That hardly makes sense except as some “out there” elevator pitch. But having recently seen the Turtle Power! documentary and that the entire (Mirage Studios) group was encouraged to contribute character ideas for the toys…this makes sense, and certainly works as a first appearance and initial foundation from which to build later characterization.

Also despite the hokiness, these characters’ background is actually rather deep. It’s glossed over and not particularly graphic, but Krang’s invasion of Huanu is full of potential for expanded story(ies) while working just fine here as a motivational factor for Wingnut and Screwloose, building Krang as that much more an interdimensional/intergalactic threat beyond simply some cliched villain on Earth.

For an 8-year-old, this seems well-paced and such…plenty of action and interaction with characters, giving and showing some detail while not delving terribly deep. “Reading between the lines” and thinking deeper on stuff as an adult, while the story itself is fairly silly, there’s a lot more depth just below the surface and begging for further development.

The art is good, and we’re back to Mitchroney. This issue has the appearance of an early TMNT Adventures issue, as it is, and the visuals get everything across that needs to be (even if not QUITE fitting the dialogue and gratuitous famous-buildings references).

I like the issue overall. Though the issue is #8, functionally it’s #4, and continues the seeming one-off stories throwing new characters into the mix and then being done with them by the end of the issue. As I came in with #25 and then the Winter 1992 collection of the Mighty Mutanimals mini, I never got to have the actual experience of reading these for the first time with no clue of where the characters would wind up…and that’s knowledge I can’t forget, so certainly colors my reading.

Filed under: 2016 posts, 2016 Reviews, The '90s Revisited, TMNT Adventures Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

TMNT Revisited: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #7

Posted on November 17, 2016 by Walt

tmnt_adventures_revisited

tmntadventures007Plotted by: Dean Clarrain and Ryan Brown
Written by: Dean Clarrain
Penciled by: Jim Lawson
Inked & Lettered by: Gary Fields
Colored by: Barry Grossman
Cover: Ryan Brown
Editors: Scott Fulop, Victor Gorelick
Published by: Archie Comics
Cover Date: December 1989
Cover Price: $1.00

Now, this is a trip down memory lane! Unlike contemporary comics that MIGHT have a “previously…” page or some kind of recap…this is absolutely from the days when any given issue might be someone’s first, and acknowledgement would be given to that with exposition catching one up, or some sort of recap. This issue takes a couple pages to recap recent events (TMNT Adventures #s 5 & 6 specifically) right to the final panel of the previous issue, picking up immediately from there.

The turtles are spit out by a cow head, in front of a couple of living tree-figures. We as readers (along with the turtles) are quickly introduced to Stump and Sling (the trees) and Cudley the Cowlick (the cow head). Cudley can travel through space and time, carrying others in his mouth. Stump and Sling run Intergalactic Wrestling from Sump Arena, and they’re presently on Stump Asteroid. The turtles are forced to wrestle an alien named Cryin’ Houn’, while learning that Leatherhead is still alive (also grabbed by Cudley) and he’s facing Ace Duck. The wrestling matches end with the turtles and Leatherhead victorious, and Stump and sling are forced to send the turtles home (Leatherhead elects to stay, feeling he has no place back on Earth). Cudley accidentally returns the turtles first to Earth 100 years in their future (giving them a glimpse of a world ravaged by environmental disaster. Interspersed through the issue we see Shredder getting yelled at by Krang for losing his one connection to the Turnstone, and then of Krang lamenting the situation and getting further frustrated that he tunes in too late to catch the day’s Intergalactic Wrestling match (and thus we as readers see that he just missed learning of the turtles’ and Leatherhead’s involvement).

The art here is pretty good…not exactly my ideal, but it works quite well. I doubt I would have recognized the work as Lawson‘s as it lacks the visual style I’ve gotten accustomed to from his work since the TMNT vol. 4 Mirage run through to present. There’s a definite simplicity to the visuals of the issue–linework as well as coloring–that gives this the definite look and feel of something aimed at kids. That’s not to say it’s bad, just that it differs greatly from the original Mirage series and does not come off as overly detailed. I do like the turtles’ wresting costumes, and offhand they remind me a bit of the “superhero turtles” seen in later Mirage stuff.

The story is also rather simple and straightforward even while introducing a cosmic element to this version of the turtles. Stump and Sling remind me quite a bit of the X-Men’s Mojo, except not nearly so dark/villainous. Cudley’s an interesting figure…weird, yet not a mutant; just an alien…and a bit of a deux ex machina on the space/time travel thing.

The issue continues to add to the world of this take on the turtles, moving yet further away from the cartoon, Mirage comics, and forging its own continuity with its own take on existing characters while introducing characters unique to this series.

I enjoyed the issue, and while a couple details stick with me, I’d forgotten other particulars. I was also very interested to note copyright information in the indicia, differentiating Man Ray, Cryin’ Houn, Turnstone, Mary Bones, Stump, Sling, and Cudley as being creator-owned characters and not Mirage stock. That’s mostly a topic for its own post, but my noticing it here definitely puts that at the forefront of my mind and I’ll be looking for such details in future issues with other characters I recall.

Filed under: 2016 posts, 2016 Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

TMNT Revisited: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #6

Posted on November 15, 2016 by Walt

tmnt_adventures_revisited

tmntadventures006Of Turtles and Stones and Mary Bones

Plot by: Ryan Brown and Dean Clarrain
Written by: Dean Clarrain
Pencils by: Ken Mitchroney
Inks by: Dave Garcia
Letters by: Gary Fields
Colors by: Barry Grossman
Edits by: Victor Gorelick
Published by: Archie Comics
Cover Date: November 1989
Cover Price: $1

I can’t remember for certain the first time I encountered the character of Mary Bones, but I suspect it was one of those “storybook” paperbacks put out ages back that adapted some comic stories…with a mix of memory and deja vu I feel like I learned of the Turnstone in one of those and noticed later that the comics seemed to be the source. I also have this voice of the character in my head that I can’t quite place…like I heard it as one of those comics on cassettes, and yet this was not part of either of the ones I was aware of prior to the latter part of 2014.

This issue continues the “new direction” for the TMNTA title and world-building by way of introducing new characters…this time, Leatherhead. For the timeframe I can’t imagine the character had not yet been introduced in the Mirage comics nor the cartoon. So this made for a third version of the character much different from the previous two.

We meet a man–Jess Harley–in New Orleans who sneaks into the home of an old witch named Mary Bones and steals a giant pearl. Making his way to New York to sell the object, he loses it into a sewer. On trying to retrieve it he’s confronted by the “mystical” Mary Bones herself who transforms him into a gator-man “…a Leatherhead.” Begging her to not leave him, Leatherhead falls into the latest of Shredder’s hideouts. Seizing the opportunity, Shredder lies and claims the turtles volunteered for transformation, and captured his accountant and real estate agent (Bebop and Rocksteady) and subjected them to Bones’ transformation. When they find and attack the turtles, the lie is revealed and in a rageful tantrum, Leatherhead accidentally destroys the bridge he’s on and plummets into the depths. Mary Bones appears to the turtles and informs them he’s ok, and that they’ll soon face The Final Conflict, before Raphael notices something shocking and the issue ends.

This done-in-one origin of Leatherhead works well for me though it’s a bit formulaic. Like Man Ray last issue, we’re briefly introduced to the human character, witness their transformation event, see them encounter Shredder and then by issue’s end leave, not actually joining up with or staying with the turtles.

The art’s nice and consistent with the last couple issues…I like the designs overall despite Leatherhead not looking QUITE as fearsome as he could if his teeth were drawn as pointed rather than rounded. Otherwise liked the visuals…especially the full-page premiere/establishing shot of Leatherhead.

Knowing what comes, I picked up immediately on some major foreshadowing and kinda enjoyed the “prophecy” with Mary Bones at the end, setting up a longer arc/plot point but not hijacking the core story for now.

There are still some elements of the story that are rather “convenient” and “plot-hole” like (Leatherhead falling into Shredder’s hideout, Jess going straight to New York, etc). But I’m willing to overlook them for having enjoyed this issue, and knowing there’s further development of Leatherhead imminent, and this being the start of a great run on the title and recalling how much I enjoyed later issues.

One could pretty easily pick this issue up without any prior experience with the series and enjoy it…the issue’s “cliffhanger” is hardly a cliffhanger and more a forced “hook” at the last second to try to interest one in coming back rather than closing off on an otherwise one-shot/single-issue story.

I believe next issue is where we’re introduced to the Intergalactic Wrestling and Stump Asteroid…and I look forward to getting into that.

Filed under: 2016 posts, 2016 Reviews, The '90s Revisited, TMNT Adventures Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

TMNT Revisited: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #5

Posted on November 11, 2016 by Walt

tmnt_adventures_revisited

tmntadventures005Something Fishy Goes Down

Plot by: Dean Clarrain & Ryan Brown
Written by: Dean Clarrain
Penciled by: Ken Mitchroney
Inked by: Dave Garcia
Lettered by: Gary Fields
Colored by: Barry Grossman
Edited by: Victor Gorelick
Published by: Archie Comics
Cover Date: October 1989
Cover Price: $1.00

Finally…while covering the original TMNT Adventures mini-series and the first few issues of this ongoing series, I’ve been eager to get to this issue–and beyond. This is where things truly start, in my mind, as this series diverges into its own continuity, away from the cartoon and Mirage comics and truly becomes its own thing.

We begin with the turtles at an aquarium, where they meet a worker who talks to them about the difference in rays and fish, before sending them out as the place is closing. Meanwhile we learn that Bebop and Rocksteady have lost a container of mutagen in the sewer. As Krang gives Shredder a dressing-down we shift scenes to find that the aquarium worker is doing some investigating on the side–disliking pollution and companies doing the polluting. He’s washed in a surge of mutagen-tainted water and disappears. The turtles decided to walk home along the shore and become targets for a torpedo from Shredder’s sub. However, they’re saved when something turns the torpedo around. The turtles find Shredder’s sub–parked for damages–end end up screwing up a mysterious figure’s plans to blow it up, as the figure doesn’t want to harm the turtles–only Shredder. While the turtles fight Bebop and Rocksteady and accidentally flood the sub, the creature–a large mutant ray calling himself Man Ray–confronts Shredder. Declining to kill the villain, Shredder gets away, and the wearied mutant returns to the water, wished well by the turtles. The day saved, the citizens of New York get their fireworks display unaware of Shredder’s plan to have destroyed the Statue of Liberty.

Man Ray (or “Ray Fillet” as the action figure was named) is probably my favorite Mutanimal character (oops, we don’t get that term for quite awhile yet)…certainly my favorite of the “new mutants” introduced in this series; if only because he was the first, and was part of the story in one of the earliest issues I’d read.

The story is solid enough if a bit “convenient” at points…but I enjoyed it a lot more than I did the adaptations of cartoon episodes. I’d totally forgotten about Man Ray having a brief appearance as a human, and would not picture the character like that otherwise. 

The art was a bit of a surprise to pay attention to–I was expecting a bigger change, but the art team’s mostly the same, which leads me to reconsider certain memories OF the art on this series, for better or worse (I think better).

The tone is “fun” yet a bit more heavy and serious than the cartoon and earlier issues…yet still far from the dark, gritty violence that could be found in the original Mirage comics.

As I recall, the next several issues also introduce new characters, as this creative team gets into some serious, fun world-building and differentiates this series from Mirage and the cartoon.

So long as one knows the “basics” of TMNT in general, this issue serves as a great #1 in my mind, and would recommend anyone interested in TMNT Adventures as a series start here rather than with anything earlier.

Filed under: 2016 posts, 2016 Reviews, The '90s Revisited, TMNT Adventures Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

TMNT Revisited: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #4

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Walt

tmnt_adventures_revisited

tmntadventures004The Incredible Shrinking Turtles Part 2

Script: Beth & Ken Mitchroney
Pencils: Ken Mitchroney
Inks: Dave Garcia
Letters: Gary Fields
Coloring: Barry Grossman
Cover: Ryan Brown
Editor: Victor Gorelick
Published by: Archie
Cover Date: July 1989
Cover Price: $1.00

This issue resumes from the previous, with Shredder holding a shrunken Empire State Building. Now having shrunk a number of buildings, he presents these to Krang as proof he is worthy of having his Foot-bots returned to him…Krang disagrees. Baxter chimes in with a turtle-tracking device, and Shredder sends him after the turtles. The turtles, meanwhile, have been dealing with things being much bigger than they’re used to, and the trials that come along with that. Escaping sewer dangers they wind up in open water, where Baxter nabs them. Placed in a specimen jar, they’re presented to Krang, and Shredder prepares to smash the miniaturized turtles. Meanwhile, Splinter and April have been stuck in traffic, but conveniently burst onto the scene (Splinter having “sensed” his students nearby and directed April to this place). While Splinter and Shredder fight, the turtles point the crystal fragment out to April, who retrieves it and holds it near them. None know how to “turn it on” but it does its thing on its own, and the turtles are restored to normal size, bursting free from their jar. As it shatters, Donnie’s bo is flung at a machine, saving Splinter. Shredder and Baxter escape with the fragment, and the turtles return home. Reflecting on their adventure, the turtles are presented with miniature pizzas, and the news that everything is back to normal.

Once more, plot-holes abound. I particularly have problems with the turtles’ escape–I can only assume they would’ve been killed WHILE growing in the jar. And the convenience of the bo flying away just right at the exact moment to shut down the machine about to kill Splinter…highly implausible. Perhaps even moreso, though: what the heck happened with the shrunken buildings? The turtles failed to stop Shredder from getting away, failed to retrieve the crystal fragment…and I hardly think Shredder and Baxter would feel generous enough to re-place and re-grow the buildings without the turtles providing intimidating incentive. Part of my problem with this is knowing that this functionally concludes this short ‘run’ on the title, and that the plot point of the shrunken/stolen buildings is (as I recall) never touched on again.

This issue adapts the 2nd half of the Incredible Shrinking Turtles episode, and while not horrible, is a little less “fun” than the previous issue. I blame that on the plot-holes glaring at me far, far more here than in reading #3. This seems a faithful adaptation of the episode, to the point that I have to wonder if everything would have come across without having seen the episode and only reading this issue.

The art is consistent with the previous issue, which obviously makes sense given the creative team carries over from the previous issue. I like the art as it is different from the cartoon and doesn’t have the feel of “trying to be” the cartoon. The characters look uniquely comic-booky while being perfectly recognizable and fitting the story and all that.

We have a change in cover art, moving from the usual Eastman/Laird/Lavigne group to Ryan Brown…a credit I had to look up as it’s not provided in the issue and I couldn’t find it on the cover. The image is a lot more cartoon-ish and doesn’t quite fit the interior, though it dos better than the previous covers with a similar visual style. It’s nothing I particularly like, though I don’t not like it. It just…is.

Despite not disliking this issue, I’m glad to be through it, and ready to dive into the rest of the series. In its own way, this is like the conclusion of a 7-issue mini-series, with next issue–#5–serving (to me) as the TRUE beginning of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures, with a creative team that leaves the cartoon behind and tells all-new original stories of the turtles, introducing new mutants and building out a great cast and “universe.”

Re-reading these past few issues–the original 3-issue mini and these 4–I do have a bit of nostalgia for the cartoon, and found myself “hearing” some of the voices in my head as I read. Not a bad thing. Still…other than being artifacts of the time, of being a non-video/VHS way to “experience” the story for kids who love the cartoon, I have very little interest in this issue or its predecessors, and one is truly NOT missing out to skip over them altogether.

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TMNT Revisited: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #3

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Walt

tmnt_adventures_revisited

tmntadventures003The Incredible Shrinking Turtles Part 1

Adaptation: Beth & Ken Mitchroney
Pencilling: Ken Mitchroney
Inking: Dave Garcia
Lettering: Gary Fields
Coloring: Barry Grossman
Cover: Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Steve Lavigne
Editor: Victor Gorelick
Published by: Archie
Cover Date: July 1989
Cover Price: $1.00

Straight away, I think this is probably the most “fun” I’ve had re-reading any of these issues so far. The cover image is of course familiar to me–both from simply seeing it through the years as well as being an obvious “Mirage” piece, certainly a large influence of Eastman. The coloring–with all the green–is a little boring, but I am a fan of thick borders around an image…there’s just something about it that works for me, so overall I do like the cover.

I like the interior art quite a bit. Mitchroney keeps a certain “fun” feel to the visuals–and the characters recognizable–while bringing a slightly different style that hasn’t been seen in the Archie issues til this. I think it’s that the turtles look like comic characters here, MEANT FOR comics, rather than just being drawn to look like the tv show. The rest of the characters hold a consistent look to previous issues, but work well to me.

The story is a straight up adaptation of the first part of the cartoon episode, but I like it here. We find the turtles working out and see them interacting when a spaceship crashes in a lake right near where the turtles were hanging out (mighty convenient, that). The turtles leap in to see if there are any survivors, and pull an alien out. The alien references an “Eye of Sarnath” and gives them a device to track the Eye. Shredder (who EXTREMELY CONVENIENTLY has been watching from within a nearby bush) decides he must have the Eye. Later, the turtles are on the hunt, as is Shredder–now having brought Baxter Stockman along. The first piece of the Eye is found on a garbage barge, and while the turtles find it first, Shredder’s right there to take it from them. They fight–Shredder defeating the turtles–and then the piece activates, shrinking the turtles. They escape to the sewers and Splinter enlists April. Before those two can act, they hear a news bulletin about the Empire State Building being shrunk and race to the scene. Already at the scene, Baxter (in a fake Police uniform) takes the shrunken building. Shortly, at Shredder’s hideout we see the villain preparing to use the building as proof of the Eye’s power to convince Krang to send him his foot soldiers.

As usual, there’s a lot crammed into a single issue, though this is thankfully less compressed than the original mini-series. Though the end isn’t much of a cliffhanger, it’s an ok breaking point to me (at least for my not yet having re-read the next issue nor rewatched the actual episode this is based on). There are some monstrous plotholes throughout the issue–something I blame on the simplicity of the cartoon this is adapted from. Despite those, as said above, this issue was a lot more fun to read than the previous five, and I look forward to getting to the second half, and maybe even re-watching the cartoon episode for good measure.

These first few issues had the look of being two-part adaptations of episodes…which could have carried this into the mid-20s on issues if the formula was kept of splitting each episode across two issues. As the first of two parts and the nature of the issues, one doesn’t really need to have read the last couple episodes to “get” this…just know the basics of the turtles and enjoy a “random” story in the (for obvious reasons) style of the ’80s cartoon.

Skipping YEARS ahead (comics-wise) I recall that this story comes back into play, which I think lends to my enjoyment of this issue…particularly with my eagerness to get back into the Clarrain/Allan run.

On the whole…nothing overly special to this issue in and of itself. No particular memories associated with this story beyond where it plays into things that story around #47. But I think it’s safe to say that of these early issues, this one’s my favorite yet!

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TMNT Revisited: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #2

Posted on October 19, 2016 by Walt

tmnt_adventures_revisited

tmntadventures002Return of the Shredder (part 2 of 2)

Written, Drawn, and Lettered by: Dave Garcia
Adapted from Scripts by: Christy Marx and David Weiss
Colored by: Barry Grossman
Editor: Victor Gorelick
Cover by: Eastman, Laird, Lavigne
Published by: Archie/Mirage
Cover Price: $1.00
Cover Date: May 1989

This issue gives us the second part of the adaptation of Return of the Shredder. There’s a lot going on in the issue as it zips through the second half of the episode. Shredder breaks Baxter Stockman out of the asylum he’s being held in and recruits him to build the greatest rat-catcher ever–which he does, capturing Splinter while the turtles are out. The turtles, meanwhile, find and take down the fake turtles gang and discover a message from Shredder. This leads them to a confrontation with the villain as he stands by with Splinter ctied to a wall and a huge battering ram situated to swing down once its rope is cut. Baxter bursts in with his modified forklift/rat-trap and provides the distraction the turtles need to rescue their master. Shredder escapes, taking Baxter with him, and tries to explain the failure to Krang. Back at April’s office, we see her boss’s fling end, and the turtles have a meta-moment in the lair watching her news report on the capture of the Crooked Ninja Turtle Gang.

Story-wise, I’m still not impressed with this. I hold that for me, at least, looking back across 20+ years–there’s little characterization here and most of what I “know” is experiential rather than learned from the issue. There are plot-holes a truck (or giant rat-catcher) could be driven through, and things seem overly simplified in their way. I also continue to lay the bulk of the blame for that on this being an adaptation, and the material it had to work from (to say nothing of the fact that this is aimed more at the audience of the ’80s cartoon series, and my present-day self is certainly far from being the target audience). That said, the adaptation is pretty faithful to the cartoon, enough so that I can “hear” the characters’ voices as I read.

Visually, the issue is in a middle ground somewhere. The art is solid, good, but not exactly a favorite. All the characters are recognizable except April’s coworker Irma, who just looks significantly “off” from her appearance in the cartoon. Beyond that my main issue with the art is primarily that it doesn’t match the cartoon exactly, and the differences are very noticeable.

Overall, the issue simply “is what it is,” the second of a two-part adaptation of a single episode. Which is far preferable to the “ultra-compressed” nature of the mini-series. While this is still compressed by contemporary standards, it fits well enough into its place in history.

My copy of this issue is in fairly rough shape–a bit yelled, rough edges, the cover doesn’t quite line up with the pages. The cover image works well, though, and is far superior to any of the interior panels of the turtles facing Baxter.

I’m looking forward to the next issue, as it’s a story I haven’t read or particularly thought about in quite awhile…plus, I’m looking forward to getting into the “new stories” that made me love this series, beginning with #5.

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