Continue your journey following the early exploits of the TMNT in this collection of stories from the original Mirage comics!
As the 1980s transitioned into the ’90s, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles began to establish themselves as pop culture mainstays. This compendium collects Mirage Studios’ issues #15–23, #27–29, and #31–37 of the ongoing series plus Tales of the TMNT #6 and 7, and the short story "The Ring." Experience important storylines in TMNT history like “Return to New York” as well as one off issues from a host of creative talent.
Joining co-creators Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman are contributors Ryan Brown, Jim Lawson, Mark Martin, Eric Talbot, Mark Bodé, Michael Dooney, Steve Murphy, A.C. Farley, Jan Strnad, Richard Corben, Michael Zulli, Rich Hedden, Tom McWeeney, Rick McCollum, and Bill Anderson.
This sophomore compendium works as an anthology collecting some one-shot stories and short miniseries by different authors and artists. The underground comics vibe is strong, and there is some experimentalism here, but not always for the better. Many stories are kinda strange, and some get outright bizarre and difficult to fully comprehend; see the ones with the weird time-travelling girl as a perfect example. But there are some genuelly great moments too, and interesting ideas full of fantasy with mutant monsters, alternative takes on the titular ninja turtles, Egyptian mysteries and even undead terrorists.
While the book have some great stories, there are others that are barely readable. It is fun to see where the Turtles come from and you will get some beautifully drawn/told stories. Just be prepared to read some much less memorable tales.
There’s no coherent storyline that ties any of this together. It’s more of a collection of random stories. Nothing really stuck out except the story of Shredder coming back and that particular battle. The rest just seemed to go all over the place (quite literally with the time traveling issues).