Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series, Volume 1

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series #1-4

by Brian Lynch (Writer), Tom Waltz (Writer), Franco Urru (Illustrator)

Following in the tradition of the original TMNT micro-series comes four stand-alone tales centering on each Turtle brought to you by writer Brian Lynch and artists Franco Urru, Andy Kuhn, Ross Campbell, and Valerio Schiti.

Collects: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series #1-4.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Action

104 pages, Paperback

First published June 13, 2012

About the author

Brian Michael Lynch is an American film and comic book writer.

Reviews

[Jayson · Rating 4 out of 5]

(A-) 81% | Very Good
Notes: Exposition of mentalities and vivid personalities, from grave, unbowed, to laugh-out-loud, in art and tone pluralities.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four single issue stories, each focusing on one of the Turtles. I like how the stories reflect their personalities. The Raphael issue features the first appearances of Bebop, Rocksteady, and Alepex in the IDW universe. In general the art is really good, better than the main series. The only exception is Andy Kuhn whose art is awful. The Leonardo issue is exceptionally good, particularly if you like epic fight sequences.

[A.J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I reviewed each of these individually, and they are a pretty hit-or-miss package of stories, with each turtle getting their own respective “microseries”, which is just a one-shot. All set between issues of the first two volumes of the IDW run, these all just fill out some story gaps and gives us some insight into each of the characters. All the stories are by Brian Lynch, and they are, as mentioned before, pretty hit or miss, but the art is good for the most part across the board. Recommended to anyone interested in the new IDW TMNT books, but these honestly aren’t necessary to enjoying the ongoing. Reviews for each issue is below.

Raphael Microseries

Michelangelo Microseries

Donatello Microseries

Leonardo Microseries

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first four of eight one-shots focusing on the TMNT and their supporting characters are collected here, with each issue in this trade focusing on a different Turtle, all written by Brian Lynch.

We start with Raphael; this issue's set between issues 4 and 5 of the main book, so we get to see his adjustment period as he discovers that he has a family, and how that affects him as well as his friendship with Casey Jones. Franco Urru's art is really solid here, the best of the volume with heavy shadows and really weighty visuals.

Mikey's issue is clever, highlighting what makes him special by contrasting him with his brothers with a nice little pay-off at the end. Andy Kuhn seems to be channelling Mike Mignola, which is probably a good thing for fans of his, but I'm a noted disliker of that really simple style.

Donatello heads to a tech conference and a face-off with Baxter Stockman in his issue, which is fun but not particularly memorable. The 'villain' of the piece is basically Doc Brown, which I'd have liked to see explored more though. Valerio Schiti's art is really nice though, a nice fine line between realism and the old Turtle cartoons.

And finally Leonardo's issue is probably the most important, set between issues 8 and 9 of the main book as he and the others search for the kidnapped Splinter, only for Leo to run into a masked ninja with metal hand guards whose identity is probably obvious to everyone who isn't a hero in a half shell. The art here is by Ross Campbell, who veers closer to Kuhn than anyone else in the book, but is still a solid third place for me personally.

A little visually inconsistent, these four entries into the Turtles canon range from essential to forgettable, but are all around good time.

[Ondra Král · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aby toho nebylo málo, hlavní řadu doplňují speciály zaměřené na konkrétní postavy. Každý má jiného scénáristu/kreslíře a na rozdíl od vedlejších sérií třeba u Marveu je tohle povinná četba - události se promítají do hlavní řady, takže hezkej business model.

Kvalita dost kolísá. Raphael nabízí prakticky stejné myšlenkové pochody jako měl v prvním booku, ale aspoň představuje novou postavu. Mikey s Donem mají totálně přepálený příběhy, u kterých jsem měl pocit, že koukám na epizodu animáku (to nemyslím v dobrým) a Leo je vlastně předělávka starýho Leonardova speciálu od Mirage. Meh.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are 4 different tales each focusing on a different turtle
1- We have Raphael teaming up with Casey until they encounter an Arctic fox named "Alopex" whose a dupe and was gonna trick him but he finds out quickly and fight
2-starring Michaelangelo as he goes to some halloween party and turns out some thieves mistake him as part of their crew to steal something and there he also meets Kara, the cat lady. Its a fun issue and the art is gorgeous and like Mikey is on full swing.
3- starring Donatello, the science geek who goes on a science fair and meets a guy named Harold whose his rival online and like they are in a story where Dr Stockman wants his gravity gun for himself and they banter yes but in the end defeat him and have a fun knock off!
4-starring Leonardo, the leader and its upto him to rescue Master Splinter and this book is so much fun, him vs ninjas and is pure action filled read!
Perfect series to understand the turtles!!

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

The new TMNT comic is a fresh take on the classic franchise with plenty of references to both the original comics and the classic 80s cartoon. This micro collection features 4 separate stories dedicated to each of the Turtles. Michelangelo and Donatello get the most enjoyable stories in my opinion but all four are worth reading.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very quick and enjoyable read. It was fun to see the turtles separately. Might help me keep them straight when my littlest kid wants us to play turtles. :-)

[Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a set of four stories, each about one turtle. I liked checking out this newer take on the turtles.

[Budd · Rating 4 out of 5]

each issue focuses on one character.

[sixthreezy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Michelangelo issue is particularly hilarious, of course!

[Seth Grindstaff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed Volume 2 of this series more.

The Leo story had one moving moment, when the fight scene paralleled a past scene with his mother. The rest of it was a poorly staged fight scene with a poor interior monologue.

The Raph story includes Alopex, which I enjoy usually, but she was portrayed as a one-dimensionally evil villain, which made her character much less interesting. It was fun seeing Bebob and Rocksteady in human form.

One standout for me was the fun Mikey story, which felt like a espionage/Ocean's 11 genre type drama. It had no connection to the main TMNT series, but it was fun to read all the twists and turns.

The best story was Don's because it wasn't really his story--it was Harold's. Harold's has little character development within the ongoing series. I felt like he just showed up. This story gives us his much needed back story. It's not necessarily a well written story, but important to the main series and to Harold's character (much like Fugitoid's story in the next volume).

All in all, little is added to the turtles' characters in this series. It's hard to believe they were all written by the same author. Each is written so differently.

The art in each book was unique and drawn by a different artist. I like them all but Campbell's art.

[Rihards Husko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four decent stories are held back by some artistic choices.

The first collected volume of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles micro-series is a collection of 4 stories, each focusing on one of the brothers' solo adventures. While the stories themselves are enjoyable enough, providing a little more insight into how each of the turtles thinks and acts, as well as lightly tying into the ongoing plot of the series, I just did not like them quite as much as I wanted to. Certainly part of that was the art - each issue was pencilled by a different artist, and I honestly wasn't too fond of most of them.

Make no mistake - fans of the reptilian quartet will get what is advertised. Just don't come expecting a lot of substance, and know that you might not enjoy the packaging.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. Raphaels was a good look into his personality, I loved his inner monologue when he realized he'd been tricked. Mikeys was adorable, with good scratchy flat art. His first party! Dons had references to jack kirby and other old tmnt stuff. Finally, Leo's was the only one I'd previously read. Sophie Campbells art is so gorgeous, and it's very visceral.
I love these type of stories, they really captured the essence of each turtle really well, in a wide variety of stories.

[Vladimír · Rating 4 out of 5]

Štyri príbehy o korytnačích bratoch, z ktorých každý je úplne iný. Skvelý spôsob ak chcete TMNT lepšie spoznať a zorientovať sa v tom, kto zohráva v tíme akú úlohu. Raph priniesol na scénu nového zlosyna, Mike bol dostatočne uletený, Dony sa predviedol ako technologický blázon a najkomplexnejší príbeh mal asi Leo. Funguje ako tie-in k hlavnej sérii, ale nie je to nič esenciálne nutné. Skôr je to zaujímavý doplnok.

[Taylor K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is essential to read if you want to get the full experience of the main TMNT IDW series that is currently ongoing. Not only does it show how some characters meet for the first time but it's also used as a way to give a better personality to our lovable heroes as the main focus of this micro series volume is the four brothers themselves.

Highly recommend for any turtle fan.

[NerdyReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked this volume, its nice to have extra stories to go along with the main series plot line. I didnt care for the Mike story, however, the art was atrocious and the story was that of something youd find in a cartoon show for a 6 year old... The Leonardo story at the end was a great example of things Id like to read about.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not up to date on the current series, so the references to what was going on outside this comic went over my head, but otherwise, an excellent set of solo stories for each turtle. I like the Raphael and Michelangelo stories best, but they were all good fun.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

These one shots really help to cement in the reader’s mind the personality of each turtle. Brian Lynch’s writing is excellent, and on the whole the art in these four issues is better than IDW’s main TMNT series.

[Daniel Ballard · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you have a team book, it’s hard for everyone to have a chance to shine, so having these little chapters (interspersed in the reading order) focusing on each brother is really nice. Takes a second to breath and really get to know these guys.

[Dev S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stepping sideways, a look at the individual turtles giving us an opportunity to see their individual personalities develop in this series of one shots.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

TMNT Micro Series

This was a quick read but worth the time. The artwork and the individual story of each turtles were great. on to the next TMNT book.

[brianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

These definitely filled in some of the missing information in the main comic.

[Enrique]

FREEEE

[Cyril · Rating 4 out of 5]

all 4 stories were fun and engaging enough while being connected to the main story
3.75 stars

[Matt Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jot so sure on these as the main series. Still alright but not as good artwork

[Jon M]

I read one part of the micro series for free but the rest cost money. The one I read was Donatello's story and it was amazing.

If you know Donatello, then you'd know that he loves science. He's constantly building machines and inventing stuff, but he also likes going online. He visits a lot of different forums when one night he hears about a science convention and decides to go. So he does, wearing his trench-coat and a bowler hat, wandering the huge building that's flooded with activity. He meets some old guy who made objects fly around the room, and quickly gets disqualified. Security comes and brings him upstairs, but Donatello senses something fishy. So he follows them.

They go upstairs where they find Baxter Stockman. He used the 4 turtles as lab experiments, and now he wants the old man, Mr Lillja, to find the turtles' blood.

"We're slightly more than that. We want the top-notch technical talent and that is you. Bottom line? I believe in you. And I want to bring your undeniable expertise into my deploy. And your first assignment? Find me a turtle."
Not liking this at all.
"A...turtle?"
"The blood of a giant, mutated turtle, to be exact. This device will assist you in that effort-It is designed to scan and detect the trace DNA of such a specimen."
I need to get out of here. Like, right now.
"Mutated...what? I'm not following."
Simply, I wish to hire you to use this tracer-and your own fantastic inventions-to return to me what was lost."

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

The next set of Turtles comics my friend let me borrow are the micro-series volumes, which I think technically fall a little later in the actual run but contain some great character building and depth.

This volume focuses on the four brothers, each getting his own issue centering on who they are and what kind of lessons they need in order to become more fully who they are. Raphael’s deals with his first encounter with the artic fox mutant Alopex while out with Casey, which is also my first time reading about Alopex. I adore her character design and her attitude, so I’m definitely looking forward to seeing her in the normal run. The art in that issue is my favorite out of the four, and I loved the details and lightening used. I would say Raph and Leo’s stories are more straight forward both in plot and motivation. Mikey and Donnie are the ones with the fun stories, both dealing with getting out and doing things otherwise closed off to them. They are also the two with the most “feels”, and my favorite pair out out of the four stories.

Depsite this only holding four issues and dealing in what amounts to short stories, I really liked it. They’re not “important” to the overall storyline, but it’s definitely nice to get to know each character better before I get into the meat of the story.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writer Brian Lynch shines a spotlight on each of the Ninja Turtles in this IDW collection. The opening chapter deals with Raphael and his initial encounter with the fox mutant Alopex, as the bad boy turtle faces issues of family and trust. Michelangelo uses a discarded wristband to enter a New Year's Eve museum party, only to find himself in the middle of a diamond robbery in the second story. The third segment sees Donatello sneak into a science convention, coming face to face with his online adversary as they encounter rogue scientist Baxter Stockman. Finally, Leonardo takes on a mob of Foot clan ninjas during his hunt for Splinter. The delight of this collection is to see how four different artists interpret one writer's stories. The dark artwork from Franco Urro paints a bleak picture of the gritty Raph, while the cartoony style from Andy Huhn fits perfectly with the offbeat Mikey tale. Valerio Schiti's art is crisp and clean, which is suitable for Donnie as well. The only misstep is the cluttered and rough art of Ross Campbell, which does not resemble the warrior Leo; it does hearken towards his eventual team-up with Shredder, which may be why it was used here. Explore the micro-series collection for a dose of Turtle Power!

[Victor · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a standalone title this book is nice for highlighting each turtle's personality and mentality. It serves a good structure for character development. As part of the series, it really helps break into the action by shining the spotlight on to separate characters and delving into who they are. Now, each story isn't long enough to really go into every part of them but it does a good job in showing us who they are individually.

I read volumes 1 and 2 of the series first before going into this. I don't have a particular recommendation on how I think it should be read, but technically I did read out of order so if you really want to be as cohesive as possible, I would say check out the chronology of the stories first. Either way these stories fit in well enough for me and I am looking forward to reading the other micro series! It was a good read!

- V.