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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #3
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Vol. 3
The all-ages TMNT action continues in this collection of TMNT Adventures! Enjoy classic Turtles tales like "Codename: Chameleon," "Going Down?," "White Light," and "The Lost World."
122 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 31, 2017
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures, Volume 3, collecting Issues #9-12 of the all-ages Archie series, prefigures another seismic shift from its cartoon counterpart; one in which the series would undertake long-term story arcs in lieu of episodic closure and circular dramaturgy. Volume 2 had undoubtedly hit a snag with its string of one-shot planches and self-contained characters—and not to mention the overly simplistic and shallow storytelling that so often gave way to gaps in narrative logic—but this latest collection from IDW illustrates the efforts by Dean Clarrain and fellow writers to take the series in a decidedly deeper and more serious direction.
The artwork alternates between Jim Lawson’s quirky, stylized technique in Issues #9 & #11 to Ken Mitchroney’s charming and jovial approach in Issues #10 & #12. These two artists couldn’t be more different, and it’s unmistakably clear as one reads these stories back-to-back. Each of Mitchroney’s panels looks amazingly like individual cells from a big-budget animated feature, and younger readers would most certainly favor his softer artwork over Lawson’s. On the other hand, Jim Lawson’s work, which frequently oscillates from detailed to sparse with occasional ebbs in quality, better lends itself to the series' increasingly mature stories. Moreover, the man deserves credit for his consistently badass depictions of the Shredder.
The first of the four collected tales, “Codename: Chameleon”, continues the mutant-of-the-month stories that comprised Volume 2. Here, a well-dressed double agent with a characteristic lazy eye has stolen classified weapons plans from the U.N. The dastardly Shredder covets these plans for himself and, after dispatching Rocksteady and Bebop to capture the dapper mercenary, transforms the spy into a man-sized Chameleon. Using his newfound camouflage abilities the Chameleon escapes, but his harrowing ordeal compels him to destroy the weapons plans for the betterment of mankind. The story is very cut-and-dry and makes no attempt to conceal that fact. The Chameleon character is grossly undeveloped, thereby making his final altruistic act seem baseless and confusing.
“Going Down?” serves as environmentalist fodder as we see Rocksteady and Bebop dumping toxic waste into the sewers, a thoughtless act that has unintended genetic consequences for a large planarian worm swimming amidst the tepid waters. Weeks later, acting on Splinter’s counsel, the Turtles decide to take an active stance against Krang. Whilst in search of the Shredder’s hideout, the Turtles are accosted by an oversized planarian Wyrm and a mutated cockroach-man (formerly a pest exterminator who was unwittingly exposed to the Shredder’s poorly stored mutagen). With its overly contrived plot-points and unconvincing monsters, this story reeks of wasted potential. However, it redeems itself for its rat-teeming segue into the subsequent issue, and the further establishing of Krang as a legitimate warlord as opposed to Shredder’s bickering cohort, and some genuine brotherly interaction between the Turtles—specifically, when a smug Raphael basks in Splinter’s approval of his (Raph) keeping the black wrestling outfit for its strategic value, much to Leonardo’s obvious jealousy. One can’t help but appreciate those little touches.
In “White Light”, the writers thankfully deviate from the hokey one-offs and intellectually-offensive dialogue. Trapped beneath a pile of rubble, Bebop and Rocksteady notice a blinding light before they're spirited away by four Roswell-type aliens. As the story proper ensues, a plague of rats herds the Turtles to the kingdom of the enigmatic Ha’ntaan, better known as the Rat King. The murky monarch points them in the Shredder's direction, where the quartet encounters a formidable Super Foot Soldier. The Turtles are then apprehended by the Sons of Silence and held in suspended animation. As Shredder & Co. gloat over their victory, it proves short-lived when another player enters the fray. My favorite of the four stories, “White Light” really showcases the series’ mythology and sets the stage for the so-called “Final Conflict.” While the use of the Rat King may seem gratuitous to some readers, I applaud the writers’ decision to have Leonardo engage Ha'ntaan in a civil dialogue that ends in a peaceful yet suspicious resolution as opposed to another epic throw-down. Nice to know that Splinter's taken the time to educate his reptilian pupils about the fine art of diplomacy! Jim Lawson’s unique style has begun to grow on me, particularly with his wonderfully creepy depiction of the Rat King, whose appearance in the series is fleeting but leaves a lasting impression.
In “The Lost World”, Volume 3’s concluding issue, the tubular terrapins are rescued by endearing warlord Cherubae (the true form of bayou witch Mary Bones) and bequeathed a campfire account of Krang’s berserker assaults on other planets and of the Turnstone’s true power. But when Cherubae is taken hostage and the Turnstone lost on a devastated planet, the Turtles find themselves in a race against the Shredder to recover the misplaced orb and restore order to the cosmos. But they’ll need help. The big-stakes endgame coupled with a tense cliffhanger, the surprising return of many familiar faces, the merging of various elements from earlier issues into a cohesive story—and let’s not forget Rocksteady’s poetic dream sequence that lends greater depth to his character—collectively denotes the series’ vigorous attempts at more sophisticated storytelling.
The artwork alternates between Jim Lawson’s quirky, stylized technique in Issues #9 & #11 to Ken Mitchroney’s charming and jovial approach in Issues #10 & #12. These two artists couldn’t be more different, and it’s unmistakably clear as one reads these stories back-to-back. Each of Mitchroney’s panels looks amazingly like individual cells from a big-budget animated feature, and younger readers would most certainly favor his softer artwork over Lawson’s. On the other hand, Jim Lawson’s work, which frequently oscillates from detailed to sparse with occasional ebbs in quality, better lends itself to the series' increasingly mature stories. Moreover, the man deserves credit for his consistently badass depictions of the Shredder.
The first of the four collected tales, “Codename: Chameleon”, continues the mutant-of-the-month stories that comprised Volume 2. Here, a well-dressed double agent with a characteristic lazy eye has stolen classified weapons plans from the U.N. The dastardly Shredder covets these plans for himself and, after dispatching Rocksteady and Bebop to capture the dapper mercenary, transforms the spy into a man-sized Chameleon. Using his newfound camouflage abilities the Chameleon escapes, but his harrowing ordeal compels him to destroy the weapons plans for the betterment of mankind. The story is very cut-and-dry and makes no attempt to conceal that fact. The Chameleon character is grossly undeveloped, thereby making his final altruistic act seem baseless and confusing.
“Going Down?” serves as environmentalist fodder as we see Rocksteady and Bebop dumping toxic waste into the sewers, a thoughtless act that has unintended genetic consequences for a large planarian worm swimming amidst the tepid waters. Weeks later, acting on Splinter’s counsel, the Turtles decide to take an active stance against Krang. Whilst in search of the Shredder’s hideout, the Turtles are accosted by an oversized planarian Wyrm and a mutated cockroach-man (formerly a pest exterminator who was unwittingly exposed to the Shredder’s poorly stored mutagen). With its overly contrived plot-points and unconvincing monsters, this story reeks of wasted potential. However, it redeems itself for its rat-teeming segue into the subsequent issue, and the further establishing of Krang as a legitimate warlord as opposed to Shredder’s bickering cohort, and some genuine brotherly interaction between the Turtles—specifically, when a smug Raphael basks in Splinter’s approval of his (Raph) keeping the black wrestling outfit for its strategic value, much to Leonardo’s obvious jealousy. One can’t help but appreciate those little touches.
In “White Light”, the writers thankfully deviate from the hokey one-offs and intellectually-offensive dialogue. Trapped beneath a pile of rubble, Bebop and Rocksteady notice a blinding light before they're spirited away by four Roswell-type aliens. As the story proper ensues, a plague of rats herds the Turtles to the kingdom of the enigmatic Ha’ntaan, better known as the Rat King. The murky monarch points them in the Shredder's direction, where the quartet encounters a formidable Super Foot Soldier. The Turtles are then apprehended by the Sons of Silence and held in suspended animation. As Shredder & Co. gloat over their victory, it proves short-lived when another player enters the fray. My favorite of the four stories, “White Light” really showcases the series’ mythology and sets the stage for the so-called “Final Conflict.” While the use of the Rat King may seem gratuitous to some readers, I applaud the writers’ decision to have Leonardo engage Ha'ntaan in a civil dialogue that ends in a peaceful yet suspicious resolution as opposed to another epic throw-down. Nice to know that Splinter's taken the time to educate his reptilian pupils about the fine art of diplomacy! Jim Lawson’s unique style has begun to grow on me, particularly with his wonderfully creepy depiction of the Rat King, whose appearance in the series is fleeting but leaves a lasting impression.
In “The Lost World”, Volume 3’s concluding issue, the tubular terrapins are rescued by endearing warlord Cherubae (the true form of bayou witch Mary Bones) and bequeathed a campfire account of Krang’s berserker assaults on other planets and of the Turnstone’s true power. But when Cherubae is taken hostage and the Turnstone lost on a devastated planet, the Turtles find themselves in a race against the Shredder to recover the misplaced orb and restore order to the cosmos. But they’ll need help. The big-stakes endgame coupled with a tense cliffhanger, the surprising return of many familiar faces, the merging of various elements from earlier issues into a cohesive story—and let’s not forget Rocksteady’s poetic dream sequence that lends greater depth to his character—collectively denotes the series’ vigorous attempts at more sophisticated storytelling.
February 17, 2019
In this episode, we meet more mutants, and go searching for the Turnstone, though the arc is not wrapped up until volume 4. Things do take a darker turn in this volume, though not to the point of overshadowing the humor and silliness of the classic show. It's like watching (er, reading) new episodes of the 80s cartoon! Highly recommended.
February 2, 2022
Goodness, I love these so much. Boles 1 and 2 were lots of fun, ofc, but 3 is the book where TMNT Adventures really took off as its own world. Things still don’t make a lick of sense - lots of the stories read like a parent watched a couple of Big Kids (7-9) play with TMNT toys, nudging the story a little , but letting the kids take the lead - but to be fair, it’s, you know
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures
.
July 15, 2013
I read volumes 1 - 3 of this series within the same week and this one is the strongest so far. It has a few things going for it that the others don't have:
1) Stories drawn by longtime TMNT artist Jim Lawson (I don't believe he was in either of the previous volumes)
2) Reprint of the cover to issue #9 which is a great tribute to the original "Rafael" one-shot comic by Eastman and Laird
3) Strong stories scripted by Dean Clarrain and drawn by Kevin Mitchrooney. I realize these two worked on parts of the earlier volumes, but the stories in this volume just seemed more cohesive. Beginning with issue #10, the plot lines seemed more intentional - while still retaining the randomness and ridiculousness of the original cartoon show.
Recommended for TMNT fans, fans of 90's pop culture, and fans of the current iteration of TMNT who might enjoy a sillier version of the turtles.
1) Stories drawn by longtime TMNT artist Jim Lawson (I don't believe he was in either of the previous volumes)
2) Reprint of the cover to issue #9 which is a great tribute to the original "Rafael" one-shot comic by Eastman and Laird
3) Strong stories scripted by Dean Clarrain and drawn by Kevin Mitchrooney. I realize these two worked on parts of the earlier volumes, but the stories in this volume just seemed more cohesive. Beginning with issue #10, the plot lines seemed more intentional - while still retaining the randomness and ridiculousness of the original cartoon show.
Recommended for TMNT fans, fans of 90's pop culture, and fans of the current iteration of TMNT who might enjoy a sillier version of the turtles.
July 30, 2020
The Archie series continues to diverge from its cartoon roots and move along a much more serious path. The first few stories in the volume introduce side characters - Chameleon, Scumbug and Wyrm, and their interestingly neutral take on the Rat King - as they slowly build on the metaplot, which finally pays off in the final story of the volume. However, the volume ends on a cliffhanger, which is kind of annoying. (There's also one poorly scanned page in the final story.) Overall, though, this is when the Archie series really seems to have hit its stride. (B+)
December 19, 2019
Fun adventures from another era
The classic Archie run continues in this collection. Jim Lawson, Turtle artist extraordinaire draws half of this to wondrous effect. Well worth a read even with a cliffhanger ending.
The classic Archie run continues in this collection. Jim Lawson, Turtle artist extraordinaire draws half of this to wondrous effect. Well worth a read even with a cliffhanger ending.
September 10, 2022
This third volume of the series meandered a little as it introduced a few more characters and tried to tie things together for future plots. I see the general shape fo things, but we seem to need to get through a lot of crap before we get there.
December 15, 2020
By continuing to introduce bizarre new characters, this installment of the cartoony comics series once again delivers entertaining ninja weirdness.
March 10, 2022
the turtles encounter the rat king
October 26, 2023
The stories are starting to get more interconnected but are still pretty shallow (two monsters have appeared! They fought and destroyed each other! The end).
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May 10, 2014I think it's fascinating to see the early issues of the comics I devoured as a teenager. I read about these characters but never read their stories. It's great to actually see them in gear. The introduction of Cherubae! Maligna! CUDLEY THE COWLICK!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews