Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Compendium, Vol. 1

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Compendium #1

by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird

Dive into the origins of your favorite teenage turtles with this collection of stories from the original Mirage comics!

Cowabunga dudes! It’s time to travel back to the '80s with the Turtles and discover where it all started. This collection of Mirage Studios’ issues #1–7 and 9–14; the Raphael , Michelangelo , Donatello , and Leonardo Micro-Series one-shots; Fugitoid #1; and Tales of TMNT #1–5 is perfect for new readers trying to learn more about the Turtles or longtime fans returning to the classics.

Witness for yourself iconic moments in TMNT history. Watch as Splinter unveils the mystery of the Turtles' past, and then cheer along as the brothers do battle with the villainous Shredder for the very first time.

Joining co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird are contributors Michael Dooney, Ryan Brown, Jim Lawson, Steve Bissette, and Eric Talbot.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

832 pages, Hardcover

Published October 18, 2022

About the author

Kevin B. Eastman is an American comic book artist, co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Reviews

[Димитър Цолов · Rating 4 out of 5]

Бая време ми отне да преборя тази чудовищна, изключително неудобна за разгръщане тухла и с ръка на сърце трябва да си призная, че артът на повечето от броевете не се оказа точно моята бира – някои панели ме объркваха с трудно различимите си детайли в общия доста груб черно-бял рисунък, други бяха прекалено семпли, сякаш рисувани от неумело хлапе…

Но пък историите, пряко отражение на реалността от 80-те години на миналия век – бумът на филмите с бойни изкуства и насилие, все още прокрадващата се сянка на призрака, наречен Студена война, винаги актуалните пътувания в Космоса и пр. - бяха доволно интересни, макар и сравнително еднотипни. Що се отнася до изданието, нямам забележка – качествено оформление, с кейс, картонено кашонче с лого и бели ръкавици, като на служител от акционна къща, хе-хе, гот! Да не забравяме и сертификатите за автентичност, подписани лично от Кевин Истман, придружаващи 200-те екземпляра от лимитирания тираж (моят е с №64); 3,5/5 ⭐️.

[Ben Wasilewski · Rating 3 out of 5]

the issues dealing with the main storyline are fantastic and the artwork holds so much nostalgia for me. Unfortunately many of the one-shot issues were just terrible, almost worth skipping entirely.

[Andy Pandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent start to a legendary independent comic book series! I loved pretty much all of the issues in this compendium- a few were hit-or-miss though- mostly some of the filler issues after issue #11. Overall though, I think this is an excellent comic book series so far! I can’t wait to see where it goes in compendium 2! The drawing style is epic! I love the gritty look of NYC in black & white! Overall, 4.5/5 stars!

[JT Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really can't believe how much I enjoyed this. TMNT was everything to me when I was a kid, as far back as age 5. But Eastman & Laird's TMNT is not exactly the same thing as the late-80's cartoon I discovered then. Although these original comics are definitely not intended for kids that age, they aren't necessarily strictly for adults either. It's somewhere in between, sort of like PG-rated movies such as Back to the Future and Star Wars that can still resonate with adults. It's mostly simple dialogue and very easy to read, but strikingly darker than its more popular cartoon spinoff that sold more children's toys than all but 2 other IP's in history at the time (which I'm guessing were probably G.I. Joe and Barbie). The closest to Eastman & Laird is undoubtedly the 1990 movie, but even that adopted source material from the cartoon as well and has its own interesting story behind the scenes. But 90% of that movie came from these pages, albeit in different sequences with only slight differences.

"Kill the Shredder" - That is seriously Master Splinter's exact words to his 4 teenage protégés in the first issue. No beating around the bush, no subtlety whatsoever... KILL the mfer. That's the tone it sets right up front. These aren't the pizzaholic turtles the cartoon introduced most children to, there isn't even any mention of pizza in the entire compendium. Though the turtles' personalities are still pretty much the same as every other future incarnation of the concept, they are much less conflicted about straight up stabbing bad guys and putting them down for good. It's wild to imagine seeing that on the cartoon as a young child, or even in the movies for that matter. Although Leonardo never quite hauls off and chops someone's head off with his kitana, truthfully it wouldn't have surprised me either in wake of everything else.

Other little differences are amusing, particularly April O'Neil, who isn't a news reporter as she is in virtually every other version of TMNT. Instead, she is a lab tech for none other than Baxter freaking Stockman of all people. And Eastman & Laird's Baxter is a black man, which really aggravates me that the cartoon's creators felt this needed to be changed for some stupid reason. So I don't even care how the cartoon spins it anymore, it's just flat out wrong. Baxter is BLACK, bruh. Or a fly... I will still accept that, too.

There's also a lot of aliens, something the 90's movies stayed far away from, but the cartoon slightly adapted with the "Dimension X" concept. But there's aliens from all over the galaxy in Eastman & Laird's universe. TCRI - Techno Cosmic Research Institute, a New York company ran by aliens that produced the "ooze" which mutated the turtles is also changed in the 2nd movie to TGRI - Techno Global Research Industries to further steer clear of aliens was something I never noticed before. It's really interesting tracking back all these weird little details now.

Even if you first discovered TMNT from the cartoon as I did, or even one of the later series, I believe you positively have to read these comics to earn your stripes as a Turtles veteran. It's a must, non-negotiable. And pleeeeeeease don't confuse these comics published by Mirage with the kid-friendly Archie Comics adaptation. They are not close.

[Emiliano · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me almost a year to finish this.

Yep, I don’t know why it took me so long to finish this book but I did it and man there’s a lot of good in this book. The mainline run is so fun to read through and loved the art a lot. The story was also crazy itself and it was insane to see so many of the iconic characters and stories in only the first few issues like wow. The only downside was the Tales of TMNT issues that were very hit or miss. They do hurt the book a bit but the issues for the main series are so fucking good it doesn’t even matter.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Casey Jones said it best: "COWABUNGA!" As a lifelong fan of the TMNT, I was super exicted to be able to read the original source material. There were a lot of things I thought I knew about Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey, but the original comics taught me so much more about them and their early adventures. Definitely a must-read for comics fans and those that love "turtles in a half-shell!"

[Reyne Derrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

It had me at the start, I was enthralled. Then it lost me with the robot and aliens. Then it had me again when they returned. Then it lost me again when they spent the next half of the book on filler content. Honestly this was a rough read. Tmnt is best when it’s about the turtles fighting the shredder in New York. Nothing else really comes close.

[Tío Coyote · Rating 1 out of 5]

So overpriced! They removed issue #8 of the original TMNT volume. Paper is thick and matte. They removed the extras from the Ultimate editions, the interviews, vintage photos of original creators, and every other extra. Why? This is a cheap edition sold as expensive!

[Jared Gomez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal. The fact that this was Laird and Eastman's first book is incredible. The stories are so well written and the art is amazing. As a long time TMNT fan I can't believe I never knew the extent of how awesome the comics are.

[Patrick Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really awesome compendium, classic stories. Not 5 stars because the price is a bit steep and there is exactly no extra stuff at the end..

[Mychal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the story line from the OG TMNT story, the artwork and was action packed. Quick and easy for any reader to pick up, highly recommend for TMNT fans