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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 5, 2024 13:29:15 GMT -5
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2Story and Art by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird  Mirage Comics, 1984 Summary: After a string of mysterious bank robberies April O'neal suspects that her employer, Baxter Stockman, is using their invention( the mouser) to steal the money. When she confronts Baxter he throws her into the sewer and sicks the robots on her wherein the Turtles come to her aid.
Oftentimes when a sequel is made in the wake of an unforeseen success the creators struggle to not only recapture what made the original so special but also fail to add anything new. In the second issue of their series Eastman and Laird continue to defy the odds managing to do three things exceptionally well: 1) provides character development to the Turtles 2) expands their world with a new supporting character. 3) provides a successful pivot that allows the plot to move forward in a brand new direction. However, though certainly a strong outing this followup issue is not without its growing pains as well, namely that the new villain is pretty lack luster. But despite that pretty big flaw the good definitely out weighs the bad.
I have to say that while it was great to see the Turtles start to develop their own personalities and of course getting to see April for the first time is a huge development for the lore of the series the true shining star is that last point: the ability to pivot in new directions to continue the story...and it's such a weird and wild pivot. I think that Eastman and Laird aren't afraid to embrace the inherent weirdness of their world is really what makes this series such a worthwhile read even after all these years. And it is truly weird here,there’s the Turtles themselves, of course in all their stubby glory(they aren't nearly as human looking yet as they would be then we get a mad scientist with bank robbing killer robots. It's a big change, and you'd think it would be more than a little jarring to go from gritty Frank Miller inspired ninja action to what is basically a sci-fi romp but it some how manages to feel perfectly natural. Over all it has a fun, silver age feeling that you just can't help but smile having read it.
What's more Eastman and Laird definitely illustrate some serious growth in how they develop this pivot, where as in the first issue the pacing came to a screeching halt as Master Splinter revealed to the Turtles(and the readers) their seceret origin the use of a news story on TV that Splinter and the Turtles are watching gave managed to introduce Baxter and his robots and provide their back story while still feeling organic which is huge. On the flip side of that coin however is the undeniable fact that Baxter Stockman is such a boring, two dimensional villain. Sure, we never really got any characterization for the Shredder in the last issue, but his silent, " I let my actions speak for me" coupled with his cool samurai armor made him intriguing despite any real defining personality traits. And while the design of the Mousers are really cool( They're like evil looking, stainless steel versions of pacman) it isn't enough to make Stockman come off as anything more than just a generic bad guy doing generic bad guy things for generic bad guy reasons. In spite of that boring introduction Stockman has stood the test of time and become an important figure in the Turtles lore showing up just about in every version of the Turtles down through the years.
Speaking of the lore it's here in issue two that we first see April O'neal who has become synonymous with the Turtles. It's interesting that in her first appearance she comes across as so well developed in terms of what her role is the Turtles world and who she is. Right off the bat we see her intelligence and her feeling of having a duty to do the right thing and also that after her initial shock at meeting the Turtles she immediately accepts them for who they are as people with out question and goes on to become fast friends with them. Supporting characters often go through a lot of change through a property's evolution but despite occasionally having a different career( I honestly don't remember when or why she becomes a reporter) her core being really does stay the same which is pretty unique. On top of that, through their interactions with April we start to get our first inklings of who the Turtles are. Michelangelo uses humor to try and put April at ease, Raphael is always a man of action around her, Donatello is impressed by her technical abilities and Leonardo tries to stay level headed and mature no matter what happens. It's bare bones characterization to be sure but with out April being there for them to bounce off of we wouldn't have gotten even these subtle differences.
Overall, the second issue really provides some needed versatility to the concept proving it's a book about more than just ninjas fighting on roof tops. It's certainly flawed (I can't believe Stockman ever got a second chance at being a character after being introduced as a total throw away here) but it's still easy to see why this is a book that really captured people's attention back in the day.
Grade:8/10
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 6, 2024 22:17:38 GMT -5
I sometimes think Eastman and Laird were compelled to develop the personalities of the Turtles quickly, as a way to identify them, beyond their weapons. When I first saw them, the weapons were really the only way you could tell who is speaking, unless they are named, in dialogue or narration. On the plus side, it made it easy to copy their model; but, a little frustrating for storytelling. You could see why the animators chose to give them color coded masks and accessories, to tell them apart.
I've never read in depth interviews with either; but, I suspect they had a model in mind, in regards to April. That is one of the better ways to present a new character, grafting the looks and/or personality of someone you know, to represent the character. it's like when a screenwriter creates a character with a specific actor in mind.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 6, 2024 23:14:01 GMT -5
I wasn't yet into comics when Turtle mania hit, but I sure was into the turtles.. the cartoon, the movie, the video games, everything.
In fact, one of my big regrets is I skipped out on going to mean Eastman and Laird when I was at Umass Amherst (next to North Hampton). Of course, I did so for a date with my future wife, but hey, she could have come along!
I didn't read any of the comics until I much later... I actually really appeciate the newer IDW series that has taken all the best ideas from the verison versions of the story and combined them into a semi-cohesive whole, but man, the art on the originals is something!
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 7, 2024 0:15:28 GMT -5
What we need now is a thread devoted to Pre-Teen Dirty Gene Kung Fu Kangaroos!
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Post by spoon on Sept 7, 2024 15:19:01 GMT -5
One thing I've learned from this thread is that there are more posters here younger than me than I realized. I'm fairly certain my first exposure to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the cartoon and then the live-action movies. Although one of my brothers had one of two of the TPBs released by First Comics that someone mentioned upthread, I don't think he bought them (and I read them) until maybe the mid-90s.
I liked the cartoon. Even though supposedly the Archie series was closer to the cartoon, I wasn't interested in collecting it. The name "Archie" carried a stigma for me. Plus, it's one thing to follow an adaptation in another medium. It's another to read different comics knowing that some "real" TMNT existed out there.
Over the last few years, I've bought and read the first two Ultimate Collections reprinting the early Mirage issues. I bought the third one recently but haven't read it yet, so I'll probably read along once this thread reaches those issues.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 17, 2024 12:46:59 GMT -5
After a week off hiking in Maine, I give you... Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #3By Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird  1985, Mirage Comics Summary: Upon returning to their lair after defeating Stockman the Turtles find their home destroyed and their master missing. With no one else to turn to the call on their new friend April O'Neil for help.
I'm not going to lie to you guys...this was a tough one for me to get through here. In fact, I think this was truly the first time I've actually read the whole issue from start to finish in my life as in the past I tended to just skip over most of the middle as it always just seemed utterly superfluous and it's a feeling that now having forced myself to read every panel I still haven't shaken. The issue starts out well enough, giving us a moment that will feel utterly iconic for any fan of the Turtles and it's easy to see why it has become such an important touch stone all these years later. As rough and rowdy as their sketchy art style is the feelings of anger, despair and just plain old helplessness are etched just so completely perfectly on the Turtles faces that their discovery that the Mousers had invaded their home and possibly killed their master just hits home so perfectly. Their feelings aren't only clear to read but that sense of loss just hits home and you can't help share that feeling with them. It's a masterful scene not only because of how well it was drawn but because it taps into that almost primal fear we all have as adolescents that our parents might not always be there. I say adolescent as that's when that fear first develops, when we realize our parents aren't immortal being capable of performing any feat but reading it now approaching 40 it is still just as potent today as I watch not only my parents age (who are thankfully on the younger side) but also my wive's parents who are entering their 80's...and heck my own mortality is definitely starting to sink as well so it's a theme that not only hits hard for it's shared reality with the reader but is one that grows as the reader ages. All of which makes come after that opening all the worse due to the contrast in quality.
I'll preface by saying that I am a life long Blues Brothers fan and I will fully admit that the car chase with the NYPD that erupts after April picks up the Turtles in her van is artistically hands down THE best car chase ever rendered in a comic book. There is a tremendous sense of motion as the van whips around the corners of New York City and the cop cars go careering off in every direction in their pursuit of the Turtles and the sight gags are fun...but my enjoyment ends with an appreciation to the skillful art as narratively it just feels like wasted space. Sure, through their wise cracks we do get some much needed characterization of the Turtles and their unique voices do start to develop here but it's lost in the cacophony of the car chase that ultimately goes no where and provides only a tiny speed bump in their journey to April's home. It just feels like so much wasted space and it was a real struggle to make myself care enough to read every bit of dialogue. The change of tone is just so jarring, to go from serious character work in the face of losing their father to a slapstick car chase that is ultimately a fake out just feels too discordant to be enjoyable. Perhaps it would have been better on its own as a follow up story to the Turtles dealing with their loss in a more in-depth way but together in the same issue it just didn't work for me. Never had, and likely never will.
That epilogue though?
After a disappointing two thirds of the issue that once again hit the spot. It wasn't as emotionally powerful as the opening but it's change of pace to total sci-fi worked much better than the turn to slap stick humor that was the car chase. The sense of mystery and intrigue it built in just a few short pages was great and that it was so different than ninja fighting on roof tops or even ninjas fighting robots that it really made you feel like this was a book where anything could be just around the corner which I just love.
So overall, although it contains a truly memorable scene that is a touchstone to the series and ends with an interesting twist I think the negatives definitely out weigh the positives here making this an almost skipable story.
Grade:6/10 |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 18, 2024 13:50:03 GMT -5
I agree with you... almost feels like this was too much stuff for one issue (surely written now it would be like 3 issues). I read those not super long ago (I got the ULtimate collection trades first before I started on the IDW series), there was a constant sense of how fast the pace was... I kept being amazed at how they got to x plot point so fast! (until they hide out in Northhampton, then is slows to a crawl)
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Post by commond on Sept 18, 2024 16:47:45 GMT -5
I still remember the day this kid at school, who's dad was in the Navy, brought a ninja turtle figure to school. This was before Ninja Turtles had made it to New Zealand television. His dad had bought it for him on some trip up to Singapore or something. Needless to say, he was the most popular kid in school that day. When Ninja turtles debut on the new TV3, it was an Event for us kids.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 19, 2024 5:29:44 GMT -5
I agree with you... almost feels like this was too much stuff for one issue (surely written now it would be like 3 issues). I read those not super long ago (I got the ULtimate collection trades first before I started on the IDW series), there was a constant sense of how fast the pace was... I kept being amazed at how they got to x plot point so fast! (until they hide out in Northhampton, then is slows to a crawl) Yeah, it really moves a break neck speed, jumping from one idea to another. It really has a "kid in the candy shop" feeling to it, which I guess is true as I imagine Eastman and Laird had to have felt a pretty big sugar high at just how well the book was doing but being fans also knowing how quick a book could crash and burn. That real life sense of urgency to have as much fun as possible before the lights went out really adds to the feel of the book, even if the results aren't always my favorite. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 19, 2024 13:34:01 GMT -5
Raphael #1By Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird  1985, Mirage Comics Summary: After he loses his cool in a sparring match and almost seriously injuring Michelangelo, Raphael heads to the streets to cool off only to encounter someone who's just as big a hot head as he is...Casey Jones. I said it before when we first saw April debut just two issues ago but if definitely bears repeating: It's nothing short of amazing to see a supporting character first emerge and be so fully formed as a character. Usually these kinds of characters go through a sizable amount of change before they become the staples that they are known as later on down the road but right off the bat Casey Jones is that lovable meathead who just wants to do good that we all know and love forty years later. And until now I've really tried hard not to compare the comics to the 1990 live action film but after reading this issue again today it's just impossible not to stop and talk about just how well that film captured not only the look and feel of these comics but how well it integrated these classic moments. Not only did it give us Splinter giving the origin of the Turtles as a quasi-bedtime story and the climatic battle with the Shredder but it nailed the small moments like this first meeting between Casey Jones as well: That clip above is pretty much this comic practically panel for panel and unlike other slavish comic book recreations such as the Watchmen film this still manages to feel fresh and alive...even all these years later it still stands up incredibly well. And I think a lot of that comes down not just to the excellent film making but the high energy, action and simple human emotions of the story itself. It's a short tale of Raph going out to cool off and confronting someone who is essentially his mirror image and seeing just how tough it is for his brothers to deal with him, which is certainly a complex emotional journey but one that is told with utmost clarity and it's a universal theme of growing up that is just so incredibly relatable. A common criticism of the very name Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is that they didn't really act like teenagers( The latest animated film Mutant Mayhem is really the first iteration to try and capture that teenage feel) and it's a criticism that rings true as Laird and Eastman originally only tacked it onto the title as a sort of parody of the hot books of the time New Teen Titans and The New Mutants. However, although they didn't really go in for capturing the Turtles personalities as true teenagers the themes they tackled in these issues really do capture that feeling of adolescence incredibly well as shown by the way they reacted to the loss of Splinter last issue and then this vignette of learning self awareness here. The book may have started off as a simple parody but it grew into a much more maturely written book incredibly quickly.
Grade:9/10 |
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Post by jtrw2024 on Sept 19, 2024 15:12:48 GMT -5
Up until I read these stories recently, everything I knew about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came from the cartoons and movies. I knew about some stuff that originated from the comics, and knew that some adaptations like the first movie and the second cartoon were considered to be more faithful than the 80s version. I had formed my own idea of what the comics would be like, but it was really cool been able to actually finally read these original stories and see where everything I already liked about TMNT came from. Eastman and Laird have such a unique style, which is different from anything else I've ever read.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 19, 2024 15:38:56 GMT -5
Up until I read these stories recently, everything I knew about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came from the cartoons and movies. I knew about some stuff that originated from the comics, and knew that some adaptations like the first movie and the second cartoon were considered to be more faithful than the 80s version. I had formed my own idea of what the comics would be like, but it was really cool been able to actually finally read these original stories and see where everything I already liked about TMNT came from. Eastman and Laird have such a unique style, which is different from anything else I've ever read. And there are finally some really good collections out there that make them more readily available than they ever have, I was looking at the compendiums just yesterday and they are really gorgeous. I have nearly all the Mirage comics in some form or another so I didn't pull the trigger but the collections were really comprehensive and collected a lot of material. The style and maturity that Eastman and Laird show in these stories is pretty amazing as well, especially when you consider that these guys were just two normal guys not people "classically" trained to make comics. |
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Post by Batflunkie on Sept 19, 2024 17:46:16 GMT -5
I absolutely ADORE Casey in the original Mirage comic and the movie. like you said thwhtguardian , he was pretty much fully formed upon putting pencil and ink to paper and kind of feels like the natural by-product of the Charles Bronson era of vigilantism (Though Casey seems to favor less violent, though no less brutal means with hockey sticks, baseball, and cricket bats). I think the IDW version is my favorite though, just seems more organic to me |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 20, 2024 16:23:54 GMT -5
I absolutely ADORE Casey in the original Mirage comic and the movie. like you said thwhtguardian , he was pretty much fully formed upon putting pencil and ink to paper and kind of feels like the natural by-product of the Charles Bronson era of vigilantism (Though Casey seems to favor less violent, though no less brutal means with hockey sticks, baseball, and cricket bats). I think the IDW version is my favorite though, just seems more organic to me As much as I love the Mirage comics, and they are fantastic, the IDW books are definitely my favorite simply because they meld together all the high points of the various versions of the Turtles and really flesh out the personalities of not only the turtles but the supporting cast as well. |
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Post by driver1980 on Sept 21, 2024 8:45:57 GMT -5
Raphael #1By Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird 1985, Mirage Comics Summary: After he loses his cool in a sparring match and almost seriously injuring Michelangelo, Raphael heads to the streets to cool off only to encounter someone who's just as big a hot head as he is...Casey Jones. I said it before when we first saw April debut just two issues ago but if definitely bears repeating: It's nothing short of amazing to see a supporting character first emerge and be so fully formed as a character. Usually these kinds of characters go through a sizable amount of change before they become the staples that they are known as later on down the road but right off the bat Casey Jones is that lovable meathead who just wants to do good that we all know and love forty years later. And until now I've really tried hard not to compare the comics to the 1990 live action film but after reading this issue again today it's just impossible not to stop and talk about just how well that film captured not only the look and feel of these comics but how well it integrated these classic moments. Not only did it give us Splinter giving the origin of the Turtles as a quasi-bedtime story and the climatic battle with the Shredder but it nailed the small moments like this first meeting between Casey Jones as well: That clip above is pretty much this comic practically panel for panel and unlike other slavish comic book recreations such as the Watchmen film this still manages to feel fresh and alive...even all these years later it still stands up incredibly well. And I think a lot of that comes down not just to the excellent film making but the high energy, action and simple human emotions of the story itself. It's a short tale of Raph going out to cool off and confronting someone who is essentially his mirror image and seeing just how tough it is for his brothers to deal with him, which is certainly a complex emotional journey but one that is told with utmost clarity and it's a universal theme of growing up that is just so incredibly relatable. A common criticism of the very name Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is that they didn't really act like teenagers( The latest animated film Mutant Mayhem is really the first iteration to try and capture that teenage feel) and it's a criticism that rings true as Laird and Eastman originally only tacked it onto the title as a sort of parody of the hot books of the time New Teen Titans and The New Mutants. However, although they didn't really go in for capturing the Turtles personalities as true teenagers the themes they tackled in these issues really do capture that feeling of adolescence incredibly well as shown by the way they reacted to the loss of Splinter last issue and then this vignette of learning self awareness here. The book may have started off as a simple parody but it grew into a much more maturely written book incredibly quickly.
Grade:9/10 I can’t explain why, but #1 in a one-issue micro-series is such a fun tagline!  I’m enjoying the reviews. Nice to know a solo Turtle got a one-shot. |
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