eBuying Comics: Week 77

This week we are going to take a look at the history of TMNT comics by looking in-depth at the supporting cast of allies and enemies. There will be a section of people reading this who would have been like me in the ’90s thinking these characters were only from toys and a cartoon. So this is going to be a comics education for you. I am going to try and keep things in chronological order, but there will be lots of various size tangents to go off on. The focus will be on first appearances, key issues and how each character was introduced in the IDW series. The IDW series serves an important purpose as it has introduced and reintroduced many fans to the TMNT universe. It is now over 100 issues in, as well as a handful of interesting accompanying mini-series. The best way I often describe the IDW run is taking all the good of previous TMNT comics, movies and cartoons, as well as taking all the bad from other TMNT media and re-imagining them and blending all of that into one cohesive story. So the obvious, most expensive place to start is TMNT #1. This is also going to lead to our first tangent. You can’t talk about the Turtles and not mention their numero uno villain, Master Shredder! The fact Eastman and Laird killed him off in his first appearance just adds to the lore. Of course in reality they didn’t know the success story #1 would prove to be. Really I should have included it in my greatest single issues countdown. The debut comic sold way beyond what they thought, with the original print run selling out and being followed by many new printings.

Current Values of #1 printings for 9.4 NM raw

• 1st Printing – £9635
• 2nd Printing – £2698
• 3rd Printing – £771

So what is the best reprint of TMNT #1 on the market? Fourth, fifth and sixth printings are certainly more attainable price-wise, but it is tracking them down that is the problem! There have been FCBD reprints but speculators put them on eBay for a quick flip. I have an oversized colour reprint of the first two issues from penguin books. I believe it is a reprint of TMNT Book 1, with my version coming out to coincide with the release of the first movie. It can be found online for £20 and under depending on the condition. If you just want to read the first story and not worry about it being in colour or condition this would be worth seeking out. My tip though if you are looking to spend a bit more is to look for a book called TMNT: The Ultimate Visual History by Andrew Farago. Essentially you are getting a really cool book on Turtles’ history and to top it all off, it comes with a facsimile of #1!

Shredder would not return until #10 (much more on this issue later). As the arch-nemesis he would become a mainstay of every iteration of the TMNT going forward. Although he has been the villain in the movies just under 50% of the time. I think it was a wise move in the IDW era to start with new foes and not have Shredder show up till #9. I would like to at this point recommend the IDW mini-series ‘Secret History of The Foot Clan’ It is a modern-day classic addition to the TMNT lore and would make a brilliant movie. At the time of its release it not only explained the new take on the origin story but it shaped the series for the next year or so. Kitsune was also introduced to the story and she has been a brilliant addition on the Saki side of things. Perhaps it comes as no surprise also making their first appearance in the Mirage #1 are The Foot Clan. As a kid any cartoon that had hoards of faceless enemies was simply ripping of TMNT and nowadays it seems every MCU movie has an army of faceless lackeys! Perhaps more surprising in this first issue is the inclusion of The Purple Dragons. They are in fact the first gang The Turtles throw down with! They would largely disappear from the landscape for a long time after this. Aside from being integral to the 2003 animated series, the IDW era has perhaps fleshed them out the most. The character of Hun was repurposed as Arnold Jones (Casey’s dad) in #3 and would later resume his previous leadership of the Purple Dragons, becoming more villainous in the process. Sticking with the PDs in the IDW era the character of Angel Bridge made her debut in #11 as a former love interest/friend of Casey. She too would lead the Dragons when they became a more community-friendly group. In #34 Angel took on the long-dormant persona of Nobody. An identity once held by one April O’Neil in #20 of the much-maligned Volume. 4.

Getting back to the Mirage continuity. Two major characters appeared for the first time in #2, April O’ Neil and Baxter Stockman. April has been a major part of every variation in all forms of media the Turtles have been represented in. Normally rotating between lab assistant, like here in #2, or a reporter thanks to the first animated series and movies. The first three episodes of the 2003 animated series actually follow the plot of the first three Mirage comics, albeit for a more Saturday morning cartoon audience. Stockman and April would also have the same connection in the IDW series and for my money, it is the best use of Stockman in any format. He is a very interesting character when you consider he has been around this long. He was totally mishandled in the animated series, whitewashed and made a bumbling, lovelorn comic villain. The less said about his appearance in the second Bay movie the better. The IDW series does him justice though. He starts out as an unwitting accomplice but gradually becomes like a science-based version of Kingpin, even becoming Mayor of NYC. While there are oddball stories in the Eastman and Laird issues you can actually divide the stories into two clear camps. First, there is the street level, ninja stuff and then there is the big sci-fi, Kirby homages. It is certainly an interesting blend that I think could catch a lot of new readers off guard . The sci-fi element was introduced in the closing pages of #3 as the reader is introduced to the Utroms in the T.C.R.I building. Krang of course is the most famous of the Utrom, but he was a creation of the animated series and thus made his comic debut in the first issue of the corresponding Archie comic. Soon after #3, the Turtles were off into space, fighting Triceratons and befriending androids. I have to confess Fugitoid was a huge blind spot on my TMNT radar until the IDW series. My assumption was he was a previous Mirage creation who hadn’t taken off as well as the Turtles so out of nostalgia they stuck him in a few issues. Some of that turned out to be half true. Initially, he was introduced in Gobbledygook #1 which came out around the same time as TMNT #1. The end of that self-contained story also featured the Triceratons and it was then woven into to the intergalactic story heating up in TMNT #5. Again, all it seems like I’m doing is praising the IDW series but to the uninitiated they made Fugitoid completely accessible. To me he is the link between taking the Turtles from street level NYC crime to the furthest reaches of sci-fi. He got his own micro issue in the second wave of micro issues, his being #8. If you want a good Triceratons story I do suggest issues #19-#21 of the Mirage run, it is collected in TMNT Collected Book 4. These can be expensive depending on the condition, but well worth it for the story as intended in black and white. If you like your Turtles story more in line with their origins of a homage to Frank Miller’s Daredevil there are a few issues in the Mirage run you must track down. I am today only learning that the IDW reprints of the Mirage run are in fact black and white, I just always assumed they were in colour! All the issues I am about to discuss can be found in the 6 volumes of TMNT The Ultimate Collection. They are available in paperback and hardback, usually between £15-£20 and £30-£40 for the latter. It may also be surprising to some, how much of the 90’s movie is within the pages of roughly the first 12-15 issues of the Mirage series. The first one you will want to seek out is the Raphael one-shot. This is the first appearance of Casey Jones and the fight they have in the issue is nearly recreated panel by panel in the movie. He is the Turtles second biggest ally after April and really the only misstep they have had with him was in the original animated series where they decided to make him too much of a lunatic. Okay and maybe the jury is still out on the Stephen Amell version. Next up the Leonardo one-shot sees the fearless leader face The Foot alone. It is similar to the rooftop fight in the movie but switching Raph for Leo. Casey Jones next appears in #10, the same as The Shredder (see I told you we would get back to it). Again this issue is like the fight scene in the movie in April’s apartment, with the fight then continuing into the antique shop and with Casey joining in halfway through! #11 sees the Turtles, April and Casey head to Casey’s family farm in Northampton for some recuperation. Sound familiar? Perhaps one of the best-known story arcs from the Mirage series is the epic ‘City at War’ it ran from #50 to the series end in #62. Within this story arc we are introduced to Karai in #53. Karai has gone on to be a character used time and again. Whether to fill a hole left by Shredder and keep the feud with Saki blood alive or often as a bridge to tease that Shredder will be back soon. The animated TMNT movie was my first exposure to her. In the IDW series she debuts in #10 after Shredder and has spent time switching between wanting to impress him and outright despising him.

With the success of the 1987 animated series, the continued interest in the Mirage comic, under a stable of different creators, and the Archie Comic Eastman and Laird wanted to get back to their roots and the basics of TMNT, so they launched a secondary series in 1989 Tales of the TMNT. Although it only ran for seven issues, two very important characters made their respective debuts in it. The Rat King in #4 and Leatherhead in #6. Again to me, they were just colourful cartoon characters and toys, much later on I learnt about the comics and how far they go and how different these characters are. In the second volume of Tales of the TMNT, Agent Bishop appeared for the first time in #61. He would be integral to the 2012 animated series, which I completely dropped the ball on not watching. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures launched in 1989 from Archie. So there WAS a kid-friendly comic for the cartoon watching kids to enjoy! It ran for 72 issues, the first five of which simply retold episodes of the animated series. The first issue would be the first comic appearance of the now-familiar different coloured bandanas. Making comic book debuts in #1 along with the already mentioned Krang are of course Bebop and Rocksteady and how it took them five movies to finally appear I will never no! The Archie series is the place to go for all the fun and colourful characters. I’m talking the likes of Metal Head in #9, a new Rat King in #11, Mondo Gecko in #18 and Slash in #23. Now I don’t want to upset any child or ruin any past childhoods but in doing my research for when certain characters first appeared in this series the website I used also listed their deaths. There were a lot of deaths in this Archie comic, which eventually led to its cancellation. See you can take the Turtles out of black and white but you can’t take the black and white out of the Turtles!

I couldn’t end without talking one last time about the IDW series. It will always have a special place within my collection. I remember seeing the solicits and immediately saying to myself ‘That’s going on my pull list.’ For those in the know and I think I have discussed it before, a problem with the licensing delayed the series from hitting the UK but I persevered. Although I have now tapped out after #100 I have to confess I never imagined the series would go that high, let alone me reading it that long. I thought it would be like twelve issues of “we tried but it’s just not selling”. God am I stupid! It is a testament to everyone involved that it is drawing in fans old and new and delivering every month for over 100 issues! I don’t want to say everyone who has worked on the series is treating it seriously. It is more about treating the history of the franchise with respect and keeping everything fresh for a new audience. Like they could take a character one reader may only remember as a toy and completely make them interesting and accessible to old and new readers. In the first issue they lay a lot of groundwork. As well as the four turtles we spend time with April, Stockman, Casey and a glimpse at Krang. They even throw a new villain into the mythos in the shape of Old Hob a mutated cat! I know people who have fond memories of Slash. Personally, I don’t recall any episodes he was in, but that was a long time ago now. But ever since he was introduced in the IDW series in the April micro issue I have been hooked on him. In the Leonardo micro issue, we see Bebop and Rocksteady in human form and we don’t see their mutated form until #25. Metal Head comes in #34 in a very different version, which only gets more amazing as the series develops. The story arc ‘City Fall’ ran from #21 to #28 and ended with the Turtles having a four-issue recuperation in Northampton of all places! If the original Mirage comic was Eastman and Laird’s passion project, the IDW series is the collective passion of a dedicated fan base and creative team. We get big-budget movie versions of Krang on trial, the invasion of the Triceratons and more. The series reaches a climax between #45-#50. Then, as the new status quo takes shape, we shift again with fresh takes on Leatherhead in #49 and Agent Bishop in #54. The Rat King came onto the scene in #36 but further down the line he was revealed to be part of The Pantheon, a group whose presence would be felt for a long time in the series. #90-#100 was purely a love letter to all the fans. All the old ones who had come back, and all the new ones who had stuck around. A lot of plot points and characters came to an end here, but by the issue’s end it was clear there was no slowing this behemoth down. In the words of Mikey “Man I love being a turtle!”