Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ongoing #1
Written by Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz
Art by Eastman and Dan Duncan
When this current decade of comics is all said and done, it may very well be remembered as the era of the reboot and relaunch. DC is set to relaunch their entire catalog of titles and Marvel is constantly cancelling and restarting books with new first issues, while IDW Publishing has made a name for itself by relaunching old properties from twenty or thirty years ago and putting a new spin on them. This formula has worked so far with such popular properties as Transformers, G.I. Joe, and Ghostbusters, and this week brings us their newest venture, the first issue of a brand-new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, featuring plots and layouts by co-creator Kevin Eastman. This is the first time the Turtles have graced the pages of a comic for quite some time, and based on the effectiveness of this first issue, I for one hope they don’t go anywhere for quite a while.
This introductory issue begins in the middle of a street brawl involving the Turtles and their rodent mentor, Splinter, against a gang of thugs led by a feline villain named Old Hob. As they fight, Splinter narrates, going over the various personality traits of the Turtles and how they fit each member’s distinct fighting style, which I thought was a rather brilliant way of introducing the characters to any readers who may not be too familiar with them. Noticeably absent from the battle is their resident wiseass Raphael, who we find out later has left the group and has been wandering New York as a vagrant. The rest of the issue is devoted to a flashback involving April O’Neil, an intern at a research facility headed by Baxter Stockman who oversees an experiment that we are led to believe will provide the new origin of Splinter and the Turtles’ mutation. The details of this origin, as well as the reason why Raphael split from the group, will more likely be explained as this opening arc continues.
This issue establishes an entirely new continuity for the Turtles and their supporting cast while at the same time providing a great deal of winking references to fans of both the old comics and of the immensely popular Eighties cartoon. The tone is serious, but the writers allow a little humor to come through as well. A handful of well-known characters from the series are reintroduced in new and original ways, but Eastman and his co-writer Tom Waltz are fortunately saving their main enemy The Shredder for later. The art by Eastman and Dan Duncan is somewhat reminiscent of the original books but it is much more appealing to modern comic readers. While this first issue is pretty light on plot, I found it to be a very effective reboot of the series and can’t wait to see the new and interesting places this creative team takes the characters. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ongoing #1 gets 4 out of 5 “Cowabunga” T-shirts.
Man, this new Turtles ongoing is the first time I may break my tradition of buying comics in trade only. A trip to the comic shop on the way home from work may be happening today!
Overall, I really really enjoyed this. It had a classic feel without being silly. My favorite incarnation of the Turtles to date is the 2003 animated series, and this had some of the feel of that show.
I ended up really digging the art. I like the way the Turtles look.
I loved all the references to the old cartoons and comics.
Despite loving the issue, I’m not sure how I feel about the altered origin. I don’t dislike the idea that April knew them prior to them mutating, but some of the things don’t sit well with me. The main problem I have is that it appears that the Turtles and Splinter were only mutated around a year ago. That doesn’t give them a lot of time as a family (yes, they were together prior to the mutation, but still) and it doesn’t give them a long time to train in martial arts. I think it works better in the traditional origin where they were mutated around 15 years prior and have been training that whole time. I’m also curious to see if Spinter’s time with Hamato Yoshi happened. If not I’m curious to see how they learned martial arts.
And finally, I wish the Turtles had their different colored bandanas. I know that originally they all wore red, but I just prefer them wearing the different colors. Also, it makes it easier to immediately tell the Turtles apart.
Yeah that altered origin is a bit puzzling, but we still have yet to see how they get mutated. I’ll reserve judgment until we actually see it.
Picking mine up this Wed!!!!