The TMNT Mirage Continuity Timeline (complete?)

[ToTheNines]

I have a question. I don't see any thing wrong with it, but I was wondering why "White Horses" is where it is. Obviously it has to be after #23, but are there any clues suggesting exactly where it should be? I know this is prolly a dumb question, but I'm waiting to get all of volume 4 before I read the whole thing.

[DrSpengler]

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

I have a question. I don't see any thing wrong with it, but I was wondering why "White Horses" is where it is. Obviously it has to be after #23, but are there any clues suggesting exactly where it should be? I know this is prolly a dumb question, but I'm waiting to get all of volume 4 before I read the whole thing.

Not *really*, I guess.

"White Horses" was released after TMNT #28, during that first hiatus. So far nothing in #29 or #30 have contradicted its placement, as April has yet to return from her "soul searching".

[ToTheNines]

Ok that's cool, thanks.

[ToTheNines]

Hmm, gotta question about "Scars". It takes place in 2001 (month not given) so it has to be before "No place like home", but I don't have any of the other Prelude issues (except "Hell's Blacktop", I'll check that) to reference. I'm thinking it might need moved back further, care to check?

Raph has a busted arm in that story, does anything happen that might have caused that in "Bad Moon Rising"?

[ToTheNines]

Uuuuuughhhh.

I just found one I wish I hadn't... In Volume 4 #7 Donatello acts like he doesn't know Glurin at all, yet "The Blue Hole" pretty much has to take place in the 6 month gap. Got a "no-prize" for that one?

And shouldn't "Secret Origins of the The Super Turtles" take place before #7, since it's their origin story?

[DrSpengler]

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

Hmm, gotta question about "Scars". It takes place in 2001 (month not given) so it has to be before "No place like home", but I don't have any of the other Prelude issues (except "Hell's Blacktop", I'll check that) to reference. I'm thinking it might need moved back further, care to check?

Raph has a busted arm in that story, does anything happen that might have caused that in "Bad Moon Rising"?

Nothing in "Darkness Weaves" or "Bad Moon Rising" to acount for Raph's busted arm, I'm afraid.

Well, let's take a look at the dates we can be sure of:

"Hell's Blacktop" takes place in May, 2001.

"There's No Place like Home" takes place in December, 2001.

"Curious Case of Mr. Jones" takes place *some time* in 2001, as Glurin and Rogro are about to initiate the First Contact project which happens at the beginning of Volume 4.

"Scars" takes place "some time" in 2001.


The only story in the Prelude to Volume 4 era without a concrete date is the "Darkness Weaves/Bad Moon Rising" arc. However, since Shadow's drawn by Lawson MUCH younger than in "Hell's Blacktop", we can be sure that it takes place before that story.

Though that would mean "Bad Moon" has to take place *before* 2001, maybe just a couple years. So "Scars" SHOULD be moved forward a bit.

I'll stick it just before "Hell's Blacktop".

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

Uuuuuughhhh.

I just found one I wish I hadn't... In Volume 4 #7 Donatello acts like he doesn't know Glurin at all, yet "The Blue Hole" pretty much has to take place in the 6 month gap. Got a "no-prize" for that one?

Good point. Just one of those damn inconsistencies, I guess. For a No-Prize, I'd wager that, I dunno, maybe Don fell prey to "they all look alike" syndrome with the Utroms and even though he'd met Glurin once before #7, it never really clicked with him since, well, he's met a LOT of other Utroms in the past and they all tend to look and act the same.

And shouldn't "Secret Origins of the The Super Turtles" take place before #7, since it's their origin story?

Yeah, sure. I'll bump it back one.

[ToTheNines]

Alright, coolness.

Dan says in his editorial that "Curious Case" takes place a few weeks before vol. 4 #3, so I don't know if it should swap places with 66 or not. It certainly doesn't fit during volume 4, those issues flow directly into one another.

[DrSpengler]

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

Alright, coolness.

Dan says in his editorial that "Curious Case" takes place a few weeks before vol. 4 #3, so I don't know if it should swap places with 66 or not. It certainly doesn't fit during volume 4, those issues flow directly into one another.

Heh.

I think that's a case where we're ALL correct. Vol. 4 #1-3 all take place over the course of 2, maybe three days in early January.

So "a few weeks" before #3 WOULD put it where it's currently at.

[ToTheNines]

Good point.

Sorry to keep bugging ya, but I got another one. "What Wolves Wear" is a Halloween issue, so it can't be in the 6 month gap.

I don't own it, so I don't know if you could slide it later in volume 4 or if it should be earlier.

[DrSpengler]

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

Good point.

Sorry to keep bugging ya, but I got another one. "What Wolves Wear" is a Halloween issue, so it can't be in the 6 month gap.

I don't own it, so I don't know if you could slide it later in volume 4 or if it should be earlier.

Hmmm...

The six month gap spans February to July, give or take a month on either end, right?

So yeah, it couldn't take place there.

In the story, Raph's talking about how aliens have integrated with human society and all the Turtles are wearing their Utrom identification emblems.

The only other break in the Vol. 4 narrative where stories like this can go is between #11 (Splinter's funeral) and #12 (when Raph gets bit by the vampires).

I'm not sure if the seasons really fit, but it's the only place it could go.

Actually, it segues decently, seasons notwithstanding.

The last two Moo Mesa crossovers happen here, where the Turtles interact extensively with the Utroms (hence the badges), followed by a battle with werewolves in #39, then followed by Raph getting bit by vampires in #12, keeping up the halloween horror theme.

It works well enough.

[ToTheNines]

Awesome, the Volume 4 era looks alot better now with less going on in the gap, and more stuff in the "funeral gap".

[pm5kfan212]

I noticed that the one shot stories "Times Pipeline" "The Haunted Pizza" and "The Maltese Turtle" are not on the list. Is it safe to assume that they are not cannon? They don't seem to be, regardless of if they are or are not where should they fit into the overall reading order?

[DrSpengler]

Originally Posted by pm5kfan212

I noticed that the one shot stories "Times Pipeline" "The Haunted Pizza" and "The Maltese Turtle" are not on the list. Is it safe to assume that they are not cannon? They don't seem to be, regardless of if they are or are not where should they fit into the overall reading order?

They're all overtly silly self-aware stories, particularly "The Maltese Turtle", which was from the same guy who did the "Spaced Out" trilogy.

So no, they wouldn't fit with the main Mirage canon.

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by DrSpengler

They're all overtly silly self-aware stories, particularly "The Maltese Turtle", which was from the same guy who did the "Spaced Out" trilogy.

So no, they wouldn't fit with the main Mirage canon.

Hehe...

Still, I've got to hand it to Hedden/McWeeney for their work on "Toitle Anxiety" (Vol. 1, #34). That story was more demented than silly self-aware. I wouldn't consider that story canon either, but it was a more respectable effort than the "Space Out" trilogy.

[ToTheNines]

I thought all their work was pretty funny, but if I was buying the book monthly (or whatever schedule they were on) back in the day, those books would have pissed me off massively.

[CyberCubed]

Sales did decline for Volume 1 during that era. I think its fairly obvious that TMNT went from having a strong continuous storyline from #1-#21, and then all of a sudden the filler/comedy stories start coming in full-force. Then there was stuff like Soul's Winter, which featured an alternate reality take on the Turtles.

But there are a lot of issues there I consider in my personal canon, like #33 with the Turtles playing with Renet's time cube (that story was part of Kevin's 25th anniversary book), #34, the Renet issue #42, the "Halls of Lost Legends," "The River" was great, as well as #28 (Sons of the Silent age) and #29, which should both be canon. Even #44 since its the first Foot Soldier fight since RTNY and previews City at War nicely.

[pm5kfan212]

thanks, i didn't think they would fit in the main continuity. But i am new to the turtle comics so i figured id ask

[ToTheNines]

Originally Posted by DrSpengler

Hmm...Somehow I neglected to include the story "Word Warriors" when I integrated all the non-contradictory stories from Shell Shock.

Did some research and apparently it was part of a larger comic called "Quest for Dream Lost", which sort of puts the weird events of the tale into context.

Regardless, it's an Eastman/Laird Joint and there's nothing in it that really puts it outside the Mirage universe, though I don't own a copy of Quest for Dreams Lost so I dunno if all the artifacts that the various indie comics characters recovered in the book were returned to the moving van they fell out of or not.

Peter says "Word Warriors" is not canon. In response to a letter in Vol. 4 #17 he says:

"That Leo/Excalibur story was done for an anthology comic to benefit literacy if I'm not mistaken, and it was not meant to be considered part of the Mirage TMNT continuity".

[DrSpengler]

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

Peter says "Word Warriors" is not canon. In response to a letter in Vol. 4 #17 he says:

"That Leo/Excalibur story was done for an anthology comic to benefit literacy if I'm not mistaken, and it was not meant to be considered part of the Mirage TMNT continuity".

Well, that settles that.

*removed*

Guess its off in Eastman/Laird Crazyland alongside the likes of their Miami Mice crossover.

[ToTheNines]

Originally Posted by DrSpengler

Guess its off in Eastman/Laird Crazyland alongside the likes of their Miami Mice crossover.

Yup lol.

Another thing I wanted to discuss: It's kind of weird how "year one" had those Raph/Casey bonding stories, then nothing in "year two" until issue 10. Obviously the easy explanation is off-panel adventures, but I figured you might want to consider moving one or two of them. I'm pretty sure they work fine in either era.