Official Image TMNT conclusion at IDW is HAPPENING -- "TMNT: Urban Legends"

[AquaParade]

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

I'll confess I'm looking forward to seeing the colors on Raphael's managed face in the early issues.

Watch it be just a smear of "Shredder-Blue" from the Color Classics. No, judging by the small glimpse, I think this will look wonderful colored.

[CyberCubed]

I wonder if the Image run is going to be colored more carefully because it's technically a competing comic companies book, and a lot of Image characters and superheroes appear in it. The reason why it probably took these reprints so long to happen is IDW and Image probably had to get through a lot of red tape to make this work. Even though Viacom/IDW owns TMNT, they still have to deal with all the Image characters which they don't own appearing in it.

[AlZarkovski]

Red bandanas:

Spoiler:

[Powder]

Well, from what we've seen so far, the colors look very nice! Could do without the dot pattern though, as it obscures some of the detail.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by AlZarkovski

Red bandanas:

Spoiler:

http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9r07o5qt.jpg

What's with the dot coloring? Is that like a retro style thing?

[AlZarkovski]

Dots only on the Turtles. Perhaps layer paint bug.

[Sabacooza]

Originally Posted by AlZarkovski

Dots only on the Turtles. Perhaps layer paint bug.

I've seen the entire proof and didn't notice the dots anywhere else. That's strange.

[pferreira]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Because it technically isn't a Mirage volume.

I'm sure they'll contain continuity with previous volumes.

Originally Posted by Sabacooza

I've seen the entire proof and didn't notice the dots anywhere else. That's strange.

If you work for IDW I'd get that sorted out before the comic launches.

[Sabacooza]

I spoke with the colorist. It was intentional. He's trying to go for that 90s vibe and to push the depth of field.

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by Sabacooza

I spoke with the colorist. It was intentional. He's trying to go for that 90s vibe and to push the depth of field.

Glad to hear it from an inside source!

I'm cautiously optimistic for the color quality of these reprints. Let's hope a high quality can be established and maintained for the entirety of the series' run.

[Utrommaniac]

The "dots" are halftones.

Which really does help with the 90's design the colorist wanted.

[CyberCubed]

The cyborg on the right looks like Krang's Android body now due to the tan skin. Was that intentional?

[AlZarkovski]

IDW vs. Fan vs. Original:

Spoiler:

[HotJuicyBurgers]

Both are actually pretty good. I would be happy with both I guess. If I had to pick... I guess the new one is better but the second one looks... idk... maybe more realistic if it had been released during those years?

[Powder]

Fan version:

Pros:
-Actually looks like a mid-90's coloring job
-Has a more traditional color palette for the turtles
-Its de-saturated palette is in-line with the grim tone of the series

Cons:
-Actually looks like a mid-90's coloring job
-Very bare-bones, to the extent that details get lost in it
-Fred Wolf colored robe on Splinter
-No attention paid to the lighting

Official version:

Pros:
-Lighting is acknowledged & accentuated
-Details like low opacity layering drive home the transparency of the smoke
-Cool colors for the dark, wet atmosphere of the sewer
-Texture is added where appropriate, in an unobtrusive way

Cons:
-Turtles' color palette has way too much blue in it
-Overall color palette is a bit too vibrant/saturated in contrast to the grim art style
-The aforementioned added texture could be perceived as meddling with the original art (based on this page alone, I personally like it, but the dot-pattern in a previous shot was very off-putting to me, so we'll see...)
-Cyborg hair & skin are colored as if metal

Overall I prefer the official one. It's not perfect, but it seems to be better than the Mirage re-colors I've seen. Outside of the turtles' skin color, I'd say I'm pretty happy with it.

[CyberCubed]

The official looks good to me, but man those cyborg designs look so generic now in color. Definitely looks like a mid/late 90's generic cyborgs that would fit right in with the superhero comics of the era.

[AquaParade]

I can say I prefer both color versions to the original black and white. Somewhat unusual for me. I really appreciate the depth mood a black and white color scheme can bring to some of my favorite comics.

Not the case here. I find that the colors make it much easier to follow the storytelling. Also pleasant to the eye.

[bushido]

Neat! By the way where is from the fan color?

[Andrew NDB]

Yeah, I have to admit I like the cyborgs a lot less in color, and that's surprising (also no one's fault). I think I'd have made all of their metallics a uniform color, largely, and made the skin more sickly and Borg-like, maybe, from a coloring perspective. Emphasize laser sights in the eyes or something.

It's strange and yet refreshing to see so much blood in color in a TMNT comic... because we haven't seen that since Volume 2, and in pretty small amount (though I guess "Bodycount" counts). It's easy to miss/gloss over how much there actually was on the page back then.

[CyberCubed]

The tan skin coloring on the cyborg on the right really makes him look like an updated version of Krang's Android body from the original cartoon. I mean, it's probably just a coincidence, but I can't help but think, "Hey that kinda looks like Krang's android" when looking at that cyborg now.