Ranking the comic tmnt incarnations

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Between Mirage, Archie and IDW, which one would be your most to least favourite and why?

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Mirage, with IDW a respectable second.

Never cared for Archie as a kid; wasn't able to get into it when I tried reading it a couple of years ago either.

[neatoman]

I should just preface that I only rank IDW above Mirage, because I personally like it better and think it has generally better writing. I still love a lot of Mirage and wish IDW could be more like it in some respects, I just can't say I think it's ultimately the superior of the two.

Archie does truly deserve the bottom rank though.

[biganimefan]

For me, IDW with Mirage as a close second. The only thing that seriously puts down Mirage is a bit of the guest era. Still waiting for a conclusion to see if Mikey really does end up committing genocide.

I haven't read Archie since I was a kid really. But I remember loving it. Almost done with the FW series so Archie is next on my list. Can't imagine it beating IDW or Mirage though.

[Donnie]

Definitely Mirage > Archie > IDW

I read Mirage & Archie growing up, so those will forever be my favorite comic books in general. In my opinion, IDW is just too much of an amalgam of former TMNT stories - shout out to this Mirage book, shout out to the OT, here's one for you Image fans, etc.

[CyberCubed]

It's kind of hard to rank them against each other because they all do different things.

Mirage TMNT is more of a one-and-done series with the major events, and just slice of life stories or one-shot stories with the TMNT growing up after. Most of Tales sends them on crazy sci-fi adventures or against one-shot human enemies.

IDW TMNT is basically a traditional action/superhero comic. It's also of course a huge mix of every past TMNT incarnation all melted into a blender. It's Mirage/Fred Wolf/4kids/Archie/movies/Nick, etc. all combined together with new stuff thrown in. So for the most part is it's the best of all worlds since it takes the best parts of each previous series and leaves out the crap parts, but the series also has issues of its own with pacing, too many characters, some rushed conclusions, etc. But its been mostly good.

Archie TMNT started off as just a kid adaption comic, but after the initial year of issues it came into its own. Many of the later arcs are great and stand as better than many of the mainline TMNT comic stories.

[ProphetofGanja]

I guess I should finish the Mirage run and start the Archie so I can see who I put second and third, since IDW is first for me

[Powder]

Mirage/Image > IDW > Archie

IDW & Archie are close in the rankings for me, though. The only way I was able to choose between them was by realizing I've commissioned a whole bunch of the IDW guys (Duncan, Campbell, Smith, Dialynas, etc.) & none of the Archie crew. So that must mean I like it more if I want so many representations of it on my wall.

[Allio]

IDW I find is the most consistent.

Don't get me wrong, I love Mirage and it has some of the best stories in the franchise. But while Mirage has it's ups it has some REAL BAD downs.

[Utrommaniac]

IDW > Mirage > Archie.

Tried to read Archie and couldn't quite get into it. And I'm going to agree on Mirage's "REAL BAD DOWNS"...



I'm looking at you "April Is Literally A Drawing", you abhorrent, disgraceful, sonova--

[Mewzard]

For me, Mirage>IDW>Archie.

Mirage is my favorite incarnation of the TMNT that I've seen to date, IDW's pretty good, and I haven't read enough of Archie to really get a feel for it.

[oldmanwinters]

I'm surprised Archie hasn't gotten more #1 votes. Back when all we had was basically Mirage or Archie, I think the poll could have gone much differently.

[Zog The Magnificent]

IDW > Mirage > Archie

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy all three for different reasons, but despite the all of the iconic stories Mirage has, it also has far more bad issues that IDW. Archie does as well, in addition to its lighter tone and environmental preaching, pushing it to third for me.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

I'm surprised Archie hasn't gotten more #1 votes. Back when all we had was basically Mirage or Archie, I think the poll could have gone much differently.

For me its basically a tie between Mirage and Archie, love them both so you could say my vote is a tie between Mirge and Archie over IDW.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

I'm surprised Archie hasn't gotten more #1 votes. Back when all we had was basically Mirage or Archie, I think the poll could have gone much differently.

It's a combination of IDW now having a very lengthy run (it has over 150 issues when you count all the mini's, universe, and spinoff issues), and Archie being 20 years old now that a lot of the new or younger TMNT fans never read it.

I mean the Archie comics ended in what...1995? Even with IDW's reprints a lot haven't followed it.

[pferreira]

Went with the first option. I don't rate IDW as highly as others do. Sorry.

[Toitlefan]

While most of my favorite Tmnt moments are in Mirage I had to put IDW in front. It’s all around better than the Mirage series as a whole but there are definitely parts of Mirage that are better than IDW at any given time. In other words, it was hard to choose.

[myconius]

Originally Posted by Allio

IDW I find is the most consistent.

Don't get me wrong, I love Mirage and it has some of the best stories in the franchise. But while Mirage has it's ups it has some REAL BAD downs.

the same can be said for IDW the last year or so.

the series hasn't had any real home runs since issues #65

let's also not forget the pure delight that was the Casey & April mini-series.

[Tetsu Deinonychus]

Mirage is my number 1. Not just because it's the original source material, but it's also TMNT in it's purest form and I love the poignancy of it's best issues (like Vol. 1 #11).

Archie is #2. It (more so than FW) was the TMNT of my childhood. It's as big a part of TMNT's classic era as Mirage and FW are. It also has a nice consistent continuity and a lot of variety. It's basically 3 comics in one as it has light-hearted FW style stories, dark/poignant Mirage style stories, and stories that can only belong to Archie continuity. It also featured great characters that really haven't been featured well (or at all) in any other incarnation. Also, I'm pretty tree-huggie so the preachiness doesn't bother me much, but I get why that can be a drawback for others.

That leaves IDW at #3. That doesn't mean I think it's bad, though. I haven't really read that much of it, but from what I've read it's perfectly okay, but doesn't really rock my world. I'm not sure how involved Kevin Eastman is but without the Mirage artists and writers it doesn't (to me) feel as "authentically TMNT". And, the pacing in the first story is painfully slow (basically one issue's worth of content stretched to four). But, I do like it's takes on Krang and the Neutrinos, and I like the whole "Fusion of every past version" thing (which it apparently does better than Nick). I also think the "reincarnation" angle is clever. I think it's a fine comic and I intend to read more when I get the chance, but it ranks below the two more "classic" versions for me.

[ProphetofGanja]

Originally Posted by myconius

the same can be said for IDW the last year or so.

the series hasn't had any real home runs since issues #65

let's also not forget the pure delight that was the Casey & April mini-series.

That is entirely a matter of opinion; I think #79 was one of my favorites of the run so far, although I will grant you that to some extent it benefits from the build-up in the three issues before it. Still, Invasion of the Triceratons has been a great arc.