Mirage Comic question before reading.

[Powder]

There are a lot of very Mirage aspects to it, IMO.

[mrmaczaps]

Originally Posted by myconius

^ i really do have to agree with Powder on this.

i only wish Michelangelo could be written in the current IDW Tmnt comics as he was in the Image run.

also with the image run, i loved seeing Leonardo Astral Project his spirit searching for Donatello in the first story arc.

Originally Posted by Powder

There are a lot of very Mirage aspects to it, IMO.

One of the reasons volume 3 is so good is because the guy writing had some comics storytelling skills. Not to say Mirage turtles were not well written as they progressed, just differently.

The Turtles were all fleshed out better. Leo, Don and Raph all got beatup quite well. Mikey branches out

Spoiler:

and becomes a writer

.

Mikey is also not written like an idiot. Raph makes some character changes that make sense.

Splinter goes throuh some things... lol.

I very much wish these guys ould finish their story...

So many fans today are always saying how IDW is "the best", but I tell you what, read this volume as a whole and its so much more than the almost 70 primary issues of IDW...

And this is all ming from someone who did NOT want to read Image at first for the same reasons mentioned before of seeing the guys beat up as they are.

[Mexiun]

Originally Posted by mrmaczaps

And this is all ming from someone who did NOT want to read Image at first for the same reasons mentioned before of seeing the guys beat up as they are.

Yeah i never liked seeing heroes get permant damage, it always bugged me too much.

But hey i atleast want to start reading it now, i'm sure it's really good.

[Peter Palmer]

I might be in the minority here, but the Image series did nothing for me. Mikey is written pretty well, but that's about it. If anyone read other comics of that era (the 90's), you'd see that the Image TMNT is just like 95% of the comics put out during this time. That means lots of guns, lasers, cyborgs, pouches, anti-heroes, and being edgy simply for the sake of being edgy. Most comics in that era were so "hardcore" and "extreme" because that's what was hot at the time, but it just comes off as cheesy in retrospect. Sure, the Mirage Turtles, especially the early stuff, showed the Turtles being pretty violent and brutal at times, but it felt like it was done with much more finesse whereas the Image stuff was done somewhat ham-handedly. As someone said, a product of its time.

As for Mirage volume 1, please understand that most of the issues were done by guest artists and writers and serve as self-contained stories that don't really affect the overall plot. My personal recommendation is to ignore them for now and for your first read-thru, go strictly with the main canon story arc.

Main story arc:
1, 2, 3, Raphael, 4, Fugitoid, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Leonardo, 10, 11, 19, 20, 21, 48-62

There are some great stories outside of these issues (some rough ones too), but the above issues will get you the core story as plotted by Eastman & Laird.

Between issues 1 and 21, you'll see a lot of elements that were adapted for the 1990 movie. Enjoy!

[DisKosh]

It's certainly darker than the cartoons but it's not nearly as dark or violent as some people say.

Having said that, I enjoyed most of them. The turtles' various injuries in volume 3 didn't bother me and to be honest, the emotional side is barely dealt with which makes it less disturbing.

The ones I didn't enjoy were the more light-hearted issues unless they had strong focus on kinship. My favourite writer is Victor Hugo so I enjoy the sadder parts of the story.

[pferreira]

Originally Posted by mrmaczaps

Vol 2 and the rest has not been collected as of yet.

As another poster mentioned it has along with Volume 1. Volume 3 hasn't been collected yet neither has 4.

Originally Posted by Mexiun

1-

Spoiler:

I know that Raphael's face is mutelated by some blast or something where he goes half blind and half his face is gone, and Donatello becomes a half cyborg. I really don't like this, it's honestly creeping me out, shocking (in a bad way) and weird to me... i love these characters to much for them to be mutelated permanetly(?). So is this a permanent thing or will they be cured?

Yeah I get what you're saying. I feel the same way. Volume 3 does indeed seem like a strange parallel universe of Mirage. I still have to sit down and read it all.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by pferreira

Yeah I get what you're saying. I feel the same way. Volume 3 does indeed seem like a strange parallel universe of Mirage. I still have to sit down and read it all.

They let you do that, where you're at?

[Mexiun]

So far the Mirage comics are okay, some chapters are really good (not many to be honest) but most chapters are plain awful and seem like filler to me.

Spoiler:

Like the alien girl who randomly came to Earth and teleported the turtles to the medieval times with a demon obsessed with her sceptre. Then some issues later another random alien girl who happens to coincidentally come to Earth aswell arrived only to get followed by an evil queen and her weird alien henchmen. And then a weird pointless chapter with a time travelling 8 year old... where the turtles personalities weren't even correct most of the time

.
Honestly i hope the comic gets more serious, i really don't like reading these "super hero parody" chapters, they're awful
I liked the first chapter and the Triceraton one (a little) and the 'shredder is back' chapters the most, the rest were 'meh' so far.

[DestronMirage22]

Originally Posted by Mexiun

So far the Mirage comics are okay, some chapters are really good (not many to be honest) but most chapters are plain awful and seem like filler to me.

Spoiler:

Like the alien girl who randomly came to Earth and teleported the turtles to the medieval times with a demon obsessed with her sceptre. Then some issues later another random alien girl who happens to coincidentally come to Earth aswell arrived only to get followed by an evil queen and her weird alien henchmen. And then a weird pointless chapter with a time travelling 8 year old... where the turtles personalities weren't even correct most of the time

.
Honestly i hope the comic gets more serious, i really don't like reading these "super hero parody" chapters, they're awful
I liked the first chapter and the Triceraton one (a little) and the 'shredder is back' chapters the most, the rest were 'meh' so far.

Whoah, never seen anyone describe those issues so harshly.
Those are classic issues, that most people remember fondly. Especially the one with Savanti Romero and Renet. Guess they're just not for everyone.
But why'd you have to insult poor Dale Evans Mcgillicutty?

[mrmaczaps]

Originally Posted by DestronMirage22

https://media.giphy.com/media/aWPGuTlDqq2yc/giphy.gif


Whoah, never seen anyone describe those issues so harshly.
Those are classic issues, that most people remember fondly. Especially the one with Savanti Romero and Renet. Guess they're just not for everyone.
But why'd you have to insult poor Dale Evans Mcgillicutty?

Dudes kind of harsh... I love those stories.. stuff with Renet makes me wish they really could have put her in the third original film which I kind of think is what they were toying with seeing as it involved time travel...

Guess you won't like TMNT V3 then dude. (The original post person...)

One thing to remember also about Mirage is that it doesn't suffer the timely month to month storytelling of most modern comics or even "trade waiting" story telling... Which is great. Some of the guest era is tough to read but not the issues you've described. Just wait til you get to the really weird issues... Hahaha

[Mexiun]

Originally Posted by mrmaczaps

Dudes kind of harsh... I love those stories.. stuff with Renet makes me wish they really could have put her in the third original film which I kind of think is what they were toying with seeing as it involved time travel...

Guess you won't like TMNT V3 then dude. (The original post person...)

One thing to remember also about Mirage is that it doesn't suffer the timely month to month storytelling of most modern comics or even "trade waiting" story telling... Which is great. Some of the guest era is tough to read but not the issues you've described. Just wait til you get to the really weird issues... Hahaha

Maybe it's harsh but it's honest, i really don't like those issues it just seems like filler to me, unless those alien women and villians come back eventually which i don't see happening.

So far the comic in general is good, i like the humour, action and the characters a lot.

[Mexiun]

Originally Posted by DestronMirage22

https://media.giphy.com/media/aWPGuTlDqq2yc/giphy.gif


Whoah, never seen anyone describe those issues so harshly.
Those are classic issues, that most people remember fondly. Especially the one with Savanti Romero and Renet. Guess they're just not for everyone.
But why'd you have to insult poor Dale Evans Mcgillicutty?

Just because it's classic doesn't mean they are good though, i mean the Michael Bay movies will eventually become classic too

[myconius]

Originally Posted by Mexiun

Just because it's classic doesn't mean they are good though, i mean the Michael Bay movies will eventually become classic too

WOW!
comparing the Classic Eastman/Laird Mirage Tmnt comics to the Michael Bay Tmnt films, is like going into a church and relieving one's self in the Holy Water!

i mean, to each their own.

"good" or "bad" is subjective.
i will admit some comics i've read an loved in the past just seem stupid or annoying upon attempted re-reads.

though i truly find i REALLY enjoy some of the early Eastman/Laird Mirage stories even MORE now than when i first read them many years ago.
they're not just "cool" stories that i find "neat-o".
i appreciate better just where they came from, and what the creators went through to bring them to life.

but as they say, one man's meat is another man's poison.


still though.... the Bay films becoming classics?????

i dunno....

.... i severely doubt that!!!

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Mexiun

Maybe it's harsh but it's honest, i really don't like those issues it just seems like filler to me, unless those alien women and villians come back eventually which i don't see happening.

So far the comic in general is good, i like the humour, action and the characters a lot.

Originally Posted by Mexiun

Just because it's classic doesn't mean they are good though, i mean the Michael Bay movies will eventually become classic too

The way you use the word "classic"...

You haven't really given a reason as to why they're bad, just that they seem like filler. An example of something that's actively bad would be that FW episode where Shredder uses a machine to collect random turtles, that's just boring as tar (in my opinion, nearly all of FW is boring as tar but whatever, worst of the worst I guess). I can't think of anything that makes those issues particularily bad though.

Anyway, yes, those characters do come back.

[DisKosh]

Originally Posted by Mexiun

So far the Mirage comics are okay, some chapters are really good (not many to be honest) but most chapters are plain awful and seem like filler to me.

Spoiler:

Like the alien girl who randomly came to Earth and teleported the turtles to the medieval times with a demon obsessed with her sceptre. Then some issues later another random alien girl who happens to coincidentally come to Earth aswell arrived only to get followed by an evil queen and her weird alien henchmen. And then a weird pointless chapter with a time travelling 8 year old... where the turtles personalities weren't even correct most of the time

.
Honestly i hope the comic gets more serious, i really don't like reading these "super hero parody" chapters, they're awful
I liked the first chapter and the Triceraton one (a little) and the 'shredder is back' chapters the most, the rest were 'meh' so far.

I see where you're coming from, to be honest, I'm not too keen on stories where characters travel back in time. I thought the Dale plotline had potential and some of it was quite fun but yeah, I can see why you didn't like it.

It could feel rather disjoined at times due to the amount of guest artists which in my opinion felt hit and miss but there are still some issues that stuck with me.

Also, I just want to state that just because I didn't enjoy a particular issue, it doesn't mean it's not good. I just love the plots that focus on character development and relationships between the characters.

Originally Posted by Mexiun

Just because it's classic doesn't mean they are good though

So true, personally I think Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is hugely overrated, yet it's still a classic.

[Powder]

I don't think I like this guy.

[Peter Palmer]

Originally Posted by Mexiun

So far the Mirage comics are okay, some chapters are really good (not many to be honest) but most chapters are plain awful and seem like filler to me.

Spoiler:

Like the alien girl who randomly came to Earth and teleported the turtles to the medieval times with a demon obsessed with her sceptre. Then some issues later another random alien girl who happens to coincidentally come to Earth aswell arrived only to get followed by an evil queen and her weird alien henchmen. And then a weird pointless chapter with a time travelling 8 year old... where the turtles personalities weren't even correct most of the time

.
Honestly i hope the comic gets more serious, i really don't like reading these "super hero parody" chapters, they're awful
I liked the first chapter and the Triceraton one (a little) and the 'shredder is back' chapters the most, the rest were 'meh' so far.

You should have stuck to my reading list. If you're not liking the "filler issues", I doubt you'll have the endurance to make it all the way to issue 48 where the main story picks up again.

As luck would have it, I read issue 8 (Renet, Savanti, and Cerebus) just last week. You'll have a much better appreciation for it if you've read Cerebus at all. Cerebus was a source of inspiration that helped lead to the creation of the TMNT, after all. It certainly has that classic Eastman/Laird feel to it. If you didn't like it, perhaps the Mirage Turtles aren't your cup of tea.

You mentioned the turtles' personalities didn't match most of the time. After reading issue 8, I'd say Leo and Raph are spot on. Don kinda falls into the background as it's really a magic-based adventure set in medieval times, so knowledge of modern science won't be as helpful here. Also, in the comics, Mikey is the least-developed turtle from a character standpoint. You'll find that he falls into the background in many early issues. Eastman and Laird have stated that they didn't really know what to do with him early on. You see a little character development for him in his one-shot and issue #17.

I feel like early TMNT stories have 1 of 2 feels to them. They are either gritty and dealing with things that happen in normal city life (though with a ninja slant), or they go off on a pretty sci-fi tangent. Issues 1-3, Leo, 10, 19-21 all tend to be on the more grounded side of things, even if that means exosuits, ninjas, and mystic worms. Issues 4-7, Don, and 8 have more of a sci fi feel to them with aliens, time travel and lasers. Both sides are part of early TMNT. However, the live action movie tended to stick more to the more realistic side of things (I know, I know, mutant turtles. You know what I mean.) If the live action movies are all you know about classic TMNT, I can see how the Sci-Fi stuff can be jarring.

[myconius]

still though...

comparing the original Mirage Tmnt comics to Michael Bay....

that's just blasphemy! ...sacrilege! ...heresy!

[DestronMirage22]

Originally Posted by myconius

still though...

comparing the original Mirage Tmnt comics to Michael Bay....

that's just blasphemy! ...sacrilege! ...heresy!

WITCH TRIAL!!

WITCH TRIAL!!

BURN HIM AT THE STAKE!!!

[Panda_Kahn_fan]

I agree with many who are critical with some of the mirage/image run on here; I find the original comics a mixed bag. I love return to new York, Northampton, The River, city at war, sons of the silent age, the fugitoid arc, the usagi and moo mesa crossovers, the original one-issue story with Baxter Stockman, the rat king' s into issue, leatherheads into, the king of thieves arc, Renet's into story, the blind Leo story, and the Dragon lord arc from the image run. These are all amazing comics to me, and have a place on my bookshelf.

The rest of the Mirage/image run, I really Don't care for, and I actually despise. The super hero stuff, Dale evens mcgillicutty, bodycount,naked triceritons, shredder shark, the raph horror stuff with vampires and werewolves, Kirby and the magic Crystal,April the magic drawing, the volume one filler... it all feels so lame to me, and I got bored or annoyed reading it. Likewise, I love the Mirage tmnt drawn by Rick Veitch, Kevin Eastman, or Stan Sakai in the usagi crossovers. But most of the other artist's style looks kind of weird to me. I guess it all comes down to personal taste, and I find mirage 1/2 amazing, 1/2 terrible.