Tales of the TMNT volume 2?

[mrjafunk]

I am looking to expand upon my TMNT comic choices and was curious if this series is worth getting into. Are the stories good? Are their story arcs? Thanks for any advice.

[Venom]

It's well worth it if you enjoy Turtles in general.

If you're familiar with the older Mirage stories, you'll do well because a lot of the Tales expanded on some of the plotholes from Volumes 1 and 2.

Personally, when Tales V.2 was coming out I did not have a lot of the older books but I still enjoyed the issues a lot.

[DrSpengler]

Well, a solid knowledge of Volumes 1, 2 and 4 are kind of a prerequisite, as the stories take place all over the timeline of the series and refrence quite a bit of minutia. For newcomers it can get a little confusing.

Still, most of the stories are standalone oneshots. They're hit or miss, but I'd wager that some of the best TMNT stories Mirage ever put out are in that volume. Granted, some of their WORST are, too, but it averages out more in favor of the good.

There are a few arcs, yes, but few go beyond 2 issues. The more irritating thing is that several of the arcs were never finished, so there are dangling plot threads left unresolved (some caused by the cancellation of the series, some caused by editorial just never getting around to wrapping the arcs up). Some of the longer form arcs branched out into their own "Tales of..." miniseries (each themed around one of the Turtles). The Leo and Mike ones were okay, but I'd skip the Raph and Don ones if I were you.

Tales Vol. 2 is a mixed bag, yeah, but there's a certain kind of excitement to it; as sometimes you're stuck with a lousy issues, but when the volume is good it can be REALLY good (Almost all of Dan Berger's output during that volume was solid stuff).

[mrjafunk]

Hey, thanks guys! I do own all of volumes 1 and 2. Will it hurt me if I have never read an issue of volume 4?

[Powder]

Well there are issues that address vol. 4 content, those would definitely confuse you if you're not aware of what happened.

But the bulk of it is enjoyable on its own, so it's not that big of a deal.

[DrSpengler]

The issues that take place during or as a prelude to Volume 4 are fairly minimal. Most of the writers for Tales didn't want to risk "stepping on Laird's toes", so to speak. So most of the Vol. 4-related stories take place in-between issues of Vol. 4 and are pretty self-contained. A few carry on plot points of that volume, but not many.

The majority of Tales issues take place before Vol. 1 when the TMNT were kids, between Return to New York and City at War, and between Vol. 2 and Vol. 4 (a faux "volume 3", so to speak).

If you're familiar with Volumes 1 and 2 (and the first volume of Tales) then you should be mostly OK.

[CyberCubed]

Tales V. 2 actually salvaged the Mirage Universe, IMO.

Before this, the Mirage universe was nothing more than bits and piece of Volume 1, a short Volume 2 and the original Tales, and Volume 4. It was actually quite barren.

If you stop to realize it, most of the Mirage Turtles "adventures" came from Tales of the TMNT. If those 70 issues didn't exist, the Mirage universe would feel quite empty.

[Cipher]

Hey, thanks guys! I do own all of volumes 1 and 2. Will it hurt me if I have never read an issue of volume 4?
As others have said, you hardly need any specifics from Volume 4 (although they do crop up sparingly).

However, I'd make sure you're aware of some of its key points. Particularly the big, world-altering event that happens in it.

[mgambino]

As others have said, you hardly need any specifics from Volume 4 (although they do crop up sparingly).

However, I'd make sure you're aware of some of its key points. Particularly the big, world-altering event that happens in it.

That being said, I thought V4 was really good (I might be in the minority in that) so why not read it anyway?

[mrjafunk]

Just have to find all of the issues of volume 4! I wish I could.

[***First of Two Latin Kings***]

That being said, I thought V4 was really good (I might be in the minority in that) so why not read it anyway?

You're not alone in that. Volume 4 was AWESOME in my opinion.

[CyberCubed]

Volume 4 wasn't amazing, but it was far from the trainwreck some people make it out to be.

Its biggest problem, which was the pacing, is obviously eliminated if you read huge chunks of it in one sitting.