IDW Vol. 2 hardcore "The Mirage Years" (1993-1995) announced

[CyberCubed]

Looks like Vol. 2 is getting a proper hardcover collection next year, following the completion of the Vol. 1 compendiums:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D72JW6R4/ref=sr_1_2?crid=23E583QZX0GYY&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NanOnq2xxF2koCbeV_3DcAIxGGAHky8gh 5VhuFbtoMrGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.1hBMueqjeBxz37i-1WHMP8mBFBniQAKjaHorzKRPhBE&dib_tag=se&keywords=IDW+ninja+turtles+the+mirage+years&qid=1718399042&sprefix=idw+ninja+turtles+the+mirage+yea%2Caps%2C1 42&sr=8-2

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/915m24vUX6L._SL1500_.jpg

"After the original 62-issue run of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mirage continued the series with a new #1 in 1993 and it ran for 13 issues in total. This 13-issue run by TMNT veteran Jim Lawson is now known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Vol. 2.

Picking up after the events of “City At War" (collected in TMNT Compendium Vol. 3), Donatello and Splinter recuperate in Northampton while the rest of the Turtles are in New York City with April. Meanwhile, Baxter Stockman wreaks havoc in the desert at a top secret facility known as D.A.R.P.A. As the family drifts apart a killer robot controlled by Stockman has April in its sights and the boys have to come together to fight it off!"


Since they already put out the Image series in trades (although maybe they'll re-release that too?), and we know we're getting new Archie collections...hopefully after this we can FINALLY get Vol. 4 and Tales V. 2 trades.

[Coola Yagami]

Looks like Vol. 2 is getting a proper hardcover collection next year, following the completion of the Vol. 1 compendiums:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D72JW6R4/ref=sr_1_2?crid=23E583QZX0GYY&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NanOnq2xxF2koCbeV_3DcAIxGGAHky8gh 5VhuFbtoMrGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.1hBMueqjeBxz37i-1WHMP8mBFBniQAKjaHorzKRPhBE&dib_tag=se&keywords=IDW+ninja+turtles+the+mirage+years&qid=1718399042&sprefix=idw+ninja+turtles+the+mirage+yea%2Caps%2C1 42&sr=8-2

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/915m24vUX6L._SL1500_.jpg

"After the original 62-issue run of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mirage continued the series with a new #1 in 1993 and it ran for 13 issues in total. This 13-issue run by TMNT veteran Jim Lawson is now known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Vol. 2.

Picking up after the events of “City At War" (collected in TMNT Compendium Vol. 3), Donatello and Splinter recuperate in Northampton while the rest of the Turtles are in New York City with April. Meanwhile, Baxter Stockman wreaks havoc in the desert at a top secret facility known as D.A.R.P.A. As the family drifts apart a killer robot controlled by Stockman has April in its sights and the boys have to come together to fight it off!"


Since they already put out the Image series in trades (although maybe they'll re-release that too?), and we know we're getting new Archie collections...hopefully after this we can FINALLY get Vol. 4 and Tales V. 2 trades.

Those Lawson-Turtles are the most Lawsonest of Lawson-Turtles ever. Like the architecture looks fine, but those Turtles man....

[Andrew NDB]

The question is obviously are they going to re-run the coloring it already received or strip it out and redo it all from scratch? And what about the Eastman and Laird covers?

[BornAgain]

Awesome. I love this run. It’s short and bizarre.

[CyberCubed]

The question is obviously are they going to re-run the coloring it already received or strip it out and redo it all from scratch? And what about the Eastman and Laird covers?

The recent compendiums reprinted all of Vol. 1 in black and white, there's no coloring, so I don't see why Vol. 2 won't have the original coloring.

[DexVcx]

Awesome. I love this run. It’s short and bizarre.

Vol 2 is just too good. And it gives a taste of what to come from vol 4

[TurtleGurkle]

Cool to see this getting recollected. They definitely have room for more stuff if they wanted to make it the same size as the compendiums, but this is better than nothing.

I wish they added in Usagi #1-3, the Mirage Specials, Flaming Carrot, Savage Dragon, etc.

[CyberCubed]

The Image series already has two collections for all 26 issues, so I don't know if they're going to skip over them for now or re-release them again in hardcovers. Also remember most if not all of the Mirage short stories were collected in the last Ultimate Collection, the one that had most of the shorts from Shell Shock. Bodycount also has a hardcover.

I really hope this bodes well for Vol. 4 and Tales v. 2, taken together there's over 100+ Mirage issues right there they need to collect. A lot of those other obscure Mirage specials would be nice like Turtle Soup and so forth, but I'd rather the more important stuff be collected first.

[BornAgain]

Slightly related but is this not an AI generated cover?

https://tmnt-ninjaturtles.com/tmnt-jennika-the-fifth-turtle-hc-idw/

Look at the masks and Donatello’s hand. Gross.

[Powder]

The skateboard too. No shame, really.

[oldmanwinters]

Slightly related but is this not an AI generated cover?

https://tmnt-ninjaturtles.com/tmnt-jennika-the-fifth-turtle-hc-idw/

Look at the masks and Donatello’s hand. Gross.

The skateboard too. No shame, really.

Screw dem fools.

[oldmanwinters]

So… “Acky Bright” is apparently a big deal young Japanese manga artist. Could this TMNT cover be the beginning of a major scandal for his brand?

https://i.imgur.com/WY7k0R5l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/taMidCBl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/PSKisM7l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/v568CqPl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/6Qcdr2pl.jpg

[Powder]

Wait, it actually appears that the bottom & right side of the image was extended, & those suspicious areas are just copy/pasted versions of the art they're apart of. In the case of Don's hand, Mike's arm/skateboard, anyway.

Other things appear to be style choices, giving the benefit of the doubt.

[frank_one]

Ouch! Shame, shame, shame!

[oldmanwinters]

Wait, it actually appears that the bottom & right side of the image was extended, & those suspicious areas are just copy/pasted versions of the art they're apart of. In the case of Don's hand, Mike's arm/skateboard, anyway.

Other things appear to be style choices, giving the benefit of the doubt.

It is an expanded variant of Acky Bright’s variant to #146 from last year, but I think its more likely 146 covered up or cropped off the a.i. tells than it is that IDW/a.b. tried to use a.i. to expand upon a smaller cover: https://idwpublishing.com/products/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-146-exclusive?variant=47503331262763

Jennika’s Super Mutant nose, Leo’s katana-bandana, Raph’s chest buckled-harness that loses logic at close examination, Donny’s hydra bandana MIGHT all be style choices, but I doubt it.

[frank_one]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/915m24vUX6L._SL1500_.jpg
I'm a big fan of Lawson but, damn. This could be good for a panel, but for a cover? Not good enough. Also the coloring is just bad.

[CyberCubed]

The new covers Jim Lawson did for the tpb's of Volume 2 and Volume 1 on the classics collections were much better. Granted he drew those covers back in like 2015 so that was like 9 years ago now.

[Andrew NDB]

Wait, it actually appears that the bottom & right side of the image was extended, & those suspicious areas are just copy/pasted versions of the art they're apart of. In the case of Don's hand, Mike's arm/skateboard, anyway.

Other things appear to be style choices, giving the benefit of the doubt.

It looks like some use of the Magic Wand tool in Photoshop gone awry.

[Wentos]

Awesome, this is great to see. I would imagine we'll get reprints of more classic TMNT sooner rather than later.

Question for you guys: If/when IDW ends up releasing a new series of hardcovers for Volume 3, would you want it to feature the new IDW coloring or the original black and white? Normally I'm 100% in favor of original artwork, but I always thought the linework in Volume 3 was pretty flat/muddled and that the color helped the art pop a lot more.

[BornAgain]

Awesome, this is great to see. I would imagine we'll get reprints of more classic TMNT sooner rather than later.

Question for you guys: If/when IDW ends up releasing a new series of hardcovers for Volume 3, would you want it to feature the new IDW coloring or the original black and white? Normally I'm 100% in favor of original artwork, but I always thought the linework in Volume 3 was pretty flat/muddled and that the color helped the art pop a lot more.

I’d instantly buy a hardcover of volume 3 and I’d like to see it in color. It absolutely popped and I prefer it to the original black and white in this case. Definitely a step up from the coloring we saw in the “Color Classics”.

[Redrumh2o]

I pre-ordered it....but I agree... not a great cover

[Andrew NDB]

Normally I'm 100% in favor of original artwork, but I always thought the linework in Volume 3 was pretty flat/muddled and that the color helped the art pop a lot more.

I must have said that like 10 times in the Vol. 3 lettercol. Of course it was too "color open." Had Erik Larsen threw real duotones at it, we could have really had something good. As is, it's like, "Oh that's odd... did they forget to color it?"

[CyberCubed]

I'm pretty sure if they reprint Image again it'll be in black and white this time since the previous trades were in color. There's no reason to do two color collections twice over, and those 3 new issues they did (24-26), haven't been released in black and white as far as I know. So it would be the first time seeing those new issues in black and white.

[Andrew NDB]

I'm pretty sure if they reprint Image again it'll be in black and white this time since the previous trades were in color. There's no reason to do two color collections twice over, and those 3 new issues they did (24-26), haven't been released in black and white as far as I know. So it would be the first time seeing those new issues in black and white.

Does that mean they'd then print the new issues, #24-26, in B&W for the first time?

[CyberCubed]

Probably only in the collections, but not as single individual issues.

[frank_one]

There's no reason to print the new issues of vol. 3 in black and white as those last issues were conceived in colour since the beginning, I guess.
I think no one is willing to go back and read vol. 3 in black and white ever again. It's just so better in colour.

[jignat]

I hope they do a hardcover of Image with all 26 issues in color.

The second Image tpb is out of stock on Amazon (physical edition) unfortunately.

[CyberCubed]

I think they might re-release Image just to make it part of this new collection series they're doing and in hardcovers. The previous ones were two tpb's collecting 13 issues each. They already collected the Tales 7 issues in the compendiums and Bodycount already has a hardcover. Most of the Shell Shock short stories were also in the last Ultimate collection, I don't know if they'd re-release those again either.

After that they're pretty much done up to Vol. 4 and Tales. V.2. I'm really hoping we do get the 70+ Tales series and the 16 mini's in collections, we had never gotten that series in a full collection before.

[ToTheNines]

This is awesome. I sold my volume 2 floppies years ago when money was tight. So glad this is happening.

Really, really hope they don’t re-color though.

[Andrew NDB]

Really, really hope they don’t re-color though.

Kind of inevitable, since IDW recolored Vol. 2 in that other reprint thing.

[Zog The Magnificent]

Honestly, I'll trade someone this for their singles. I still don't have them all and I would much prefer them to the TPBs I currently have. Any takers? ;)

[Andrew NDB]

Yeah, you're never going to do better than the original Vol. 2. issues. Prestige format paper for the covers, every single one (except #1) with gorgeous original Eastman AND Laird covers (like their last major partnership ever), perfectly fine coloring inside.

[ToTheNines]

Kind of inevitable, since IDW recolored Vol. 2 in that other reprint thing.

Insane that they would waste the money. Reprints should be near zero overhead.

[liugeaux]

It looks like some use of the Magic Wand tool in Photoshop gone awry.

Yeah this looks like a sloppy "Content Aware Fill" (photoshop tool) job to fill empty space. I wouldn't say the art itself is AI-generated but more so a non-artist trying to patch something up.

[Andrew NDB]

And you just know the coloring is going to be wrong all over the place (I already saw stuff in the earlier Vol. 2 reprint like Donatello's backpack was a different color, etc.). IDW's reprint team doesn't have any oversight, nobody cares, nobody cross-checks against the original material, and nobody is accountable after the fact.

[Rooish]

It looks like some use of the Magic Wand tool in Photoshop gone awry.

It looks like Etch-a-Sketch.

[DK2]

This is surprising about Vol. 2 getting a single compilation under the ultimate collections format. But yeah I agree the Lawson cover is odd. The background looks good but the turtles look like some charicatures or kiddy midgets or something. Like they don't belong in it at all. They look lost too on their faces. But that's also what this series was, what's next for the turtles?

[ToTheNines]

This is out, I’ve read the first couple of issues and can confirm that they did keep the original colors! Feels good to have Vol. 2 back in my collection.

And let me tell you something. That foreword Jim Lawson wrote was worth the price, alone. One of the most beautiful written tributes to TMNT I’ve ever read. Love that guy.

[Felian]

Now that volume 2 is out, is there any info if they will make a volume 3 hardcover like this one?

[ToTheNines]

No word on that. I’d probably only buy it if it was in the original black and white. But they probably wouldn’t do that if they’re going to include #24-26 and the couple anniversary special shorts.

I’m more interested in Tales and volume 4 getting proper collections.

[Wentos]

I'd love to know if this hardcover's trim size matches the compendiums or the old ultimate collections. I'm assuming the latter since the design of the cover matches the ultimate collection aesthetic, which to be honest is a bit of a shame for anyone aiming to be a Mirage completionist.

https://i.ibb.co/Wr6btqZ/Screenshot-2025-03-05-105923.jpg

[TurtleGurkle]

I'd love to know if this hardcover's trim size matches the compendiums or the old ultimate collections. I'm assuming the latter since the design of the cover matches the ultimate collection aesthetic, which to be honest is a bit of a shame for anyone aiming to be a Mirage completionist.

https://i.ibb.co/Wr6btqZ/Screenshot-2025-03-05-105923.jpg

It's the size of the Compendiums/softcover Ultimates.

https://i.ibb.co/5gTSV4Zz/IMG-2315.jpg (https://ibb.co/5gTSV4Zz)

[Wentos]

Thanks for the comparison photo! I wish the spine art wasn't quite so loud compared to the more understated compendiums, but that's a minor complaint.

I assume Volume 3 hardcovers are next? The only question is whether they'll be in color or black and white.

[CyberCubed]

They could very well release them in black and white since the previous trades were in color, and would be redundant to do the same thing a second time. I'm even sure they have black and white copies of the new issues #24-26 before they colorized them.

I just hope they do them fast because we've never gotten Vol. 4 trades or most of Tales V. 2 and I'd love to see those finally collected for the very first time. Can you believe we're in 2025 and we've never had a Volume 4 collection after all these years?

[The Turtle Terminator]

They could very well release them in black and white since the previous trades were in color, and would be redundant to do the same thing a second time. I'm even sure they have black and white copies of the new issues #24-26 before they colorized them.

I just hope they do them fast because we've never gotten Vol. 4 trades or most of Tales V. 2 and I'd love to see those finally collected for the very first time. Can you believe we're in 2025 and we've never had a Volume 4 collection after all these years?

I do believe I read somewhere IDW don’t have reprint rights to Volume 4 (or at least the ones post Viacom buyout), but that could be several years ago and changed now. I’d doubt they would reprint them until they had rights for a full reprint.

[CyberCubed]

I do believe I read somewhere IDW don’t have reprint rights to Volume 4 (or at least the ones post Viacom buyout), but that could be several years ago and changed now. I’d doubt they would reprint them until they had rights for a full reprint.

They have the rights up to the last two, I believe, because Peter Laird didn't publish them through Diamond I think.

[rs_jr]

do you guys think we will get a compendium collecting all the short stories, minis, specials/one shots like turtle soup, times pipeline, plastron cafe etc.. from volume 1 and 2?

I also hope we get volume 3 in black and white.

Oni and sky bound did kickstarters shouldn't idw consider it as well? the sixth gun and go joe collection look well made

[CyberCubed]

Most of the Shell Shock shorts were in the last Ultimate Collection. I'm not sure if they'll re-release that in the Compendium format. But at least they've already been collected.

[DK2]

I'm hoping they make a softcover version of this Vol. 2 run sometime later. I find it too steep for just 13 issues in price. Surprising this hardcover isn't even in scale to the Ultimate Collection HC books even though from the hardcover image and the cover price you'd think it was gonna be in that scale.
Also hoping they'll get to Ultimate Collection book 7 as a softcover too. The hardcover seems to be out of print now.
Cant see them not keeping the assuming, eventual Vol. 3 collections as the colored versions. It makes no sense to go back to B&W after its been colored. It'd make it sell a little less or a hard sell IMO if it isnt in color.

[ToTheNines]

This technically should have included all the Savage Dragon crossovers.

[neatoman]

This technically should have included all the Savage Dragon crossovers.

Doesn't that require them to do the dreaded thing... You know...
Pay royalties?

[ToTheNines]

2 of the 4 crossover issues were published by Mirage, the other 2 by Image. Regardless, I can’t imagine it would be any different than whatever they worked out for Urban Legends, since Dragon and many other Image characters appeared in that.

But we can only speculate how these deals work, exactly.