2007 Movie Prequel Comics
 

Anyone read these things? I just did and I gotta say they are fairly interesting little books in certain ways. There were 5 of them (far as I know) and each was focused on a character.

A quick summary of what they are about:
Raph - Explains where he gets the Nightwatcher gear
Mike - A story about Cowabunga Carl (Note that this one, and the Don book are sort of Mike/Don/Splinter combo stories with different lead turtles).
Don - Don finds one of the monsters, talks to it a little
April - Details on tracking down one of the statues, interestingly the most violent of these 5 comics
Leo - Details about his training, which involves traveling the world.

The comics also make the continuity of a lot of things very strange in relation to the movie, if you are willing to include them. The 2007 movie usually seems to be either it's own canon, or taking place after the first three movies, but the comics make them seem more related to the 2k3 series! The TMNT fight some Triceratons, mention the Utroms, and the Ancient One even gets a few pages. Perhaps most shocking of all is that Don's book involves him inventing something incredibly similar to an invention of his that was a big deal in Next Mutation.

Now I'm curious how much of Smash Up contradicts this stuff/the movie, hmm.

Remember there was a Triceraton helmet in the 4th movie trophy room so the prequel mentioning they fought them shouldn't be surprising.

A lot of time could have passed between Movie 3 and 4.

I skipped them when they came out in singles but bought the trade paperback collection some years back.

I've never actually read them; I forgot about them entirely. When I get around to reviewing the movie comics in order, I think I'll dive into them then. I did review the Smash Up comic, though. It was pretty silly.

Yeah, the Triceraton squad appearance in the Raphael comic was unexpected but very cool. The Ancient One appearance in Leonardo really made me wonder what continuity this was supposed to be. That sense of confusion carried over into the actual movie for me and (I suspect) many other people who saw the film unaware of all the ever-expanding facets of the TMNT multi-verse.

What really surprised me was how many people get killed in the stories: the original Nightwatcher in Raphael, all the thugs in the April issue, and (I think) even the Turtles kill off a few bad guys. It just gave the "Imagi" universe a weird vibe. You never would have pegged the Turtles as killers if you just watch the film.

As for the Smash-Up connection, I don't think that storyline adds or subtracts anything to the Imagi universe (unless you count the Fugitoid storyline). Plus, the Ubisoft crew said they weren't trying to set the story in any particular TMNT-verse, even though everybody but Shredder is copied-and-pasted from the Imagi style guide.

I actually forgot you never reviewed them on your site! I hope you do some Dreamwave reviews after you finish up Archie, then maybe you can jump into the Movie-verse comics.

That's not a bad idea, though Spengs has mentioned in past that he absolutely hated DW's TMNT series, so I wouldn't pressure him into reviewing them too soon (same with the rest of Mark Martin and Hedden & McWeeney's TMNT yarns), though if and when he does review DW's TMNT series, maybe he could pick up a copy of the "Out of the Shadows" TPB, since it contains some script excerpts, story outlines and sketches from a story arc that was never completed.

Personally, I rather see stuff like the Flaming Carrot and CreeD crossovers and the guest appearances in Kung-Fu Kangaroos, Miami Mice and Equine the Uncivilized before the DW series and the movie tie-ins.

Heh, yeah, I'm with you. I liked DW #4 & 5, but all the rest was (at best) underwhelming.

I know DW released multiple TPBs, but I didn't know there was one with some original story content. I'll have to keep an eye out for that one.

I recently picked up the TMNT-Creed comic. It was a bit of chore to read (I never would have heard of the character otherwise), but I will commend it for its creepy-awesome portrayal of Splinter.

I'm interested to read more of Miami Mice (only got the 2nd issue), but I've never even heard of TMNT appearances in KFKangaroos and Equine the Uncivilized.

The crossovers in Last of the Viking Heroes are at least interesting (mostly on account of the art).

I haven't read of the prequel comics, but I have read a tie-in children's book that's also a prequel called "The Legend of Yaotl".

The only new character in the book was an ancient robot observer on the moon that told about Yaotl's past.

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude. I need to buy this book. Steve Murphy alongside the artist of Archie's Megaman book?! Must have.

I loved the prequel comics. To say that I thought they were better than the film would be an understatement. Tonally, they're very different. Not that that has any bearing on the quality, I'm just making an observation for those who aren't in the know.

Rewatched TMNT last week and actually had a really strong urge to find and read these.

I still do, but I want to find the TPB if I can, and I can wait until it shows up. But yeah, these seem like interesting Turtles curiosities that I'd love to have in my collection.

The prequel comics really do help the movie too. Seeing why Raph became the Nightwatcher, Leo training in the jungle, Don meeting the Vampire bat, etc.

Mike's was my least favorite as it was just Cowanunga Carl stuff, oddly reminds me of IDW's Mike micro.

Yeah, I had no idea it featured some original artwork of that caliber. Also, any of those children's books tied to Mirage's talents warrant my interest as well.

so
 

Anyway to buy these today? Or view them online?

You probably could find it for like $4 easy. I don't think I even paid that much.

EDIT: BALLS. Didn't realize this was an old topic that someone bumped.

That's more than fine, I forgot the book existed & have now rekindled my interest in it!

I would love for the colorized versions of the prequel comics to get an official U.S. release. Anybody know if the UK colorings were collaborated or even sanctioned by Mirage?

There's also the children's book "Who is the Knightwatcher?" that deals with Mikey trying to figure out his identity and we see the 2007 version of the Silver Sentry. There was a third Children's book that also had a little information as well. Finding the Expanded Universe of this movie is difficult but it helps flesh out this universe more. Would you guys consider Smash up as part of the expanded universe? How about the extra events from the games? It would mean Hun exists in this universe.

The movie is clearly influenced by 2k3 as much as it is from the original movies which is why it deserves its own canon and if it had succeeded it would've been more apparent as more things would've contradicted 2k3 and even the more realistic movie.

Maybe IDW will collect these?

Mirage put out a collection for them in 2007.

I know but I'd like an IDW to match my others haha.