The "Random" era of Mirage Vol.1...thoughts?

*DrSpengler* · 07-29-2006, 05:07 PM

So my local comic shop has been willing to track down copies of old TMNT comics for me (so long as I buy them) and I've been getting quite a bit of Mirage Vol. 1 issues. A real treat, as I've never read them until now.

However, much to my surprise, the vast majority of issues between #21 and #42 are just...random, alternate tellings of the TMNT by guest artists and writers. I mean, they had done some of those prior to "Return to New York", but by now the TMNT comic seemed to have become a title exclusively for the purpose of showcasing new talent in stories with no bearing on continuity.

It was refreshing at first, but it started to get pretty old and by the time I reached #42 I was extremely thankful when I read in the introduction that they intended to return to an actual continuity.

I mean, several of the alternate stories were very good (Michael Zulli's 3-parter is #31, #35 and #36 was incredible) and some of them were really funny in their weirdness (the "Spaced Out" arc in #38-40 was hysterical).

However, most of them were just random one-shot stories with no bearing on continuity and quite a bit of ugly artwork with some, well, stupid stories.

I think they really should've kept the "Guest Artists and Writers on Alternate Tellings"-thing to Turtle Soup. Some of the stories were quite good, but it went on for way too long to the point of suspecting laziness on Eastman and Laird's part.

Anyway, how did YOU feel about the "random" era of Vol. 1?

07-29-2006, 05:07 PM	#1
DrSpengler Foot Elite Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 4,842	The "Random" era of Mirage Vol.1...thoughts? So my local comic shop has been willing to track down copies of old TMNT comics for me (so long as I buy them) and I've been getting quite a bit of Mirage Vol. 1 issues. A real treat, as I've never read them until now. However, much to my surprise, the vast majority of issues between #21 and #42 are just...random, alternate tellings of the TMNT by guest artists and writers. I mean, they had done some of those prior to "Return to New York", but by now the TMNT comic seemed to have become a title exclusively for the purpose of showcasing new talent in stories with no bearing on continuity. It was refreshing at first, but it started to get pretty old and by the time I reached #42 I was extremely thankful when I read in the introduction that they intended to return to an actual continuity. I mean, several of the alternate stories were very good (Michael Zulli's 3-parter is #31, #35 and #36 was incredible) and some of them were really funny in their weirdness (the "Spaced Out" arc in #38-40 was hysterical). However, most of them were just random one-shot stories with no bearing on continuity and quite a bit of ugly artwork with some, well, stupid stories. I think they really should've kept the "Guest Artists and Writers on Alternate Tellings"-thing to Turtle Soup. Some of the stories were quite good, but it went on for way too long to the point of suspecting laziness on Eastman and Laird's part. Anyway, how did YOU feel about the "random" era of Vol. 1?