Spillover of Nick cartoon stuff into IDW comic?

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I almost feel like the first entire 10 issues will set the status quo. Considering the Turtles eventually meet April somewhere around issue 10 as well as Shredder debuts, that should finally be it.

I'm skeptical that a great deal more will be firmly established by then. But that's not a dig at IDW TMNT, just what I'd expect given the general piecemeal pacing of things (which in itself is not a flaw, it's just not what we're used to).

Its interesting to note that Mirage could tell the entire backstory, have the first Foot and Shredder fight, and debut April/Baxter/Mousers all in the span of 1-2 issues. Even though the page count was higher, it still went much faster back then. Its almost as if in modern comics things need to be slowly shown over time, rather than how it used to be done.

I don't know if I'd say "need to be." They don't need to be. Things today seem to be "written for trade," by choice. You pick up a 5 issue trade paperback of the first 5 issues of TMNT Vol. 1 from Mirage, you get 5 excellent stories. But you get 5 stories. You pick up a trade paperback of the first 5 issues of IDW TMNT, you get one story that's fairly easier to digest off the rack and kind of cliffhangs into the next story. Is that better? I don't think so, I'd be the guy saying "Gimme the 5 excellent ****in' stories," but I can understand the rationale behind it. And if print comics as we know them outside of the graphic novel format go away in the next 5-7 years (a very real possibility), maybe it's just getting ahead of the next curve.

And while I agree it's interesting to note -- I think we all have, in the backs of our heads -- I still say that none of what you point out should necessarily be held against IDW TMNT. If TPTB wanted to, of course they could cut a swath through a ton of what the Mirage TMNT series did, and in similar time, even with less pages.

But why do that? This is not a race. I would argue that with things like the Mirage TMNT in the rearview and the opportunity to create and harvest a new universe, I think the apparent inclination of taking all of these great, defining moments (April meeting the Turtles, for example, the first meeting with Shredder, etc.) and spreading them out more liberally makes a lot more sense than... to use a crude metaphor, IDW similarly shooting their wad all at once.