Mirage comics = Dark and Gritty?

[Grimlock]

Why do fans of the Mirage comic books choose to describe the Mirage comics as dark and gritty? Does that make them cool? I have recently read through Vol. 1 thanks to the Ultimate Collections and I have to say, the stories were not ''dark''. They were actually pretty lighthearted. And gritty, is that supposed to describe the god awful artwork these ''artists'' put to paper?

What is the appeal of these comics?

[Powder]

The dark aspect of it is scattered throughout, not really an overall theme, per se. There are some dark issues, there are some light ones. Gritty goes for some of the more violent portions, I assume, and yes, the art style as well. I think the terms are so casually used as the book definitely is grim/gritty by comparison to the Fred Wolf toon.

[Candy Kappa]

The average Mirage issue are as dark as your average Daredevil or Spider-Man issue. I think it lies in exaggeration since mostly Mirage is compared to the Fred Wolf cartoon.

Volume 1 got some amazing artists and really good stories. There, that's the appeal

[Plasticplayhouse]

Grit = firmness of mind or spirit. also described as "hardiness".

Mirage's heavy inks combined with the duo shade produce a tougher, more rugged look than the typical highly polished black lines on white paper of marvel/dc back in the day. the combination of shading and heavy inks (imo) really set the "mood" of the art. It would further help to tell the story rather than just relying on words themselves. The hardiness, moodiness, and the toughness of the characters and their environments is what I feel when I describe TMNT V1 as gritty. Not sure if that helps to clarify anything, but that's how the v1 art makes me feel.

[CyberCubed]

The darkness is the Turtles kill their enemies, they kill the Shredder twice, the second time by cutting his head off.

[Panda_Kahn_fan]

For thier time, the TMNT comics had the most dark and mature themes, violence, and storylines in comics, thier dark art tones and black and white look were considered something of cutting edge art in how ahead of thier time they seemed. Mirage Fans still admire that, and want to recreate it in every subsequest incarnation/adpatation. For it's time, the Mirage comics really were something incredible and amazing.

In today's world of dark and gritty identidy crisis-style stories with death and violence, and the modern world of comic art with bright colors and clean designs, the old Mirage comics look(to me and my tastes at least, though not to others) like a poorly written fan comic with high levels of violence and blood thrown in for shock value.

[Andrew NDB]

It's not so much that the Mirage comics are "dark and gritty" (though there is some pretty gritty material at times)... it's that they aren't campy and goofy and kiddified.

I think that's an important distinction.

[CyberCubed]

Outside of the first 11 issues, Return to New York, City at War, and a few select Tales issues....then no, the rest of Mirage isn't really dark or gritty.

Volume 2 feels like a Saturday morning cartoon despite some deaths. Baxter becomes a cyborg supervillain, Leonardo fights a fish mutant, the Turtles infiltrate the government who hold alien species captive, etc. The whole arc felt like something out of the 4kids cartoon.

Volume 4 doesn't have anything dark or gritty from what I can remember, it was just PL throwing a million plots to the table at once, none of which were all that interesting. Its not like Don fighting talking dinosaurs or Raph fighting Vampires, or Leo facing Aztec warriors is anything out of the ordinary for the cartoons.

Image is of course an exception, and some of the stronger Tales titles like Rat King's issue and some stuff from the second Tales.

[Venom]

As others have mentioned, the Mirage comics weren't grim-dark like something you'd see put out by Avatar, but if you remember the time Volume 1 came out (early 80's - early 90's) then you'll begin to realize a greater appreciation for the material.

The Turtles are more aware of their mortality and know they face the possibility of death during their adventures, along with the "depressing" mood certain issues carry throughout the Mirage era.

They killed in order to not be killed, not simply out of cold blood (save Baxter and that dog Mike didnt' know Don used for science).

After the death of worm-Saki, the guys had to deal with finding their purpose after having fulfilled their main reason for being, unsure what to do or where to go. Hell, they struggled to simply stay together as a family after his death, and eventually evolve into adulthood.

In the end, we all know what happens to the Mirage Turtles - they die. Seemingly after something happens to Mike, causing the others to become estranged over time, ultimately leaving Don as the last one to pass due to old age.

That is something no other version of the Turtles has ever dealt with, and most likely never will again.

The old comics have a certain excitement to them, when reading the earliest issues you can practically feel Kevin and Peter's passion emanating from the pages, and as the stories go along, you feel the mood shift as you enter the books when the cartoon was being made, then the absence of Kevin and Peter as the property became a behemoth, and when they finally come back in #50, you feel these two guys really trying to hang on to that independant spirit that brought them so much success, albeit lost to the corporate world of the consumerist masses.

[ianke_2002]

Originally Posted by Venom

As others have mentioned, the Mirage comics weren't grim-dark like something you'd see put out by Avatar, but if you remember the time Volume 1 came out (early 80's - early 90's) then you'll begin to realize a greater appreciation for the material.

The Turtles are more aware of their mortality and know they face the possibility of death during their adventures, along with the "depressing" mood certain issues carry throughout the Mirage era.

They killed in order to not be killed, not simply out of cold blood (save Baxter and that dog Mike didnt' know Don used for science).

After the death of worm-Saki, the guys had to deal with finding their purpose after having fulfilled their main reason for being, unsure what to do or where to go. Hell, they struggled to simply stay together as a family after his death, and eventually evolve into adulthood.

In the end, we all know what happens to the Mirage Turtles - they die. Seemingly after something happens to Mike, causing the others to become estranged over time, ultimately leaving Don as the last one to pass due to old age.

That is something no other version of the Turtles has ever dealt with, and most likely never will again.

The old comics have a certain excitement to them, when reading the earliest issues you can practically feel Kevin and Peter's passion emanating from the pages, and as the stories go along, you feel the mood shift as you enter the books when the cartoon was being made, then the absence of Kevin and Peter as the property became a behemoth, and when they finally come back in #50, you feel these two guys really trying to hang on to that independant spirit that brought them so much success, albeit lost to the corporate world of the consumerist masses.

Bravo. Very well spoken. I agree wholeheartedly.

[CyberCubed]

Yeah a lot people also aren't taking into context the time period in which these were written.

[Fugitoid Jones]

Originally Posted by Grimlock

And gritty, is that supposed to describe the god awful artwork these ''artists'' put to paper?

I actually really love the artwork on those first 11 issues of vol. 1. That's part of the appeal for me. The Jack Kirby/Frank Miller influenced art just looks great in black and white to me.

[JakeSully]

Originally Posted by Panda_Kahn_fan

For thier time, the TMNT comics had the most dark and mature themes, violence, and storylines in comics, thier dark art tones and black and white look were considered something of cutting edge art in how ahead of thier time they seemed. Mirage Fans still admire that, and want to recreate it in every subsequest incarnation/adpatation. For it's time, the Mirage comics really were something incredible and amazing.

In today's world of dark and gritty identidy crisis-style stories with death and violence, and the modern world of comic art with bright colors and clean designs, the old Mirage comics look(to me and my tastes at least, though not to others) like a poorly written fan comic with high levels of violence and blood thrown in for shock value.

Originally Posted by Fugitoid Jones

I actually really love the artwork on those first 11 issues of vol. 1. That's part of the appeal for me. The Jack Kirby/Frank Miller influenced art just looks great in black and white to me.

Frank Miller was a huge influence on the comics and you can tell they are as gritty as his works and he is an influential author/artist

[pingclang]

They can get a little heavy and they have their dark moments but they also have weird moments too. The draw to these comics is just how good they are. The art, the stories, all of it just interesting and different. Also, if it wasn't for them, no Turtles. I've noticed a lot of folks on here tend to forget that.

[Leo656]

I don't think they "forget" so much as they think some of what came later improved upon some elements of the source material. It's not an intended disrespect to it; it's just not everyone's favorite TMNT. It's not my favorite, but I do appreciate it for what it started.

[Tazi]

In the beginning Mirage TMNT was visually dark and gritty, lot of inks, and lots of duoshaded parts, and only small parts left white. Just compare it with the colored superhero comics of that age. It also had blood, and deaths.
Later the Mirage comics had 'adultish' topics, and that was a huge contrast with OT running at that time.
But if you compare it with the likes of Sin City, or recent Batman stuff (like when Flamingo eates the face-skin of people, or when the Dollmaker sewed together several living people, and painted a picture on them), well, then it's not really dark, but it's still kinda mature for a comic that has mutant ninja turtles in it, and definitely not goofy.

[pingclang]

Originally Posted by Leo656

I don't think they "forget" so much as they think some of what came later improved upon some elements of the source material. It's not an intended disrespect to it; it's just not everyone's favorite TMNT. It's not my favorite, but I do appreciate it for what it started.

For a lot of folks, yeah, but too many have straight up bashed Mirage and the comics, I guess the people who don't like comics of any sort.

[Leo656]

I can forgive Volume 4 bashing. I'm not going to argue with anyone who felt that their time was wasted on that.

[Tazi]

Vol.4. was the first Mirage I've been read, not counting v1 issue #1, and I read trough the whole in about a few days, and other than not having a conclusion (which is dissapointing, of course) it was a pretty good and unique read, I enjoyed it a lot. Lot of those nice moment, like Fugitoud drinking e-beer, Utroms with bionic (or well, 'tree') exoskeletons, Raph dealing with his mutation, Mike finding love then ending up fighting at the side of the Triceratons, Leo and Karai fighting with atzec kinda warriors, and Leo later even entering the Battle Nexus... It was all very nice, I even liked April's origin story, and I imo, it's ment to be disturbing, it was not the kind of tale that would make you feel comfortable by reading it. Yeah, it's a huge change for a character that exists since a long time, but I'm happy with that.

So, I just wanna say, I loved v4, and I kinda suprised that so many people gets dissapointed with it.

[Leo656]

Everybody's got opinions. Vol. 4 put me to sleep and April's secret origin was just not necessary and didn't improve her character at all, in my eyes. But hey, if other people like it, then that's cool. I thought Tales of the TMNT was 100x better, though. To me, that was the "main" TMNT book of that era.