Have you read the Archie TMNT Adventure series?

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by DrSpengler

Shredder is kind of a let down in TMNT Adventures. He's more or less at his most competent in The Future Shark Trilogy, but that arc is hardly about him at all (it's about Armaggon... the future shark!). Year of the Turtle is really his primary time to shine.

I kind of assumed Murphy felt kids were getting their fix of Shredder/Krang on the cartoon every week, that in the comics it would be better to distance the series from them.

It only seems a bit odd now, because we're re-reading them now in a time period where the old show is long over and Shredder/Krang/Bebop/Rocksteady are no longer shoved down our throats every new Turtle story.

[wilddiverse]

You can extrapolate that Bebop and Rocksteady stole this flying car from the Neutrinos, which would be more reference than those characters get in TMNTA after the original miniseries' cartoon adaptation appearance.

Looking at the Caveman back-up from TMNT Meets Archie again, I can see how it could be mistaken for one of the TMNT Magazine comics. The tone's just a little too simple, but you still want to run out and buy the Foot Cruiser.

[marcelangelo]

Originally Posted by DrSpengler

The best way to describe TMNTA is that it aged with the audience. It started out as cartoon episode adaptations and when it began new material it was good stuff but nothing shocking or controversial and there are a few early arcs that I cannot stand.

But the series gets very cerebral and even dark toward the end and it has the most solid ongoing narrative of any TMNT comic; it flows very well.

It isn't blood and nudity and cursing; not that kind of "mature". But the stories are very smartly written, the characterization is strong and the arcs are suitably epic. It's a very well-rounded series suitable for all ages, but that doesn't mean it is insipidly kiddy, either.

I dunno if I can recommend the "Future Tense" trade. It was a very poorly put together book, collecting random issues around a "theme", but the arcs lose their strength without any of the build up or context from the preceding issues. Its also in black and white, but more importantly, it's missing a page of content. Again, a very poorly put together trade. The missing page was posted on TMNT.com for a while, but when Viacom took the site over they removed it. So yeah.

It's vertainly better than nothing, and it collects some of the later issues that can be hard/expensive to track down. So if there's no other alternative, then go for it. But I honestly think TMNTA is a series best read from beginning to end to get the full impact.



The Technodrome's own Demon Alucard made This very hand guide to the Fleetway series, detailing which issues contained reprints and which contained original material.

So if you can recall the covers, that should tell you what you got.

thank you guys for all the info!very nice of you to share....well, I may stay away from the future tense collection then and wait for the sure to comce sometime in the future idw archie collection...hopefully they'll be bringing them in one or two tpbs...sort of like the aliens omnibus books from dark horse, they're cheap to get and have great quality in paper and colors...really excited that there is even more now to experience for the first time for me...

[CyberCubed]

Hopefully IDW starts collecting the Archie series as they said they want to. Here's hoping the Mirage collections sell well so they branch out into Archie.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Not every TMNT version needs the TMNT kicking the butt of Shredder, Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady in almost every episode.

[MikeandRaph87]

How many others of you learned to read with this amazing series? Too bad it never got completed with Forever War. Armaggon was the break out character of the series that never got picked up with exception of the SNES fighter game.

[marcelangelo]

so as I mentioned earlier here I never got the chance to read the archie series, but after your oppinions and friendly advice for me I kept an eye open for them every once and a while...and here I found a superb video showcasing all the covers of the series, so if you like me have never read or gotten it in your hands just check out htis video here...I think the covers look fantastic and alone from them I really get the urge to find out more, to get them and read them...and then reread them...
so here ya go...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOIjp...eature=related

[DrSpengler]

Originally Posted by marcelangelo

I think the covers look fantastic and alone from them I really get the urge to find out more, to get them and read them...and then reread them...

Best of all is that the cover artist for much of TMNT Adventures was the same as the interior artist (Chris Allan). So it won't be a case where the cover looks great and the interior art looks terrible; the art inside the book is as superb as the covers.

[cryan]

I remember a few issues where one of the turtles as covered in some black stuff.Like he dipped himself in ink.

[Powder]

It's a jumpsuit, not ink. Black garb taken from the turtles' stint at Intergalactic Wrestling...

[Mr._Mutant_Man]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I sometimes wish they made a cartoon adaption of TMNT Adventures, it was really good. We got some of the best villains in TMNT history out of this series, such as Null, Armaggon, Malinga, Verminator-X and a few others. As well as some of the best storylines.

I recently re-visited the series to see if the stories still hold up, and aside from the eco-preaching and some one-off bad issues, this series is actually still a fun read.

Elements from TMNT Adventures showing up in a cartoon would be neat, but I'd settle for some graphic novel collections of the series. I've managed to collect a lot of the issues over time, but some TPBs would fill in the gaps in the collection.

One of my favorite aspects of TMNT is April learning martial arts. I also find it kind of amusing that toward the end of the series she looked a lot like Ariel from The Little Mermaid.

The constant environmentalism does seem very 90's, but I can overlook it because I know that's how I learned about the environment. If kids are going to rot their brains with comics and cartoons, might as well throw a few educational things in there, because if the Turtles care about it, then it becomes cool.

[Redeemer]

I really wish they would re-release this comic series bc i really want to read it and really bummed bc ive only heard good things about the series

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by DrSpengler

Best of all is that the cover artist for much of TMNT Adventures was the same as the interior artist (Chris Allan). So it won't be a case where the cover looks great and the interior art looks terrible; the art inside the book is as superb as the covers.

Peter Laird and Jim Lawson did a number of covers too.

[Wesley]

Never read most TMNT comics, but there’s something about this series that makes it stand out for me. I read a few issues here and there of TMNT Adventures in the 90s as a kid when they were reprinted in the UK TMNT comic. Was glad to find out that IDW started reprinting the series in volumes recently. Just read volume 3 and thought it got really good towards the end with the story “The Lost World” which I had already read before.

[Klunk1234]

No. I'm currently reading the ongoing IDW comics.

[pferreira]

Read some issues as a kid as part of the 'Hero Turtles' comic. Don't remember much from it although I see that IDW's reprints don't seem as colourful for some reason. Could be wrong on that of course.

[Joey Kamikaze]

I grew up on TMNTA, and frankly, looking back it had a fairly meaningful impact on me as a thinker. Those earlier to mid-run issues exposing American kids to environmental issues and Asian cultures actually had an impact on me, and I can recognize that as an adult. What's more, TMNTA did a great job of growing up with its audience; you get to the Future Shark Trilogy, and suddenly the book grows up... except looking back, it was gradually growing up even before that.

TMNTA remains one of my favorite iterations of the Turtles--I grin whenever IDW pulls from that well with the Mutanimals, Null, Maligna, etc.--and I think it's sad we never got a proper conclusion to that branch of the mythos.

[Rooish]

I read a few issues and I own "Future Tense." It is a little less effective out of context but it made me crave more. I imagine it did shape the popular perception of the TMNT we saw as kids and how they would grow up.

Question, did Mikey get much character development in the series, or did he always stay kind of stupid? Besides the Blind Sight thing, which seemed minimal.

[CyberCubed]

Mikey was never stupid in Archie. He starts off similar to his original cartoon personality but then he just acts "normal" I guess. He doesn't even say Cowabunga much.