Dean Clarrain

Here we have the second collected set of comics from the Archie run. These comics, like the cartoon, were a little childish and really served as a monthly toy advertisement (each issue a new character AND a new vehicle of some kind), but they have their moments.

For example, in this collection there is an issue where an exterminator is turned into a crazed cockroach mutant and a flatworm is turned into Wyrm, a large creature who only wants to suck the life from others. These two characters were legitimately scary when I was younger, and Wyrm still is. The series of panels that reveal the fate of these two are really well done. I think one of my absolute favorite panels from the entire Archie run is from this issue, where the Turtles have huddled together to brace for an explosion, and as it happens, Leo turns around to look. It's a fantastic panel.

Another good collection that leads more into the coming issues where the Turtles' fate with the Turnstone and certain galactic events will be revealed.… (altro)

This was the version of Ninja Turtles I grew up with, it wasn't until a few years later that I discovered the original Eastman and Laird comics. These Archie books were written in line with the cartoon, especially in that many of the characters introduced were primarily for the sake of new toys being released.

I have to say, I always hoped for a Cudley the Cowlick figure, but it wasn't meant to be.

Here we meet Leatherhead, Man-Ray, Stump, Ace Duck, and many others. This is also the start of a much larger storyline involving something called the Turnstone, which will be responsible for big events in the Turtles' future.

Good collection of tales.… (altro)