Peter Laird

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Title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2
Authors: Peter Laird & Kevin Eastman
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 42
Words: 3K

Synopsis:

Dr Baxter and his assistant April have created robotic mousers to help with the city's rodent problem. Baxter goes nutso and decides to use the mousers to rob banks and eventually hold the entire city hostage. When April refuses to join him, he dumps her into the sewers and sends some mousers after her.

She encounters the turtles and they all head back to the secret lab to put Dr. Baxter out of business. Baxter initiates a fail safe where all the mousers will come back to the lab and eat everything within it. With only moments left, April and Donatello figure out a way to shutdown the power and stop the mousers.

My Thoughts:

This was a great little Mad Scientist story. We're also introduced to April O'Neil who I know is part of the Crew in later stories. Whether Eastman and Laird created her with that in mind or as a one off isn't apparent here but the fact that she now knows all about the turtles and didn't die is probably a good indicator that they had plans for her from the get-go.

This issue had much higher resolution pictures making up the cbr file, so it was a much better visual read. Of course, it still looks like the creators used nothing but Number 2 pencils to draw this. I guess I am pretty spoiled by either more modern comics (Bone) or higher quality ones (Asterix). Of course, I think budget had more to do with it than anything. Akira was being published at this time and that artwork isn't anything near as rough as this.

The main reason I bumped this up a half star from the previous issue is because with the introduction of April I was expecting some heavy fan-servicey shots; which never appeared. While Eastman & Laird's skill as artists is still in the budding stage, it doesn't take much to turn a woman into a sex fantasy and they chose not to go that route. It was nice to not to have to deal with that kind of thing.

★★★✬☆… (altro)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Collection, Volume 1 collects issues no. 1-7 from May 1984 through May 1986 of the original comics plus the Raphael one-issue micro-series, all by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. The first issue introduces the Turtles – Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael – as well as their master, Splinter, and their enemy, the Shredder and his Foot ninjas. Eastman and Laird wrote the story as a one-off, so it features a complete narrative with the Turtles killing the Shredder. Like many of the independent and alternative comics of the 1980s, the story has an edgy tone, with a bleak portrayal of the city, elements of Japanese culture that were appearing throughout comics of the time, and plenty of attitude in characters who more closely resemble antiheroes like Wolverine rather than some of their brighter counterparts at Marvel and DC. Beginning with the second issue, Eastman and Laird introduce April, Baxter Stockman, and the Mousers. Splinter goes missing, though, so the Turtles seek refuge with April. The Raphael one-shot introduces Casey Jones, while later stories in this volume bring back the Foot, introduce the Kraang, Fugitoid, and the Triceratons. For Ninja Turtle fans, this Ultimate Collection hardcover is a great way to get the hard-to-find issues and features commentary and annotations for each issue from Eastman and Laird.… (altro)

Crazy science fiction actions abounds as four young mutants quickly dispose of some guy called "Shredder" before tackling crazed robots and adventures across space!

Wait. What?

I was eight just as the TMNT hit America, and lucky enough to have a really good comic store in the vicinity. It was just the right time to be into the new wave of merchandise while being able to grab reasonably priced back issues of the original black and white series.

Believe me, no one on the playground believed when I told them that the Turtles killed Shredder off in the very first issue.

I loved those weird, transgressive stories, and they are just as fun in this amazing reprint.

First of all, the book is amazing quality. It's oversized, so the crisp black and white art can be seen for all the crazy detail. There's fun annotations after every issue where the Turtles' creators breakdown the creation and influences in every issue.

And, holy crap, I can't believe I never saw the Jack Kirby.

Going back in, I assumed I was going to be bathing in Frank Miller love. After all, the whole TMNT saga started as a Daredevil quality. From the beginning, Eastman and Laird point out how the frenetic action and page layout are tributes to comic master Jack Kirby, even pointing out which sequences are influenced by which of Kirby's work. From the in media res openings to the detailed alien technology, I can finally see the Kirby.

Aliens? Oh, yeah. The boys spend more time encountering aliens and being warped across the galaxy than they do fighting ninjas, and it was wonderful. The great appeal of the Mirage Studio books is the anything-goes nature of the stories, where you can never foresee what's coming up next.

And yet it works. Despite that fact that issue #1 was writing by two guys who never believed there'd be an issue #2, the eight issues reprinted here create a full, satisfying storyline that wraps itself up in the end.

These early TMNT days are fun comics, a bolt of creativity from two guys who loved what they did and couldn't believe that they were making money off of it. It takes two or three issues for the different personalities of the turtles to come out, probably because Eastman and Laird suddenly realized they could keep making issues and said, "Holy crap, we need to differentiate these guys!" I didn't care. It was fun from the beginning, and great once they hit their stride. I can sit and stare at some of the art for minutes on end, and the joy of creation is transparent in every annotation.

This is what fun comics should be. Now I have to find an uncut reprint of Tales of the TMNT . . .

PS. The wraparound cover of TMNT #7 is one of the greatest comic covers of all time. Come at me.… (altro)