Today’s Comic> Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Color Classics V2 #1

Donatello has a very strict no-smoking policy.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Color Classics
Vol.2 #1

IDW Publishing (November, 2012)

originally published as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #12 (Mirage: September, 1987)

Still recovering from their defeat at the hands of the Foot, The Turtles, April, Casey, and Splinter are having a picnic, near Casey’s place that’s interrupted by a guy running from a survivalist group hoping to start a nuclear war to prove they were right and can survive. Casey and April take the wounder man to the hospital, leaving Splinter and the Turtles to track down the members of the Committee To Rebuild American Patriotism (wink wink nudge nudge) before they can cause World War 3!

What they got right: You’d think I’d see some kind of political comment by Laird and be annoyed, but CRAP makes for an interesting one-shot (please let them be a one-shot) foe as the Turtles are trying to prepare themselves to re-engage the Foot Clan. It’s also at this point that I’ve noticed how the art has improved in this series, with the original Turtle designs on the front cover versus how they look in this issue.

What they got wrong: This issue demonstrates the problem with the same-colored masks that Mirage’s Turtles have. Making them color-coded makes it easier to make them out and I wish IDW had gone with that. I wish Mirage had moved to that, too. I also don’t understand why IDW had to restart at #1 under volume 2, unless they’ve fallen into the “people don’t want numbers too high” nonsense. Mirage’s “volume 1” reached at least 62 issues.

Recommendation: I see why the series has lasted so long beyond the cartoon. If you missed these stories before, now is a good time to get them.