REVIEW: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1

A-hal-right! After a brief hiatus to get my teaching bearings set straight, I am back in the saddle. Damn it feels good to be talking about comics again.

Even more important than my triumphant return to the blog is that last week marked the return of one of my all-time favorite comics series. It’s a series and group of characters that colored a very large part of my childhood, and as college student reminded me of the amazing spirit of independent comics. It’s a series that is one of, if not the, most import comics of the past forty years. Last week Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Casey Jones, and, the greatest of them all, Raphael returned to the comic book page in a brand new ongoing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series from IDW. “Journalistic” (HA!) objectivity aside, I have not been this excited for a new comics series in a long time… this is particularly true because of the involvement of Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman.

Until being acquired by Viacom in the fall of 2009, the TMNT were the single most recognizable and successful creator-owned comic book property in existence. I admit that I did not take the time to research the accuracy of that—it’s a completely unqualified statement—but I would be shocked if anything else were true. The release of original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 in 1984 ushered in what is now commonly referred to as the “black and white” boom of indie comics and proved that with the right property, the right creators, and the drive to make it happen, creator owned comics can, will, and should survive. Not only did TMNT survive, it changed the game for creators and was a cross-cultural phenomenon that spawned several incarnations of the comic book series, a wildly successful cartoon and toy line, clothing lines, several movies (but only two good ones), several video and arcade games, and changed the way that little boys (and girls) talked and interacted with each other. Although the characters’ acquisition by Viacom makes it at least somewhat difficult to still call the Turtles an indie title, it’s impossible to deny the cultural significance they had; and the current series seems to carry on the independent spirit that was so important to the initial work from Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.

The new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is co-plotted by Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz, the line work is provided by Dan Duncan (with layouts done by Eastman), it's colored by Ronda Pattison, and the lettering chores are covered by Robbie Robbins.

With this brand new volume, comes a brand new status quo. First, I love status quo changes…at least when they’re done right. These are comics. There’s absolutely no reason for us to not change things up a bit when necessary. With Peter Laird putting the definitive finish on the previous Turtles series—and thus bringing those characters full circle after a nearly twenty-five year journey—it's unnecessary and a bit presumptuous try and pick up where he left off. 

A smashed fishbowl at the bottom of storm drain and the escaped canister of mutagen from a runaway truck are now part of previous generation’s Ninja Turtles. In the re-imagined universe of the IDW TMNT, the Turtles and, indeed, their master-to-be, Splinter are lab animals of Stock-Gen Research, Incorporated, a scientific research facility that is outwardly tasked with developing genetically modified food to feed the people of starving and impoverished nations. A noble cause, to be sure. However, there’s something shady happening behind the scenes and our cast of characters, with very familiar names, are unwittingly setting the wheels in motion that will create the world’s most fearsome fighting team. (See what I did there?)

The issue opens with our heroes pitched in battle and gives a succinct rundown of each of the Turtles. In just eight pages a new reader will learn everything that he/she needs to know about the characters…at least those that are present. While there is a radical shift in the status quo, there does not appear to be any kind of radical shift in who each of these characters are and what their motivations are.

It’s not entirely clear who is carrying most of the weight on the writing side, and frankly, it could also be that both Waltz and Eastman are making equal contributions. Although, with Eastman co-plotting and doing layouts, I suspect that he is handling the lion’s share of the creative work. Regardless of who’s performing what duties, the writing is solid and most of the dialog is crisp.

Admittedly, I am a fan of Bronze-Age-style story telling, where the reader gets a complete story in one or two issues. Decompression is fine; I just don’t like having to read absolutely everything in six to eight issue arcs. What Eastman and Waltz offer here, I think, is a nice compromise between the concise Bronze Age style, and the more commonly accepted decompressed style. In the span of twenty-two pages, we learn about what our heroes’ personalities are like and who the major antagonists are. We also begin at least two major story arcs, with at least one, if not two, subplots. So, although it’s not all tied up in one neat little package, there is a lot here to appreciate and for the reader to get invested in. I think there are some points where the dialog struggles, but I mostly chalk that up to new series jitters and there's nothing worth singling out.

On the art side of the equation, Dan Duncan ably provides the visuals and has a not-quite-rushed style that suits the Turtles very well. It has a certain rawness to it that keeps the title reminiscent of its indie roots. The good pacing and sequential work is obviously a result of Eastman’s layouts, but it’s Duncan’s line that is bringing the characters to life and he does an effective job. I don’t know that it’s fair to compare him to other great Turtles artists—like Eastman, Laird or Jim Lawson—but he is delivering on the series so far.

A brief word about the coloring: I have read elsewhere, as well as heard from other comics pundits and friends, that they were not fond of the coloring. They found that the dark scenes were too dark and the brighter scenes were too bright. I partially disagree. While I would not say that I found Ronda Pattison’s colors to be exceptional, I do think that she handled the chores competently.

Where I do agree with my friends and colleagues is that, I think, the dark scenes were a bit too dark. I liked the coloring style and the digital brush strokes/splochiness, but there were many instances where it looked muddied and too many items blended together as one, instead of being unique set pieces on the page.

Where I disagree is with the brightness in the daytime/lab scenes. I thought those were fine. The exterior daylight scenes were bright, but not overly so. The lab scenes were also very bright—but I have to believe that’s intentional.

Real scientific labs do not look like the ones on C.S.I. They don’t. No actual scientist works with dim-to-no-light, or under black lights. They can’t see a damned thing that way. Most labs are very brightly lit places where it is easy to see and make direct observations about that which each scientist is examining. Are the lab scenes in this issue very bright? Yes. But I suspect they are supposed to be, at least to provide some kind of realistic idea of what a scientific research lab should feel like.

It’s not at all my contention that my colleagues are insisting on a hyper-stylized lab that could serve no realistic function. In fact, I’m certain that it’s just an issue of aesthetics for them. For me, however, I thought the bright colors were appropriate for the scene.

IDW appears to have put together a winning team on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and having Kevin Eastman on board is the best decision they could have made in terms of keeping longtime fans. The writing is solid, the new directions for the characters are intriguing, and the line work has a certain rawness to it that maintains the spirit of the original series. If readers are new to TMNT as a comic, this is great place to start. For readers, like me, who are longtime fans, this issue offers nearly all of the grit, rawness, and characters that made the series legendary; and uses that tone to color this new direction.  

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1

IDW

SRP: $3.99