Trade Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) Vol. 1

The trade I finished this week was:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vol. 1:  Change is Constant

Story by: Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz
Script by: Tom Waltz
Layouts by:  Kevin Eastman
Art by:  Dan Duncan
Published by: IDW

So, what's up with these new Turtles?

I had heard a lot about this new TMNT (the cool kids use initials) book.  Mainly that it was a hot title, with single issues and reprints selling out everywhere.

My kids are currently going through their TMNT phase, so I picked up this update last April at C2E2 (Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo.  2 C's, 2 E's).  I finally got around to reading it this week.



Let me hit you with some back story.  As a kid (I was probably too old to be getting into Ninja Turtles when the cartoons first came out), I really got into this stuff.  I loved the cartoons, had all the toys, but once I learned it was based on a comic book, it was all over.  The original Eastman and Laird (Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird created those pizza loving genetic monsters) comic books were pretty crazy.  The content was a lot darker than the cartoon show, and unlike the TV version, not every story directly revolved around the ninja bad guy, The Shredder.  There were magic pencils, aliens, and the lord of time travel, all out there for the fellas to get tangled up with.  Also, everyone had a red bandanna, unlike the cartoon show, which had each turtle in their own color.  Because the book was originally in black and white, it didn't really make sense to differentiate the turtles with color.

There is a lot of history out there, so when I picked this book up, I wasn't sure what I'd be getting into.  Secretly, I was really hoping that this was a continuation of those original tales, not just because of my love of the history, but because one Kevin Eastman was directly involved in the development.

No such luck.  This title is a complete re-boot.  With a whole new origin story and everything.  I'm way behind on this book, my kids have a bunch of the more current issues, and it looks like they are tying in aspects of all TMNT universes out there.  I don't really know what to think about that, but I don't have to worry about it with this review, because this book stays pretty low key.

The story opens with Splinter, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Donatello fighting a mutated cat named Old Hob, with his gang of misfit humans.  Through the dialogue, it seems like Raphael has been missing for roughly fifteen months, and Old Hob had something to do with him being missing.  Old Hob looks like a bad ass, and he's a new character for this story, so I like him.

Now they throw us a little back story.  In this version, Splinter is a lab rat who "watches over" the labs four pet turtles.  An intern named April, which I assume is the classic Turtles character April O'Neil, starts work in the lab and takes a liking to the rat and his buddies.  She of course names the four turtles, pointing out Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael.  A legend is born!

After this it starts to fall apart a little for me.  It turns out that they've only been living this mutated life for fifteen months, and Old Hob was just a mangy alley cat who pulled Raphael out of the ooze because he wanted to eat him.  So Raphael hasn't ever known them as a mutant turtle?

The story cuts between flashbacks, present day, and Raphael present day.  They show Raphael roaming the streets in a trench coat, eating garbage, and fighting bad guys.  Now, I get why the other three turtles are able to learn to talk, fight, and know right and wrong, they are learning stuff.  Splinter is raising them to be warriors (He has some sort of ninja back story that they refuse to get into over five issues).  But how is Raphael learning all of this?  I really doubt he'd be running around judging people and beating them up, let alone speaking coherently.  He's a giant teen-turtle, with no outside influence, living on his own for fifteen months.  That is along time.

The entire first arc ends up being more about them looking for Raphael, and less learning why the other four characters are doing ninja stuff.  Also, I don't care who you are, fifteen months of training DOES NOT make you a ninja.  If it did, I would have become a ninja about twenty years ago.  Truth.

If you like TMNT, I'd say check this book out, but over all, it isn't that great.  Being the nerd I am, I'll pick up volume 2 sooner or later, and then probably bitch about it on here.  Until next time!