Ninja Turtles

[Diabolical]

Found this online a few minutes ago:

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: Matt Murdock appeared in the first issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

STATUS: True

What a lot of folks forget about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles nowadays, after the massivel popular cartoon series and the films, was that when it came out, it was basically a parody of Frank Miller comics - his Ronin series and his Daredevil series.

A loving parody, but a parody nonetheless.

Creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird took it a little further, with the introduction, in the very first issue, of the radioactive ooze that mutated the turtles.

Where did it come from?

Why, nowhere else but those radioactive containers that blinded Matt Murdock as a boy!

See the page here!
As many times as I've seen that page, I've never put 2 + 2 together!
Funny stuff.

[anarky]

Really?

I'm not being an ass here; I've missed some really damned obvious stuff myself. But I figured from the first time I read TMNT #1 that this was the case, especially since Miller's Daredevil was a huge influence on Eastman and Laird.

[vynsane]

that's funny! i don't have that book, but i'd probably have put it together.

but miller isn't the only influence - he's just the "ninja" part. the rest of the title is based on the other 80s trends: teenagers and mutants.

[jjreason]

Stick and Stone were DD's teachers - didn't they have a play on that with Splinter as well?

[anarky]

As well as the Foot Clan being a parody of the Hand Ninjas. Not sure what Shredder's based on, if anything.

[anarky]

I have the Mirage #1. Boo yaa! (Okay, it's third print, but that's still worth a chunk of change.) More on that in a minute.

Anyone reading the new IDW series? I just read a preview at Newsarama, and it looks pretty decent. Worth getting in paperback?

Also, does anyone know if the IDW reprints of the original series will only be hardcover? I'd prefer paperback, especially given the relatively small number of issues reprinted in each of the $50 hardbacks. And I hope it'll go on and include all the stuff from when they kept changing publishers weekly. I didn't read much of the Image series where Mike was dating someone from Freak Force, and Raphael was wearing Shredder's armor, but it looked pretty neat.

Wouldn't hurt to reprint the Dreamwave series that was set in the 2000's TV show timeline, either. Wasn't that Peter David?

What I'd kill to see, though, is a full reprinting of the Archie series, including Mighty Mutanimals. It may be heresy, but that series beat the shit out of the original overall. Don't shoot me yet. The original had ten fucking amazing issues, along with the stand-alones, but then it became a real pile-of-shit anthology. Then there was a storyline (or maybe two) with Eastman and Laird, but, otherwise, well, it stunk. Calling it great because of the first several issues, no matter how good they were, would be like saying the entire 80s Transformers cartoon was great because of the movie. After starting with the adaptation of the first TV miniseries, the Archie series knew where it wanted to go and didn't bounce around with fill-ins for several years. And it was perfectly tailored for someone who was "too mature" for the show, but not old enough for (or without access to) the Mirage series.

BTW, here's the story on my Turtles #1. Everyone in high school knew I was a huge comic nerd. This friend in my Spanish class said he had a neighbor who gave him some old comics he was going to toss out otherwise, and he didn't care much about them and thought I might like them. He said they were mostly TMNT, and that there were about twenty of them. He asked how much I wanted to buy them for. I at first told him that I'd have to see what they were, but he asked for a ballpark. I said something like, "I dunno. For twenty comics that a guy was going to throw away, meaning there's probably nothing especially valuable, I'd say maybe $30 off the top of my head, as long as they're in good shape." He agreed and brought the stack in the next day. I just about shat myself: it was TMNT 1-15, all four solo one-shots, and three copies (not sure how that happened) of Fugitoid #1. The first was third printing, the second was second printing, and everything else was first printing. I told the guy (I don't even remember his name now), "This is not what I was expecting at all. That one comic alone, even being a reprint, is worth more than $30 by itself. I know that without even looking it up. Let me write down what's here and look it up in my price guide tonight [this was pre-eBay, obviously], and I can afford to give you half of what the value is, which is going to be way more than $30."

But since we'd already agreed on $30, he said he absolutely would not consider it. I've bought a few friends' collections when they stopped collecting, but, as far as bargains go, that was right up there with getting an old Green Lantern comic for a quarter, then getting it home and finding it was the first appearance of Guy Gardner.

[Rollo Tomassi]

Nice TMNT haul. That's like when I got all those 70s Marvel books for less than a buck each, including Sabretooths 1st Appearance in Iron Fist.

But back to TMNT. I picked up the first issue of the new IDW series. It was an interesting reboot that tweaked a few things (April is no longer a reporter, Baxter Stockman is head of the pharmaceutical company, etc) but I was concerned with decompression of the story. So I didn't get issue 2.

[Diabolical]

I had almost a full run of the Archie series. In fact I have quite a bit of it sitting a few feet from me right now, including Mighty Mutanimals.
And even though I was "too old" for the series I liked it quite a bit and bought it even after my TMNT obsession faded. Most of them are beat to shit, but I still have them.
Actually I highly doubt its a full run, since I have no idea how long it ran, but I bought it well into the 60s.

[anarky]

First Sabretooth for a buck. Damn, Rollo, way to one-up a dude.

I remember one thing I did in my comic-addict high school days. Ghost Rider #1 was in the first Previews I got. I didn't know he was an old character who folks thought was a joke. I just saw "holy shit a flaming motorcycle-riding skeleton screaming he's going to kill a dude fuck me this is awesome" and ordered it. As you no doubt recall, this series went through the roof. And that's when I found out there was a (shitty. admit it. shitty.) previous Ghost Rider and first volume. Those issues were now worth a shitload, especially his first appearance. I didn't buy the Deathlok mini when it came out (prestige-format miniseries were out of my budget, since I looked at cover price and not total spending on all comics, so I know I missed a ton of good stuff in favor of shit like Youngblood), but started getting it when the regular series came out. I also observed his early appearances were worth quite a bit.

So I kept an eye on the 70s heroes who were forgotten. I don't recall who showed back up first, but I think it was Cage in Punisher, and solicitations mentioned he was getting a new series. So, bam, I bought every Power Man and Iron Fist I could get my hands on, including the first appearance of the guy for just $5. And I discovered it was a pretty awesome comic. Then Namor resurrected Iron Fist, so I was looking doubly hard for his solo appearances, and got Marvel Premiere #15 for something like $7. A few 70s heroes were just so dumb I couldn't see them returning, but Machine Man looked promising. Though it never panned out as an investment, the Kirby issues of 2001 and Machine Man are worth searching eBay for, trust me. I started on ROM after Nova mentioned the Spaceknights in New Warriors, but soon learned he was licensed and wasn't making an effort to find them. Not that I wasn't looking; I wound up loving the series (I'l KILL to get the whole thing in paperback... no, really, I would fucking murder Justin Bieber for that shit), but there were plenty in quarter bins to keep me occupied.

Speaking of which: the local mall used to have periodic antique/collectible shows. A few regulars had comics. They just didn't know what they were worth and apparently never thought about looking at price guides. Anything with "X-Men" on the cover was guaranteed to be selling for more than it was worth (aside from one guy who had #244, the first appearance of Jubilee, understandably high on my priority list, for $1 because it "wasn't John Byrne or Jim Lee," or the guy who had #248 for $1 because he didn't recognize Jim Lee's early style). So I always hit the quarter bins, where no one else looked, and came away with stacks and stacks. One time I had an older Green Lantern issue among the Power Man & Iron Fists, and read it first when I got home. Hal was sucked into his battery, or something, and, holy shit, another GL calling himself Guy Gardner shows up to find him, then winds up in a coma. Pulled out the price guide to verify, and, holy shit! It's not the first appearance of Guy ever, but the first appearance of him in a GL costume--worth more at the time than his actual first appearance as a civilian.

The dropping prices of back issues do not seem to have treated that one very well, though.

[anarky]

DB, I know the series got dark toward the end (after I'd dropped comics altogether). I understand the entire MM team died. That's pretty grim for a kids' book.

[Diabolical]

Its also the same series that had an giant intergalactic flying cow head.

[anarky]

Indeed. We shall not mock the book that gave us one of comicdom's greatest characters, the incomparable Cudley the Cowlick.


(In searching for that picture, or any picture of Cudley, I learned that Cudley appeared in the Mirage series later on. Not a Mirage version of Cudley. No, it was apparently the same Cudley, appearing thanks to his trans-dimensional powers.)

[Rollo Tomassi]

I'd kill Justin Beaver just for the satisfaction of killing him. If somebody wanted to do TPBs of Marvel characters as a result, that's just a bonus in my book.

But I continuously maintain Marvel should just buy the rights to Rom in toto. I mean seriously, nothing is being done with that property for Many many Decades.

[anarky]

Looks like IDW is making it really fucking confusing to get the Mirage reprints.

The Eastman & Laird issues appear to only be in hardback. No paperback solicited. Like I said before, they're too pricey for the number of issues. (And I like consistency--it bugs the shit out of me that Hearts & Minds is hardback and the rest of my Joe comics are paperbacks.)

The non-E&L issues are being reprinted under a different title and numbering, in paperback, and now in color.

WTF?

Would it be too much to ask for something like "Classic TMNT Vol. 1 (paperback): Reprints the original TMNT #1-8, plus Fugitoid #1 and the Turtles story from Gobbledygook. Classic TMNT Vol. 2 (paperback): Reprints the original TMNT 9-14, plus all four solo issues," and so forth? These stories haven't been in print for, what, two decades? Can we just get the damned things in chronological order without needing a road map to chart all the different collections we have to jump between?

[Newsbot]

The Original TMNT Sketch is up for auction.

An anonymous bidder known as L. Charlester has stated "It will be mine. Oyes. It will be mine." To that extent, he has mortgaged his home, as well as those of his extended family, and even some friends.
Sadly, Michael Bay, Hollywood gazillionaire, has also bid. He wants to wipe his ass with it after Taco Tuesday night at Case de Bay.