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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Classics #1
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Classics, Volume 1
The original stories of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles come roaring back to shelves - in all-new, full color - with the line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Classics trade paperbacks! Volume 1 contains Mirage Studios' issues #13, 16, and 18 - showcasing favorite tales like "The Peoples Choice," "A TMNT Time Tale," and "The Shell of the Dragon."
104 pages, Paperback
First published June 26, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
July 3, 2018
Cute comics. Really enjoyed it.
June 11, 2022
I skipped this because it was the only one of my classics volumes that had yet to arrive in the mail, and it turns out I already own most of these stories already, just not in color. Well now I do. This volume collects and recolors issue #13 of TMNT and a bunch of short stories from the Shell Shock collection. I’ve read most of these stories before in B&W when I read the 6th volume of the Ultimate Collection recently, but I will admit it was nice to see them again in color. I’ll be copying my reviews from the Ultimate Collection and expanding on them if need be.
The People’s Choice by Michael Dooney & Steve Lavigne ☆ ☆
I liked Michael Dooney’s short stories alot, so I was kinda looking forward to what he had in store for his first full length issue, but this was pretty nothing. The art is great, but I honestly don’t even remember what happened all that well, and I read it this morning.
Bottoming Out by Kevin Eastman, Jim Lawson, George Hagenau, Eric Talbot, and Steve Lavigne ☆ ☆ 1/2
A very heavy-handed story that was fine enough, mainly due to the incredible layouts and art. Nothing really else to say about this, it was done for charity and it shows. The art also takes away some of kinetic energy for some of the panels for me. This is a prime example of a TMNT story that was always meant to stay in B&W.
Junkman by Michael Dooney ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
Always enjoy solo Donatello stories, and this one is no different. Pretty fun with a cute twist ending. Dooney’s short stories are pretty damn good!
New York Ninja by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Ryan Brown, and Steve Lavigne ☆ ☆ ☆
A fine enough anti-bullying story that shows a different side to Donatello than we are used to. I really enjoyed the layouts and inking in particular, but the story is still fine enough.
Word Warriors by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Ryan Brown, Jim Lawson, and Steve Lavigne ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
This had one of the weirdest layouts in comics, but it really worked for the story. Each page is two panels, split apart by Excalibur, which extends down across the middle of each page, with the hilt on the first page and the end of the blade on the last. A neat action scene and solid layout work by Peter Laird made this story very memorable for me, even if the story is nothing too special.
49th Street Stompers by Kevin Eastman & Steve Lavigne ☆ ☆ 1/2
Another goofy Kevin Eastman effort, this one clearly taking inspiration from the Warriors film at the time. Nothing really special, and the action scene at the end that this whole story leads up to isn’t even that great.
*O-Deed by Michael Zulli, Steve Murphy, and Eric Talbot ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
Another environmentalism tale that has all the tropes and trademarks of Zulli & Murphy, but it’s still told well enough, even if it is extremely heavy-handed. It’s also interesting that I didn’t notice the first time reading this, but it’s the only story by Murphy and Zulli that doesn’t use their version of the turtles. I also love how Talbot inked the non-dream pages, it gave the story such an interesting look that I loved. Loved this on a reread.
The Road Trip by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Steve Lavigne ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
A wordless TMNT story that works very well. Not a lot going on, and it can be read in about a minute, but it’s still a fun little story that made me smile. Nice to see the brothers do something other than fight baddies.
Don't Judge a Book by Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird ☆ ☆ ☆
This was a fun little Halloween story, with the turtles having to defend April’s home from being robbed before a Halloween party. Nothing especially excellent or egregious here, it’s just an okay story with solid art.
*A Splinter In The Eye Of God? by Michael Zulli & Steve Murphy ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
I have technically already reviewed this in the Soul’s Winter collection, but this is a good place to expand a little more on some thoughts. This one is a classic Zulli & Murphy story about environmentalism using Splinter as a means to find out what “peace” really means. It’s an interesting enough story, and the artwork is beautiful, but I do prefer this color printing to the B&W one.
Night Life by Kevin Eastman, Ryan Brown, and Steve Lavigne ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
A Frank Miller-esque story that sees the TMNT witness a sting operation gone awry. Fun to see Eastman & Brown attempt a Frank Miller impression, as the panels and layouts are very similar to the style he popularized back in the day. A cool, though slightly rushed story.
Meanwhile......1,000,000 B,C, by Michael Dooney ☆ ☆ 1/2
A 2 page story that is fun and sweet and nothing more. Kinda surprised it was collected here, but it is nice and the art by Dooney is pretty, and it works way better in color than it ever did in B&W.
Probably would have liked this more if I hadn’t literally just read most of these stories right beforehand. Still a pretty good time, and way more enjoyable than the second volume of Classics.
The People’s Choice by Michael Dooney & Steve Lavigne ☆ ☆
I liked Michael Dooney’s short stories alot, so I was kinda looking forward to what he had in store for his first full length issue, but this was pretty nothing. The art is great, but I honestly don’t even remember what happened all that well, and I read it this morning.
Bottoming Out by Kevin Eastman, Jim Lawson, George Hagenau, Eric Talbot, and Steve Lavigne ☆ ☆ 1/2
A very heavy-handed story that was fine enough, mainly due to the incredible layouts and art. Nothing really else to say about this, it was done for charity and it shows. The art also takes away some of kinetic energy for some of the panels for me. This is a prime example of a TMNT story that was always meant to stay in B&W.
Junkman by Michael Dooney ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
Always enjoy solo Donatello stories, and this one is no different. Pretty fun with a cute twist ending. Dooney’s short stories are pretty damn good!
New York Ninja by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Ryan Brown, and Steve Lavigne ☆ ☆ ☆
A fine enough anti-bullying story that shows a different side to Donatello than we are used to. I really enjoyed the layouts and inking in particular, but the story is still fine enough.
Word Warriors by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Ryan Brown, Jim Lawson, and Steve Lavigne ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
This had one of the weirdest layouts in comics, but it really worked for the story. Each page is two panels, split apart by Excalibur, which extends down across the middle of each page, with the hilt on the first page and the end of the blade on the last. A neat action scene and solid layout work by Peter Laird made this story very memorable for me, even if the story is nothing too special.
49th Street Stompers by Kevin Eastman & Steve Lavigne ☆ ☆ 1/2
Another goofy Kevin Eastman effort, this one clearly taking inspiration from the Warriors film at the time. Nothing really special, and the action scene at the end that this whole story leads up to isn’t even that great.
*O-Deed by Michael Zulli, Steve Murphy, and Eric Talbot ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
Another environmentalism tale that has all the tropes and trademarks of Zulli & Murphy, but it’s still told well enough, even if it is extremely heavy-handed. It’s also interesting that I didn’t notice the first time reading this, but it’s the only story by Murphy and Zulli that doesn’t use their version of the turtles. I also love how Talbot inked the non-dream pages, it gave the story such an interesting look that I loved. Loved this on a reread.
The Road Trip by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Steve Lavigne ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
A wordless TMNT story that works very well. Not a lot going on, and it can be read in about a minute, but it’s still a fun little story that made me smile. Nice to see the brothers do something other than fight baddies.
Don't Judge a Book by Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird ☆ ☆ ☆
This was a fun little Halloween story, with the turtles having to defend April’s home from being robbed before a Halloween party. Nothing especially excellent or egregious here, it’s just an okay story with solid art.
*A Splinter In The Eye Of God? by Michael Zulli & Steve Murphy ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
I have technically already reviewed this in the Soul’s Winter collection, but this is a good place to expand a little more on some thoughts. This one is a classic Zulli & Murphy story about environmentalism using Splinter as a means to find out what “peace” really means. It’s an interesting enough story, and the artwork is beautiful, but I do prefer this color printing to the B&W one.
Night Life by Kevin Eastman, Ryan Brown, and Steve Lavigne ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
A Frank Miller-esque story that sees the TMNT witness a sting operation gone awry. Fun to see Eastman & Brown attempt a Frank Miller impression, as the panels and layouts are very similar to the style he popularized back in the day. A cool, though slightly rushed story.
Meanwhile......1,000,000 B,C, by Michael Dooney ☆ ☆ 1/2
A 2 page story that is fun and sweet and nothing more. Kinda surprised it was collected here, but it is nice and the art by Dooney is pretty, and it works way better in color than it ever did in B&W.
Probably would have liked this more if I hadn’t literally just read most of these stories right beforehand. Still a pretty good time, and way more enjoyable than the second volume of Classics.
June 11, 2022
A bunch of random TMNT short stories by all the creators working for Eastman and Laird at the time. They're OK, but inconsequential. Most of these were in the Shell Shock collection.
January 22, 2017
This is not the Turtles "A" material. I would not recommend starting here if you are checking out old TMNT comics. That said, there is some enjoyable stuff here. As a companion to the Ultimate Collection hardcovers, it works well. For some reason #13 of the main series is in this collection but not in the Ultimate collection, and is probably the best entry in this book. There are a few longer stories, and some short bips and bobs that are interesting to check out but not completely satisfying.
April 22, 2020
This book was a blast. There are a bunch of random stories taken from some of the earliest comics collected here. I felt like these did a great job showcasing the Turtles and the wackiness of the setting they live in. For someone who has consumed TMNT media and never read one of the comics before this, it was really easy to jump in and cruise through the stories. I'm definitely on board for more Turtles comics.
April 4, 2014
Forget everything you thought you knew about TMNT. This graphic novel tells the story of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles like it is supposed to be told, with lots of action, intense text and dark background. I enjoyed reading this and comparing it to the TMNT I grew up with. I recommend this to any person who has seen any type of TMNT tv show.
February 24, 2018
Calling this volume “classics” is a real mislead. It’s comprised of really short and narratively pointless one-shots.
May 14, 2019
What can you say? Turtles are great.
December 30, 2023
A nice collection of short stories. Might be nice for those who want a quick graphic novel story.
March 5, 2015
This was my first foray into TMNT comics and I was quite pleased. It's sort of an odd collection of stories--and there's some strange stuff in there (Michael Zulli, I'm looking at you)--but it works as an introduction to the comics world of the turtles. The color is a nice addition as well. I know enough about the comics to know the early stuff at least was all black and white. The first story is the best, because it's long enough to get invested in the characters and events. Interesting that all the turtles have the same color masks! It can be hard to tell them apart if you can't see their weapons.
August 18, 2014
Never read the comics before so to find this at my library was a real treat! I've always loved the Turtles and have watched the cartoon and the movies multiple times as growing up. I was so happy to see the original start of it all. It's darker than what we're used to but that is the beauty of it! I can't wait to find the second volume!
April 11, 2020
I was hoping this would be about the original black and white comics wherein the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were more savage than comedic. This collection appears to be the transition period between that and the Saturday morning cartoon.
Nevertheless I enjoyed some of the stories well enough, especially the one where Splinter advises a down-and-out drunk to seek an education to improve his prospects. It was obviously a public service announcement comic but still a sweet use of the master.
There were also tales which seemed to have aspirations of being thought-provoking like the works of Alan Moore or Neil Gaiman but came out a bit too garbled in the process. These unsettled my reading almost as much as the artistic depictions of the Turtles without their masks on.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Classics: Volume 1 may not have been my kind of comic but it was interesting to read the early days of this iconic team's adventures. I recommend this collection to curious fans of the franchise.
Nevertheless I enjoyed some of the stories well enough, especially the one where Splinter advises a down-and-out drunk to seek an education to improve his prospects. It was obviously a public service announcement comic but still a sweet use of the master.
There were also tales which seemed to have aspirations of being thought-provoking like the works of Alan Moore or Neil Gaiman but came out a bit too garbled in the process. These unsettled my reading almost as much as the artistic depictions of the Turtles without their masks on.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Classics: Volume 1 may not have been my kind of comic but it was interesting to read the early days of this iconic team's adventures. I recommend this collection to curious fans of the franchise.
August 4, 2018
I feel time hasn't been kind to some of these stories. A few are too simplistic, a few are downright weird. A couple of interesting sections here and there. I've never really read the TMNT comics, but I'll keep going and hopefully find some better ones.
July 30, 2017
Fantastic stuff , nostalgia overload. Good to see the original incarnation of the Turtles , loved the art and all red bandanas.
March 13, 2018
A collection of stories not a sequential story. Reminds me of the animated version. Not the classic stories I was looking for.
April 17, 2019
3.5 Stars
January 30, 2019
Fun read.
August 7, 2020
Classic Turtles
Very good read, nothing to dislike. If you like the turtles this is for you. The Splinter stories are also phenomenal.
Very good read, nothing to dislike. If you like the turtles this is for you. The Splinter stories are also phenomenal.
January 25, 2025
I liked "People's Choice" best in this collection because it was simple and to the point. The other stories were overly wordy, meandering, and ultimately felt pretty pointless.
July 9, 2022
This was disjointed (many short stories). It was hard for me to tell the turtles apart. It also felt a bit preachy in certain spots.
Then again I’ve never read the original tmnt comics so maybe they still live up to the hype, even if this collection didn’t wow me. 🤷♀️ someday I’ll try one of the first volumes and see how I get on with them. However it’ll definitely be a library borrow just like this one🙃.
Then again I’ve never read the original tmnt comics so maybe they still live up to the hype, even if this collection didn’t wow me. 🤷♀️ someday I’ll try one of the first volumes and see how I get on with them. However it’ll definitely be a library borrow just like this one🙃.
May 24, 2025
Might as well be titled "How to ruin good comics with bad coloring".
All the enjoyment that could be had from these stories comes with the huge caveat that the original artwork, which was drawn with the clear intent to be displayed in black & white, has been marred by crappy digital coloring. It's extremely jarring and a clear downgrade over the trademark B&W style of the original Mirage Turtles comics.
If you can make it past the unfitting colors (and, unfortunately, this colored edition is probably the most affordable way to get several of these stories nowadays) there is a decent amount of Turtles content to be found here. It's far from the best the Mirage series has to offer, but there are some stand-outs, like the Stephen Murphy/Michael Zulli shorts and the never-disappointing Eastman and Laird works.
But honestly, I'm not even sure what the standard for gathering these stories was, since it is clearly missing some of the better Mirage shorts like "Turtle Dreams" and "The Lesson". Those better shorts were all collected in the far superior black and white, high-quality paper "TMNT: The Ultimate Collection" reprint series. However, this edition includes many stories that were also in Ultimate Collection, like "Word Warriors" and "The Road Trip".
And since this edition also includes stories by people other than Eastman and Laird, one has to wonder why they didn't just use this opportunity to reprint all the good shorts, regardless of creator, in color instead of seemingly picking a bunch of them at random. Adding color to a story like Richard Corben's "You Had To Be There" could actually be interesting, but I guess the kind of color required for that artwork was above the paygrade of whomever colored this edition.
Overall, I only recommend this book for people who really want to read/own the entirety of the Mirage stories and can't find them anywhere else at an affordable price. The color all but ruins what would otherwise be a collection of good-but-not-remarkable comic shorts.
All the enjoyment that could be had from these stories comes with the huge caveat that the original artwork, which was drawn with the clear intent to be displayed in black & white, has been marred by crappy digital coloring. It's extremely jarring and a clear downgrade over the trademark B&W style of the original Mirage Turtles comics.
If you can make it past the unfitting colors (and, unfortunately, this colored edition is probably the most affordable way to get several of these stories nowadays) there is a decent amount of Turtles content to be found here. It's far from the best the Mirage series has to offer, but there are some stand-outs, like the Stephen Murphy/Michael Zulli shorts and the never-disappointing Eastman and Laird works.
But honestly, I'm not even sure what the standard for gathering these stories was, since it is clearly missing some of the better Mirage shorts like "Turtle Dreams" and "The Lesson". Those better shorts were all collected in the far superior black and white, high-quality paper "TMNT: The Ultimate Collection" reprint series. However, this edition includes many stories that were also in Ultimate Collection, like "Word Warriors" and "The Road Trip".
And since this edition also includes stories by people other than Eastman and Laird, one has to wonder why they didn't just use this opportunity to reprint all the good shorts, regardless of creator, in color instead of seemingly picking a bunch of them at random. Adding color to a story like Richard Corben's "You Had To Be There" could actually be interesting, but I guess the kind of color required for that artwork was above the paygrade of whomever colored this edition.
Overall, I only recommend this book for people who really want to read/own the entirety of the Mirage stories and can't find them anywhere else at an affordable price. The color all but ruins what would otherwise be a collection of good-but-not-remarkable comic shorts.
July 11, 2016
Honest time: I've never read any Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics or watched any series or movies. I grew up in the '90's but never really got attached to the concept or characters. So, reading this for the first time-- I LOVED IT!! Kevin Eastman has created a stunning set of remarkable and lovable characters in a set of dark tales that rely on delivering morals. But, heads up. Even though this says "Classics" this set of stories is not in chronological order. I ordered it thinking I was going to get the Turtles' story from day one, but this is actually a collection of special issues in the style of short stories.
Nevertheless, this was great and I loved this collection. I'm now a turtle fan and I can't wait to get the whole series of turtle stories.
Nevertheless, this was great and I loved this collection. I'm now a turtle fan and I can't wait to get the whole series of turtle stories.
February 14, 2021
This is an odd collection of stories in which the turtles play secondary roles. Not much to it.
We discuss the early days of TMNT in this episode of Comic Book Coffee Break: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jqRO...
We discuss the early days of TMNT in this episode of Comic Book Coffee Break: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jqRO...
February 18, 2018
Okay
It's just kind of a random collection of stuff. It's okay. Nothing earth-shattering. Good art, all in color. Contains original issue 13, which is missing from all other collections.
It's just kind of a random collection of stuff. It's okay. Nothing earth-shattering. Good art, all in color. Contains original issue 13, which is missing from all other collections.
September 26, 2012
I think I'm cured of my Turtle-itis. These are mostly back-ups from the original TMNT series. They don't really go anywhere, but the art is nice. The coloring looks redone, but it's tasteful.
May 6, 2015
A flashback to my way earlier days reading comics.
Sure the TMNT are a bit corny, but that is their charm too :)
Sure the TMNT are a bit corny, but that is their charm too :)
November 5, 2019
TMNT
I thought this would have a battle with the shredder. So of the Art is nice to consider that this was drawn by hand.
I thought this would have a battle with the shredder. So of the Art is nice to consider that this was drawn by hand.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews