IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Hits A Milestone…and I Get Nostalgic

Congratulations IDW!!!  You did it!!!  With the release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles issue #73 last week, IDW’s TMNT series became the longest running Turtles comic of all time.  Yay!!!  Archie Comics’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures held the record at seventy-two issues running from August of 1988 to October of 1995 and, for comparison’s sake, the Turtles’ original Mirage series ran for sixty-two issues, ending in August of 1993.  In honor of this momentous occasion, I wanted to talk about why IDW’s Turtles series has captured my heart and mind as well as how growing up with the Turtles for nearly thirty years has allowed my appreciation of their story to evolve.

IDW Gives Us The Turtles At Their Best!

I’m exploring the comic books I find to be indispensible reading as I count down to my 100th post and today I’m shining the spotlight on Tom Waltz and Kevin Eastman’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  In the hands of their IDW stewards, the Turtles’ tales transcend any sort of generic genre labels and simply stand as great literature.  This comic is a master class on compelling character studies and stories that are consistently as emotionally affecting as they are exciting.  I’ve yet to read a single issue and not be moved!

A Beautiful Rebirth

With fifty-eight issues and twelve micro/miniseries and counting, it should come as no surprise to anyone who follows the world of comics that IDW’s current reimaging of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is something special.  However, being out of the comic game for over fifteen years, I had no idea what I was getting into when I read the first trade paperback.  I couldn’t’ve been ready for this comic when I picked it up and now I can never imagine putting it down.  Living in an era of reboots and remakes, we’ve come to accept “At least they didn’t destroy it…” as often the best we can hope for.  But IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles defies all odds and transforms a fun childhood favorite into an artistic and emotional masterpiece.  With mutants on the mind this weekend (I’ll probably be seeing the new movie tomorrow), I am feeling the urge to talk Turtles.  So let’s go!