Scooterforever
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2011
- Messages
- 556
- Reaction score
- 199
Speaking of the originals, I got TMNT Ultimate Collection Vol. 3 for my birthday about a month ago. To be honest, IDW's Ultimate Collections are insanely overpriced, reprinting only seven issues for $50, and they don't offer a cheaper alternative either. I'm very lucky to have gotten TMNT: The Collected Book Volume One (1990) back before the price shot up. It collects #1-11 of the original comics plus the four individual Turtles one-shots for only $16.95. At the prices IDW is charging for the Ultimate Collections, it would probably be cheaper to just buy the original comics, at least when it comes to the later issues.
As far as the content of TMNT Ultimate Collection vol. 3, the only really great story was the three-part Return to New York. The fact that Shredder soundly defeated the Turtles in #10 and made them leave the city highlights how serious a villain he was in the original comics, and in "Return," the Turtles attempt to take the city back from Shredder and the foot. It's actually the first and only time Eastman and Laird collaborate in UC: V3, the other stories, #12, 14, 15, and 17, being written and drawn by one or the other. Apparently they were in break-up mode at that point, citing creative differences, but when they get back together for #19-21, "Return," it highlights how much better the story and art is when they collaborate. Leonardo's final confrontation with Shredder in #21 is truly amazing, and is probably one of the greatest fights from the original comics. The other stories are a series of one-shots that are hit and miss, though mostly miss. #14, The Unmentionables, in which the Turtles help Casey Jones hunt down a brass bull stolen from atop a restaurant, feels like a Hardy Boys mystery with the Turtles shoehorned in, and feels like the worst of the bunch. #12, The Survivalists, was the only good one of the one-shots. The Turtles find themselves up against a group of gun-toting extremist survivalists calling themselves "The Committee to Rebuild American Patriotism," and they plan to set off a home-made nuke to star WW3 and send the country back to the stone age, just so they can prove what great survivalists they are. I felt the story was really ahead of its time, and my fav Turtle, Donatello, has a major part to play, being the only one who knows how to disarm the nuke.
As far as the content of TMNT Ultimate Collection vol. 3, the only really great story was the three-part Return to New York. The fact that Shredder soundly defeated the Turtles in #10 and made them leave the city highlights how serious a villain he was in the original comics, and in "Return," the Turtles attempt to take the city back from Shredder and the foot. It's actually the first and only time Eastman and Laird collaborate in UC: V3, the other stories, #12, 14, 15, and 17, being written and drawn by one or the other. Apparently they were in break-up mode at that point, citing creative differences, but when they get back together for #19-21, "Return," it highlights how much better the story and art is when they collaborate. Leonardo's final confrontation with Shredder in #21 is truly amazing, and is probably one of the greatest fights from the original comics. The other stories are a series of one-shots that are hit and miss, though mostly miss. #14, The Unmentionables, in which the Turtles help Casey Jones hunt down a brass bull stolen from atop a restaurant, feels like a Hardy Boys mystery with the Turtles shoehorned in, and feels like the worst of the bunch. #12, The Survivalists, was the only good one of the one-shots. The Turtles find themselves up against a group of gun-toting extremist survivalists calling themselves "The Committee to Rebuild American Patriotism," and they plan to set off a home-made nuke to star WW3 and send the country back to the stone age, just so they can prove what great survivalists they are. I felt the story was really ahead of its time, and my fav Turtle, Donatello, has a major part to play, being the only one who knows how to disarm the nuke.