TMNT: A Comparison of the Mirage and IDW Comics

*Credit goes to Anton Abrahamsson for helping with this article.

Having recently re-read the Eastman and Laird issues (the main canon) of Mirage Publishing’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic as well as the first 100 issues (and various mini-series) of IDW’s re-imagined TMNT book, I thought this would be a good time to compare and contrast the two, largely because these seem to be the clear favorite iterations among older turtle fans and comics fans.

Some Background on My Fandom

It was the IDW series that reignited my love of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I always loved the 1990 movie and was aware of Mirage but had never read it. I read the first IDW arc, Change Is Constant, in 2012 and was hooked. IDW’s new iteration forced me to seek out everything TMNT I could get my hands on. I went back to my childhood and played the original TMNT arcade game online. I watched the 1987 cartoon pilot on Youtube. I checked out the 2003 cartoon show which I missed as a young adult but really enjoyed upon seeing it in my late twenties. And then I found Mirage, which I'd always heard about but never experienced. Whoa! Talk about running backwards here.

The Comparison

Mirage

The main canon of Mirage Vol. 1, the work of Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, is what I will focus on for simplicity’s sake and because the remainder of Volume I is abstract, sometimes to the point of parody.  The Eastman/Laird issues are broken down like this:

Issues #1-12

Issues #19-21 (a story known as Return to New York)

Issues #50-62 (the epic finale of Vol.1 called City At War)

Various issues of Tales of the TMNT Vol. 1

Mirage TMNT has a harder edge. This is largely because it was an indie comic and Eastman and Laird were not beholden to any standard like the Comics Code or any corporate brand. They did whatever they wanted and were able to get away with more than your average comic.

The basic plot of issues 1-12 sees the Turtles fight the Purple Dragon gang, learn of their origin, and find and defeat their mortal enemy, The Shredder. They then battle Mouser robots, confront Baxter Stockman, meet Stockman’s assistant, computer programmer/techie April O’neil, and Splinter is abducted. The turtles go to space where they meet The Fugitoid and the Triceraton aliens and rescue their master. They discover the Utroms and, by issue #8 meet Renet and Cerebus the Aardvark, embarking on a time traveling adventure. Issue #9 is a prequel tale where Splinter and the pre-teen turtles help a man called Hatsumi reclaim his family lineage. In the following issue the TMNT battle and defeat a seemingly resurrected Shredder and the Foot Clan again, with the help of Casey Jones. As April’s antique store burns down after the battle, the turtles, April and Casey, and Splinter retreat to the Jones family farm. They live there for a while and fix the place up. In between all of this, in various issues of Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 1) and the individual turtle micro issues, they meet Casey Jones, are introduced to The Rat King, are ambushed by the Foot Clan where Leonardo is injured, Donnie meets an artist named Kirby, the TMNT confront a hate group at the farm, meet a vigilante called Nobody on the streets of New York, encounter Leatherhead, and Michelangelo goes on a solo adventure, adopting a cat named Klunk.

Issues 19-21 sees Raphael meets the Triceraton named Zog and the turtles Return to New York where they discover Shredder is still alive, or has reformed from a mystical spell involving worms feeding on his body to regenerate him. The Shredder is beheaded once and for all, by Leonardo. The turtles then burn his body at the Hudson River.

The canon continues, after many of the guest era stories, in #50.

Issues #50-62 encompass the City At War arc. After their victory over the Shredder, the TMNT discover that New York has been thrown into a turf war.  The factions of the New York Foot Clan are now in a heated battle with the Shredder's still loyal Foot Elite for control of the underworld. 

I’m not going to give any focus here on what comes after Volume 1 because of the lack of Eastman and Laird collaborations. For those interested, many stories from Tales of the TMNT Vol. 2 build on the main canon from Volume 1.

The art styles throughout the books are quite polished under Laird’s pencil. His characters are dynamic and beautiful. He remains my favorite TMNT artist ever. When Eastman pulls art duty the series has a rougher, grittier edge. Eastman's edgy quality makes him probably the best TMNT pinup artist of all time. His harder style works well for covers too.

In fact, largely because it was an indie book and originally published in black and white, Mirage TMNT has a harder edge all around. The subject matter is less refined and the storytelling is more deliberately paced. Publishing as an indie book and having full creative control, Eastman and Laird were not beholden to any standard like the Comics Code or any corporate brand. They did whatever they wanted and were able to get away with more than your average comic. The series is a highly imaginative concept that feels as mature and grown up as the best works of the 1980’s. It may be primarily informed by Frank Miller’s Ronin and Daredevil, The New Mutants, the work of Jack Kirby, and Cerebus, but TMNT feels completely original.

IDW

IDW has had the benefit, not only of following Mirage, but drawing on 30+ years of TMNT history to tell their stories. The main series hits most of the plot points as laid out by Mirage and it may borrow from the various cartoons and the 90’s Archie comic, but it definitely has its own flavor. The main creative team for the first 100 issues is Tom Waltz as the head writer and Kevin Eastman as co-writer, plotter and co-plotter. A revolving door of talent joins them for the art chores. Over 100 issues the TMNT are revamped, utilizing familiar plot elements and characters while creating amazing new characters and stories as well.

The most notable difference between IDW and what has come before is the origin of the turtles. In Mirage the ooze that mutates the turtles is related to the the alien Utroms and TCRI. The turtles are random red-eared slider turtles and Splinter is a sewer rat. They get covered in the mutagen in a sewer and Splinter relays the origin to them via a story about his master, Hamato Yoshi.  In IDW, the turtles and Splinter are labs animals, mutated this time by orders from General Krang with an ooze that, again, originates with the Utroms. This time however, the spirits of Hamato Yoshi, an ancient warrior from Feudal Japan, and his sons are reincarnated into the animals. Oroku Saki is also resurrected into the modern age through mysticism and is tied to the spirit of a dragon.

IDW does borrow a few plot threads from Mirage Vol. 1. Like Mirage, the IDW Turtles fight the Purple Dragons, encounter mousers, and meet April. They also go to Dimension X, a decent stand-in for Mirage’s outer space plots. After the amazing City Fall arc, which shares similarities to Mirage’s City At War, they visit the Northampton farm in one of IDW's best arcs. The turtles later return to New York and, after some non-Mirage related plot threads, Shredder dies on a roof. After a hundred issues, it all culminates in a story arc called “City at War.” The basic elements of Mirage can be felt throughout but enough is different that the narrative feels familiar without feeling like it’s all been done before.

IDW differs from Mirage however, because it adds in many plot threads and concepts from other sources. The Dimension X and Neutrino concepts as well as the Technodrome appear from the original cartoon, while the Earth Protection Force and Street Phantoms come out of the 4Kids cartoon. Each of these elements play important roles in the overall story and help to distinguish IDW as its own thing.

Along with these familiar ideas many different characters appear as well. Mirage characters like The Shredder, Baxter Stockman, Karai and Leatherhead are mixed with Angel, Hun, Bishop and Ch’rell from the 4Kids cartoon as well as original cartoon characters like Krang (a Utrom in this series), Bebop and Rocksteady, and Slash, the snapping turtle. Where this series really shines, however, is with the creation of new characters like Old Hob, Alopex, Koya and Bludgeon. The Mighty Mutanimals, characters from the Archie comic, also show up here. The villain turned anti-hero, Old Hob, leads them.

IDW’s various mini-series, annuals and maxi-series, including the spin-off comic, TMNT Universe,  mimic Mirage’s Tales of the TMNT series because these stories act as fill-in issues and companions that play into the larger continuity.

Another major difference is IDW’s narrative’s cohesiveness. This has been, arguably, one of IDW’s weaknesses. 100 issues of tight, cohesive storytelling has left little room for self-contained arcs or slice of life stories. Story arcs break up a single narrative but constant callbacks to previous issues leave no room to read these arcs in a singular fashion. Everything hinges on what comes before it. In contrasts, Mirage tells multiple stories with a loose continuity. If read in order Mirage stories can be cohesive but they don’t call back to each other or influence each other, at least not the way IDW’s turtle stories do.

The art styles throughout the series vary considerably, in much the same way that Mirage art has varied over the years with its guest artists. The artwork enriches IDW’s turtle books by providing different flavors and tones that are specific to each story arc. The brilliant Ronda Pattinson does most of the coloring. The art talent includes: Kevin Eastman, Dan Duncan, Andy Kuhn, Mateus Santolouco, Sophie Campbell, Cory Smith, Ken Garing, Michael Dialynas, Dave Wachter, Damian Couceiro, Chris Johnson, and Brahm Revel.

Conclusion

Some believe that comparing these two comics is a futile exercise because IDW is seen as just another brick layered upon the foundation that is Mirage. However, I think comparison is valid and valuable because each comic shares similarities.

Eastman and Laird’s Mirage issues feels much more like a comic book that came out of the 1980’s. These stories  share some similarities with Cerebus, the underground comic that features an anthropomorphized animal character. The run feels like an action-packed superhero book in the vein of Frank Miller’s Daredevil, and it has slice of life stories like Love and Rockets by the Hernandez Brothers.

By contrast IDW’s TMNT feels almost like a fan written comic that happens to be done by the pros. IDW is an amalgamation of all TMNT work. It’s a revamped version similar to the “Ultimate” line of books at Marvel Comics. It takes the best of all TMNT incarnations, adds some new characters, and throws it in a blender. The result is a new story with several familiar elements. It’s a more cohesive, continuity-driven work that tells a single story over several self-contained arcs.

So, which is better? That’s subjective, obviously. Fans who have a long history with the TMNT in all their incarnations may enjoy IDW more. Fans who have a deep love for Mirage and have never seen it topped may like the original better. I tend to think the main canon of Mirage tells better stories and has a more mature flavor, but IDW is better written across the board. I love them both, but I see myself going back to IDW slightly more often than I’ll revisit my Mirage turtles when I need a TMNT fix.