Examining Mike Mignola's Hellboy

The year was 1993. In comics, Superman had died, Batman's back was broken, Spider-man had clones, the X-men were becoming a convoluted mess, and dark and gritty ruled the day in titles like Spawn and Savage Dragon. It was in this climate that Hellboy was born. The lovable red demon became a household name and would eventually be the main part of Mike Mignola's Mignolaverse, a universe that, as of this writing, includes hundreds of comics and dozens of characters. Today, the Mignolaverse is the largest creator-owned comics universe, inspiring 3 live-action films, 2 animated films, toys, and even a video game or two.

But, where did it all begin? What inspired Mike Mignola to create Hellboy? Before this, he was an artist who was known for doing fill-in art jobs on major comics titles like Superman, as well as being a cover artist for various Batman comics. To hear him tell it, he got into comics to draw monsters and wanted to create something where he could just draw monsters all day, everyday, for forever. 

There was some initial hesitation on Mignola's part however, because, initially, he didn't believe that his concept was strong enough. Nor did he believe enough in his abilities to actually tell a story with his new creation. As a result, Mignola enlisted John Byrne to write and script the first Hellboy story, based on Mignola's own plot. This became the wonderful debut known as Seed of Destruction.

Hellboy's debut does everything an origin story should. It introduces the main character, gives a compelling backstory, introduces Rasputin (yes, that Rasputin), along with other supporting characters, and tells one hell of an adventure. Hellboy (who appears in 1944 during an American operation in Germany) loses his adoptive father, Professor Bruttenholm (pronounced "Broom"). He then goes to investigate a mystery at an old castle, along with Abe Sapien (a fish-man), Liz Sherman (a pyro-kinetic), and other members of the government agency, the B.P.R.D. (Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense). Hellboy discovers his link to the Nazi occultists and must stop the resurrection of Rasputin as the ultimate evil to bring forth the return of Nazism.

Following Seed of Destruction, Mignola took over for 11 more stories (the main Hellboy canon) as writer/artist, publishing sporadically throughout the 90's and into the 2000's. Several now-legendary artists like Duncan Fegredo and Richard Corben sometimes helped with art chores. Throughout the stories, Hellboy encounters all kinds of monsters from folklore. He battles the Baba Yaga witch, corpses, demons, the troll witch, and others, until the Queen of Blood causes his death. Wow! From there, Hellboy enters Hell and has several adventures.  

Mignola moved on to scripting two spin-off series, B.P.R.D. that occasionally told stories of a young Hellboy and his relationship to the Bureau, and my favorite series, Lobster Johnson, Mignola's tribute to sci-fi/pulp crime fighters.

All in all, the Hellboy canon is incredible storytelling with varying quality in art. This is a gothic horror masterpiece that elevates the comics medium and has been compared to the best Jack Kirby characters. Mignola's art is very Kirby-esque at times. Fans of monster stories definitely need to check it out, if they haven't already.

Batman: Hush! Modern Classic or Mediocre Myth?

I was thinking of some of my favorite modern Batman stories and while there are many, I was thinking of one in particular that deserves analysis. Batman: Hush, as published in issue #608–619 in October 2002 until September 2003, is very polarizing. The story arc was written by Jeph Loeb with art by Jim Lee. Scott Williams did the inking chores and Alex Sinclair was the colorist.  

These days it seems that the Batman Hush storyline is derided more than it is praised due to Loeb increasingly being seen as a hack writer by many fans. It wasn’t always this way. When Hush first came out it was extremely well received, due in no small part to the slick artwork of Jim Lee, whose rendition of Batman began to appear on Batman merchandise outside of the comic books.

It is often said that Batman Hush is just an excuse to get many of Batman’s best known villains together in a single storyline [the same has been said lately with Loeb’s wonderful Long Halloween series] and that the identity reveal of the Jason Todd-Robin character at the end is a cheat. While that may or may not be true depending on your interpretation, there is a very decent mystery here.

Loeb and Lee manage to introduce a new villain in the Thomas Elliot/Hush character and add a new wrinkle to Bruce Wayne’s past in the process. We also get wonderful appearances from guest stars, including Superman. Unfortunately this is the only real story of note to feature Hush as no other writer, including the wonderful Paul Dini in his Hush Money story, can seem to get a handle on the character.

Despite those recent unfavorable reviews of Hush, a lot of original fans of this story hold it up as one of the best stories of the early 2000s era Batman comics and I can agree. The story is engaging and Jim Lee’s art is some of the best Batman art since the late 80’s and early 1990's when giants like Norm Breyfogle, Jim Aparo, Alan Davis and Dave Cockrum drew the character. Hush was a shot in the arm for Batman comics at the time as late 90's comics were often mediocre. The only thing to be aware of is that you should avoid the Hush Returns storyline or anything else that tried to resurrect Hush, as those stories are inferior.

In 2019, an animated film was released that updated the story for a Post-New 52 world. It's not a great adaptation as it waters down the lengthy story and sets it in the modern context of the New 52 era. 

Hush will forever be one of the first stories I recommend to new Batman fans as a gateway into Batman comics because it's very accessible.  I rate this 5 out of 5 stars. Have you read it? What's your opinion?

Savage Dragon: A 1990's Masterpiece - The Overlord Saga

The Savage Dragon comic was first published in 1992 by Image Comics as one of the fledgling company’s founding books. The comic is a perfect example of what was great about early 90’s comics. It’s also a book, along with pretty much every Marvel comic published around this time, that foreshadowed the 1990’s as THE decade that either changed comics forever, destroyed comics forever or just plain ruined comics forever, depending on your point of view.

 (The) Savage Dragon was part of a wave of overpowered, over-muscled, overly grim, dark, and violent superheroes that were the comic book industry’s answer to the success of Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore’s Watchmen. Dragon, along with Todd McFarlane’s Spawn, rode the wave of popularity known as “the grim and gritty era” or “The Dark Age of comics”. Stories in this era were trying to be as deep as Watchmen, Dark Knight  Returns, and other notable books of the 1980’s, but rarely matched their  greatness. Savage Dragon is one of the few books that comes close. Sure, it doesn’t have the depth of the best 80’s work, but its darkness and psychological complexity make it feel like it belongs in the pantheon of the best (or at least most remembered) comics of its era. In other words, this comic comes closest to being a spiritual successor to the groundbreaking work of Miller, Moore and their contemporaries in tone, even if it lacks much depth.

The 3 issue miniseries that presents The Dragon’s origin combine with the first 21 issues of the Savage Dragon title to form what is probably the best overarching comic book story published in the early 90’s: The Overlord Saga. This beginning period of The Dragon’s title has still never been topped and remains the definitive Savage Dragon saga, according to many fans.  

The story concerns an armored crime boss named Antonio Seghetti, alias The Overlord. He has Chicago in a vice grip. Dragon, a Hulk-like, green-skinned man with a giant fin on his head is found by a cop named Frank Darling in a burning field and joins the Chicago Police Department because he has no memory of his past or who he is. Dragon combats crime and corruption, as well as Overlord and his band of mutant creatures and deformed freaks known as “The Vicious Circle.” Along the way Dragon meets the Image Comics version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, sees his girlfriend get shot in the head, battles a giant talking spider called Arachnid, and nearly dies several times.

So, there it is. The Dragon's a hulking, super-strong green guy with a healing factor and resistance to injury. He started out as a cop who’s just trying find his place in the world and make sense of his past while working to clean up the streets of Chicago. The story may not sound particularly ground-breaking by comic book standards, but it has just the right amount of intrigue and complexity to be as exciting as anything pblished by Marvel or DC.

The art is prime 1990’s in the best sense of what that means for comics. Lots of detail and cross hatching really serves the story well. The panels are well-placed and the pacing is near perfect. Some people might be put off by the 90’s style of hulking heroes and villains, incredibly busty and curvaceous women in barely-there clothing, giant unrealistic guns and even more unrealistic fight scenes, but hey, comics in the early 90’s had started to abandon subtly.

Erik Larsen came to prominence as an artist on Amazing Spider-Man, taking over from Todd McFarlane and, later, crafting some of Spidey’s best stories with David Michelinie. When Image Comics was founded, Savage Dragon became one of its first books and, along with Spawn, remains one of only two of the original books still being published, as of this writing.

Since this is a cartoon blog, I’d be remiss not to at least mention the animated series. I remember seeing the Savage Dragon cartoon in the mid 1990’s and being entertained, even if I was clueless as to what it was. It seemed like every superhero was ripe for a cartoon back then, and, while this show was terrible and not very faithful to the comic, it did feature popular voice actor, Jim Cummings, as the voice of Dragon. That’s really all that can be said about it. It was pretty generic Saturday morning fare.

All in all though, the Savage Dragon comic, debuted as a great series. The Overlord Saga remains one of the most well-told stories of the 1990’s and the high point of the series, in my opinion. While I don't think the series was ever as good after this first arc, it has managed to keep being published and has even gone into different iterations, with Dragon’s son, Malcolm, eventually taking over as star of the book. So, if you’re looking for over-the-top action, a decent police procedural, colorful villains and an interesting hero, track this book down. Give The Overlord Saga a chance. You never know, you just might become a fan.

4Kids TMNT (2003-2010) - Review and Analysis

The 4Kids TMNT series premiered on February 8, 2003 as part of  the FoxBox programming block (later branded as 4Kids TV) and ended on March 27, 2010. It was produced by 4Kids Entertainment in conjunction with Mirage Studios, and spearheaded by Lloyd Goldfine with significant input and approval by Peter Laird himself, co-creator of the TMNT.

Since Laird was so heavily involved throughout production, seasons 1-4 are probably the “purest” versions of the property outside of Mirage. In fact, the series is so Mirage inspired that seasons 1-4 are probably the best way to get a grip on what Mirage made without actually reading the comics themselves. Unfortunately, The stories for seasons 5-7, Ninja Tribunal, Fast Forward and Back To The Sewers are quite heavily removed from what came before, as the animation changed, characters were redesigned and the stories were less engaging. That said, season 5, the Ninja Tribunal Saga, is the best of the latter series.

The 2003 show was markedly different for mainstream, non-comic book, audiences because up to that time the turtles were remembered most as a childish, goofy cartoon of the 80's and 90's. And, again, while this show took a lot from the Mirage comic books, it is not a direct adaptation of those comics, because it never attempts to capture the grit and darkness that the original comic series had. It does however adapt several issues into episodes, so, in spirit, it is, as much as American children's cartoons can allow, the most faithful version.

The magic of this show is that it was able to blend the humor and wit of the 1987 cartoon with a more mature tone. The character portrayals were a very faithful blend of the Mirage turtles, the 1990 movie turtles and the 1987 turtles. Their take on The Shredder, however, was a new idea created specifically for this show. Firstly known as ninja-master Oroku Saki, as he was in both the original comics and the 1987 cartoon, he was later revealed to be an utrom alien known as Ch’rell. This revelation bugged me a lot at first, but later grew on me. Utrom Shredder works well for this series, but I would have preferred if he had remained a human ninja master. April not being a reporter confused me at first as well, but now, knowing the source material, I prefer her as the computer scientist/former assistant to Baxter Stockman.

There were also other major characters introduced for this show. Bishop, government agent for the E.P.F. (Earth Protection Force), Hun, leader of the Purple Dragon gang and eventual enforcer for The Shredder, as well as Angel, friend to Casey Jones. Each of these characters would go on to play major roles in the IDW comics and also appear in the later volumes of Mirage. Karai, the high-ranking Foot Clan assassin that debuted in the Mirage Comics City At War storyline, also appears here.

I remember watching a couple episodes as a teenager when this show aired but by the early 2000’s I had long been out of TMNT fandom. By the time I rediscovered TMNT and saw this show again I was blown away at how different it was from the turtles of my early childhood. When I later discovered the Mirage books I saw exactly how faithful a lot of this cartoon was to the source material.

The music of the show was very well done and fit the mysterious, action-oriented and sci-fi aspects of the show well. The majority of the show's soundtrack consists of moody oriental theme music. It's very fitting for a show about ninjas. Lighter musical cues signal when the show needs to be humorous. Occasionally, there will be lyrical songs sung during brief bits of action that give certain episodes a fun "teenage" flair too.The most annoying part of the show, however, is the opening theme, a hard-rocking piece of Saturday morning fluff that introduces the character and plot. It really undermines the otherwise mature nature of the show. In fact, once you've heard it about ten times it becomes unnecessary and painful to hear again. 

As of this writing there have been 4 cartoons. I would consider the 2003 4Kids Series to be the truest representation of what the franchise is outside of the Mirage comics. The show’s humor, action, maturity and characterization sets it apart from all other TMNT cartoons and makes the show feel less like it’s aimed at kids (despite the name of the production company) and more like it’s an all-ages show. It even went on to inspire the overall tone and atmosphere of the newer IDW comics too. My wife and I still try to binge watch this show at least every couple years, but we only really watch the first 5 seasons because the final 2 seasons were a major departure. If you’ve never seen this show, I would recommend watching it, particularly the first four seasons, and give the 5^th season a try. It will forever remain a treat for ninja turtle fans.

X-Men: The Animated Series

X-men: The Animated Series debuted on October 31, 1992, in the U.S. on the then new Fox Kids Network. This show holds a special place for me as it was my first exposure to any Marvel property ever. I was already familiar with Batman and DC through the 1989 Batman film and Superfriends reruns but had yet to encounter the wonderful world of Marvel superheroes. Not long after seeing this show I visited a toy store and stood in awe of the action figures for this cartoon displayed with the older Marvel action figure toy lines. Being about six years old, I had no clue what this cartoon would ultimately be responsible for. Very soon, I would start reading Marvel comics and, like millions of other kids, fall in love with their line of heroes.

It was this show, and later Spider-man, that cemented my worldview of Marvel Comics characters and what they should be. These cartoons are the biggest reason that the X-men are some of my favorite comic characters.

 It was much later that I discovered that this version of X-men was Marvel’s 2^nd attempt to get their mutants off the ground. Pryde of the X-men debuted as a pilot episode in 1989 for what was supposed to be a new wave of Marvel animation. It was a massive failure but what I love about that single episode is that Kitty Pryde was the main character. She’s one of my favorite X-men. I also enjoy the appearance of Allison Blair, The Dazzler. Colossus and Nightcrawler were also part of the team, which was nice for any 80’s X-fan. This cartoon presents the classic 80’s X-men team (my favorite X-men era) and it gets their look completely right. The story was also good, hitting several notes from the Chris Claremont/John Byrne run. Unfortunately, the animation was poor and Wolverine was apparently Australian, something that the comic books flirted with for a time before Logan officially became everybody’s favorite Canadian.

The 90’s show took inspiration from Jim Lee’s redesigned X-men from the early 90’s with its character designs. Those designs were current and popular at the time. The team is comprised of the X-men’s Blue Team as featured in the early issues of X-Men Vol. 2. Cyclops was the leader, just as he had usually been in the comics. The cast was rounded out by Wolverine, Beast, Jean Grey, Storm, Rogue, Gambit, Jubilee, and Professor X, as well as a new character created for the show, Morph (an outgrowth of the Silver Age X-Men character, The Changeling).

The show’s main musical theme, a distinctive and heavy guitar instrumental written by Ron Wasserman, was featured in the original opening sequence where each of the X-Men demonstrate their mutant abilities for the audience. I remember early on being unable to decide who my favorite X-man was, because they all had such cool powers. It was usually a 4-way-tie between Wolverine, Gambit, Cyclops and Beast.

The influence that this show had on the X-men franchise can’t be understated. This show defined Wolverine for the 1990’s and remains the largest reason why Wolverine became so popular outside of the comics. I have no doubt that certain members of my generation will forever hear actor Cal J. Dodd’s voice as Wolverine. Even the movie people at 20^th Century Fox used this show as their main creative influence on the direction of the movies. There’s even some conjecture that still persists about Hugh Jackman basing his portrayal in the movies largely on the Wolverine of this series.

Certain Marvel and X-men fans remember this show as fondly as most remember Batman: The Animated Series. Other fans don’t think it holds up as well, pointing out cheesy dialogue from characters, pretentious plots and poor animation. I fall somewhere in the middle of those two camps. I love this series and am still quite entertained when I watch it. That said, the subpar animation and outright animation mistakes, particularly in the 5^th season (an almost entirely different show), can make certain episodes hard to watch. What should we expect with Marvel opting (as they did in all their 90’s animated shows) to use the hyper-detailed G.I. Joe model for animating their characters? Other things make this feel like it’s aimed at little kids too. The number of times Storm has to “summon the weather” is both annoying and hilarious. Wolverine’s constant rage against Sabertooth, and his constant jealousy over Jean Grey are also far too much to handle at times. Gambit also has a tendency to “charge” random objects with his mutant power, even when he’s not in battle.

Many of the classic comic book stories received adaptations that were either decent or taken completely out of context. The most notable adaptations were The Dark Phoenix Saga (the greatest X-men story ever written and a decent adaptation), Days of Future Past (Wait? Where’s Kitty Pryde?), Proteus (probably most accurate to the comic), and the Weapon X storyline (pretty intense for a kid's cartoon).

X-Men even crossed over with Spider-Man: TAS, when Spider-Man seeks out the X-Men's help to stave off his progressing mutation. Storm was even featured in later parts of that show when they half-heartedly adapted the Secret Wars storyline. These guest cameos made Spider-man: TAS feel like a sister show to X-men. This was amazing to a kid who loved both shows.

This series wasn’t afraid to deal with social issues. Topics include divorce, religion, feminism, and even the AIDS crisis. This was a double-edged sword however. While employing such socially conscious themes was admirable, this approach made the show feel a little uneven because, in other places, it also tried to display the typical Saturday morning humor. Being too self-serious and melodramatic while also trying to appeal to little kids often didn’t work very well.

X-men was followed by X-men: Evolution, a show that had more in common with the live-action movies than the comics. Later, Wolverine and the X-men, a show that seemed closer to the X-men comics of the 21^st century than anything else, debuted to much fanfare. Both of these were very good shows, but not as all-encompassing, not as iconic and certainly not as fondly remembered by X-men fans as X-men: The Animated Series.

I still love this series, though how much of that love comes from my love of X-men comics and characters and how much of that love is based on nostalgia for this show, I’m not quite sure. Either way, I'm obligated to honor my childhood and view the series with some kind of love, but I have to admit, after a recent rewatch of the entire series, it’s simply not as great as when I was a kid.

The Rise and Fall of The Simpsons: America’s Best Cartoon Sitcom

One of the things I often lament is that, living in the U.S., there's no real appreciation for animation or cartoons, at least not in the way other parts of the world value them. In some European countries (France is a good example) as well as much of Latin America and nearly all of continental Asia, animation is highly respected as a medium, and in some cases, worshipped. In some Asian countries comic strips and manga are even available in vending machines. By contrast, in the U.S., if almost anything is animated, be it a TV show or film, it automatically has a negative connotation by most adults and is branded as “kid’s stuff.” 

The Simpsons was one of the first American creations to shift that perception, even if we animation fans are still largely fighting that belief today. Things have improved with other, more adult, fare being released since The Simpsons debut, but I don’t personally believe much of it has compared in quality to this show, beyond things like South Park, Futurama or some of the Adult Swim programs.  Because of the right combination of humor, heart and satirical relevance, The Simpsons has gone on to become the most influential, and, perhaps the most important piece of American television animation ever created. 

The original Simpsons debuted in 48 short comedy sketches in 1987.

It all started when legendary producer James L. Brooks got his hands on Matt Groening’s popular underground comic strip, Life in Hell. He had originally intended to use its characters for sketch comedy, but Groening, not wanting to lose ownership of his comic strip, developed a sitcom family based largely on his own. The Simpsons first appeared in 48 short cartoons, usually 30 to 90 second comedy skits, which were used as bumpers on the ever-popular Tracy Ullman Show. These, in my opinion, are some of the best Simpons moments ever, and, have even been dubbed by some fans as Season 0 of the show. Fox, being in its infancy, was looking for something new. Impressed enough with the concept, the network ordered thirteen half-hour episodes. The characters were redesigned from their less crude models, fleshed out to better serve the half hour sitcom format, and on December 19^th, 1989  the popular yellow-skinned family debuted with its own show, a Christmas special titled Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire.

The Simpsons was an overnight sensation. The reason for the show’s rapid success is because it went against the grain and wasn’t afraid to push the envelope. Most television, especially sitcoms in the mid to late 1980’s, was quite bland, quite conformist and pedestrian. Other than The Cosby Show, most sitcoms were not overly popular. The 80’s brand of safe entertainment where nobody was offended or offensive seems, especially by today’s standards, incredibly boring and trite for any sitcom. People who were sick of the mid 1980’s sitcom formula, who couldn’t relate to those kinds of TV characters, suddenly found something to latch onto. The Simpsons were not a family with an overly successful doctor as the patriarch. They were rooted in the working class and the humor came from their everyday problems.

Some supporting characters are as memorable as The Simpsons themselves.

It was an amazing show for the first several seasons and parodied practically everything about late 80’s and 90’s American culture. The comedy was fresh, the jokes relevant and the characters were quickly becoming pop culture icons. The show seemed to work not only because Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie were so funny, but the supporting cast and background characters were also memorable. Characters like Moe, the bartender, Chief Wiggum, Barney Gumble, Krusty the Clown, The Flanders family, Mr. Burns and Smithers, Bart’s best friend, Milhouse, Bart’s teacher, Edna Krabappel, Comic Book Guy, Sideshow Bob, and so many more, helped to round out the show and make the town of Springfield, with its mysterious location, seem that much more relatable.

By the mid 1990’s the show was firing on all cylinders. The unique cartoon gags like the rotating couch scene in the opening, as well as the contrasting personalities of the main characters made the show feel like it could do things that no other sitcom was capable of. It seemed The Simpsons unique brand of satire would endure for a long time and remain popular well into the new millennium. But then something happened. The show began to lose steam and the audience began to shrink. The show started to become something different than what it had been.

The unfortunate decline of the show, after the first decade or so, has come to be known as “Zombie Simpsons”. The exact moment when the show morphed from a smart, funny, fresh satire of American life to a show that lost its relevance is unclear. One thing is certain however, it has become an increasingly dim shadow of its former self. Some Simpsons fans put it at just after season 8, while others declare that the show got stale after the season 11 finale, “Behind the Laughter.” Some even cite “Behind the Laughter” as the show’s unofficial end. While many Simpsons fans have simply given up, the “Treehouse of Horror” anthology shows are considered the most popular episodes that have aired since the show’s apparent downfall.

And even though “Zombie Simpsons” has existed since about the year 2000, it’s not without its gems. Practically every episode of “Treehouse of Horror” remains brilliant. Every post-2000 season does bear some good episodes (a season 19^th episode called “Husbands and Knives” is quite hilarious) but, most of the time, cultural references aren’t as funny, the satire is often less topical and the jokes sometimes don’t land as well as they should. A lot of the same plots are recycled and the character development has been nearly nonexistent in the last ten seasons. The show went from an exceptional sitcom founded on satire and character driven humor to an often bland comedy show, reliant on too many gags to get by. That said, it’s still far better than the kind of TV that was mediocre when the show debuted.

I think the reason the show has become "the sitcom that wouldn't die" is that it has a primary fan base that refuses to put it out of its misery. Deep down, fans, and probably the cast at this point, know it isn’t what it used to be but, out of some sense of loyalty, we just keep watching. Have most of the original fans given up? Probably not, but it has lost a large chunk of its audience.

The Simpsons is a show that helped define the 90’s. It’s THE show that made it okay for American adults to watch cartoons and it's THE show that finally broke TV fans out of the glut that was late 80’s sitcom mediocrity. But, that show hasn’t been around for a long time. In its place is something… different. Should “Behind the Laugher” (the final episode of season 11) have been the last word on Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie? In my view, no! I’ll agree that “Zombie Simpsons” is the “undead version” of a once supreme prime-time experience, but there are decent episodes still to be found. It fought against the grain and became a standout. Now, it seems to just limp along (in search of brains?), hoping that the ratings don’t force cancellation. And that’s sad because The Simpsons was a formative experience of my youth. I do like a lot of what came out after the year 2000 and, while I no longer follow this show like I once did, I will at least keep watching the “Treehouse” episodes as long as they are made.

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.

The Existential Brilliance of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing

So, I haven’t updated in just over a year, as I’ve been busy with other writing projects and general life concerns, but today I have a special treat. I’m going to highlight one of the greatest runs in comics, probably of all time…

Swamp Thing is a character that, on his best day, is going to remain in the background of the DC Comics stable as a semi-popular character. He’s amazing though, precisely because so much can be done with him. And while he is no longer as popular as he was in the late 1980’s or early 90’s, he remains one of DC’s best. Swamp Thing is not my absolute favorite character, but he is one of my favorites. This is largely because of what Alan Moore, and the team of Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson before him, did with the character.

Just as I consider the Len Wein sci-fi based Swamp Thing run to be one of the best things to come out of comics in the 1970’s, I consider Alan Moore’s more horror-inspired Swamp Thing run to be one of the best things to come out of the entire decade of the 1980’s. Period. Full stop. What Moore did with the hulking humanoid plant-creature, with his run of layered, complex, humorous, scary, dramatic and deep stories, is create one of comicdom’s rare masterpieces.

Some of you might think “well, of course. It’s Alan Moore. He’s a great writer.” I’d like to go deeper than that and not let Alan rest on his laurels here. Yes, he’s great, but I would go so far as to say it’s this run, I think more than any of his other work like Watchmen or The Killing Joke, that cements that statement. See, Moore took over the Swamp Thing title in the mid 80’s, a time when Swamp Thing was floundering and on the verge of cancellation. He revitalized the character, picking up immediately after writer Martin Pasko left.

The run begins with issue #20 in a story called “Loose Ends”. Key previous events are retold, peppered throughout the story, for the sake of context, so it fits in with Pasko’s previous work yet completely begins anew.

Moore is complimented for most of the run by artists John Totleben and Stephen Bissette. Their moody, compelling comics art is some of the darkest stuff to come out of the 80’s and helps this run become one of the defining works in comic book history that made comics grow up. The duo’s brilliant use of shade and shadows helps to make the narrative all that more frightening and atmospheric.

Moore’s run is perhaps best remembered for a story called “The Anatomy Lesson”, in issue #21 where Saga of the Swamp Thing starts. Swamp Thing comes to terms with what he is. Moore reverses what the reader had come to know as fact. Before, we thought that the scientist named Alec Holland, due to an accident, had become a swamp creature, a “muck encrusted mockery of a man.” But now we learn that, after the accident, the chemicals in the swamp caused a plant to take on Holland’s consciousness. Swamp Thing isn’t a man who became a plant. He’s a plant that believes itself to be a man. The genius of this difference allows Moore to go deeper and explore the character like never before. Further, his love of nature and the Earth itself are also heavily explored. This allows Moore to play with environmentalist themes as well by reintroducing Jason Woodrue, the Floronic Man, in an epic swamp battle. Yes, “The Anatomy Lesson” is a great little tale but the true genius of the run is in other stories.

When Moore explored the greater DC Universe by showcasing Swamp Thing’s journey through Hell, where he meets various Justice Leaguers like Superman and the more darkly themed and mysterious characters like Deadman, the Phantom Stranger and Etrigan, the Demon, Swamp Thing’s role in the DC canon was cemented. This is probably the standout tale of the entire run because Swamp Thing’s place is more clearly defined. He later meets Adam Strange in a sci-fi story too.

Other standout stories include issue #34, “Rites of Spring,” which solidifies Abby and Swamp Thing’s love for each other. They make love through a psychic link, a psychedelic experience that occurs when Abby eats a tuber off of Swamp Thing’s body, causing her to see him as a handsome man. She is now linked to him forever.

The “American Gothic” storyline is notable as well for introducing the character John Constantine, who later shines in his own series, Hellblazer. Taking place between issues #37–50, Swamp Thing travels to several parts of the U.S., encountering several archetypal horror monsters, including vampires, a werewolf, and zombies. Around this time, Moore had the Swamp Thing encounter Superman a second time, in DC Comics Presents #85, which remains one of the best Superman stories also.

In issue #53, “The Garden of Earthly Delights”, Gotham City has become an overgrown jungle. Abby traveled there in a previous issue to temporarily get away from her life in the swamp after a “sex crime rap”, in which pictures were taken of her love affair with Swamp Thing, but is now in police custody. Swamp Thing travels there to rescue her and turns the city into a jungle until Abby is released. The confrontation between Batman and Swamp Thing is spectacular and this remains one of my favorite Batman stories.

In parts, Swamp Thing reads simply as some of the best comic books ever produced. As a whole, the run reinvigorates the industry, along with other defining works, to help comics mature and grow into an adult medium. The sophistication seen here and in works like The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, Maus, Mister X, and Love and Rockets, is what the industry has been chasing since the 80’s. Not only does this run define Swamp Thing, it also helped to redefine many of DC’s very minor characters and created major new ones. I would urge anyone into comics, or fiction in general, to get their hands on these stories in any way they can. I myself will be going back to these stories for years to come. Great stuff!