Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Works – Volume 1

Well having competed my first post I wanted to dive straight back in and do another, similar one to try and make a better job of the formatting and making it more interesting to read.  The Works Volume 1 was the perfect thing to do being very similar to my previous Volume 2 review but also not having the same disappointment 8 left me with.  So enough of my rambling sand let’s talk about the book.

The Works Volume 1 is again a large oversized hard back book collecting issues 1 to 7 and the Raphael One Shot from the original Eastman and Laird Mirage run of comics but with the added colours that the Colour Classics implemented with much success.  That’s 8 issues in all totalling a MASSIVE 305 pages.  The oversized and coloured pages look fantastic here.  All in matt which really adds to the look in my opinion.  The Pizza Box styling is of course present as it was in Volume 2 and feels as misplaced here as it did there.

"The Fugitoid" Love him!

Let’s talk about the issues themselves.  Many people find the initial TMNT books a bit at odds with itself due to the creators never really expecting to make a second issue.  I have never found this myself and the initial 11 issues along with the 4 one shots are without doubt my favourite comics of all time.  The 8 issues collected here work really well together compared to Volume 2 as I feel more of the issues string together to create one continuous story.  Issue one of course covers the origins of the Turtles which we all know so well.  But issues two to seven all string together perfectly to create a fantastic story starting with Baxter Stockman and his now famous Mousers which leads them to the mysterious TCRI Aliens (The Utroms) before catapulting them into space with one of my favourite characters “The Fugitoid” fighting the might of the Triceratons who fling them into the arena for an epic Gladiatorial show down with the Tricaratons biggest and best before being transported back to Earth just in time to be reunited with Splinter and escape before being overrun by the Army.  I've really barely scratched the surface of this story ark here as I see no reason to spoil it for anyone who has never read these books or jog the memory too much for those who have not visited them for a long time.  I would encourage anyone to jump in and enjoy these stories for the first time or just to enjoy them again in the fantastic colours added for this collection.

No matter what era of TMNT you visit you won't find a Turtle with a gun often.  Naturally Raphael did it first.

One criticism I often see levelled at these early books is a lack of individual character to each of the Turtles.  None of the Turtles in the original Mirage run ever displayed the over the top personalities made famous by the 80’s cartoon.  The development does come for the awesome foursome from each of the Turtles one shot issues but seeing as 3 of these are collected in Volume 2 you won’t see so much of it here.  Not that this is ever really an issue as the hectic pace the Turtles are thrown from one crazy situation to the next.  There is one exception as the Raphael one shot is included as a nice break from the action and starts right away casting him as the hot headed, short tempered Turtle we all know and love.  Having said that even in this setting he quickly finds himself a like minded friend in the legendary Casey Jones as their friendship is born through combat as the two disagree on how far you can beat on some purse grabbing “Pukes”.  I love the way Casey is portrayed in this issue and the style in which he’s drawn reminds me of J.O’Barr’s “The Crow” which is no bad thing.

Raph looses his cool                                              Casey Jones "Goongalla"                                            The Utroms

You have to cut him open before
he becomes interesting to look at

I don’t really have anything bad to say about this collection with the exception of The Shredder being coloured in the black/blue tones.  While I personally would have preferred him to be in his district red it’s not really a strong negative as he only appears in issue 1.  More disturbingly is the bizarre colouring of his hands which jump from bare fisted to gloved from page to page in a baffling oversight.  But when gloved which unfortunately is how he is displayed in most of the images containing him  he really does lack any strong detail to catch your eye which is a shame for such a Villain.  I guess I can’t really argue that he is a Ninja whose probably not out to draw attention to himself, but it’s a shame for us, the reader who have to sit and look at him.

This is a fantastic collection tho which I cannot recommend highly enough.  This is the true origins of the TMNT which anyone who has any interest in comic books owes it to themselves to read.  You could pick up the issues individually digitally far cheaper on the Play store but you will lose those oversized pages and HUGE double page spreads and the tactile feel and smell that only a real book can provide.  However you chose to enjoy these stories tho you are in for a treat.

9 out of 10