Prime Slime Tales #1

I paid $2 for this book based only on the publisher. As Mirage Studios was the birthplace of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I hoped that maybe this was set in the same universe. Other than the wraparound cover being penciled by TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman, there isn't anything else that connects the Ninja Turtles with the cast of characters in this book. 

The star of the book is an alley cat named Zigbone. He lives at the city dump along with an assortment of other critters like a foul-mouthed bullfrog named Warty. One day as Zigbone is scouting the refuse for his next meal, the kitty stumbles across a strange looking character. Fearing that either an alien is invading or a monster is attacking, Zigbone rallies his junk yard pals in hopes of destroying the... adorable little guy that only says 'Blort!'

Prime Slime Tales was written and illustrated from Rowen and Tony Basilicato who co-created the Geriatric Gangrene Jujitsu Gerbils. A parody of the Turtles, I am surprised that Mirage Studios signed the Basilicatos to do this book and I am even more surprised that the Gerbils make a guest appearance in this book. Obviously Eastman and Laird had a good sense of humor about things, figuring if you can't beat 'em, team up with 'em!

I hated the ending. For one, it ends with a cliffhanger. Second, it looks like it's curtains for that adorable Blort creature. I really hope he didn't die! He's so freakin' cute. I really, really want to know what happens next, unless it's a funeral for 'Blort'.

Prime Slime Tales only lasted for a second issue at Mirage before jumping ship to Now Comics. Considering that I can't even find out what happens in issue #2, I have even less hope of understanding why the Basilicatos defected. There's very, very little about Now Comics on the net, probably because of how such a small player the publisher was in the vast nearly 90 year history of comics. 

If you were like me and you were expecting the Ninja Turtles to appear in this book, don't be completely disappointed that they aren't in this story. Eastman and Laird do craft a pin-up in the back cover that has the Turtles helping the stars of this book from a horde of scary looking monsters. Unfortunately, it's in black and white. But it's still impressive looking. 

A good read that left me in the lurch. I really need to know what happens next.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Flaming Carrot Comics Omnibus, Volume 1

Bob Burden's insane creation. The Flaming Carrot, is collected in this giant omnibus from Dark Horse Comics. 

Anything Flaming Carrot is darn near impossible to find in stores. A staple of the 80s and 90s Indy scene, not many issues were printed and what few fans have don't show up on the market that often. I know that I am a massive dollar bin picker and I'm not likely to find these books for cheap. But even when I go to shows and conventions, I cannot find Flaming Carrot anywhere. 

I am always looking for Flaming Carrot because for some reason, this series just happens to be my wife's favorite. The peppering of non-sequitur. The surrealism and the shear insanity. On paper, this shouldn't be something my wife enjoys. But she does! And that's even more odder as the Ben Stiller film, Mystery Men (in which my wife absolutely hates), is based on this series of comics. 

I wasn't disappointed by the comics reprinted in this collection. But for an omnibus, there are quite a few issues missing. This book reprints issues 1-2, 4-11 and 25-27. I understand why Dark Horse made sure to add books 25-27. Those 3 books guest star the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the crossovers are definitely fan favorites. I also assume that issues 12-24 are part of a massive storyline and the publisher didn't want to split it up. 

But where's issue #3? Even in earlier reprint editions, that issue is missing from them. Why? Honestly, I can't figure this one out.

As this is volume 1, I am sure that the next book is going to include many of those missing books. But I'm not holding my breath for that third issue. It just seems to have disappeared from existence like a McFly in a photograph from Back to the Future.

Let's talk about the book's cover. I love the image of FC with a pack of monsters. But it really has nothing to do with the comics reprinted within. However, there is a 4 page prose story that appears to be brand spanking new from Bob Burden. It does involve the Monster Party illustrated on the front. It was pretty funny. But it isn't as classic as all of the sequential art stories I read previously in this. 

Then there's the matter of the Easter egg that I couldn't find. According to foreword author, Kevin Eastman, the first issue of Flaming Carrot has the first ever appearance of the Ninja Turtles. I read and reread that issue and I could not locate them. Was it a red herring from the comic book legend? Or is there yet another issue that wasn't reprinted in this assemblage? 

I really enjoyed Bob Burden's absurdist humor. But the omnibus felt less like a complete collection and more like a scrapbook of the Flaming Carrot's earliest and best.

I am really hoping that volume 2 not only comes out soon, but also includes all of the missing gaps. A great book but clearly not absolute!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #89

Things have literally crumbled for Master Splinter. It's Christmas Eve and on what is typically a very festive night, the family is solemn and separate.Though he now has control of the Foot Clan, Splinter's relationship with his sons, The Turtles, has been damaged, possibly beyond repair. April has gone into hiding.  An ally has died and none feel like celebrating. Everything seems to be balanced on the edge of a knife. Enter the ghost of Splinter and three other spirits who show Splinter scenes of the past, present and future in hopes of changing the ninja master's fate. 

I was both greatly intrigued and disappointed by this comic. First of all, the solicitations for this book talk greatly of the Dicken's A Christmas Carol plot device. In 1990-91, during a reissue of the Michelangelo Christmas Special, an all-new story was added. It too was done like A Christmas Carol. So, I was interested to know if that tale was being reprinted in this issue or not. 

It was not!

Thus, my disappointment. It is not that I am unhappy that the story has not been re-released. What I am not pleased with is that a different kind of storyline couldn't have been used. Yes, it has been about 30 years since the original TMNT Christmas Carol story was done. But couldn't co-creator Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz have borrowed from something else to be original? It's a Wonderful Life would have worked here. Maybe even The Gift of the Magi or even an all-new take on the holidays would have been better than reusing that same old storyline...

This book came out like a week ago or so. I've heard from a couple of fans that they were disappointed in this issue. As I've not really been up-to-date on the current Turtles, I don't really know what I have been missing and such. But I have heard that this story does little to move the action. Since the writers at the end of this book ever say that this Christmas tale was meant to act as a pause in the drama, I would have to agree. 

This issue wasn't awful. There was some festive moments. And since Splinter's previous life as Hamato Yoshi takes place in feudal Japan, in which Christmas was a non-entity at that time, it was refreshing to have a look at a non-Christmas past. The art was also quite good. Godzilla's Dave Wachter has a style very similar to those very earliest of Ninja Turtle comics. 

While this story has a quite classic style to it, I think I prefer my Turtles done more light-heated. I'm going to say it, my Turtles are from the cartoon and TMNT Adventures comics from Archie. Still, if you like the Turtles and you are needing a jolt of holiday cheer that isn't cloying, this is a pretty good 2018 offering!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Color Classic Micro Series: Michaelangelo

Reprinting the extremely difficult to find (as well as quite expensive when you do) Michaelangelo one-shot from 1985. This colorized version recalls Mickey's holiday trek through Manhattan on Christmas Eve. Here, the turtle goes sledding, enjoys the sites and smells, adopts a kitten and takes on a group of baddies who have stolen a truck full of toys due for the orphans. 

This was a Eastman and Laird masterpiece. While I am very grateful to have recently found this book for only a buck at my favorite thrift store, I am not done with trying to find more copies of this story. I've given up on trying to find the 1985 original. It's too expensive. However, there is the matter of the 1990 Michaelangelo Christmas Special from Mirage. That volume not only reprints the story found in this comic but it includes an original A Christmas Carol-style story. 

The 1990 Christmas special has been reprinted several times with both tales. Why IDW didn't include the 90s story with this edition is beyond me. Since there's a TMNT Christmas story out there that I have yet to read, I'll keep looking for the Michaelangelo Christmas Special even though I'll have already read half of it.

Full of thrills and action. It's not the all-ages Turtles you may be used to on TV. But, I think readers at least of the age of 10 will enjoy.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/ Usagi Yojimbo One-Shot (2017)

Written, drawn, and Lettered by Stan Sakai

Established Histories

   I first learned about Usagi Yojimbo from a random visit to a toy store in 1989. I was on a major Ninja Turtles kick at the time and I had to have all of the figures. A new batch of figures had just arrived and Usagi was one of them. Decked in a blue samurai outfit, and brandished two sharpened katanas, I instantly fell in love with that white rabbit!

   So what if the toy manufacturer Playmates called him by the wrong name? He was super cool looking! For those of you new to the character, Usagi Yojimbo is the name of the series. Miyamoto Usagi is the rabbit's full name. Usagi is hired out as a yojimbo; a kind of Japanese bodyguard.

    When I learned that IDW was putting out a new crossover one-shot starring Miyamoto Usagi and the Turtles, I was thrilled. Stan Sakai is doing the story and art? Consider me first in line! Variant covers by talent such as Sergio Aragones- with a team-up of Stan and Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman? Consider my comic reserved and paid for!

Hello Again For The First Time

   An ancient danger threatens to tumble all of feudal Japan into the sea. To battle it, the Kakera-Sensei must replace a stone fragment that has broken off the seal that weakens the beast. Needing protection, Kakera-Sensei calls upon the rabbit ronin Miyamoto Usagi to guard him on his quest.

    However, this mission is far too important for the yojimbo to face alone. So Kakera-Sensei summons a quartet of heroes from the future to assist in the quest: the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. While this is Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael; these are not the same turtles that Usagi has teamed with in the past.

   This Turtle team is from an alternate universe. They are just as skilled and qualified as the ninja master Usagi knows. But the danger is mounting in the form of a army led by the wicked Jei. Can the rabbit warrior and the reptilian fighters learn to become a cohesive fighting unit and save Japan before it’s too late?

Classic Usagi

   As true to Stan Sakai’s style, he combines Japanese folklore with historical settings. Sakai’s use of Namazu, a giant catfish, who’s massive body resulted in earth-moving tremors, was classic Usagi fare. Then to use actual places like the Kashima Shrine, Sakai makes a story like this one-shot come alive.

   I’m not very sure that I liked that these turtles weren’t the same version that Usagi knows. The camaraderie between the two sets of friends is a missing dynamic. It does help to simplify the story as this book is only 48-pages. But that spark of friendship is sorely missing. However, now that we’ve established alternate versions of the Turtles exist, could we be seeing a crisis on Infinite Ninja Turtles on the horizon?

   Don’t stop reading after the story ends. Be sure to flip a few pages to the great interview with Stan Sakai. It gives so very informative backstory as to how a group of Ninja Turtles meet up with a samurai bunny in the first place. Plus, it’s talks about that beloved Yojimbo figure of mine from 1989!

    The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle/ Usagi Yojimbo one-shot is a fun trip down memory lane indeed!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1Q (Happy Halloween Edition)

   

  In 2011, IDW Publishing obtained the rights to publish the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles after Archie Comics commanded the franchise for almost 2 decades. With IDW's new series, co-creator Kevin Eastman retooled the turtles origin for a modern audience. 

    In the first issue, we learn that the turtles and their adoptive father, the rat Splinter, were lab subjects at Baxter Stockman's laboratory. Genetically spliced, they showed signs of intelligence. But at this point, they've not mutated yet. Also, the alien brain creature of Kang is now retooled as a human general, who has a goal to create an army of hybrid super soldiers, has hired out Stockman's company which houses one-day mutant animals.

   Another big change to the origin of the Turtles is that April O'Neill isn't an intrepid reporter but an intern at Stockman's lab. Also, she named the turtles after Renaissance artists and not master Splinter! 

    This first issue wasn't bad, but it left me with more questions than answers. The story ended with a 'to be continued' and that's probably not a bad thing since the turtles have yet to become the radical sewer dwelling Heroes in a Half-Shell. So, the origin continues in future issues, which I don't happen to own currently.

    The art by Dan Duncan, along with coloring by Ronda Pattison were very good. They emulated the early works of Eastman. As a bridging of generations, Eastman even pencilled several of the covers, including this one. 

   Speaking of covers, my copy says in the top left corner 'Happy Halloween.' However, there is nothing Halloween themed in this story. For someone trying to collect holiday tales, this is a disappointment. (It turns out that while issue #1Q was re-released for 2011's Halloween ComicFest as a giveaway, it wasn't Halloween themed. Nor does it seem intended that way)

It's not bad for a TMNT fan such as myself. But I am a purist of the original Eastman and Laird title (and a fan of the cartoon, which the Archie Comics titles were based on.) So, I will probably stick with collecting those.  But I wouldn't be opposed to picking up a trade of this continuing series for the right price.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.