20250430 Wednesday

Comics log: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - The Ultimate Collection 3

I read a first print hardcover edition (June 2012) this time. The 
source material seems to be scanned in higher resolution in this 
collection, and a few pages seem to have updated artwork. There's one
particular spread that has lots of ink spatter with tiny dots that 
are much finer than the pixelated dots you see in most of the other 
pages. 

For the first few books the series continues with The Teenage Mutant 
Ninja Turtles still living in Massachusetts. At this time, Laird and 
Eastman decided to split the issues between them, and their 
differences as writers and artists become very apparent. Particularly
the first two issues (#12 & #14) are strikingly individual, and I 
have to say that Laird's issue comes across as the much stronger one.
Laird's art is dynamic and expressive, set in a vibey forest location, 
and with a story that hits even harder today than it did in 1989. 
A gang of homegrown extremist "survivalists" -- terrorists with 
ideas of "American greatness" and "patriotism" being threatened 
by "communists" and "aliens" -- was probably a bit of fun 
fringe/underground lore at that time, now it's the reality of the
American government. While Eastman's story is a lame and dated 
pastiche over a contemporary Hollywood movie, and the artwork 
is stiff and stylized, almost coquette. 

The three last books comprise the "Return to New York" story line, 
and  the issues see Eastman and Laird again collaborating -- 
splitting  the writing, pencils and inking between them like in the 
earliest issues. The return to a New York setting is welcome, with 
the city and sewers feeling much cooler and more atmospheric than the 
sleepy suburban Massachusetts town.

Overall, the story still feels quite unfocused and underdeveloped, 
with the issues jumping between disjointed ideas, settings, time 
periods, etc.