NECA Mirage Comics line

Yeah, the guest era is a complete grab bag of weird. Eastman & Laird at that moment in time wanted to focus on both the licensing stuff and their other story concepts and ideas they wanted to publish under Mirage, so they just kinda threw it to whoever wanted to tell a Turtles story. Which was everybody.

The original Mirage run has an abundant level of passion for literally everything they are doing and it wears that on its sleeve proudly, which is infectious to me, especially when it's stuff I love as well. It's exactly what I want to do myself some day, when I can get the motivation to put the many stories I have thought out into cohesive comics or something. The flow of action from panel to panel is also just some of the cleanest I've seen in comics, especially in Return to New York, Leo Micro, and City at War.

I do like the adaptations of these stories like the OG movie and many episodes of 2003, they love the source material as much as I do, but many of those episodes are also massively different in ways that make me love them as their own things. I'd love to see clone Shredder in a new adaptation some day, maybe some direct to streaming movie adapting that arc or something. Probably the most metal thing from that entire run.
 
I struggled reading through some of the material as an adult, I forget where and when I tapped out. But I really like most of the art, and the designs, and just the weirdness of the book. It always feels like an indie book through and through, which is made even more charming because of how in-your-face mainstream the IP was. It's like... imagine Love and Rockets had a toothpaste and breakfast cereal you could buy at K-Mart, it's unthinkable.

TMNT's rise is sort of like a chosen one narrative, it's so improbable and weird. I'm not saying Eastman & Laird didn't work hard but everyone works hard in comics and only .001% of the workers have destiny shine on them so early and to such an absurd degree. I'm still flabbergasted that what amounts to a very raw zine-like, xeroxed Daredevil parody comic became the epitome of late 80's-90's culture, and in some ways heralded the 90's vibe that we think of today. I can only explain it by reasoning that either God loves turtles and karate or that some ideas are just out there in all of our consciousnesses and it just takes a little tap on the rock for a massive geyser to explode. You just gotta be lucky or keen enough to be the one to make that first little tap.

My wife and I just watched the first two live action movies back to back - for her it was for the first time. We talked a bit afterwards about how TMNT really was a nexus of all these different parts of culture - underground punk meets California surf culture meets early 90's hip hop meets America's (not exactly correct by modern standards) fascination with Japan at the time and the ensuing McDojo culture invading the suburbs. Not to mention the popularity of pizza and how it became the dominate "party" food for kids, partly in thanks to this brand. Through the Playmates toys you go on to get essentially the boy equivalent of a Lisa Frank aesthetic that dominated toy culture for a time. From underground punk to as mainstream as possible, from black and white all the way to fluorescent neon and laser colored outfits, from feeling urban but celebrated enthusiastically throughout the suburbs, the IP just mutated into a chimera of everything at the time. Power Rangers, X-Men, Batman, He-Man—they all stayed in their lane, by and large. TMNT rode in all of them. And it all started with this outrageous comic. I just can't believe it.
 
cmoney said:
This is where I admit to the group that I've never really liked the Mirage comics all that much, having only first read them a year or two ago. They were pretty rough art- and writing-wise, imo, and I admire them more for what they set up and created more than for the stories themselves. It's fun when later media references and pulls from it, but it's not my favorite version of the franchise. And of course, all the fill-ins don't help.

I will say, though, that a while back I started (and need to get back to) reading the so-called "Mirage volume 4" issues and they seem to be more consistent and cohesive. I believe IDW is republishing them right now under the title TMNT Journeys or something?
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Thanks for the heads-up about TMNT Journeys. I’m sure it’ll eventually be reprinted as a collected editions but fun to actually pick up a title that’s still coming out.


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I kind of like that one, but I definitely don't need it. Especially if it's another $50 release like the last Triceraton.
 
The Triceraton Shock Trooper is up for preorder at NECA's website. Six hands, one gun - $40. Ships Q3. I like the look of him, a little surprised the hoses on his arms appear to be painted on and not sculpted. I'm also a little surprised he doesn't come with an alternate, unmasked, head, but maybe they expect you to pull from one of the grunts if you really want that.

store.necaonline.com

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Mirage Comics) - Shock Commando Tricerat

Invasion! The Triceraton Republic has arrived. NECA is sending in the Shock Commandos with this deluxe Triceraton action figure—as seen in issue #5 of Eastman & Laird’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic books from Mirage Studios! Featuring an all-new sculpt, this oversized action figure stands...
store.necaonline.com store.necaonline.com

54575_UNP_7_legal.jpg
 
Fairly off model from all of the art, but still great looking figures overall. These looks never showed up without the helmet as far as I'm aware, so I can't complain about no unmasked head, but we'll likely be getting generic standard Triceraton troops soon enough with really solid heads to use with these.
 
I doubt it with the way it goes over the horns. And I think if it were they'd have at least one photo without it. It looks like one of those character designs that cheats with the helmet on. There should be a pretty large frill on the back of the head that couldn't possibly fit inside that helmet.
 
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