Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Collection Volume 1 - The Review

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Collection Volume 1 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird
Wise man say, "Forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza." Truer words have never been spoken. I must have watched the original TMNT movie hundreds of times as a child, and I try to make it a policy to watch it at least once a year on principal. I could probably quote the whole thing from memory, replaying all the visuals in my head. It is not only one of the best film adaptations of a comic book, but it also holds its own with a compelling story that is astonishingly believable. I've always chalked this up to the fact that the film takes itself seriously. This comic book collection is no different in that respect, and aside from a few key differences, this book left me itching to read more.

I will say these comics are not what I expected them to be. I figured the writing would be good, but nothing too fancy. Instead what I got was a fairly complex story that had clearly been simplified in all of its on screen adaptations. Okay, it might not be Shakespeare, but there are more layers in this story than I ever thought there could be. And the action is fantastic. Each panel flows into the next with astonishing precision. Visually this book is stunning, and we get to see even more detail due to the over-sized presentation. You won't be disappointed if you decide to flip through and just look at the pictures, however I highly recommend giving it a read. Getting to see the origin stories of these characters was the most exciting thing for me, and though I can't seem to remove my nostalgia goggles on this one, I firmly believe you could become a fan without any prior TMNT experience. After all if you are going to start in on something, you might as well start at the beginning.

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