REVIEW – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Color Classics Vol. 2 #3 (IDW Publishing)

Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Peter Laird
Artists: Peter Laird & Jim Lawson
Release Date: 8th January 2014

This issue came out in 1988; a time when Die Hard was awesome, the Amiga was loading and of course, the Reebok Pump was about to give false hope to anyone that’s too short to pull a slam-dunk. A low key opening sees Raphael, Michelangelo and Casey Jones sift through the “quarter bin” down their local comic store. Both turtles are in disguise; Mike looks like a snowman and Raphael adorns the classic trench coat complete with fedora. Casey Jones’ hair is unbelievable. Things take a turn for the worse when the store comes under siege by little robots.

There are splash pages everywhere. The rest of the panels are big and fat and colourful and the turtles look much more intimidating than they ever did when I was fan. Raphael looks like a hulking thug. The characters look so good that it’s obvious to see why they’ve been around for so long.

The story is ridiculous. An aging, long disbanded, team of superheroes have been provoked by an old enemy. Time has not been kind to the Justice Force team. The very powers that they used back in the day have had a seriously detrimental effect to their long term health. Zippy is in a wheelchair because of what he put his legs through back in the day and Joey Lastic has turned a bit flaccid. It’s really silly stuff.

It’s a “done in one” issue which is refreshing but it’s not very well balanced; falling a bit flat towards the end. The dialogue is a bit dodgy in places and the moral of the story has all the grace of a haymaker. Get it if you’re a sucker for nostalgia. If not, buy it for a kid and it’ll make their day… then slyly read it yourself.