Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Color Classics #1
Story and Art by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird
Colors by Tom Smith’s Scorpion Studios
IDW Publishing
Release Date: May 09, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

All of my 80’s childhood cartoon loyalties revolved around Jem and Rainbow Brite who respectively saved the day with holographic earrings and a fancy Color Belt. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were dudes who hung out in sewers and fought gun-toting gang members with weapons like katanas. Thus, they were off my radar until my TMNT fanboy roommate tried to get me to watch the old cartoons with him. To perhaps stall the inevitable, I agreed to review this comic. Rarely do I say this, but “he was right.” Anthropomorphized and highly motivated turtles are pretty cool, and this issue is a great place to check out where the phenomenon began. A nostalgic gem, it certainly could not have been released at a better time. Fans are currently up in arms or at least reasonably concerned about Michael Bay’s upcoming film version, which promises to turn the classic characters into Adult Alien UnMutant Turtles.