Review: IDW Color TMNT Classic #3

Mirage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume, the classics!  The start of it all.  If it were not for these comics we would of never had a game, cartoon, movies, toys and so much more.  Eastman and Laird brought these characters to life through print.  Through the years, sadly, the comics have become a lost art, until recently when IDW picked up the title of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and decided to reprint the original comics alongside with their brand new Ninja Turtle story.  The Ultimate collection is for the serious collectors who want the best details.  The Color classics going through and coloring each issue of Mirage and having them back on the shelves for those who are missing a few issues they'd love to pick up or are just being introduced to this piece of history.  Today the third issue of these Classic Colors has come to the shelves!

Issue three was first colored in the "First Graphic Novels" by Kevin Eastman, Ken Feduniewicz and Janice Cohen in 1986.  Just as I did with the color classics for issues one and two, I'm going to compare this new coloring to that from 1986.   Let's go through and find the differences between these two different versions of the same comic book.

This is the first time I've see the cover printed in color.  I think it does look good.  I like how they left a blue highlight to it.  You can see the green of the Turtles, even the ones in the shadows of the van.  Though April's clothes look yellow, maybe the person who colored this thought of the old cartoon series?  I've always liked the fact that they're driving a VW van since that's what my dad had when I was a little kid.  Now if you don't like this new color job, there is the original cover as well as a the other choice you have in covers, in all blue.  The all blue cover you can see the police car a lot easier.

Now onto comparing the two books.  IDW did a great job at making the streets on the front page look a lot more realistic as the cars are all different colors, the sidewalk is grey and dirt looks like dirt.  Not as much blues and yellow as the First Graphic Novel has in it.  Both books used a red to the word “WHUNK”, though IDW used some tints of yellow and orange in the letters.  While for the most part I really do like the IDW coloring here, the one thing on this first page I really do enjoy that First Graphic Novel did was having the mud show on April's clothes.  They got the markings on her clothes in IDW, but it's the same color as her clothes.. I'm sure she was crawling through stuff that did not match up to her clothing.  The last touch of this page is the words "Eastman & Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", IDW made the words all red with black shading while First Graphics used different colors.  Making "Eastman & Laird's" red, with the rest of the letters in blue fading into a green.

On pages 2 and 3, I really love how IDW did the color work here.  It's a lot darker, which is how it would be in the sewers.  Though they did miss some details, like on page three they got a news paper colored all brown when it's colored correctly in the First Graphic Novel book.  Other than that, they really did a great job.  On page four, they change a few things, in the graphic novels they put coloring behind some of the words to try and make it more intense.  Like  "...AND BLOOD" has red behind it with black text.  Though IDW did have their own way to do this.  they outlined the word bubble with red, and has the word 'BLOOD!' all in red.   Both were very effective for what it is.   Page five is also done really well in both books, really the biggest difference is how dark they are in IDW.  Which works great for the comic, I really do enjoy the look on page six when Raph is running through the dark sewers leaving his brothers.

Page seven brings the Turtles top side.  While First Graphics Novel still has this a bit of light, it is just as dark in IDW as the sewers were.  I like the color work in IDW more here though, with the Turtles being green instead of the yellow highlight that is used in First Graphics.  It's got a more gritty feeling which matches the feel of Mirage.  On page 8, I really love how IDW outlined the box in the top middle with green so it doesn't blend too much into the background they use a green.  With how dark their comic is, the black would not have worked for them as well as it did for First Graphics.  April has changed her clothes and from the small bit we see in this page Graphic Novels had her clothes red, while IDW has it as a bluish green. Somehow April looks older in the color work that IDW did, compared to the First Graphic Novels.  Could be the shading.

On page nine, the VW van shows up and wow do I love the changes that IDW did with the color on this van.  They use a white for the top half and a dark green for the lower half.  It looks great!  So much better than the light blue that was used in First Graphic.  A lot more thought and detail was put into the colors.  The details keep coming at us, as IDW gives all the cars on the street their own color instead of everyone just being yellow.  I am enjoying these new touches and think this is stuff that even new readers could respect in the color work.  Though their April's look is getting to me, they only changed the coloring, but it somehow changed her age and got her very weird looking.  Her bluish green clothes do not working for me either, though I normally like blue over red.  I like how in First Graphics it's a red pullover with a white shirt under it.  So both versions has things I like them.

On page twelve, I really love the new look for the police car with the lights going off.  They get a great shine to it.  The lighting over the Turtle grabbing the license plate is even really cool.  The only problem that still keeps catching my eye is April.  I know it's not the line art, since both books have the same artwork.

Now we get to watch the car crash, both of these hold different choices for the color, and did good for their versions.  Anyone who's watched our interview with Kevin Eastman knows that this is one of his favorite things he's done for the Mirage comics as he talks about coming up with the idea of doing a car chase.  So it's fun to read the book again, after hearing his stories.

As the pages go on, April's new color job is starting to get to me.  She looks so weird.  Comparing the two next to each other, I see how much younger she was in the First Graphic's novel.  Not sure if IDW was trying to make her look older, but they really did get an older look pulled off.   The Turtles pull off into the park, it sure has a feel of night time in the IDW version as all the lights are glowing with lights beaming down from the street light and even the headlights showing brightly through.  Though First Graphic tried to hint it was night time having the headlights on, they did not pull off this look as well as IDW has.  A lot of great touches as they have those lights on all through the park, even if it's in the background like when the couple is standing on the bridge.

This car chase is intense which gives the artist a lot of different scenes to color.  Though being back on the street, they mainly get to worry about the street and sky.  And a few other cars.  Though they get another page of challenge soon as the car crashes through a storefront window.  IDW makes this a lot darker than First Graphics, as they shade all of the paint cans only sharing color from paint spilling from cans.  It almost feels like they cheated out on detail in this image using the darkness to cover it all up.  Now we get to see the other van, of course colored the same as April's van.  Really, the shading in the IDW page makes the panel where April is driving away from the tip over other van, look a lot better as the police lights have that glow to them.

Now away from the car chase we heading to the Second Time Around shop.  This location was used in the first movie and the 4Kids TV series, and even the new IDW series has April with the shop.   All the history that comes from these early comics that still touch the Ninja Turtles to this day is just amazing.  Really wish the sign was colored better in both of these comics so it was easier to read, but that could have to do with the original lettering done there.   The Turtles go in with April for their new place, still nice and shaded.  April looks a little better with light, seems it should be the other way around, darkness hides age.

Both version did a good job with April's place.  I like the blue couch more, though that's just me as I really do like the color blue.  I think the walls are interesting in the IDW comics, it looks like they did this one paint style that my sister likes to do to walls so they're not all just one solid color.  I think it's funny that when one of the turtles is snoring that the IDW color person reverse the colors from what First Graphic Novels did. “ZZ” were red in one with the word snort yellow, though in the other one the “ZZ” were Yellow with a red snort.

And now I realize just how much I use the First Graphic Novels to read the books over looking at the original comics.  As I was surprised to see the IDW book had more to it, than Book 1 from First Graphic Novels.  There's the Epilogue, which should be at the end of issue 3 is the beginning of Book II from First Graphic Novels and renamed a Prologue!  This is something I never noticed before, so I thought I would note it here as I'm going through these comics.   Book II was released first in June 1987.

Page one of the epilogue has Splinter laying over a drain in a sewer.  Both of these books did good with coloring this page.  I like the darkness of IDW, though I love the gross colors in First Graphic Novel for the sewer water.  Splinter is so dark though in IDW that he looks like a greyish rat over the brown that he is in First Graphic Novel.  I am more of a fan of the brown color for Splinter.  Though for the fight with Splinter vs. The Mousers the color works from IDW as it just stands out as a nice change to the eyes.  I love all the details, the look of the metal for the mousers, the breaking light, the tearing of Splinter's cloth.  It's all so well colored!  Once again you have art on the wall scrolls in the background!

I love the full chase through the sewers.  IDW did a great job at coloring all of this and the green they used for the word “Splash!”  Great, it looks like slime!   Though when we get to the TCRI guys, I feel they used shading as an excuse to get lazy again in doing color.  As even though they're standing in a door area with light behind them, they're all shaded out and even where the light is hitting them is not really colored.  Yet the light on their blaster is colored, showing a little of flesh color with the hand there.  Though the shading makes it dark you can still see Splinter in their arms when they decide to help him.

Now to the TCRI building, where Splinter is being cared for.  IDW has some details in areas that First Graphic Novel didn't, though they also lack some.  Like the computer screens near Splinter's beds just are reflective, but in First Graphic Novel they had writing on the screens.  Again I miss a brown Splinter.

Now the last page is of the TCRI aliens out on the table with their robot bodies behind them.  These were both colored different, again much darker in IDW.  Though the aliens are more of a yellowish brown.  In the First Graphic Novel they were bluish purple.  So both took their own spin on things.  I'm surprised they didn't go with a pinkish red color with all of the other medias doing that with these characters.

Overall, an enjoyable comic and the color work is good.  My biggest complaint is “old” April.  I highly recommend this comic to collectors and people who've never read the Mirage comics before!  Check it out.    Please feel free to share your own reviews, comments and questions below!  All comments have to wait for approval before being posted.