The Turtles defeat the Crooked Turtled Gang, while April heads to the lair!

Originally based off the first few episodes of the 1980’s cartoon, the Archie series would go on to create a number of memorable characters in the TMNT universe as well as interesting storylines. Archie zeroed in on the young child market, while Mirage Studios continued to publish the more mature titles. As such, these Archie books were all about fun and this book really captures that. And fun fact, this book is adapted from the second half of 1988’s Season 2 Episode 1 “Return of the Shredder.”

I was super happy to land this specific complete book mainly because it allowed me in one swoop to touch on so many classic TMNT cartoon moments. Everything from April on the Turlecomm, the Party Wagon, and Mr. Burnes, to the Turtle Blimp and Channel 6 New building. There’s Baxter Stockman fighting Splinter and some zany Turtle Action. Of course, there’s Shredder menacing Splinter and trying to kill him. No blood in guts in these kid-friendly books, so we have the Turtles taking on machines. There’s even Krang, Bebop, and Rocksteady joking while Shredder vows doom on the Turtles, with a classic finish of April “talking” to the Turtle crew through the TV while giving her nightly newscast.

I really couldn’t ask for more representation of everything I loved about the old cartoon and Archie comics than this book. And to land an entire early Archie book, all 28 pages, each roughly 11 X 17, back when Eastman & Laird were still doing covers (they did the first 6 and I’d LOVE to land one of them, especially of this book) is so cool. But to talk about Dave Garcia who wrote, drew, and lettered all these interiors, I have to say I really dig his style, especially how he draws Shredder. So in closing…COWABUNGA DUDE!

Most everything you see in my galleries are keepers in my eyes, some of the very best TMNT art you'll come across in my opinion, so I am not a super motivated seller. That said, items with prices on them are actively for sale at prices that would make me part with them (and may not reflect current FMV.) Those with ACCEPTING OFFERS mean I'll listen to offers, and healthy offers may just pry some of these loose. Thanks for looking!

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