Every comic you've read in 2015

[Dan]

JLA (1997) #51-54, 60: "Divided We Stand", from Mark Waid and Bryan Hitch, where for reasons that really don't matter, the members of the JLA with dual identities have their civilian selves separated from their superhero identities. While the Leaguers get more and more militaristic and detached without their humanity to ground them, the civilian identities (where the bulk of the story is) go through their own struggles, as Clark grows more and more like the mild-mannered nerd he pretends to be, the human John Jones revels in not feeling the weight of being the last Martian, Bruce Wayne gets more frustrated and out of control at retaining his anger and drive to punish without having the ability to do anything about it, and the only one who can actually keep his head and do what needs to be done is hardened criminal Eel O'Brian. This was utterly fantastic. Just... yeah. Great stuff. Followed it up with issue #60, where Plas tells Woozy's nephew the completely hilarious story of how Santa Claus joined the Justice League. I don't remember why I had stopped reading this book back in the day around this time, but I'm tracking more down.

[Dread]

Nightmask #1,2: I tried to start reading through this as I haven't read it since I was a kid. I LOVED this more than anything else from New Universe when I was a kid. Y'see, for about a year, I was fascinated with dreams. The psychology, the symbolism, A Nightmare on Elm Street...everything to do with dreams. I wanted Nightmask to take on Freddy Krueger so bad. That being said, I remember this being great. It's not. IN fact, the first three issues have entirely different creative teams and everyone is scrambling to make it good. They fail. On to Starbrand with some early JR Jr.

Wild's End The Enemy Within #1: a bunch of anthropomorphic animals during WW2 and aliens. It's a fucking mess.

Wolf #4: WHY AM I READING THIS? I'm done.

Comics: 1405
Graphic Novels: 60
Trade Paperbacks: 113
Omnibus: 15

 

[Donomark]

Amazing Spider-Man vol. 4 #1-3

I am not the biggest fan of Dan Slott's Spider-Man. the "I'm With Stupid" mini-series is fun, and his Big Time and beyond run was decent enough. Superior Spider-Man was overall okay but had glaring inconsistencies and a thin plot that relied on character idiocy (Mary Jane never minding that Peter apparently shot a man in the face), but ever since ASM vol.3 last year he's been treading water. I appreciate what he's done for exploiting Peter Parker's scientific side, making him apply his talents and really pushing the idea that he was always destined for greatness in the field, but this current volume is just boring. Giuseppe Camuncoli's is borderline bland, and there's nothing inherently interesting to me about seeing a Spider-Man who is so overtly capable that every issue has him showing off with his new penchant for Batman-level over-preparedness. Plus, Slott's characterization of Spider-Man has never pushed past being two-dimensional. He can do quippy just fine (as though that's hard), but his Peter has either been insanely neurotic with the constant refrain of "IT'S ALL MY FAULT" or just an uninteresting do-gooder with none of the nuance that the character is supposed to have that differentiates him from the rest of the MU. I appreciate Slott's quest to constantly do different things, but it's both too far from feeling at home with the idea of the character or just outright stupid. His reliance of continuity porn has been old for about 3-4 years by this point. Oh boy, the glass cylinder from ASM#1! W00T guys! Plus the idea that Human Torch would want to kill Peter over taking up residence in the Baxter Building is dumb and wouldn't have felt right in the 70s.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Donomark

[Venneh]

Super Spy and Super Spy: The Lost Dossiers: Matt Kindt does the daily lives of spies in WWII. Great read, especially as everyone/thing comes together. Even better though? The dossier materials, which, as it turns out, help spell out the code hidden in the book (of fucking course), and some great extra material.

Marvel Boy: Morrison does Noh Varr on a wild rampage in a mini. Dominatrix chick feels a bit weird, in how she's sexualized by her dad, and that she's basically in weird contorted cheesecake positions for most of the book, but at least it's mirrored with Noh Varr. Not my favorite thing in the world, but a fun read. 

Ministry of Space: Ellis mini about an AU where Britain got to space first, and the price of it. Neat twist, fun mini. 

Thor (I don't know which trade, the Fraction/Copiel run): ties into the Fear Itself stuff. Not my favorite fraction stuff, but a fun read, especially with the people of Broxton and Asgard interacting, and Mike/the Praetor.

Marvel 1602: Fun AU type thing in the 1600s, hits some neat beats. 

Citizen Jack 1: ehhh. Decided to check it out, not that interested.

Klaus 1: ...so this is Morrison doing a parody of the grim and gritty origins right. Because that's the only way I can make this make sense. Mora does great shit on the art, especially the hallucination sequence.

Survivors Club 2: Beukes and Halverson continue to build the world and all the threads well, Kelly does great things on the art. Looking forward to seeing how this goes.

Monstress 1: get this. Fantasy Art Deco thing that hits hard, misleads you with moe bait art, and looks to be building an interesting world. Plus? 60ish pages for the first issue, $5, no ads.

[Dan]

Iron Man by David Micheline, Bob Layton and John Romita Jr. Omnibus: collects Iron Man #115-157. The only time before the first movie came out that Iron Man was ever anything more than a C-lister was during this run in the late 70s and early 80s under this creative team. (Even then, he was B-list at best.) This is a truly solid run. It includes the "Demon in a Bottle" storyline, naturally, but there's a lot here that's really great, including a two-issue battle with the Hulk, a trip back to King Arthur's court with Doctor Doom, and a hell of a lot of corporate intrigue. Micheline writes Tony with a really good, sarcastic sense of humor, who doesn't always have any idea of what he's doing and fumbles his way through half his stories. The artwork is at its best when both Romita (pencils) and Layton (finishes) are working; Romita's action is pretty top notch, and Layton's sleekness tones down a lot of his rough edges. What's really interesting is what people working on a book not a lot of people are paying attention to can get away with; Tony has a steady love interest in Bethany Cabe, but he will have sex with pretty much anyone who will sit still long enough for him to do so. That's okay, because Beth is married. Also, at one point, Rhodey straight up offers Tony a pull off his joint. By no means are these immortal classics, but this is a collection of fun, surprisingly quick reads (it wasn't unusual for me to sit down and read ten issues in one sitting without even thinking about it).

Captain America, vol. 1 #332-350: "The Captain" storyline. Steve Rogers walks away from his role as Captain America rather than serve as a direct government operative, and the role is given to John Walker, a superhuman "'Murica, fuck yeah" type with a short fuse. Not the first time Marvel replaced a major character for an extended period (Jim Rhodes had been Iron Man for a couple of years before this), but probably one of the more effective uses of this type of storyline. Mark Gruenwald wrote Cap forever, and he was probably the guy who understood him best - he's patriotic to be sure, but not blind to the mistakes and excesses of the government. Meanwhile, Walker starts off eager to learn and determined to live up to Steve's example, but after his identity is revealed and his parents killed, goes completely bugfuck nuts. I was nervous reading this, but it turned out to be as good as I remembered. Kieron Dwyer handles the majority of the art duties, and if nothing else, he draws a hell of a crazy guy.

[Dread]

Star Brand #1-19, Annual 1: Wow. So. Fucking. Good. This is Animal Man level meta-craziness and it will never get the nod because it's John Byrne. Byrne only actually comes in for the last half year or so, but it's great. It's a very adult hero story with very little superheroics, and a lot of trying to use it to get pussy, and then facing the horrible results of all that. Really interesting superhero comics. Almost a Captain marvel story at the beginning and then a Lovecraftian cosmic horror at the end. Glorious.

Comics: 1425
Graphic Novels: 60
Trade Paperbacks: 113
Omnibus: 15

 

[Professor]

Thinking about what I would read next, I was debating on what to read next: New Universe or Milestone.  Still leaning Milestone, but that made things a little closer.

[Dread]

I started reading through Milestone a while back too. They're both pretty great. You'll be cool whichever one you pick. I'll be checking out some more NU first, myself.

Star Brand's great for the art too, young John Romita Jr, Keith Giffen, REALLY early Mark Bagley, John Byrne breakdowns over Tom Morgan finishes? Hoo boy! Pretty book.

Edited November 9, 2015 by Dread

[Dread]

Unity vol 1: The one series from Valiant I haven't really read. This is pretty solid. Eternal Warrior, Harada, Livewire and Ninjak against X-O Manowar. Looking forward to more. You don't get a lot better than Matt Kindt and Doug Braithwaite.

Batman Superman vol 3: Absolutely terrible. There's a real attempt here to be like Mark Waid's Brave and the Bold series, but it fails on every level.

Comics: 1425
Graphic Novels: 60
Trade Paperbacks: 115
Omnibus: 15

[Donomark]

The Batman Adventures vol.2: Still great stuff. I've been sleeping on Mike Paroback's artwork all my life, having prefer Ty Templeton or Tim Levins. The man did terrific artwork during his lifetime.

[Venneh]

The Multiversity Guidebook: yeah alright then. Grant Morrison basically spells out the DC Multiverse as it stands currently, with a cute chibi Batman meets grimdark techno Batman and also Kamandi framing story. Fun read. 

Deadly Class 2-6: I wasn't that sold on assassin Hogwarts on the first issue, but the rest of this first arc sold it for me. (I'm typically not that big on Remender.) Craig does amazing things on the art, and the acid trip issues are a trip and a half. 

[Dan]

JLA (1997) #94-99: "The Tenth Circle", in which the JLA teams up with the Doom Patrol to fight Vampire Fagin. The actual story is about three issues' worth of plot stretched across six issues, and at least twice the end-of-issue cliffhanger happens to also be the cover image, which is just bone stupid. However, that's not why anyone would have read this. This was the big reunion between Chris Claremont and John Byrne after twenty-plus years of refusing to work together. With Jerry Ordway on inks and Tom Orzechowski on letters, this book looks pretty good. Byrne is well past his glory days, and things are pretty stiff (the action, especially, is nowhere near as good as he used to be capable of), but Ordway polishes things up nicely and helps things look pretty. Claremont is Claremont, and this is the most talkative Batman has ever been, but it's actually not as hellishly overdone as his later work at Marvel. Anyone walking into this hoping for a return to the glory days of X-Men will be bitterly disappointed, but as a curiosity it's interesting stuff.

[Donomark]

JLA (1997) #94-99:

This was the big reunion between Chris Claremont and John Byrne after twenty-plus years of refusing to work together.

What's that all about (besides John Byrne being by all accounts a generally repugnant person)?

[Dan]

JLA (1997) #94-99:

This was the big reunion between Chris Claremont and John Byrne after twenty-plus years of refusing to work together.

What's that all about (besides John Byrne being by all accounts a generally repugnant person)?

That, and also, kinda so was Claremont. They were two very egotistical and strong-willed people who both thought they knew best, and when they went from an editor who tended to side with Byrne (Roger Stern) to an editor who tended to side with Claremont (Louise Simonson), Byrne got more and more difficult. He wanted (and got) more control over the storytelling (he became the first penciler to be credited as a co-plotter since Kirby), but working Marvel method meant he sent his pencils off and hoped Claremont wouldn't fuck up his genius with all those stupid words. The final straw, as it always is in these situations, was ridiculous - Byrne drew Colossus ripping trees out of the ground with the idea that this would show off how powerful he was, but then Claremont put in grunts and word balloons indicating Peter was making an effort. That was it. Byrne stormed off and they were done. They sniped at each other for years in the pages - when Doctor Doom appeared in Claremont's X-Men, the month after that it would turn out in the pages of Byrne's Fantastic Four that it had been a stupid, smelly Doombot and the real Doom would never have been so incomprehensibly dumb. That kind of thing. It got to the point that Jim Shooter had to step in and make them stop.

[Missy]

[Dan]

Preeeeeeeetty much.

[Koete]

They sniped at each other for years in the pages - when Doctor Doom appeared in Claremont's X-Men, the month after that it would turn out in the pages of Byrne's Fantastic Four that it had been a stupid, smelly Doombot and the real Doom would never have been so incomprehensibly dumb. 

I'm not a Byrne fan, but I kinda love that one. 

[Donomark]

[Donomark]

repeat post

[Donomark]

JLA (1997) #94-99:

This was the big reunion between Chris Claremont and John Byrne after twenty-plus years of refusing to work together.

What's that all about (besides John Byrne being by all accounts a generally repugnant person)?

 The final straw, as it always is in these situations, was ridiculous - Byrne drew Colossus ripping trees out of the ground with the idea that this would show off how powerful he was, but then Claremont put in grunts and word balloons indicating Peter was making an effort. That was it. Byrne stormed off and they were done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n5E7feJHw0

 

Zero Hour by Dan Jurgens and Jerry Ordway

I've owned this for over ten years and read it several times, but this was the first time in a few years, and I'm seeing this thing in a completely different light. It's HILARIOUS. It is so goofy and comic-booky in the most charming way. I get that this was a major seismic changing story at the time, and the tie-ins were and still are amazing (Batman #511, Robin #10), but the main story is goofy as all fuck. So much happens at a break-neck speed that nothing has the weight it should. Extant (remember him? Yeah, neither does anyone) completely wipes his ass with the JSA in the most undignified way, it's honestly laugh out loud funny. The final issue (#0) is actually legitimately good however, between the moral arguments of Green Arrow and time-displaced Batgirl, and the Spectre coming in at the last second and kicking ass as only he can.

Edited November 13, 2015 by Donomark

[Dan]

First this:

Then this:

[Dread]

All-Star Section Eight #5: for some ungodly reason, I'm still reading this shit-show.

Angela Queen of Hel #1: Well, that was awful.

Art Ops #1: So beautiful, but so so inane. No more for me.

Avengers Vs Infinity #1: Nope. No thanks.

Batman & Robin Eternal #4,5: Super solid. This is almost as good as the series that led into it so far.

Black Magick #1: Okay, I'll give it one more issue.

Book of Death #4: this has been a pretty fucking solid example of how to run a company-wide crossover.

Captain America Sam Wilson #2: Really awesome.

Citizen Jack #1: so, it's a comedy? Hrrmm...maybe I'll give it one more, but it wasn't what I was hoping it was.

Cradle of Filth - The Curse if Venus Aversa vol 1: a graphic novel from the singer of Cradle of Filth. He should stick to extreme operatic death metal (or whatever the fuck they play) because they need to practice that to get better. This feels like it was written by someone who hasn't read a comic in 25 years who said "oh yeah, this is so edgy and new" the entire time he was scripting it. Snooze.

Crossed Badlands #88: This is one of the very best CB arcs yet. Pretty solid emotional story contained within a single location that has implications for the entire universe. It's how you do it.

Doctor Strange #2: Okay, I think I'm out.

Drax #1: good lord...it felt like it was written by a professional wrestler, and it was. No mas.

Ex Mortis #1: grabbed this becasue I've had a hankering to do a riff on Creature Commandos in novel form. It's not great. The arti is incredible, but I feel like it would be better served in color.

Extraordinary X-Men #1: two things, 1) Marvel has seemingly fucked the X-Men over so irreparably in the past few years that it lends credence to the conspiracy theory that they just want to tank it all. Something I never believed in until I read this and a few other X-issues as of late. This was abysmal and Marvel should be ashamed. 2) if your big reveal at the end is a character reveal...don't put said character on the cover.

Fight Club 2 #6: Last year after they announced this, if someone told me it would be one of my favorite series of the year, I would have laughed and laughed.

Frankenstein and the Conquerors of the Cosmos: a graphic novel playing on He-man and Frankenstein's Monster. It's fun but not good.

Hercules #1: Kind of fun. Is there a bisexual controversy about this? I didn't see it.

Howling Commandos of SHIELD #1: this is not the line-up I would have gone with if I were writing it. It wasn't great. It also wasn't terrible. I'll give it another issue.

Invincible Iron Man #3: the story started to drag here a little bit but there were some cool moments and great art. I'm still in.

Joe Golem #1: Mignola is such a great artist. I wish he drew this instead of wrote it.

Justice League Darkseid War Batman #1: Really awesome, actually. I don't like Batman being a New God, but this issue was pretty solid.

Justice League Darkseid War Flash #1: No. Not very good at all.

Justice League Darkseid War Superman #1: Also not very good.

Klaus #1: What the fuck? Is Morrison doing one of those insipid "my readers are fucking idiots" things some pretentious artists do? That's the only explanation. I hope whoever owns the rights to the Rankin Bass films sues the fuck out of everyone involved because all this is is a ripoff of Santa Claus is Coming to Town. There is nothing new here. Fuck this book and fuck Morrison.

Last of the Independents: crime graphic novel from Matt Fraction and Kieron Dwyer. The art's great, but the story kind of sucks.

Comics: 1449
Graphic Novels: 63
Trade Paperbacks: 115
Omnibus: 15

[Dread]

Midnighter #6: Maybe the best book DC is doing right now. The story and art are incredible. The ending of this issue has me so excited for the next it's insane. A great relief from the shitty last page of almost every Marvel book this month. Want to know more? No, write something good first. This is excellent.

Ninjak #9: a little wishy washy on this one.

Nova #1: I didn't expect to like this. I did though. I'll try a second issue.

Rasputin #10: The story of the revolution in flashback. Interesting.

Robin - Son of Batman #5: ehhh...my least favorite of the series so far. The art's still great though.

Rowan's Ruin #2: wow this issue is packed. A lot going on.

Saints #2: whoo boy that first issue fooled me because this is pretty awful.

Shrinking Man #4: Damn. Maybe the best miniseries of the year. So beautiful.

Spider-Man 2099 #2: I'm out.

Forager: this GN feels more like the bible for a TV show than it does an actual story. It's terrible as an actual story.

Comics: 1458
Graphic Novels: 64
Trade Paperbacks: 115
Omnibus: 15

[Venneh]

@Dread: The controversy around Hercules is that Alonso is now painting him as 100% straight. I don't know how accurate that is (Herc 1 is in my pile), but given that he's canonically bi and he wrote off Sera and Angela as a couple with multiple kisses in Angela #1 as ~see what you make of their relationship~, I'm at best eye rolly at him right now. (Also we can apparently tag people now.) (Also we still need to yell at each other about comics, because I liked Angela.)

-

Dr. Strange 2: I'll probably page through the trades on this, but I'm not overly interested in this. Story was servicable, and I'll say this: Burnham is a great fit for the encroaching magical madness aesthetic (see: Nameless for the space version of this aesthetic). 

House of M 4: Solid enough way to end the mini, again, you can clearly tell it was supposed to be Anka on this art, but one of the funner minis to come out of the shitshow that is Secret Wars. 

Uncanny XMen 600: Okay, as far as I can tell, this was actually supposed to end the run and be the springboard for the new X runs. Except for one thing: THEY DON'T EXPLAIN WHATEVER THE FUCK IT WAS THAT SCOTT DID OTHER THAN FUCKING PONTIFICATE ABOUT REVOLUTION. Like, Ilyana and Piotr aren't enemies as a result of this as far as I can tell, the earlier timeline original X Class decide to Do Things (like Jean making out with Beast I guess? and going off to university on her own?), there's a poorly written Beast intervention, and Bobby figures out he is, in fact, gay (but in a way that Alonso can still unwrite it down the way ) (and we get a reprint of an earlier story that now makes us go lol he's totes gay) (also JFC Bendis actually talk to a gay person before you write a coming out of the closet story). Clearly wrapped up last minute and half assed while they're at it. But at least all the various artists make it real pretty. Fun to read if only to have both me and my boyfriend yelling at it at various parts.

Extraordinary X-Men 1: Has to try and build a status quo out of the mess that was the previous entry. Lemire manages it well enough, and Ramos' art isn't exactly spectacular, but the man can hit a deadline. I'm passingly interested.

Howard the Duck 1: Howard's going cosmic I guess. Also alternate earth Howards/Racoons that are genderbent. Okay. This'll be a fun page through if nothing else. Good continuation of where the other run left off, but still establishes itself well as a new #1. Also, Gwenpool. I actually kind of want Des to read this just for the rage aneurism it might cause him.

Paper Girls 2: Yeah, alright, this is gonna be interesting. Pterodactyls, sci fi shit, and four girls trying to figure out the fuck is going on in the late 80s. Chiang is doing great on art. 

Lazarus 20: I'm this close to dropping Lazarus all together. He's got one more issue to turn this around for me. 

Ody-C 8: Scheherazad now I guess?? This is off the rails, and not in the fun way. I can't tell you what's going on here. 

Power Up 4: Again, cute magical girl mini with a fish, a lazy 20 something, a construction worker, and a mom. Not anything spectacular, but a fun enough read. 

Unfollow 1: Set up here is interesting enough, art is solid, let's see how this plays out. 

Zodiac Starforce 3: The author and artist know their magical girl tropes, and they're hitting it home in a good way. Let's see if they can stick the landing. 

Thors 4: Manages to wrap this shit show up as well as it can and also tie into Secret Wars 7 and make all the shit that it needs to make happen happen there. Alright. 

Twilight Children 2: The mystery continues to unfold, and goddamn Cooke is so fucking pretty guys. First Hernandez, here, too.

The Goddamned: RM Guerra kills on the art, and it's gonna be interesting to see Aaron's take on the biblical stuff. Alright.

Vision 1: Probably the best thing coming out of the reboot so far?? Like, this entire story is a horror critique of suburbia and heteronormativity. I was not expecting to be this interested in it coming out of this. But now I am. Huh. 

Ultimates 1: Fuck. Yeah. Cosmic branch of the Avengers trying to head stuff off, Rocafort is great on the art, and getting to see everyone interact and now potentially see them parlay with fucking Galactus? Yes yes yes yes yes I am here for this shit. (Bonus for Monica and America getting to interact with each other.)

WicDiv 16: Of fucking course they were Vampire the Masquerade players. Interesting to see the Morrigan's backstory, and how all of that is playing out now with Baphomet. Breather backstory issue, but next issue is Graham, and appears to be the punch home. Bring it. DelLuca isn't fantastic, but on the pages when she needs to bring it home, she fucking sings. 

 

[Professor]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - I had never read these before (for the most part).  Seemed like something long overdue.  For the most part, I enjoyed this (conditions do apply).  The first 11 issues (12 if you add in Leonardo) are a fun little ride.  Issues #Leonardo-11 are excellent and I can see why this was adapted for the movie.  Kinda hits a lull, until the Return to NY story, which is decent.  The River was a really great multi-issue arc.  Then is hits a lull before Hedden and McWeeney drive the thing off a cliff and set it on fire.  I hated anything they touched.  After them, it is all rather average until the City at War 13-part story to end.  I found City at War to be good, but really drawn out and slow at times.  The random old guy storyline didn't catch me.

Overall, I am glad I finally read these.  I think there is a really tight 40 issue run hidden in these 62 issues.  Also, the IDW Classics trades are hot garbage.  They colored these B&W issues, which in itself is not a bad thing.  I have one of the original color trades done by First Publishing and it good great.  However IDW has colored them looks like just absolute garbage.  Also, while I get what they were trying to do, is it too hard to get these collected in order?  Now, to give IDW some props.  The Ultimate Collection they have put out look awesome.  The original B&W art, cleaned up on bright white paper looks great (I still prefer the yellow-ish pages of the originals).  The real seller to me is the annotations by Eastman and Laird.  The behind the scenes is almost more interesting than the comics themselves. 

Micro Series - I enjoyed all of these.  Fun little stories with a single turtle.  Leonardo's plays a big part of the main series, but the Donatello/Jack Kirby team-up is one of my top five comics of ever.

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - No idea why this had to be a second title.  To make matters worse, these are better than the main book at the time. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Vol. 2) - Starts off good (if not really slow) and jumps off a cliff.  From what I gather, the abrupt shuttering of Mirage really forced Lawson's hand to wrap up all long term plans in three issues.  Still, wasted potential.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie (I, II & II) - It is always interesting to me how these things are adapted.  None are accurate, which I remembering pissing off seven year old me.  I have two versions of all of these, and I found myself liking the plain Archie versions to the slicker Mirage versions.  And the Mirage cover for the first one is one of my all time favorite covers.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Specials (Haunted Pizza and Maltese Turtle) - Meh and Shit.  Next.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Flamming Carrot - Mystery Men?  Never read any of them before.  It was okay.

Savage Dragon/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles + Savage Dragon #2 - Pointless.  Even from a story perceptive, the Turtles do nothing.  And they look like shit.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Savage Dragon + Savage Dragon #22 - A bit better, but still pointless.  At least they look better.

Plastron Cafe (+ Casey Jones: North by Downeast) - Anthology series that has a Casey Jones story, that is decent.  But seeing as how it is reprinted (in color), this series is worthless.  Only thing worth reading is a Donatello short set in the future.

TMNT: Authorized Martial Arts Training Manual - These things are just awesome.  I now am a master ninja.

Turtle Soup (Vol 1 & 2) - Anthology series (shocker), but that actually focus on the Turtles.  Better than the non-Turtles Anthologies.

Challenges  - Digest, that is an, wait for it, anthology.  Decent enough.

Shell Shock - A collection of all the back-ups and shorts.  Some might call it an anthology.  I call it decent.

Goobledygook - An anthology (*sigh*), but a pretty decent one.  Only one real stinker.

Casey Jones and Raphael - Only issue of a planned mini.  Think this gets reworked into Bodycount.  Which I hated.

Some TMNT Manga - Different, but who knows if the translation was at all correct.

Action Zone - Promoting the CBS Animation block.  I have no memory of Skeleton Warriors or WildCATS.  This was what you'd think it would be.

The Last of the Viking Heroes #2 & #3 - Seems like a could be a fun book (if not a rip off of Thor, Loki, Fandral & Hogun).  But the TMNT part of this sucked so hard.

Gizmo - Fun and lighthearted.  Best of all the non-TMNT stuff by Mirage.

Gizmo and the Fugitoid - More of the same.

Fugitoid - Average, if not redundant.  No idea when this was published, but I read this after the main series and this felt redundant.

Grunts - Anthology, that I will be honest, I skimmed a lot of.  Not very good.

Bade Biker and Orson - There is nothing to these issues.  And the art is very School House Rock-ish.

Comics: 538
Digital First Comics: 65
Graphic Novels: 24
Trades: 145 (775)(4)(144)