I purchased a box of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics recently on ebay. Included is almost the full run of the original Mirage Comics run of Turtles which debuted back in the 1980s, albeit somewhat water damaged, as well as some of the more recent followups.

Thus far, I've read through the first two issues. As far as comics go, I suppose they're decent. The artistic style is cluttered and busy, but given their status as indepent publishing icons, it feels somewhat appropriate for the whole thing to feel a little dirty and gritty.

The stories too, are much campier and less serious that I remembered, but the fighting is much more savage and bloodier than I recall also. All in all, it's a silly read. I mean, how can you take four talking turtles and a giant ninjitsu rat seriously?

Still, it does bespeak of a simpler time, when a couple of drunk guys could come home, think of the whackiest idea that they could possibly imagine and eventually take Hollywood by storm with it. Kinda awe inspiring.