Guess who's back? Back again? Mirage is back. Tell a friend.
Originally published on 8/10/2023 at Multiversity Comics. Revision dates noted throughout article.
Volume 4
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (2001) #1-32, “Tales of the TMNT” (2004) #1-70, “Tales of Leonardo: Blind Sight” #1-4, “Raphael: Bad Moon Rising” #1-4, “Michelangelo: The Third Kind” #1-4, “Donatello: The Brain Thief” #1-4, “Digital Webbing Presents TMNT,” "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 30th Anniversary Special," “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 40th Anniversary Comics Celebration,” & “TMNT: Best of Renet”
Age rating
T for teens. Basically, if you were good to read the first volume of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” you’re probably good to read these. Probably. I can really only vouch for some of the “Tales” series first hand.
Start here if…
You’re looking to see a more mature (i.e. older) set of turtles than the originals from co-creator Laird and long, long time Turtles creators Lawson & Talbot. Again, it feels weird to start here but it’s more of a clean break than Volume 2.
By all accounts, this is the run that most modern Turtles readers will end up skipping outright, not because it’s bad but because it is the least available. Mirage was already spotty on its trade publishing for its flagship series by this point and, despite publishing throughout the early 2000s, the issues are probably harder to come by owing to a reduced publishing run. Now, that last part is speculation on my part but seeing as how sales had been flagging for the last two volumes and only the first couple issues of volume 4 had a second printing, they aren’t exactly common, especially not #29-32.
Volume 4 also has the unfortunate honor of sitting in this weird space with regards to the Viacom buy-out deal. The gist is, Mirage/Laird was allowed to keep publishing Turtles comics in the Volume 4 continuity, and he did so. This meant that, presumably, IDW does not have reprint rights for the Volume 4 issues. Who does have the reprint rights for any collections, at least as of 2017, is entirely unknown.
All of this is my best guess from crawling through 5 years of Laird’s Blogger comments - a blog which I am endlessly thankful for, seeing as how easy it is to lose this information on social media pages. I could be totally off base but it would explain why we’ve yet to get anything in the way of a re-release like “Urban Legends.”
Two years later and here I am, eating my words. IDW does have reprint rights for volume 4, or at least they’ve secured them in the couple years since. Starting August 2025, “TMNT: Journeys” is finally going to put these issues back into print and into collections for the first time.
Whatever the case, Volume 4 picks up after Volume 2 and ignores the entire Image era, so if you decided that it was too grim and gritty for you, this is the place to keep going. As I said above, it ran for 32 issues but the final 4 were sporadic, with 3 coming out after the sale to Viacom. In Laird’s own words, his heart just wasn’t in it anymore so it’s technically an incomplete story.
As for the major series of this era, you may have seen it briefly pop up in the Volume 1 list or in a full-on chronological reading order. “Tales from the TMNT” is the second volume of this series, once again telling short stories from across the turtles universe. It, unlike its predecessor, IS officially titled with the abbreviation “Tales from the TMNT” however. I’ll still be calling it “Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) for ease of differentiation. Also unlike the original, these tales are not as intimately tied to the main volume. In fact, they bop around all over the place in adventures set before “TMNT” (Vol. 1) #1, well after the final issues of Volume 4, and with unrelated characters like the Fuigtoid or Dr. Obligado of Planet Utrom.
This presents a bit of a conundrum for these lists. Do I interlink them like I did the first series? Do I bunch them up and keep them simple and separate? Or do I try my best to slot things in where they fit most narratively? In the end, I decided to do a bit of a hybrid approach. I’ll explain more at the top of the related list.
OK! On with the reading orders. I’ve got two again, though the first is wildly incomplete: Trades Only and Mirage Completionist.
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Trades Only
This list is about as bare bones as you can get. There’s only a smattering of “Tales” (Vol. 2) issues and one of the minis. Because of this, and because there’s not as much overlap as you’d think, I will be including both the IDW trades and the Mirage trades that exist for when there is no IDW trade. The former are all in black & white as far as I can tell and the latter are in color.
Maybe we’ll get a “Tales” (Vol. 2) compendium one day to make this whole thing moot. It’s certainly possible, now that Volume 4 is getting an official re-release. Same note about the 40th anniversary special applies as well (only the non-italicized stories are relevant to this list.) I also won’t be listing the uncollected issues because, again, the vast majority are in single issue only.
Oh, and for the “Best Of” collection, I’ve only included the issues that are in the “Best of Renet” one-shot, since that’s really the only relevant section.
“Tales of the TMNT Omnibus,” Vol. 1 OR “Tales of the TMNT,” Vol. 3 & 4: “Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #1-8 & Omnibus also includes “Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (Vol. 1) #1-7
“Tales of the TMNT,” Vol. 5: “Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #9-12
“Tales of the TMNT,” Vol. 6: “Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #13-16
“Tales of the TMNT,” Vol. 7: “Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #17-20
“Tales of the TMNT,” Vol. 8: “Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #22-25
“Tales of the TMNT: The Collected Books,” Vol. 2 (Mirage): “Tales of Leonardo: Blind Sight” #1-4 & “Tales” (Vol. 2) #5
“Tales of the TMNT: The Collected Books,” Vol. 1 (Mirage): “Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #26 & “Tales” (Vol. 2) #1, 10, 16, 18
“Tales of the TMNT: The Collected Books,” Vol. 3 (Mirage): “Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #27 & “Tales” (Vol. 2) #6, 20, 24
“Tales of the TMNT: The Collected Books,” Vol. 4 (Mirage): “Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #33 & “Tales” (Vol. 2) #4, 13-14
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 40th Anniversary Comics Celebration:” The Deluxe Edition: ‘Gang Wars,' 'Old Scores,' & 'Alone,' 'Monsters,' 'Downtime,' 'The Man Behind the Mask,' ' What About Tomorrow?,' 'Splinter Forever,' 'Kraang Among Us,' 'Farewell,' ‘Splinter's Day Off,' 'Father's Day,' 'Teen Spirit'
“Best of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Collection,” Vol. 6: ‘The Paradox of Chudnovsky’ & Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 1) #7, “Bebop and Rocksteady Destroy Everything #5,” “TMNT: Amazing Adventures” #14.
Mirage Completionist
As I said earlier, “Tales” (Vol. 2) has stories that occur throughout the “TMNT” timeline. A more continuity-based read would make adjustments for that. I’ve opted to keep “Tales” (Vol. 2) wholly separate from “TMNT” (Vol. 1,) obviously, and list them in approximate publication order. Trying to slot them into their narrative positions would’ve introduced way more headaches than I already had with that reading order.
Furthermore, I’m alternating “Tales” and Volume 4 issues by when they came out, as there are some volume 4 adventures scattered throughout “Tales” and that is keeping in the spirit of my other lists. You could read Volume 4 and “Tales” completely separately if you truly wanted.
As for all the mini-series that came out near the end of Mirage’s tenure, I’ve lumped them together rather than intercutting them like Volume 4. They are, however, placed based on the publication date of the first issue of each mini and slotted between those two issues of “Tales.”
Oh and heads up, you’re going to see a lot of “Single issue only.”
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #1-6 - Single issue only
‘A Few Small Repairs’ - Single issue only - “TMNT” (Vol. 4) #6
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #7-13 - Single issue only
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #1 - “Tales of the TMNT Omnibus” Vol. 1 OR “Tales" Vol. 3
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #14 - Single issue only
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #2 - “Tales of the TMNT Omnibus” Vol. 1 OR “Tales" Vol. 3
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #15 - Single issue only
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #3 - “Tales of the TMNT Omnibus” Vol. 1 OR “Tales" Vol. 3
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #16 - Single issue only
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #4 - “Tales of the TMNT Omnibus” Vol. 1 OR “Tales" Vol. 3
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #17 - Single issue only
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #5 - “Tales of the TMNT Omnibus” Vol. 1 OR “Tales" Vol. 4
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #18 - Single issue only
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #6 - “Tales of the TMNT Omnibus” Vol. 1 OR “Tales" Vol. 4
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #19 - Single issue only
After this point, “Tales” (Vol. 2) went monthly while “TMNT” (Vol. 4) stayed bi-monthly.
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #7 - “Tales of the TMNT Omnibus” Vol. 1 OR “Tales" Vol. 4
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #8 - “Tales of the TMNT Omnibus” Vol. 1 OR “Tales" Vol. 4
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #20 - Single issue only
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #9-10 - “Tales" Vol. 5
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #21 - Single issue only
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #11-12 - “Tales" Vol. 5
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #22 - Single issue only
‘Digital Webbing Presents TMNT’ - Single issue only - “Digital Webbing Presents” #24
While this is technically a “TMNT” (Vol. 1) story, I chose to keep it in publication order. I figure, I’m already doing it for the “Tales” (Vol. 2) issues, why move this one story? It’s from a now ended anthology for a venture by Ed Dukeshire, best known now as an Eisner and Harvey nominated letterer. Seems fitting to keep it here. Also originally in color!
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #13-14 - “Tales" Vol. 6
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #23 - Single issue only
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #15-16 - “Tales" Vol. 6
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #24 - Single issue only
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #17-18 - “Tales" Vol. 7
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #25 - Single issue only
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #19-20 - “Tales" Vol. 7
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #26 - Single issue only
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #21 - Single issue only
Sadly, issue #21, the first crossover with the “Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa” did not get collected by IDW with the rest of this batch. And also sadly, those C.O.W.-Boys are not a spin-off but their own thing courtesy of long-time “TMNT Adventures” scribe Ryan Brown.
2025 Update: Those C.O.W.-Boys are back at Oni Press! Who knows what that means for the rights around this issue.
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #22 - “Tales" Vol. 8
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #27 - Single issue only
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #23 - “Tales" Vol. 8
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #28 - Single issue only
This is the final issue of Volume 4 that came out regularly. Because of this, and because there’s a mini-series that started the same month, I broke the pattern to place it ahead of the June 2006 “Tales” issue.
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #24 - “Tales" Vol. 8
“Tales of Leonardo: Blind Sight” #1-4 - Mirage trade only - “Tales: Collected Books,” Vol. 2
For the full publication experience, alternate issues of “Blind Sight” and “Tales.”
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #25 - “Tales" Vol. 8
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #26 - Mirage trade only - “Tales: Collected Books,” Vol. 1
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #27 - Mirage trade only - “Tales: Collected Books,” Vol. 3
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #28-32 - Single issue only
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #33 - Mirage trade only - “Tales: Collected Books,” Vol. 4
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #34-36 - Single issue only
“Raphael: Bad Moon Rising” #1-4 - Single issue only
For the full publication experience, alternate issues of “Bad Moon” and “Tales,” with the exception of #4, which should be read after “Tales” #40 instead of #39.
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #37-45 - Single issue only
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #29 - Single issue only BUT apparently the online version still exists via direct link, just not visitable through the main Mirage homepage.
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #46-50 - Single issue only
“Michelangelo: The Third Kind” #1-4 - Single issue only
For the full publication experience, alternate issues of “The Third Kind” and “Tales.”
‘Life on Earth’ - Single issue only - “The Third Kind” #4
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #51-58 - Single issue only
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #30 - Available free online!
You’ve read that right. Issue #30 is available free on Peter Laird’s blog. So are 31 & 32 later on. While #31 and #32 didn’t really have a proper print run, or anything more than a couple special printings, #30 was the second of the limited mail-in order print run and the first published post-Viacom buy-out.
From what I can tell, these are the reasons all three of these issues are up on his site but none of the others, though #29’s limited run makes it a contender too. Laird made mention of not being able to find the files for #29 on his laptop back in 2014 so I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s one reason it never made it up - no easy transfer.
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #59-62 - Single issue only
“Donatello: The Brain Thief” #1-4 - Single issue only
And one last time: for the full publication experience, alternate issues of “The Brain Thief” and “Tales.”
“Tales of the TMNT” (Vol. 2) #63-70 - Single issue only
‘The Paradox of Chudnovsky’ - “The Best of Renet”
Lo, the time is nigh. Chudnovsky arrives, for the first time, in an official English language publication! Originally meant to be a canon replacement for “TMNT” (Vol. 1) #8 aka the Cerberus issue, it ended up getting shelved when Laird decided not to do the replacement. Normally, that would be the end of the story but in this case, ‘Chudnovsky’ did eventually find its way into print in 2007…in Spanish.
Yes, the official Spanish language collections of “TMNT” (Vol. 1) had ‘The Paradox of Chudnovsky’ in it, possibly in place of the original issue #8 (though apparently missing the epilogue.) It then got its first unofficial English (and Russian) release in the form of a fan-released, unofficial “Tales of the TMNT” #71, before getting an official Russian publication in 2016 - from the same guy, no less - with a brand new frontispiece by Jim Lawson and the restored epilogue.
What makes this whole thing wild is that, apparently, the original English dialog has been lost to the ether so the story we’re getting now is either a translation of the Spanish or Russian edition OR is a completely rescripted tale.
If you want a more complete version of this, I got most of my info from TMNT Entity who did the leg work of sourcing letters page back-and-forths from Laird and Sim. He has his own theories on why Laird ultimately changed his mind but I’m inclined to believe that Laird simply liked the original story and felt, as long as he was allowed to reprint it, he would.
Bit of a tangent on a tangent but reading the back-and-forth, I’m still mystified at how issue #8 was able to slip into “Ultimate Collection” Book 2 (out in 2012, with a paperback reprint in 2018) but not the new Compendium (out in 2022.) Either Sim told Viacom no, they couldn’t reprint it again, or Viacom didn’t want to take the risk, reputationally regarding Sim or with copyright, or pay whatever royalties with a new collection.
I could speculate until the cows come home and I would be in exactly the same place as I am now. Whatever dark calculus allowed it to happen once didn’t work out a second time. Welcome to the weird world of publishing, folks.
Back to the matter at hand, why did I place ‘Chudnovsky’ here at the end of “Volume 4?” Simple. Laird still considers the original issue #8 to be the canon version of events, and because it’s still widely available thanks to its inclusion in the “Ultimate Collection” and the remastered reprint from Sim, I’m treating this as a “Tales” story, specifically the last “Tales” story.
I did go back and forth on placing it here or after “TMNT” (Vol. 4) #32. After #32 makes more sense if I go by (official, English) publication date. I ultimately decided to keep it with the other “Tales” stories since that series was already bunched up so much and it makes a modicum more sense to read this story out of time with the others before finishing up Volume 4.
Oh, and I had originally left ‘Chudnovsky’ off the list because, well, it was unavailable in an official capacity here in the States at the time, and then forgot to add it to my spreadsheet for inclusion on a different list.
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #31 - Available free online!
“TMNT” (Vol. 4) #32 - Available free online!
‘Night of the Ninja Girl’ - Single issue only - “30th Anniversary Special”
Like most of the 30th anniversary stories, it comfortably sits somewhere after the main story, so this is as good a place as any to read it.
‘Gang Wars’ - “40th Anniversary Comics Celebration: The Deluxe Edition”
‘Old Scores’ - “40th Anniversary Comics Celebration: The Deluxe Edition”
The gift that keeps on giving, this 40th anniversary special. I had no idea where to slot in either of these stories. ‘Gang Wars’ was easy, as it’s a “Tales” story set ~20 years post-“TMNT” (Vol. 1) #1, thus firmly on this list. ‘Old Scores’ however nebulously takes place in one of the Mirage-continuity futures and so I could’ve paired it with ‘Old Times’ at the end of Volume 1 (or moved ‘Old Times’ here to the end of Volume 4.)
In the end, I figured it makes more sense for my list to have it at the tail end of the Mirage books rather than squeezed in earlier. It was published way after it all and is set way after it all. Why futz around with it more than I need to?
Next time, we fall back in time for the four-color versions of everyone’s favorite Saturday morning cartoon.
Elias Rosner
Elias Rosner
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