TMNT Manga

Comic books are a major source of entertainment in Japan for folks of all ages and interests. Many comics in Japan sell well over one million copies and are released on a weekly basis! That's a far cry from American comics, where the most popular comic book sells 125,000 copies and ships monthly. Currently, some of the most popular characters from American comic books sell less than 25,000 copies! Yikes! We've gotta get more Americans to read comics!!!

Japanese comic fans can read comics in numerous formats and in seemingly unlimited genres. Romance, Western, Super-Hero, Sports, Biographical, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Comedy, Soap Opera, Mystery and many others all sell well. The Japanese comic books also reach an audience far more vast than most comics in America, where super-heroes still control the small market. Comic books are an accepted form of entertainment in Japan, and are not stigmitized as a juvenile recreation, which is probably why they sell so much better than they do in the good ol' USA! Maybe someday everyone in the States will realize what the Japanese already know... comic books can be entertaining for people of all ages... you've just got to buy the right title!

On a good note, many publishers in America are realizing that to expand their readership they must expand the types of comics that they publish, so more innovative comics are starting to appear than ever before! If you're interested in comics, we at Mirage highly recommend that you dig through your phone book and look up a comic book retailer near you! Check under BOOKS. You might be surprised at the worlds you'll find waiting for you at the local comic shop! Happy reading!

Above are some covers from the Japanese version of the TMNT. Japanese comics are commonly called "manga", a term that was originally coined in Japan and has now become the universally recognized term for "comics created in the Land of the Rising Sun". Manga has a strong following in the States due to its dynamic stylings and ingenius use of the medium. Manga has had a massive influence on some of the finest American comic artists, and for good reason! Below are some pages from the Japanese TMNT comics!

Here's some additional info regarding the TMNT manga sent in by Turtle Faithful Matt Goode:

Here's the info I've learned, culled from some of the actual manga themselves. Several months ago, my brother took a trip to Japan (for like the fourth time). This time I sent him with instructions to search for the Ninja Turtles manga for me. One of the comics he found was #2 from the 3 issue mini-series for which you have cover scans of on the site. He also found 2 issues of an on-going series and the adaptation of the third movie.

Anyway, the #2 of the mini-series is the latest one he found, and it says that there were 15 issues of the regular series, plus the movie III adaptation, plus the mini-series, which, on the inside, is actually listed as numbers16-18 of the series. All the issues are titled "Myutanto Tatorusu" (Mutant Turtles), except for the last two issues of the mini-series, entitled"Supa Tatorusu" (Super Turtles). Also, all comics listed are adaptations. To sum up my long-winded and confusing e-mail... Myutanto Tatorusu - 15 issue series adapting episodes of the cartoon (two episodes each issue) Myutanto Tatorusu III - adaptation of third movie Supa Tatorusu - 3 issue mini that adapts the Japan-only anime mini-series (each "issue" is about 100 pages long, but with less art and dialogue per page than would be common in an American comic, if that makes any sense).

Marius Vaga sent in the following scans from some of the other TMNT manga that was produced, illustrating a dramatically different art style:

Adam sent in yet another example of TMNT manga, this series adapted episodes of the original cartoon. The top two images are the covers while the B&W pix were taken from the interiors:

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