>>130187482Mix and Match. Jump between bits and pieces different versions on this list, don't go down it from what I recommend first to what I recommend last.
Read the original Mirage books up until at least Shredder's funky return. City at War is a must, some of the stuff in between is iffy. There's a lot of variation in quality, roll with it, it's worth it.
The first few eps of the 80s cartoon are definitely fun. I wouldn't say the show has aged well on the whole, but it's worth a gander for the sake of "getting it." Also might want to check out the Archie comics TMNT starting with issue 24. It was written by a couple of guys that had worked on Mirage, and was pretty much "what if the 1987 cartoon was allowed get serious and have people die and shit?" Quite influential.
The 1990 movie are a must. Consensus is that the first movie was peak TMNT. The second was... a step down, but not a HUGE step down, so you can check it out too.
Much of 2003 was solid. You can definitely skip some shit. I've seen some younger anons say that they enjoyed it once they started using an extension that let them play eps a little faster, so maybe go with that.
I'd argue that 2012 was more good than bad. Some of the "journey in space" eps are skippable, as is most of the "they're in a cabin in the woods" stuff. But the turtles keep going to that damn cabin in different incarnations, and it's rarely worth watching/reading.
I'd say work your way through IDW. The quality's a bit of a rollercoaster, but I've enjoyed more arcs than I disliked. I disliked some stuff in the last year, but I'm fucking loving the current arc, so it manages to keep shit interesting.
I did not find the Bay movies or the 2007 movie worth watching. There's SOME good scenes, but there's way more bad ones.
Happy watching!
