User blog comment:Gilgameshkun/Mirage TMNT transcripts dilemma/@comment-93957-20180407003703

Yeah there are a few hurdles when it comes to the Mirage stories. Unlike most comics, Laird (and I think when he was still attached, Eastman) insisted it wasn't a floating timeline, and that the stories that took place outside of Tales and specifically out-of-order stories like The Passing, in the year they were printed, more or less.

The other being that based on Laird's whims, there could be stories tossed out of canon at any time. But then we have Nick owning the property so they get to dictate the canon... only we don't have any statement from them or IDW indicating what is or isn't, now. But we do have some of the reprints of previously-stricken-by-Laird issues, now from IDW.

This is part of why I wish I still had contact with the series' brand manager at Nick; some of this stuff could have been solved pretty easily.