Will Jennika stay in TMNT forever???

[TMNTChris1980]

What are your thoughts on Jennika being included in all incarnations of the TMNT going forward? Do you think that this will remain an IDW thing, or do you think the next toon will add a female turtle, and later it gets brought into Movies, and everything else TMNT?

[Andrew NDB]

I think the idea -- since fans seem to be OK with it in IDW -- of including a female TMNT in larger mediums will be too irresistible to studios. To appeal to a female audience (which in any boardroom is probably tricky to pin down with TMNT) and riding the "the future is female" thing and all.

I don't have a problem with it, personally... in IDW. It fits in that universe just fine.

[scribblesartist]

No!! She’s new, ppl want to see here cause she’s the 5th turtle, and a woman. Like all good things. You don’t want them to go old or stale. If the writers are smart. Jennika will be around for a few arcs and be Gone for a few. There not careful they can saturate the pages with her. Fingers crossed. I would hope they won’t do that.

[Andrew NDB]

I don't see why she should go away. In IDW there are tons of mutants... the "the Turtles are alone and isolated, first and last of their kind" thing (which personally seems to be one of the biggest hallmarks of the source material) has been jettisoned. So why not leave her?

Tons of directions to go with her. For me, a story where she returns to being human somehow and then chooses to re-mutate would be interesting.

[Damo]

It's certainly possible, but her origin is very tied into IDW. The best way to define her personality is that she was so eager to escape her crappy life she embraced the Foot Clan wholeheartedly since it gave her purpose, and now she's finding herself awkward at having a life outside the Foot Clan.

"Good at being an assassin, still trying to figure out everything else isn't bad story fodder (worked for Cassandra Cain), but it isn't something that would work into the story right from the start.

That said, if the book doesn't make a royal mess of things, I could easily see her ending up one of those "there's a good chance they'll show up, eventually, in some form" characters, like Bebop & Rocksteady, Casey, and Karai.

[oldmanwinters]

I think the four brothers formula has worked so well for so long, I'd rather that stay the norm for the franchise. It's fine to have the other characters in the expanded universe for guest appearances, of course.

I never really thought Jennika was terribly engaging as a human despite nearly 50 issues of the IDW series. Ask any casual fan about her and they'd be like "huh?" Ask any regular reader of the IDW series up to that point and they'd be like "oh, yeah, she's the ninja girl who helps Splinter."

But suddenly expose her to mutagen and everybody loses their mind like it's some groundbreaking twist. There's nothing about Jennika up to this point that I find truly distinguishes her as a character. Alopex and Angel/Nobody had far more development in the IDW universe.

[neatoman]

I don't know about "forever" but I wouldn't be surprised if she pops up elsewhere.

[Cloudrunner]

I'd rather have Alopex return in future iterations over Jennika.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Cloudrunner

I'd rather have Alopex return in future iterations over Jennika.

Alopex is basically the return of Ninjara. If Alopex shows up in something else it will be Ninjara Mark III.

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Alopex is basically the return of Ninjara. If Alopex shows up in something else it will be Ninjara Mark III.

I always assumed there was some legal-rights ambiguity regarding the Ninjara name, which is why they created a new character with almost the same M.O. for the comics and then went one step further by re-designing her Ninjara-like for the Nick toon.

Of course, IDW went ahead and used vintage Ninjara for the 30th Anniversary issue, so who knows?

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

I always assumed there was some legal-rights ambiguity regarding the Ninjara name, which is why they created a new character with almost the same M.O. for the comics and then went one step further by re-designing her Ninjara-like for the Nick toon.

Doubtful there was legal stuff. But let's face it, "Ninjara" is kind of a dumb name and IDW probably didn't want to use it. Her real name was fine, though: Umeko.

[CyberCubed]

She won’t show up elsewhere.

The fact that Old Hob, the breakout new IDW character who has existed since 2011, 9 years ago now, has never appeared in any of the cartoons or movies since, should make that obvious.

[Ninjinister]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Doubtful there was legal stuff. But let's face it, "Ninjara" is kind of a dumb name and IDW probably didn't want to use it. Her real name was fine, though: Umeko.

Nintendo didn't seem to mind



then again nintendo sometimes uses some pretty dumb names anyway

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

She won’t show up elsewhere.

The fact that Old Hob, the breakout new IDW character who has existed since 2011, 9 years ago now, has never appeared in any of the cartoons or movies since, should make that obvious.

That's...

Actually pretty spot on. And a bit depressing. Old Hob is a fantastic character, as we all know.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

That's...

Actually pretty spot on. And a bit depressing. Old Hob is a fantastic character, as we all know.

Old Hob didn't make headlines everywhere, though. Jennika did, and got a lot of mainstream attention.

[Zog The Magnificent]

I feel like going foward, Old Hob and The IDW Pantheon are IDW's signature contributions to the TMNT toybox. Sure, Old Hob hasn't been used anywhere else yet, but give it time. I mean, Lord Dregg was in the old series and didn't get used again until almost 21 years later. Additionally, while he's existed since 2011, Hob wasn't really an interesting character until a couple years down the line.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Old Hob didn't make headlines everywhere, though. Jennika did, and got a lot of mainstream attention.

Yeah.

But Jennika herself isn't going to carry over. I'll bet you Mirage comics for Rise of the TMNT DVDs that at some point in the future, the fifth Turtle is a mutated April O'Neil.

[Zog The Magnificent]

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

I'll bet you Mirage comics for Rise of the TMNT DVDs that at some point in the future, the fifth Turtle is a mutated April O'Neil.

Archie already beat TMNT 20XX to the punch.

[CyberCubed]

You won't ever see a female turtle in cartoons/movies.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

You won't ever see a female turtle in cartoons/movies.

Don't be so sure. Especially when TPTB are probably going, "I don't get it... we gave fans Beebop and Rocksteady and Krang in the last one and it still failed!! What can we possibly try differently this time??"