What do you think about different skin-colored TMNT?

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Here's a thought- maybe the difference in color indicates ACTUAL age order? Since turtles tend to darken as they age, the darker pair might be the older of the four, while their lighter siblings are slightly younger. In which case, Raph and Mikey would be the oldest in 2003, while in Nick it would be Raph and then Leo. That would actually make Leo third and Donnie the youngest in 2003! (Which is incidentally in line with Don being youngest in the comic strips....) In Nick, on the other hand, Donnie would be third and Mikey the youngest, going by color.

[Klunk1234]

It doesn't bother me at all. Like any siblings they have their likeness and differences. Not even identical twins are exactly alike; their fingerprints are different and their personalities.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by MsMarvelDuckie

Here's a thought- maybe the difference in color indicates ACTUAL age order? Since turtles tend to darken as they age, the darker pair might be the older of the four, while their lighter siblings are slightly younger. In which case, Raph and Mikey would be the oldest in 2003, while in Nick it would be Raph and then Leo. That would actually make Leo third and Donnie the youngest in 2003! (Which is incidentally in line with Don being youngest in the comic strips....) In Nick, on the other hand, Donnie would be third and Mikey the youngest, going by color.

That's assuming they're not DNA brothers. The order of which they actually popped out of the same batch of eggs is really only academic... they were there at the same time.

[Bry]

Okay! Replying to this having only read the first page, so go easy on me if this stuff is covered.

It's kinda either/or to me. I like the Turtles having different body types and facial structures, and I think that alone should be enough. But I'm totally fine with the different-colour headbands, so long as that never touches the original Mirage characters.

The Turtles having wildly different skin tones like the original toys? I have some nostalgia for it. It doesn't make as much sense... Though I feel like I've seen some variance in skin tone in Red Eared Sliders (I had two as pets when I was a kid and I seem to recall one had slightly darker skin than the other). But it makes more sense that difference in skin tone between them would be fairly subtle.

I get wanting to differentiate them physically. But it does seem it's gotten increasingly exaggerated over the years. The comic expected that the weapons and their dialogue would be enough. Every cartoon since has used different colours and/or skin tones to make them distinct. Most recently, the BayTurtles movie has them wearing all sorts of ugly (literal) garbage to look as different as possible from one another, jumping the hell over the shark. And it all feels rooted in this dumb idea that audiences aren't smart enough to figure it out. And that bugs me.

I think keeping them relatively uniform but with a few different design elements is plenty enough. I think the current IDW designs hit an decent balance.

[Commenter 42]

Originally Posted by Candy Kappa

Although a nice idea, it just seems a bit off.

There's a pretty good artist that have done realistic takes on the TMNT where he did a line-up where the Turtles where of different turtles.

http://onetruth.deviantart.com/art/N...boys-454208883

I guess that answers that.



I could get behind the design of Leo, if all 4 of them looked like that, but it needs more work; also TMNT without bandana's isn't really TMNT.

I think mixing up the different species makes them too individualized.

I don't know, I think it's too different, but I don't hate it. Hey Mrs duckie - They have claws here!

Originally Posted by Powder

Box turtles aren't ugly!

Okay, Fine they're not the ugliest.
The mata mata are:

Originally Posted by <TmNtRoX-1997>

I'm surprised the new movies didn't do something like that or even the IDW book. It'd be interesting to see but I'm not sure I'd like it too much.

Anything would be better than PDMT.

[oldmanwinters]

I actually like the Turtles to resemble the action figures, so I'm 100% pro-diversity of skin color.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

That's assuming they're not DNA brothers. The order of which they actually popped out of the same batch of eggs is really only academic... they were there at the same time.

Actually, it could also indicate growth rate. Some individuals DO grow faster than others of the same age, so maybe they just grew faster! Doesn't have to mean they're not related, just that someone was hogging all the food.... (My guess would be Raph and Mikey in the 2003 version, or Raph and Leo as the alphas in Nick.) In any case, it was just a thought.


@ 42- I've seen that, LOL! I actually DO like the idea of them having claws (if they didn't keep them filed down short, that is) so that's kind of cool, IMHO. I just think that accidental injuries might be more likely if they let them grow out naturally like a normal turtle's claws. Especially in the dojo.

[Commenter 42]

Originally Posted by MsMarvelDuckie

Actually, it could also indicate growth rate. Some individuals DO grow faster than others of the same age, so maybe they just grew faster! Doesn't have to mean they're not related, just that someone was hogging all the food.... (My guess would be Raph and Mikey in the 2003 version, or Raph and Leo as the alphas in Nick.) In any case, it was just a thought.


@ 42- I've seen that, LOL! I actually DO like the idea of them having claws (if they didn't keep them filed down short, that is) so that's kind of cool, IMHO. I just think that accidental injuries might be more likely if they let them grow out naturally like a normal turtle's claws. Especially in the dojo.

I like the claws too - but it might make weilding a katana difficult.

That white Don is... interesting? They definitely look like turtles. Curious what the herps in the room think.

[PangolinFeets]

This person on Tumblr did Leo as a Diamondback in the more classic TMNT style.

[Powder]

That, I like.

[Cryomancer]

Originally Posted by Commenter 42

http://img06.deviantart.net/2f98/i/2...th-d7if9tf.jpg

This is ********, April is a pen drawing!

[Ninjinister]

Yo why do all of the turtles in that lineup look super different but when it comes to April it's like "lol 80's cartoon"?

[Cipher]

Originally Posted by Cryomancer

But Mirage is also quite focused on it's adoptive family aspect, and being straight up different colors from each other would probably reinforce that further.

This has nothing to do with the different skin tones discussion, but this is why I've always preferred they not be, or not definitely be, blood-related. It plays better thematically with the series.

Although apparently it's unlikely they'd have come from different broods, which is fair enough.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Cryomancer

This is ********, April is a pen drawing!

Hah! Just noticed that, nice.

Spoiler:

Although, she's a pencil drawing here.

Originally Posted by Ninjinister

Yo why do all of the turtles in that lineup look super different but when it comes to April it's like "lol 80's cartoon"?

Probably the "Yo dood, I tots gots me a boner from when I watched her as a kid, Imma draw her like dat even though that design didn't make sense even back then!" excuse, I hear that a lot.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Commenter 42

The mata mata are:

I've wanted a Mata Mata for so long. But they're so expensive. They don't even bite, they just suck the fish in and expel the water.

[darthsmozers]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

The color of one's skin denotes personality? That sounds pretty racist.

LOL not even.

[darthsmozers]

I enjoyed giving them their "comic book" look in turtle in time.

[Commenter 42]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

I've wanted a Mata Mata for so long. But they're so expensive. They don't even bite, they just suck the fish in and expel the water.

Defnately one of the more fantastic faces out there!
Do you keep other species right now?

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by Cryomancer

This is ********, April is a pen drawing!

Originally Posted by Ninjinister

Yo why do all of the turtles in that lineup look super different but when it comes to April it's like "lol 80's cartoon"?

That is actually a plot point in the TMNT universe that the fan artist, "onetruth" is imagining. He's trying to make April as odd a standout as possible when comparable to more realistic portrayals of mutants and other humans. Basically, it's a real world setting in which April looks the same every day: exaggerated figure, perfect hair, and wears the same outfit everyday... just like a cartoon character would.

Here's his explanation:

For anyone interested in the design process;

Some have mentioned that April isn't a true redesign, so it's not as interesting as my approach to the Turtles. Well, I felt I should explain.

April's Mirage backstory states that she was never human, only a drawing that had come to life thanks to her father, who was an artist, and a magic pencil. It's a divisive bit of cannon for TMNT fans, but I really dig it, so I started there.

So, if she is in fact a drawing, drawn by a man, then her proportions should be exaggerated in all the ways male artists typically do. By including Irma, we see an average woman in her early 20's with normal body proportions, and so further push the comic stereotype by contrast.

The jumpsuit is both a nod to the 87 cartoon, and a symbol of just how out-of-step April is with the rest of the world. Cartoon and comicbook characters often wear the same clothes in every episode (one of Peter Lairds' complaints on his blog about the Fred wolf version of April).

So I figured April would quite likely wear the same bright yellow jumpsuit every day, as she is a drawing, who comes from comicbook land, and likely uses comic book logic. None of her co-workers ever comment on it simply because she's very pretty, and very pretty people, in my experience, get a pass on odd behavior all the time.

I thought about putting her in an office with other normal characters, to really hammer home how alien April actually is.

I'm somewhat happy with April's face. I had a very specific face in mind, but couldn't find ideal reference anywhere. Unfortunately, most of the line quality throughout the drawing still blows, but after so many revisions it just became a mess.
I'm still not comfortable inking in photoshop, but at some point I'll go back and clean her up for a true final.

http://onetruth.deviantart.com/art/A...Irma-497458518

[Sophie Campbell]

why would April's DAD draw her all sexy?!? gross!!! plus isn't the idea that she was drawn as a child and then grew up? oh whatever. XD