Favourite April O' Neil iteration?

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Fred Wolf and 4 Kids

[Torterra]

I do like the Rise version of April while yes she wasn't white or an adult etc. I did like her energy and the fact that I don't know she felt more like a sister to the turtles than the other versions. I also like the 2003 iteration and as for the 2012 version ... she's hit or miss to me there are some stuff I like about her and stuff I hate (i.e. the psychic powers, being a kraang hybrid and the whole April x Donnie thing overstayed it's welcome).

[Stu_Padasso]

In animation, as I’ve gotten older and recently rediscovered the franchise through the comics, I now prefer the more faithful 4Kids version.

On film, Judith Hoage, although she’s still a reporter in that version. Too bad they didn’t keep her around.

[IndigoErth]

Far as animation goes, it's a tossup between the FW and 2003 versions.

[Zachatello00]

To me, Judith is April.

As for animation, with apologies to Ms. Jacobs, who is a close second, even though I grew up in the 80s/90s, it's 2k3 April for me.

[Anarchistguy]

1990 (Judith Hoag) and 2003.

Originally Posted by Zachatello00

To me, Judith is April.

As for animation, with apologies to Ms. Jacobs, who is a close second, even though I grew up in the 80s/90s, it's 2k3 April for me.

I second that notion.

[Shark_Blade]

1. 1989 April
2. Judith Hoag
3. Megan Fox
4. Paige Turco (found out today she’s actually the same actress from TMNT 2 & 3, thought they were different. Must be the haircuts or she’s more involved in TMNT 3 than being just in the background in TMNT 2)
5. 2007 April
6. 2003 April
7. Rise April
8. Comics (IDW, Mirage, Archie)
9. 2012 April

[Prowler]

Fred Wolf.

We all know the problems with that series by now, but I don't think it's Interpretation of April is one of the things it did wrong.

April being a lab assistant who then later manages a store sorta makes her lose importance as the time goes.

April being a journalist makes her a very valuable friend of the Turtles. Can get them into places they'd never be able to and can cover up for them when necessary.

[Leo656]

Yeah, I know the purists all whine that making her a reporter and not a lab assistant is "Stupid" because it's not what Mirage did, but honestly, it gives her more of a reason to even BE in the story past her first appearance. It's a big struggle in non-FW TMNT to even find a reason for her to continue being involved in things at all, and so they resort to dumb bullsh*t like making her part-Kraang or whatever, having super-powers, being a ninja herself, being a magical drawing, all to try and inject some agency and importance into a character who really kind of has very little reason to exist past her very first appearance.

Being a reporter makes her a more Active supporting cast member rather than Passive, and that's a good thing. The fact that every other iteration of April had some really contrived bullsh*t forced upon her just to keep her semi-relevant really illustrates that she's not even much of a character at all outside of FW.

I mean yeah, she's hot and that's ultimately why FW April is everyone's favorite. BUT, she's also more than an appendage, too, so there's that. I don't know, I really don't see how anyone could disagree outside of a concrete "Everything Mirage Did Was Best" bias. Mirage April sucks, especially in light of her origin retcon. 4Kids April is marginally less-bad but still pretty bland, and again they had to keep coming up with contrived reasons for her to be involved in stuff; like she's "fine" but how often did she even "need" to be there, truly? Nick April was crap. FW April simply had the best overall treatment and was the most fleshed-out and well-rounded character, even if at times she had to play the well-worn "damsel" role. In FW she's a vital part of the ongoing story, and in other iterations she simply kind of isn't.

[Prowler]

Agree with everything you said.

[neatoman]

Eh... To be honest, the reporter thing is a contrivance in and of itself, it just kind of makes you stop thinking about it because... Well, yes, it is less stupid than "Psychic Ninja Utrom-Human Hybrid"... But mainly because it just gets baked into the formula in such a way that you just kind of stop questioning it. It mostly just goes down something like this: April is sent out to do a story, the story coincidentally has something to do with the villain, as a result she gets swept up in it (and potentially also turned into a wasp or something). Technically yes, she "has more of a reason" to be involved but when you really think about it, she might as well be replaced by any random "ally of the week" character if all it amounts to is a coincidence most of the time.

And I should also point out here that being a scientist or a delivery CEO doesn't really give her any less reason to be involved than a reporter, the only difference here being that she wouldn't necessarily reveal things to the public, something that might actually be better considering the main characters live in hiding and many of the typical story elements don't really work if they are public knowledge. So just for that reason alone, I will kind of have to give the reporter thing a deduction.

And then back to the stupidity of changes. "Psychic Ninja Utrom-Human Hybrid" is of course very stupid and clearly a less radical alteration, the problem is that if we judge each work independently, the concept of "Psychic Ninja Utrom-Human Hybrid" isn't necesarily one that is doomed to get botched and it is still up to the quality of the writing to make it work and thus isn't really less of a valid starting point than a reporter. (Though to be clear, "Pyschic Ninja Utrom-Human Hybrid" was not good the way it was written in, it was very poorly executed). And if we judge it terms of adaptation quality, "Pyschic Ninja Utrom-Human Hybrid" is a very obvious change but so is making her a reporter and I seriously doubt either would ever really be necessary if they had bothered to work with the actual existing plot rather than just writing their own. The closest I can think of it being "necessary" is in the 1990 movie where it didn't really make sense for Baxter to also be a character and I doubt the MOUSERs would have been possible to have on that budget, but I can still imagine ways to make that movie work without April being a reporter specifically, so not really necessary.

And finally, whoever said April needed to be all stories or even most of them? If you need to think of ways to keep the character in the plot than rather than just keep the plot going, I'm not so sure you are taking the right approach. Wanting to keep April around for every single TMNT story is kind of like saying Gwen Stacy needs to be in every Spider-Man story, she isn't and that's fine.

[Leo656]

Then why have her ever appear again after the Stockman Incident, period? Once she helps the Turtles beat Baxter and the Mousers, her role in the story is done. There's no practical reason or need for her to hang out with the Turtles, or them with her, so frankly, by Mirage Fan Logic she may as well have been a one-and-done character altogether.

[Coola Yagami]

I do have to say, Mirage April is pretty plain though. Like I wouldn't call her unattractive but nothing about her makes her particularly stand out. She's not particularly busty or wears form fitting outfits, even in her first comic appearance where she wears the jumpsuit that inspired 80's April, it's not like the panels focused on her T&A. I mean... idk.... when compared to 80's April, 2K3 April and even Back to the Sewers April, Mirage April is the least 'bangable'. But at least she didn't get 30 people laid off. Or.... well... maybe after Baxter was arrested, April ended up having all of Stocktronics laid off so um... yikes April.

Probably the cutest April in Mirage was that one issue of Tales of the TMNT Volume 2 that dealt with her dealing with her new 'I'm a drawing' reality and that's mostly because she looked like Archie April because it was drawn by one of the Archie comics guys.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Then why have her ever appear again after the Stockman Incident, period? Once she helps the Turtles beat Baxter and the Mousers, her role in the story is done. There's no practical reason or need for her to hang out with the Turtles, or them with her, so frankly, by Mirage Fan Logic she may as well have been a one-and-done character altogether.

Well, literally just going what's in the comic? She offers them shelter when Master Splinter disappeared, which gives her plenty of reason to be around for the stretch when he is gone. Shortly after they return to earth, they celebrate Christmas together and along with this Shredder attacks her home. At that point we get plenty of issues of her and Casey living on the farm with them, obviously giving her reason to once again stick around. Then after this she does indeed go off on her own but ultimately figures she might as well keep on being their friend after her parents die. Afterwards Baxter Stockman tries to get revenge on her, which gives the Turtles reason to protect her. Beyond that, well, she is their friend and I think that might actually be enough even if that doesn't mean playing an active role.

I would say these are fairly solid reasons to keep her around, it doesn't necessarily always give her a reason to be active in the large scale events but I still see reason for her to stick around. She also gave them beer, wouldn't you hang out with the chick who gives you free beer?

Anyway, again, the reporter thing really just relies on her coincidentally reporting on something Shredder is interested in, it is the mere illusion of relevance. She'd literally cease to have a purpose if Shredder chose to watch a different news network...

... Hey, I think that works well for a parody plot. April reports on the new sharks with head-mounted lasers, so the Turtles assumes Shredder is going to steal them and hangs out at the aquarium to protect them. He then never shows up because he chose to steal a shipment of mustard gas because he watched Channel 7 News with June McBeal instead.

[Leo656]

I do indeed like hanging out with those who are free with the beer.

[RetroReminiscence]

Originally Posted by Mad Dog McMutt

Most definitely the Fred Wolf version.

I cant lie, I loved this one as well.

[NeonTurtledude]

Fortnite April has a cool design

[Mirror image]

The original mirage comic iteration for the same reason that most people dislike her. She was made out of a drawing and yet she is a fully fledged character who was always assumed to be a regular human.

That is the type of crazy twist that works the best for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as the franchise is the type of fiction that should never try to be grounded, unlike say Batman or Jurassic Park.

[ResidentEvil7]

My favorite animation April would have to be the 1987 series and in movie version it would have to be Paige Turco. She's cute, especially when she and the Turtles are in feudal Japan by a pond and she shows some bare leg. SHWING!!!!

[CyberCubed]

Isn't it funny the two black incarnations are the most hated April's. Megan Fox is probably the next most hated, if she counts.