Black April

[CyberCubed]

In the IDW series at least, the Turtles were all Japanese in canon as they should be since they're Yoshi's sons.

The Turtles being blacks makes no sense. They should all be Japanese if anything, not blacks.

[Coola Yagami]

Making all four turtles black reaks of pandering. I know some fans always choose to make Raph black whenever it comes to their fanfics or whatever but I never heard of all 4.

[CyberCubed]

Was it an artists choice or did the writers of that issue choose to do that? Luckily it's a non-canon power rangers crossover so people will probably forget it ever happened.

If they're going to "claim" April as black, you're not "claiming" the Turtles as black too. It worries me since Don and Mike have black voice actors in the new Mayhem movie, and also Rise of the TMNT's Raphael and Michelangelo also had black voice actors. I'm getting worried that going forward the Turtles will be "mandated" to be voiced by black actors.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Was it an artists choice or did the writers of that issue choose to do that? Luckily it's a non-canon power rangers crossover so people will probably forget it ever happened.

If they're going to "claim" April as black, you're not "claiming" the Turtles as black too. It worries me since Don and Mike have black voice actors in the new Mayhem movie, and also Rise of the TMNT's Raphael and Michelangelo also had black voice actors. I'm getting worried that going forward the Turtles will be "mandated" to be voiced by black actors.

We'll see, but I don't think mainstream will allow all 4 Turtles to be black. Like you said, they should be Japanese. Especially if they follow Fred Wolf Mutagen logic, why would Turtles that had contact with a Japanese man turn white/black/anything not Japanese? I wouldn't be surprised though if they went with stereotypes, like Raph being black cause angry, Leo being Japanese cause his whole bushido thing, Mikey being white cause surfer dude, and I kinda don't know about Donnie.

The funny part is 2012 Mikey might as well be black. It seemed as each season progressed he did less surfer-ish slang and more and more black slang. And Greg uses the exact same slang as Beast Boy.

[CyberCubed]

Well Nick's Casey used a lot of black slang too and he was white. Saying things like, "Dat's phat," "dawg" and "homie."

He was like those white kids who pretend to be black because they think it makes them look cool. "Wicked!"

[Cowabung-Gal]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

I wouldn't be surprised though if they went with stereotypes, like Raph being black cause angry, Leo being Japanese cause his whole bushido thing, Mikey being white cause surfer dude, and I kinda don't know about Donnie.

Maybe Donnie could be Indian and work part time as an IT specialist.

[TheLabRat]

Japanese human Raph would be look like Kiryu Kazuma from Yakuza if he grew up.

Spoiler:

[IndigoErth]

Originally Posted by AquaParade

This was a distasteful event because as soon as it happened, all over the internet people were claiming these were the "canon human forms of the turtles!".

Maybe the publisher said it, idk, but what does that even mean?
"Canon human forms"? Doesn't even make sense - they simply aren't human. And canon to what? This comic? Okay.

It was just an attempt for certain groups to try and "claim" the turtles as their own or for the creators to get some brownie-points from select groups. Some people just really badly want the TMNT to be black, I guess. I don't have an issue with them being black in their, um, "canon human form", but it felt more like exclusion than inclusion. It just felt like a way to say "It's canon! These are ours!".

Ick. Humans of all shades need to stop trying to claim the TMNT and let the green people be green. That allows ANYONE to be able to relate by being forced to look past their skin color to find something familiar. "Human versions" are more often than not so damn boring anyhow, why even try to change them?

If a version went the DNA route via Yoshi/Splinter then Asian really is the only one that understandably makes any sense, imo.

If just for laughs based on the casting of some version or another, fine, or if a series turns a Turtle human for an ep and matches the actor's color, because it may otherwise not fit that well unless a VA has a voice that is very hard to guess their background. But to otherwise insist on anything as canon is stupid and they aren't for any racial demographic to claim since they are not human.

[CyberCubed]

It looks like black April is here to stay, for the forseeable future. Mutant Mayhem is getting a new cartoon and sequel movie, so this is basically our next TMNT series for the time being.

Come to think of it the only thing that still has white April is IDW's TMNT run but that started in 2011 more than a decade ago now.

[sdp]

I think April might not always be black going forward thanks to the banana coat wearing bitch. 87 April is so iconic that she's still relevant in merchandise and promo images. So, while some may hate that she's a reporter, she's the only reason April might not always be black in future adaptations.

[Cowabung-Gal]

Originally Posted by sdp

I think April might not always be black going forward thanks to the banana coat wearing bitch.

Someone’s bitter…

At least that “banana coat wearing b***h” was healthy and fit and easy on the eyes. My black co-worker, who’s a fan of the classic cartoon, would agree with me.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by Cowabung-Gal

Someone’s bitter…

ahhhhhh joke went over your head

[Cowabung-Gal]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

ahhhhhh joke went over your head

What jo-

Ohhh…

[CyberCubed]

It's ironic this thread was made back in 2014 when we only had white April, as Rise of the TMNT did not come out till 2018 and now Mutant Mayhem in 2023. We didn't realize how innocent this question was back then, it basically predicted the future by 4-6 years later.

I can't believe that once a time "black April" was just a coloring mis-print on on of the old Mirage comics. If only we knew how good we had it.

[ssjup81]

Originally Posted by IndigoErth

Doubt it and it's only twice... a bit early to assume.

Makers of this stuff seem so concerned now with reinvention and doing things different to make it their own... but now we're going to be well into "been done already" territory, it wouldn't surprise me if we move on to a 3rd ethnic background next time.

Changing April up like this though, I'd rather they created a character who is clearly mixed. You don't end up with a very specifically Irish surname without being of Irish decent. It might have worked with a generic widespread name like, say, Smith, but a name like O'Neil on someone not Irish is the part that has bugged me. (But that's probably also the genealogist in me that can't buy it.)


Personally though, I'm more concerned we'll be stuck having the "teenage" part of the title shoved to the forefront from now on and making them increasingly kiddie in shows/movies. Really starting to want the in name title only bit back. Nothing wrong with "older" Turtles who can be role models (excluding the violent part) instead of peers driven into being teen stereotypes.

*Is a person of color with an Irish surname* ^^’

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

More like what's wrong with redheads being white? Are there even any black redheads in real life? Not counting hair dye of course.

Yup. I went to school with one. I was surprised. His name was Teshawn. He was a friend of mine. My aunt also had reddish brown hair. It looked like a nice even mix of brown and red. I had a few red hairs as a kid, but…I played with the scissors. ^^ lol It’s rare, but they do exist. Remember, due to this country’s history, most blacks have some mixture in their ancestry. I even had some older relatives on my mother’s side who could “pass”.

[CyberCubed]