Do you feel that they're introducing too many characters too quickly?

[CyberCubed]

One thing that concerns me about the IDW series is they seem to be introducing a LOT of characters very quickly, and not all of them are getting the proper development they need. Just within 1 year we've gotten:

4 Turtles
Splinter
April
Casey
Angel
Shredder
Karai
Alopex
Krang
Baxter Stockman
Old Hob
Traag
Fugitoid
Casey's Dad
Neutrinos
Slash
Bebop/Rocksteady
IIja
etc.

That's already over 20 characters. Anyone else feel that introducing too many characters so quickly is going to make some lost in the shuffle? Already we've never seen Bebop/Rocksteady reappear since the Raph special over a year ago, and the Turtles personalities in this universe could still use more fleshing out.

[BentonGrey]

Naw, they're introducing a lot of characters, but they're spending their time developing the important ones. If they don't get around to bringing Bebop and Rocksteady back for a while because they're busy working on the central cast, that seems to me like a good thing. They're introducing characters, building their world, and once they've begun to wrap up the story arcs they've started they can start to explore the other corners of this setting that they've previously only peeked into. :tsmile:

[PAAATE]

Yeah, they should slow down. They've paid thousands of dollars to produce these comics, the comics won't go away for at least another seven years. Probably ten.

[pannoni1]

Typically, the first year/season of a series is more welcoming to introduce a lot of characters since the plots are just getting introduced, and this allows both primary characters that are mainstays along with secondary recurring characters as well as one-shots. Typically as a series moves along, fewer and fewer characters are introduced, and this is also true with Mirage, Archie, the OT, and 4kids. That said, since TMNT is now a veteran franchise, it's easy to relate to many characters that have appeared in previous incarnations based upon the intended audience, and that doesn't bother me so far.

[erfolgsdiplomat]

That's already over 20 characters. Anyone else feel that introducing too many characters so quickly is going to make some lost in the shuffle? Already we've never seen Bebop/Rocksteady reappear since the Raph special over a year ago, and the Turtles personalities in this universe could still use more fleshing out.

Hello
My first post. Lets see how much I will suck. :tgrin:

It will be a rather sad posting, because I feel with you. Eventhough the main storyline developed very slowly from issue to issue they just pumped up the whole new universe with too much characters already.

I personally wish they would have focused more on the turtles' experiences after the "escape" from the lab instead of pushing xy months fast forward. More focus on their development. Rivaly with Old Hob. Gaining skills. - I mean really. Why the sexualact are they skilled ninjas a few months after their mutation? I know the reincarnation (but they were children back then) concept, which also lacks too much of interest (there are quite a lot mutants already, why not let them be reincarnations aswell? where's the meaning? just a wonder is a bit thin for the backstory).- I wished there would have been a slower progress with more individual adventures that would tile up a whole story. Instead it feels like they are teasing constantly epicness without really delivering because of putting the whole universe too fast together.

I loved in that sense the style of Volume 4, that one only hurt by never delivering regulary and eventually at all any publications. But the way how single aspects and characters would gain detail was awesome and let the thing become really personal. I can't feel that any personality for any IDW character despite sudden retro shocks (Bepop, Rocksteady). There is a lot of stuff going on, but most lacks really deepness imho. And nearly all characters seem to suffer because of that. :tcry:

[ToTheNines]

Tom and the gang do seem to be a little too ambitious. As long as the payoff is satisfying, I don't mind.

[Lampy]

Typically, the first year/season of a series is more welcoming introduce a lot of characters since the plots are just getting introduced, and this allows both primary characters that are mainstays along with secondary recurring characters as well as one-shots. Typically as a series moves along, fewer and fewer characters are introduced, and this is also true with Mirage, Archie, the OT, and 4kids. That said, since TMNT is now a veteran franchise, it's easy to relate to many characters that have appeared in previous incarnations based upon the intended audience, and that doesn't bother me so far.

i tend to agree with this. and it's not just the Turtles series... most comics pump out characters within the first year and once they're fully established characters... they can finally develop them as the already developed old characters are more fleshed out and newer characters are being introduced.

but i do recognize that a lot of characters within the span of a couple of day (in the comic) is very ambitious. it'll be like the Turtles had one amazingly eventful day. If the events took place over the course of a few weeks or months rather than a few day... then it wouldn't feel as if they're introducing so many characters all at once.

[erfolgsdiplomat]

i tend to agree with this. and it's not just the Turtles series... most comics pump out characters within the first year and once they're fully established characters... they can finally develop them as the already developed old characters are more fleshed out and newer characters are being introduced.

but i do recognize that a lot of characters within the span of a couple of day (in the comic) is very ambitious. it'll be like the Turtles had one amazingly eventful day. If the events took place over the course of a few weeks or months rather than a few day... then it wouldn't feel as if they're introducing so many characters all at once.

But I wonder, should a TMNT comic be a "typical" comic?
I mean just look at their origin, which was in some way a friendly mock-up, a play with common super heroes comics. It's about four freaking mutants that move like ninjas. In the beginning they were actually nothing but assassins.

I think you could flesh out characters better when they have their own stories instead of scaling up a big story and including all of them from the beginning. It's like forcing their further purpose from the beginning into our minds. While original Mirage characters like Rat King, Leatherhead, Shredder oder this timespacechick Renet had their own stories. They could then become possibly part of something bigger while being fleshed out then already.
Does this make sense?
I like what you write about the perception of time and days in the IDW comic. That's somehow close to my personal problem with this reincarnation.
I also don't need new characters introduced nearly every episode.
By the way, who was that french speaking ninja?

[Lampy]

the french ninja... that was the Savate ninja. i'm assuming that's a whole other ninja clan from France that will spring up in the upcoming annual by the looks of the cover. i too think that characters are better fleshed out when they have their own story arcs. but the idw series is made up of interlocking/overlapping story arcs. so maybe that's the problem? i don't know...

[thelouisguy]

I like the 4 issue story arcs. They work well to collect in trades and gives people multiple jumping on points. I prefer this to one-shot stories where each issue is a self contained story or to super long, drawn out story arcs that prevent new readers from jumping on if they missed the last 10 issues. IDW has a nice formula going and I would not change a thing.

I also like the fact that they introduce things/characters early and develop them later on. A nice example is the Fugitoid issue we just had. It gave a really nice back story to Chet who was a character who was just there. It also makes me want to go back and re-read the entire series over again. This is great for a series because honestly, how many of you go back and reread comics? For the most part, comic books are a disposable medium; you read them to advance story, appreciate the art, collect but do not go back 5 months to reread any issues. I have gone back to reread Mirage Turtles comics, but those are over 15 years old and I had not read them in over a decade. (I am generalizing and that might not be how you read comic books. I understand that.)

As it was also stated, we should see more with the French ninja in the Kevin's Annual. I am glad that they are only getting to him now because had they fleshed his story out more when he first appeared, there would have been way too much going on. I like that they decided to set up a tease for future issues and kept that issue clear and concise.

[Lampy]

As it was also stated, we should see more with the French ninja in the Kevin's Annual. I am glad that they are only getting to him now because had they fleshed his story out more when he first appeared, there would have been way too much going on. I like that they decided to set up a tease for future issues and kept that issue clear and concise.

yup. also... had they introduced the savate ninjas right after #6... it would detract from the storyline they were working on. so i'm glad they held it off too. by having the savate ninja appear... they also gave the turtles a chance to see the foot in action for the first time (even though they didn't know it was the foot yet). so it's good they put that story aside for a while to get to the main point.