Powder
10-11-2022, 08:00 PM
In 1984, the original Mirage comics debuted, & that breakout iteration set a standard for certain story elements & characters to always come back in some form.
The Fred Wolf series comes along, borrows & significantly changes a number of these elements, & from then on, does entirely its own thing. Beyond Shredder, The Foot, & a loose concept of Utroms, there is no adaptation of previous material. You could argue this was once the most unique version, but since everything that came after is based on it, it's not as unique anymore.
Archie comics begins as a Fred Wolf adaptation, then spin-off, but eventually follows the same formula of leaving other things behind in favor of creating original stories/characters that for the most part fit the tone/style of the cartoon it was based on. I'd argue the latter half is mostly forgotten/unused.
TMNT gets its own anime OVA in Japan, based on a toyline. Uses Fred Wolf's universe as a jumping off point/setting but creates Super Sentai/tokusatsu inspired armor/mutations, kaiju, Japanese folklore, etc. Cool as hell if you like Japanese media, but most dismiss it as a novelty.
The live action films borrow this & that from Mirage/Fred Wolf narratively but introduce a lot of original albeit safe characters.
Image takes the turtle reigns for a time, with their "Vol. 3", which was intended to be a continuation of Mirage, but went into some pretty extreme territories to take TMNT into the then world of modern 90's comics. It was notably violent, Superhero-heavy, & altered each of the turtles to be visually distinct. Donatello becomes a cyborg, Raphael inherits The Shredder mantle, among other things. Folks don't take kindly to those parts. They introduce some new characters & themes but largely come off as Mirage on steroids.
The Next Mutation is almost entirely original. Beyond the use of Shredder/The Foot (both dismissed within the first few episodes) it features a new & diverse cast of villains, a twist on the origin which includes a fifth turtle (an infamously controversial move), designs which deviate from the status quo, Chinese mysticism, astral projection, etc. Black-balled.
4kids develops an animated series with co-creator Peter Laird, as a somewhat kiddified adaptation of the Mirage comics, with some original characters/stories added, & many creative liberties taken. Over time, it sticks to telling its own tales, & goes through several iterations of re-boots with new concepts & characters, from living in the future, a cyber world, & a mystical realm with dragon avatar transformations. All of which disliked by the majority of fans.
TMNT, the CGI film, while standing on its own, tonally, may as well be the 4kids series. It does introduce new characters & ideas, but stays pretty close to home as far as what was then currently established for the brand. The film was a success but most fans were bored to death by Winters & the monsters.
IDW starts up a brand new TMNT comic book series. It begins with a shockingly unique origin, reincarnation meets lab testing, as well as a brand new protagonist, & themes of the supernatural. At first, it leans into Mirage's tone & art style, but very quickly becomes TMNT jambalaya, which is to say a little bit of everything all at once, re-using characters from Fred Wolf, 4kids, etc, & at times even re-telling the same stories with a new coat of paint.
2012 debuted our first CGI-animated cartoon, which more or less borrowed the Fred Wolf origin story, with some minor changes. It creates many new original characters, but it too turned out to be TMNT jambalaya, adapting characters/stories from Mirage, Fred Wolf, & the live action films, with a dash of original things scattered throughout.
Michael Bay & company began work on their live action Platinum Dunes films around that same time. The original "Blue Door" script leaked, which was something completely insane & original, the only familiar or "traditional" components being Bebop/Rocksteady's inclusion. The turtles were aliens from another dimension kept & tortured as lab subjects by the millitary, led by a Shredder (Colonel Schrader) who himself was secretely a creature from space, covered in spikes in his fully revealed form. Fans lashed out quite vocally, & it was significantly re-written to follow a fairly typical pattern. The designs were very distinct, but widely regarded as the worst aspect of the series.
Batman VS TMNT, sort of a footnote version, but nonetheless a very successful one. TMNT jambalaya. Fred Wolf references/characters with IDW tone/style. Plays it very safe, only includes what the most basic of fans will be familiar with, for accessibility's sake. Understandable, given it's a crossover with such a famously popular & iconic property.
Rise of the TMNT was arguably the single most unique deviation from the norm, changing almost every possible thing imaginable. Designs, weapons, personalities, origins, settings, all different, featuring also a cast of mostly new villains/friends, high-profile voice talent, & a relatively off-brand sense of humor & art direction to boot.
The Last Ronin may be only a mini-series as of this post, but it's about to get a prequel, & may set a new precedent in turtle comics moving forward. Suffice to say, it is an original universe, but clearly inspired by Mirage/IDW. The original story pitch, drummed up by Pete & Kev in 1987, was intended to be FOR Mirage (if you've read vol. 2 #1, remember the opening sequence of a dismal future, that's what was being teased there), but instead, it was re-worked into something that would stand alone. It introduces some new characters, but they basically just replace the likes of Shadow, Pimiko, etc, & Karai once again has family ties to Shredder as in 4kids, IDW & so on. I would argue it too is a kind of TMNT jambalaya, though borrowing significantly less from Fred Wolf outside of perhaps robotic Foot Soldiers.
The most unique & original interpretations, I'd say, are as follows:
-The Next Mutation
-Rise of the TMNT
-"Blue Door" draft of PD films
All 3, were for the most part, panned by fans.
Whenever The Next Mutation comes up, people say things like "We don't talk about that one." or use it as the rock bottom point of reference for how bad TMNT can be. It took over 20 years for the world to warm up to the idea of a fifth, female turtle, as a result. None of the characters it established would ever be revisited again, until 2022, in which a Frankenstein's monster inspired version of Venus was introduced in the IDW series, perhaps serving as a commentary for what she was or represents. Nothing remotely Chinese has really been drawn from since. The turtles not being blood related is an idea that still boils blood for many, even if realistically, the turtles would likely NOT be from the same clutch of eggs anyway (going by how pet shops work). Overhead bandanas didn't make a full-time return until Rise, & they were not well received in that version either.
Rise has an extremely passionate cult following, but is overwhelmingly rallied against by the majority of the fandom, at least on social media, anyway. Its angular, fast paced, anime-inspired animation style & modern humor is off-putting for most fans over a certain age, who are used to more traditional western cartoons. Creative changes to the main four, like making each turtle's design & turtle species unique, altering Mike & Raph's weapons, the introduction of mystical powers, & Leonardo's leader role going to Raph, were also large points of contention. It took place in a world inhabited by Yokai, creatures of Japanese folklore, & put the turtles in scenarios they would never have otherwise been inserted in, from Basketball tournaments to working in the food service industry to comedic effect.
The leaked "Blue Door" script & its concept of alien turtles was considered so sacrilegious & poorly conceived that it made national headlines & forced a million dollar company to scramble for ways to correct it. The turtles had to be broken out of a military facility by Casey Jones, who worked there as night security & was shocked & horrified upon discovering them in captivity. Over the course of the story, it would be revealed they were the "last" of their species, from a planet on which their kind was once dominant. Everyone hated the idea of turtles/Shredder who were not of this earth, or that we would eventually see a lot more of their kind in potential sequels.
In some of the other, more successful series', there would be turning points that went into original territory, but those periods would also be regarded poorly. The 4kids series, for example, many of its original characters are disliked, or forgotten, particularly when it concerns the Ninja Tribunal, Fast Forward, & Back To The Sewers seasons. The turtles becoming giant dragons, digital entities, etc, all met with lukewarm to outright negative responses. The Red Sky seasons of Fred Wolf's 'toon were also not terribly successful or fondly remembered, despite a wide variety of original characters & themes being introduced. Any time Shredder (& to a lesser extent Krang/Bebop & Rocksteady) aren't a part of the status quo in some way, viewership goes down, & complaints are made. When settings other than NYC or Dimension X are involved, it's the same.
The Fred Wolf series comes along, borrows & significantly changes a number of these elements, & from then on, does entirely its own thing. Beyond Shredder, The Foot, & a loose concept of Utroms, there is no adaptation of previous material. You could argue this was once the most unique version, but since everything that came after is based on it, it's not as unique anymore.
Archie comics begins as a Fred Wolf adaptation, then spin-off, but eventually follows the same formula of leaving other things behind in favor of creating original stories/characters that for the most part fit the tone/style of the cartoon it was based on. I'd argue the latter half is mostly forgotten/unused.
TMNT gets its own anime OVA in Japan, based on a toyline. Uses Fred Wolf's universe as a jumping off point/setting but creates Super Sentai/tokusatsu inspired armor/mutations, kaiju, Japanese folklore, etc. Cool as hell if you like Japanese media, but most dismiss it as a novelty.
The live action films borrow this & that from Mirage/Fred Wolf narratively but introduce a lot of original albeit safe characters.
Image takes the turtle reigns for a time, with their "Vol. 3", which was intended to be a continuation of Mirage, but went into some pretty extreme territories to take TMNT into the then world of modern 90's comics. It was notably violent, Superhero-heavy, & altered each of the turtles to be visually distinct. Donatello becomes a cyborg, Raphael inherits The Shredder mantle, among other things. Folks don't take kindly to those parts. They introduce some new characters & themes but largely come off as Mirage on steroids.
The Next Mutation is almost entirely original. Beyond the use of Shredder/The Foot (both dismissed within the first few episodes) it features a new & diverse cast of villains, a twist on the origin which includes a fifth turtle (an infamously controversial move), designs which deviate from the status quo, Chinese mysticism, astral projection, etc. Black-balled.
4kids develops an animated series with co-creator Peter Laird, as a somewhat kiddified adaptation of the Mirage comics, with some original characters/stories added, & many creative liberties taken. Over time, it sticks to telling its own tales, & goes through several iterations of re-boots with new concepts & characters, from living in the future, a cyber world, & a mystical realm with dragon avatar transformations. All of which disliked by the majority of fans.
TMNT, the CGI film, while standing on its own, tonally, may as well be the 4kids series. It does introduce new characters & ideas, but stays pretty close to home as far as what was then currently established for the brand. The film was a success but most fans were bored to death by Winters & the monsters.
IDW starts up a brand new TMNT comic book series. It begins with a shockingly unique origin, reincarnation meets lab testing, as well as a brand new protagonist, & themes of the supernatural. At first, it leans into Mirage's tone & art style, but very quickly becomes TMNT jambalaya, which is to say a little bit of everything all at once, re-using characters from Fred Wolf, 4kids, etc, & at times even re-telling the same stories with a new coat of paint.
2012 debuted our first CGI-animated cartoon, which more or less borrowed the Fred Wolf origin story, with some minor changes. It creates many new original characters, but it too turned out to be TMNT jambalaya, adapting characters/stories from Mirage, Fred Wolf, & the live action films, with a dash of original things scattered throughout.
Michael Bay & company began work on their live action Platinum Dunes films around that same time. The original "Blue Door" script leaked, which was something completely insane & original, the only familiar or "traditional" components being Bebop/Rocksteady's inclusion. The turtles were aliens from another dimension kept & tortured as lab subjects by the millitary, led by a Shredder (Colonel Schrader) who himself was secretely a creature from space, covered in spikes in his fully revealed form. Fans lashed out quite vocally, & it was significantly re-written to follow a fairly typical pattern. The designs were very distinct, but widely regarded as the worst aspect of the series.
Batman VS TMNT, sort of a footnote version, but nonetheless a very successful one. TMNT jambalaya. Fred Wolf references/characters with IDW tone/style. Plays it very safe, only includes what the most basic of fans will be familiar with, for accessibility's sake. Understandable, given it's a crossover with such a famously popular & iconic property.
Rise of the TMNT was arguably the single most unique deviation from the norm, changing almost every possible thing imaginable. Designs, weapons, personalities, origins, settings, all different, featuring also a cast of mostly new villains/friends, high-profile voice talent, & a relatively off-brand sense of humor & art direction to boot.
The Last Ronin may be only a mini-series as of this post, but it's about to get a prequel, & may set a new precedent in turtle comics moving forward. Suffice to say, it is an original universe, but clearly inspired by Mirage/IDW. The original story pitch, drummed up by Pete & Kev in 1987, was intended to be FOR Mirage (if you've read vol. 2 #1, remember the opening sequence of a dismal future, that's what was being teased there), but instead, it was re-worked into something that would stand alone. It introduces some new characters, but they basically just replace the likes of Shadow, Pimiko, etc, & Karai once again has family ties to Shredder as in 4kids, IDW & so on. I would argue it too is a kind of TMNT jambalaya, though borrowing significantly less from Fred Wolf outside of perhaps robotic Foot Soldiers.
The most unique & original interpretations, I'd say, are as follows:
-The Next Mutation
-Rise of the TMNT
-"Blue Door" draft of PD films
All 3, were for the most part, panned by fans.
Whenever The Next Mutation comes up, people say things like "We don't talk about that one." or use it as the rock bottom point of reference for how bad TMNT can be. It took over 20 years for the world to warm up to the idea of a fifth, female turtle, as a result. None of the characters it established would ever be revisited again, until 2022, in which a Frankenstein's monster inspired version of Venus was introduced in the IDW series, perhaps serving as a commentary for what she was or represents. Nothing remotely Chinese has really been drawn from since. The turtles not being blood related is an idea that still boils blood for many, even if realistically, the turtles would likely NOT be from the same clutch of eggs anyway (going by how pet shops work). Overhead bandanas didn't make a full-time return until Rise, & they were not well received in that version either.
Rise has an extremely passionate cult following, but is overwhelmingly rallied against by the majority of the fandom, at least on social media, anyway. Its angular, fast paced, anime-inspired animation style & modern humor is off-putting for most fans over a certain age, who are used to more traditional western cartoons. Creative changes to the main four, like making each turtle's design & turtle species unique, altering Mike & Raph's weapons, the introduction of mystical powers, & Leonardo's leader role going to Raph, were also large points of contention. It took place in a world inhabited by Yokai, creatures of Japanese folklore, & put the turtles in scenarios they would never have otherwise been inserted in, from Basketball tournaments to working in the food service industry to comedic effect.
The leaked "Blue Door" script & its concept of alien turtles was considered so sacrilegious & poorly conceived that it made national headlines & forced a million dollar company to scramble for ways to correct it. The turtles had to be broken out of a military facility by Casey Jones, who worked there as night security & was shocked & horrified upon discovering them in captivity. Over the course of the story, it would be revealed they were the "last" of their species, from a planet on which their kind was once dominant. Everyone hated the idea of turtles/Shredder who were not of this earth, or that we would eventually see a lot more of their kind in potential sequels.
In some of the other, more successful series', there would be turning points that went into original territory, but those periods would also be regarded poorly. The 4kids series, for example, many of its original characters are disliked, or forgotten, particularly when it concerns the Ninja Tribunal, Fast Forward, & Back To The Sewers seasons. The turtles becoming giant dragons, digital entities, etc, all met with lukewarm to outright negative responses. The Red Sky seasons of Fred Wolf's 'toon were also not terribly successful or fondly remembered, despite a wide variety of original characters & themes being introduced. Any time Shredder (& to a lesser extent Krang/Bebop & Rocksteady) aren't a part of the status quo in some way, viewership goes down, & complaints are made. When settings other than NYC or Dimension X are involved, it's the same.