Idea of IDW The Mighty Mutanimals
 

**Please only read this if you are up-to-date with the TMNT comics as of Issue 13**

Hey everyone, Ive been thinking over an idea in my head about an IDW version of the mutanimals and I have finally had the guts to ask you guys/gals about it.

I personally love the characters of the Mutanimals, from Man-Ray to Wingnut and think that an IDW incarnation would be a fantastic addition to the TMNT IDW mythos. With IDW being open to incorporating “mutant” characters across the many incarnations of TMNT (So far we have had hints of Bebop and Rocksteady, Slash and a few original mutant characters such as Old Hob and Alopex) I think eventually there will be a big enough roster of characters to actually form a team of Mutanimals.

Imagine the possibilities, a on-going roster of mutanimals could open up so many stories and character development opportunities, and we get to see more of these characters outside of the TMNT “screentime”

These are some of the stories I think could be very interesting

• The formation of the team and them trying to find a place in this world (Ie Kind of like the TMNT without the Guidance of Splinter or a Code of Honor/Purpose)

• Old Hob could redeeming himself or becoming less of a whipping boy and more independent badass mutant

• Bebop could split from Rocksteady for a stint with the team, or vice versa. (I would be interested to see more character development time given to these characters, instead of being the mindless henchmen cartoon henchmen we know them as)

• Man-Ray Vs Leatherhead, Protector of Nature Vs Creature of Science (I am assuming that Leatherhead is still sciencey in IDW version)

• Mutanimals going up against other teams such as the Punk Frogs or the Justice Society

• The ability to introduce characters such as Mondo Gecko, Rat King, Nobody or even Zog

Let me know of any stories you can think of, I’m interested to see what characters loyal fans would like to see together for the first time.

I understand that if this WAS going to happen, it will be years away however I’m just interested in what you guys think about these characters or if I’m forever alone in my idea

This is my dream roster (With the IDW spin on them):
Man-Ray (Leader)
Old Hob (Out for redemption)
Leatherhead (Brains + Brawn)
Zog ( The Lost Tough guy)
Wingnut and Screwloose (Comedy Duo)
Ninjara (No-nonsense Assassin)
Nobody (Wise-battleharded guy who relates because he is just as lost as these guys)

I wouldn't mind seeing a new Mutanimals, but I never really "got" what they were about. In Archie it seemed like there whole motive was to save the enviornment or something.

The only character I can see being all nature would be Man-Ray

I think Napoleon Bonafrog should join them this time, it always bugged me they left him out in Archie. Also Merdude seemed like he was becoming a member towards the end of it.

For some reason, I've always liked the Punk Frogs and wanted to see more of them.

It opens so many doors for a lot of characters to have more of an edge to them that haven't been expored in the past.

Personally, I really hope they do something special with Rocksteady and Bebop if/when they do bring them in. Damn, so many character combinations

I love the Archie material and have a soft spot in my heart for the Mutanimals but I don't believe they have any place anywhere else.

Especially not with that name, or that mission statement. There are ways to unite a band of mutants under a unifying banner -- whether friend or foe -- but I'd just as soon it not be as some kind of planeteers.

Sometime in a long-running TMNT I'd sort of like to see the turtles just meeting/defeating new people and just end up taking them on as students. Imagine Splinter's clan actually growing from him and his sons into a somewhat large force over time. Pretty much anyone effected by the mutations joining up in the fight against the people behind it, I suppose.

Maybe I just want to see Leatherhead and the Fugitoid training with the rest of the "purple division".

I wouldn't be opposed to another ongoing title, or at least periodical mini series. It could be fun to see some other mutants. Maybe make it where they have to keep moving so they don't get captured, sort of like an A Team kind of thing.

No need for Ninjara, when we have Alopex.

Blasphemer! Thou canst not say that. We need Ninjara :-p

Ninjara VS Alopex.......FIGHT!

Dude I'd pay to see that ;-)

Could happen in the Battle Nexus easy enough.

Too soon to say if they'd fit in or not. I like the idea of old hob being out for redemption. Imagine a retcon where leatherhead or someone saves him, gives him cybernetic implants and he eventually takes on the codename verminator x.

The punk frogs...ugh..I hate them. unless they are totally revamped and made into genuine punk rock frogs(leather and mohawks included) then I don't want to see them.

I honestly hate the idea of the Mutanimals as a, "team," but I like them as individual characters, if that makes any sense.

The idea of them forming a superhero team to clean up the enviornment was always lame even back in the 90's. Its why their series got killed off so fast after only 9 issues...there really isn't much to do with them.

I would like to see Mondo Gecko and Ray Fillet show up though, maybe more experiments of Krang or Shredder's.

I don't think they need to be a superhero team or be like the archie series. I just would like some way to see more of the characters outside the main TMNT storyline.

Some way of shoving more "meat" on to their characters other than what you in the in on-going and micro...its a tricky one

I'd rather this series not over do the mutants like Archie and Fred Wolf did. I mean if mutants were that common they wouldn't be hiding in the sewers. Bebop, Rocksteady, Hob, Alopex, Slash and eventually leatherhead is enough and they shouldn't even appear to prominently. Too many mutants takes away from the turtles uniqueness. It's this reason I'm praying Stockman becomes a cyborg and not a fly and that they kill off Alopex, I mean does anyone actually like her as a character?

Eastman created Alopex so I doubt she'll be killed off anytime soon.

I was thinking this earlier too, and it could be pretty neat, potentially.

Actually, Brian Lynch created Alopex. Eastman just designed him, so I guess you could say he co-created him.

I loved the Mutanimals, but I'm not sure how well it would work at the moment. If any of the old ones ever appeared, I wouldn't mind. I always loved Jagwar, Mondo, and Dredmon, but I imagine Mondo would be the only one that would be likely to appear.

Ray Fillet, Mondo, and Merdude were really the only popular ones outside of Leatherhead.

Wingnut/Screwloose are aliens from Dimension X so I don't really count them. Jaguar and Dreadmon were characters Murphy came up with and weren't part of the old toyline.

I think Wingnut/Screwloose would be easy to work into a Dimension X story.

I'd love to see the Punk Frogs. They were always some of my favorite episodes of the original cartoon. Loved the toys too. I even had my parents get me more then one of each so I could have four frogs even though Napoleon didn't look like his cartoon version.

I could see Man Ray, Mondo Gecko, and Wingnut & Screwloose working. And Wingnut & Screwloose, pretty much with their same exact origin intact 100%... their world, just another world ravaged by General Krang, same as the Archies.

I can't really decide whether or not I'd like to see the Mighty Mutanimals make a comeback.

Merdude can work easily if the Lost city of Atlantis is in the IDW universe.

Merdude is basically the TMNT version of Aquaman.

Um yea, but that was his cartoon origin story. In the Archie comics he was actually the very first person to ever be mutated.

Besides, Merdude barely counts as a Mutanimal anyway.

Wasn't he part of Atlantis in Archie too? I don't remember.

And it seemed like Merdude was become a member towards the end, had the Mutanimals comic continued he would have likely joined them after he helped Ray Fillet defeat Armaggon.

This isn't a reboot of the Archie series. If we start seeing a million mutants with ridiculous names I'm gonna stop reading.

To parrot myself:

If IDW has a version of the Mutanimals, I would hope they were a ragtag team of mutant and alien misfits across the ethical spectrum who came together basically because no one else wanted them or they had no other place to go (perhaps have a fugitive, rogue soldier, thief, cop, naive bystander (think Sara in Vol. 3, etc.) and would be a companion mini or so focusing on how these individuals learn to trust one another and work as a team in the face of adversity.

Alopex could become a member, and probably would.


The world is many shades of grey; they don't have to be either. They may have to steal something to survive, take the odd job as mercs, and yeah probably help a poor soul in need.

The Mutanimals main goal would be survival at all costs, which would inevitably put them in grey areas and have the effect of luring in more dangers.

It sounds like The Expendables to me!:twink: Though seeing a mutant Chuck Norris and Sly Stallone would be priceless in a one pannel parody!

Heck...maybe the Mutanimals could be a force of more or less aliens who team up as a force to stop Krang. Take the Wingnut and Screwloose Archie origin and add other "freedom fighters" who are also the last of their respective races whose planets were also destroyed by Krang coming together to fight him. Their ethics could even be a bit murky bringing them into conflict with the Turtles.

So aliens and not mutants. The Alienimals?

Hey, if Michael Bay can do it....

What about if Krang mutates animals on the planets he destroys and uses them to help in the obliteration of the planet's populace. Then he destroys the mutants. I mean we know that he provided Stockman with the basic components for the mutagen in IDW, whose to say he hasn't been mutating things all along. Then if some of these mutants were to survive and try to fight again Krang that could work as a modernization of the characters. Plus while they would still be aliens they would be mutants as well... There everyone should be happy now!

Yeah they could be part of Krang's army and eventually try to betray him.

Did you guys remember those pin-up pages of the Mutanimals in the old comics that drew them in Mirage style looking really vicious or realistic? There was one of Dreadmon that looked killer.

Krang can't make mutants, It's why he hired Baxter and Baxter can't even successfully make mutants anymore since the Foot stole all their stuff. It's why they only have failed experiments like Slash, though we've yet to find out whats wrong with him. Only Alopex was made successfully and on purpose BY THE FOOT.

Still not sure if I like the idea of Mutanimals in IDW, but I like what some people are saying here, forming as a sort of mutant-support group, Krang and/or Shredder's genetic experiments that go rogue, realizing they're just tools in a war that they have no stake in.

They could make a nice foil to the TMNT, the tight-knit group of turtles with guidance from Splinter, who fight a righteous cause. It could play out as a kind of X-Men/Morlocks dichotomy. The Mutanimals, with backgrounds in war and genetic labratories, would clearly have more baggage to sort out than the family-centered TMNT. Their morals and motives would be more questionable, and without clear guidance from a Splinterlike figure, there would be more dissension amongst them. The balance and order of the green machine would be nicely juxtaposed to the chaos and ferocity of a second group of rogue misfit mutants.

Do a round of MicroSeries based on the four Mutanimals who received action figures:

Leatherhead: An alligator cloned by Utroms (or some form of aliens if there aren't Utroms in IDW) who opposed Krang. His alien "parents" were killed by Krang's stone warriors.

Wingnut and Screwloose: Keep the Archie origin- refugees from a planet destroyed by Krang.

Mondo Gecko, Ray Fillet: Humans mutated either accidentally or as part of an experiment y Krang/Stockgen

add in Fugitoid, and Old Hob, who puts his grudge against Splinter and the TMNT on hold since his betrayal by Krang and Stockman runs deeper and more personal. Never use the name "Mutanimals," or the environmentalism mission. Instead, they are Honeycutt's task force to stop Krang.