Kevin Eastman wanted April to be black?
 

Kevin has often said his interpretation of April was a slightly dark skinned (although not very dark), female in her 20's with curly black hair.

April's name itself came from Kevin's real-life girlfriend at the time who was named April, and I believe she was black, although I could be wrong here.

Tales #7 (the one with the dinosaurs and Savanti), April looks very dark skinned in that issue, and if you didn't know better, you would say she was black.

Why do you think April was always drawn as white otherwise, (as well as when the cartoons/movies started, she was white with red hair most of the time), yet Kevin wanted her to be black?

Yes, I have first hand account of this.

Dawnatello told, I believe this very board, the story Kevin had told at Comic-Con. Peter went nuts and sent her a scathing e-mail calling everyone liars. And as recently as last year he claimed to have never done this. But he did.

Basically this.

I don't think we'll ever get a clear answer from Eastman and Laird, but I'm inclined to think that the April who appeared in TMNT #2 was intended to be redheaded caucasian. I think the best evidence might be the 1986 reprint of that issue, which clearly seems to depict her as such. I've seen some of Corben's earlier sketches for this cover and even those seem to share the same color scheme.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56...MNT2cCover.jpg

Jeez, I never realized how friggin' long that sword is.

Alright, I just checked Kevin Eastman's Artobiography and here's what it says:
So I'm guessing April (at least the one who made it to print) was never supposed to have been an African American, but the name was an homage to one of Kevin's old flames.

:tlol::tlol:

Just curious. Why do people share this opinion on Laird?

I don't know, but it may be that he tends to hold himself above everyone else and looks down on you. He seems to get overly defensive over sometimes just little things people might make less than stellar comments on. He doesn't appear to take criticism very well.

I have never met the man myself, but by recounts of people who have and reading through his blog and some letters from which he used to publish in Volume 4, I'm wary of coming face to face with him at some point in my life. Which is kind of sad when you think about it because he is someone I would want to meet being the creator of the characters who has had the most impact on my life. However, it's not enjoyable to tiptoe around someone wondering if even the way you walk will offend them.

I guess it depends on catching him on a good or bad day because I've met him lots of times and he seemed like a genuinely nice person.My first time meeting him I even knocked over a sign by mistake when I reached to shake his hand and he laughed it off with me lol. Sucks people have had bad experiences with him though.

I also suspect that part of it is his bad reputation when it comes to his reaction to Venus DiMilo from Next Mutation. While she isn't the most popular Ninja Turtle character - one might even call her "the Scrappy Doo of the Turtle Multiverse" - Kevin Eastman will at least acknowledge that she existed. Peter Laird, however, has been known to get angry and refuse to talk about her whenever she's mentioned.

I'm with Leonardo Mystic on this; it's a shame that he's created such amazing, enthralling, inspiring characters, but he himself may not be the best company to have around. I believe that when one is an artist, mistakes are inevitable - a natural part of the creative process. But in order to improve as an artist, one must learn from one's mistakes, and to learn from one's mistakes, one must accept one's mistakes. I think Eastman, despite being the one who left the Turtles first, may be the better artist of the two for this reason, at least in this sense.

HAHA! There are some decent looking April's in the Eastman and Laird Run. I think Lawson's manly looking April take the cake for fugliest looking April's though.

Well, people are people and the things they do don't change who they are sometimes. So maybe Laird was a dick all of his life, and having a hand in creating some of the most awesome characters of all time.... doesn't make him less of a dick.

Reading his blog, I get the feeling that Laird is starting to become much less of dick after selling the rights to the Turtles. He's going through some pretty major soul-searching/mid-life crisis.

Funny thing, I found my old copy of the Official Treasury and a story is related that Kevin sent Playmates sketches of April based on the Corben design and much to his surprise they accepted them.

I think I left out a part... :/

One thing is for sure from that cover. April O'Neil was always meant to have a huge rack.

Simply put, you all have it right, in my opinion --- PL is a not a person I desire to meet, regardless that he created my childhood heroes. He is way too insecure sounding and hot/cold, Eastman has always been straight forward and from what it appears, honest. PL decided not to come to the TMNT 25th Celebration in NYC, yet he thought it was okay to send in a 2 minute clip of himself apologizing for not being there. If you're not going to show up, why would you think spending a cheap video in of yourself was compensation? Kevin Eastman was there, and he doesn't even own the rights to TMNT anymore. Laird sold the rights to Nick a few months after the 25th celebration.

Case in point, PL is of a yellow-bellied ilk, as opposed to Kevin Eastman who seems to at least value integrity concerning his artistic endeavors.

a black April would have been kick ass!

I like Mr Laird. I met him at NYCC a couple years ago. He's just a more literal/serious person than Kevin. Apples/Oranges. I wish him the best in his future stuff.

And April: I think it makes sense to give her an Irish background, but that early stuff is pretty ambiguous.

Ever seen the colored reprint of vol. 1 #32 (Turtles go to Egypt)? She's full-on black, no doubt about it, in that one.

http://whooties.homestead.com/files/blackapril-sm.jpg

She's not toned that way in the first printing, so it's kind of weird.

http://whooties.homestead.com/files/whiteapril-sm.jpg

It's interesting to see that, with that frizzy black hair she has, she really can go both ways.

Issue 32 is really out in left field. April is actually a reporter in that issue.

Thanks for scan.