What TMNT iteration had the best art style
 

I know I've mentioned tmnt art styles before when it comes to personal favourite comic artists and illustrators, but when it comes to specific TMNT iterations and media

which one has an art style that you think suited the turtles the best?

we can also generally discuss our thoughts on the art styles depicted in TMNT


Fred wolf era:

the show from seasons 1-7: I think they look cool,cheerful and cute, very muppet-like in a way when it comes to their faces, I like the belt buckle designs and colour-coded masks.

Red sky seasons: the shading and designs are great here, definitely puts more emphasis on the turtles looking more cool and badass than goofy and cute.

Greg Martin VHS art: oh these are really well drawn, the shading, the variety of poses, the colour variety is pleasing to the eye and they balance the turtles looking like cool fighters and looking like cute cartoons very well.

Merchandise art: some of these have neat poses and designs, I like the 90s valentine cards

Dengeki comics manga: similar to the show's art style but with more manga-like expressions, good shading and poses, there was also the one-off TMNT Gaiden manga where they looked a bit like the next mutation turtles.

90s movies: the Jim Henson suits were very impressive for the time, a good mix of influence from the cartoon and comic

2003 4kids cartoon (season 1-5) : much more faithful to the comic in style and facial expressions

2007 TMNT: the texture is really good on the turtles, but aside from masks and outfits it's tricky to tell them apart from each other

Fast Forward/Back to the Sewer: the colours are a lot more saturated and back to the sewer has more anime like eyes, some details are nice but I prefer the season 1-5 look for the 2003 series

2012 TMNT: the texture, the detail, it's so great, they look amazing here,
a good middle ground

Rise: not for everyone but I like how there are more ways to tell the turtles apart from each other other than mask colour, Mikey's stickers, Donatello's jet pack, the stripes on Leonardo, Raphael's buff build.

Bay Turtles: they have some neat details and textures but I prefer the 90s movie turtles

IDW: interesting shading and poses, other than that no comment since I haven't read them

I maintain the height of TMNT in art is the final evolution of the Kevin & Peter pencilling and inking each other, last seen in TMNT Vol. 1, #50 and the covers of TMNT Vol. 2.

The City at War visuals are epic and anything by Mike Dooney is amazing.

I think 2012 TMNT has the best art style. The animation was great in that show, plus the character designs were great.

YES, I love the texture and variety in the 2012 style,

Prefer it when the turtles look more alike, their design in 1987 will always be the best, glad they brought that back for Shredder's Revenge, and also their upvoming appearance in Knockout City. The 2003 design worked just fine too, giving them different skin shades works fine. 2007 was a good design as well. Also, Injustice 2 was a nice look on them too.

My personal favourite is the design of the Fred Wolf Turtles during seasons 6 and 7, I think its a good balance compared to the various other artstyles during the shows run.

1) Eastman and Laird in concert in Mirage vol.1 10/11/50.
2) Michael Dooney Mirage anytime
3) 2003 Show first 5 seasons
4)TMNT in time video game
5) TMNT SNES Tournament fighters
6) Chris Allen (sp?) Archie Comics
7) 1994-1996 Red Sky of the Fred Wolf show

Early work from Kevin or Peter is the peak for me. Lots of misc covers and artwork. Here are some examples:

https://fan.kevineastmanstudios.com/...rtles-in-time/

https://fan.kevineastmanstudios.com/...ot-showdown-2/

Or the cover to Mirage TMNT #10.

I also love the Greg Martin VHS art though. It's so pleasing to look at.

I'll basically do by series:

Fred Wolf: Either Season 1 or Season 6-7. Best art styles for the show

2k3: Looked basically the same prior to FF.

Nick 2012: Same, besides the CG naturally improving as the show went on

Mirage: City at War and Return to New York is probably the best Mirage ever looked.

IDW: Cityfall.

Archie: Chris Allan is the definitive Archie TMNT artist.

Mirage is the best, minus the guest era (although some of those redesigns were awesome too).

I love alot of them but those red season designs were on point!

This might be unpopular but I really LOVE the art style of SNES Tournament Fighters. It has a very comic book vibe to it.