Quote:
Originally Posted by Prowler
Mikey has suffered the most from TMNT becoming a kids property.
Although Donatello seemed to be heading that way based on the few Nick Toon episodes I saw as well.
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It might be because in the initial three years of the franchise Michelangelo was the least developed so the other media had the most leeway to work with. Once entering other media and that happened with Laird at the helm he did not want Leonardo to have any humor nor Donatello and wanted Raphael to not lean on his sarcastic wit that I love him for and embrace more of the questioning hothead that he is. That leaves Michelangelo left to carry the humor alone instead of Michelangelo AND Raphael or sprinkled here and there depending on the situation and ingrained somewhat in each of them.
I would argue that it was Laird's preference and the feeling humor is needed so stick it with the one the kids liked the most the first time around. So Mike is a victim of circumstance in underdevelopment and then Laird's preference to maintain humor but lean it on one individual. The culmination of this is seen in Turtles Forever when Raphael (2003) goes 'oh, great we have five Mikeys' now!'. That is an insult to my favorite Turtle and my favorite incarnation of the franchise which showed me how little they were thought of. Much later we would get Rise of The TMNT and the series premiere told me, 'yeah, these are five indistinguishable Michelangelo (2003) characters' referring to the four Turtles and April of the series.
Having the burden of carrying the humor set him up for the Nickelodeon era and the misunderstanding of Michelangelo's personality as the fun-loving, artistic, athlete interpreted as an annoying unintelligent food obsessed slacker. Yes, other media helped develop the character, but it also got him wrong when taking aspects originated in the 1987 cartoon. Contemporary versions like the New Line Films and Archie's TMNT Adventures got it so when setting up the second era Michelangelo's characterization was lost and has never recovered. However, he was done justice in IDW.
Btw, Leo. It looks like I was right to send you the Silver Age ruined Superman article. It appears that you agree with much of what was said. I don't have much opinion as I am more of a TMNT/Batman guy and I could ague that Frank Miller ruined Batman, but you made overall respectable and valid points.