Splinter and April's ages from version to version.

[Tetsu Deinonychus]

Is it me or are April and Splinter getting younger with each relaunch?

In the original Mirage comics it was pretty clear that Splinter was old! He mentions at the beginning that he is close to the end of his life (though, actually he lives a good 20 years after that), and aside from a few mystical tricks and nerve touches and such, he's shown to actually be less combat capable than the young, spry turtles, due to his age and health.

And, April's age is actually fairly ambiguous. But she definitely seems about late 20s/early 30s to me. At the very least she seems more like someone who's been on her own for awhile and not some "fresh out of college" young adult just starting out (aside from letting teenage boys into her apartment and offering them beer). Of course, it could just be that people aged faster and got their adult lives started sooner a couple decades ago.

Now the Fred Wolf series and 90s movies seem to follow suit with Mirage.

FW Splinter is in better health and better shape than Mirage Splinter, but he's quite clearly meant to be viewed as an elderly Grandfather figure just the same. On the other end of the spectrum is movie Splinter who's as old and geriatric as we've ever seen him. It's made clear that he's ancient and in no physical condition to fight, which is what makes his defeating Shredder (by using Shredder's own aggresion against him, not by physically overpowering him) a cool surprise.

In FW and the Movies, April is a bold career woman, devoted to journalism. At no point does it seem like she's just getting started in newscasting. She's a veteren reporter who's always on the case.

So, I think it's safe to say that during the "golden age" of the franchise it was very clear that Splinter was elderly and April was dinstinctly a "grown up".

Now we get to the 4Kids series and it seems there's been a few age changes.

Splinter is suddenly less like a geriatric grandpa and more like a middle aged Dad, which fits the father of teenage sons. It's also the start of the whole "Splinter is a more capable fighter than all the turtles put together, not just because of his greater experience and skills but also because he's still in excellent physical shape" thing.

And, 4Kids April seems much more clearly in her 20s. She's drawn in a more youthful style, wearing more youthful clothes (the bare midriff) and you get the feeling she's not completely used to being on her own yet. She seems more like someone just out of college. Her being Baxter's assistant comes across more like an internship than a steady career.

And, now with the Nickelodeon version the change is complete. April is now a full fledged teenager the same age as the turtles. And, this Splinter I'd barely call middle aged. If it weren't for the Tang Shen/Miwa thing I'm not sure I'd believe him to be in his 40s. He's more like a young dad who got started early than the middle aged Dad of the 4Kids series or the elderly wiseman of Mirage and FW.

Now, I'm not too familar with IDW TMNT (as soon as I can afford to collect regular monthly comics again it's at the top of my list, I swear). And, I haven't been able to subject myself to the potential horror of "Bay-Turtles" yet. So, if the trend extends to those versions, feel free to fill in the blanks.

While I like the way things are in the Nick version I hope they don't keep this pattern going in future reboots. A version where April is the tag-along kid sidekick and Splinter is more like a college-aged big brother to the turtles would just be bizzare.

So, any thoughts?