TMNT politics

[Mr._Mutant_Man]

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

"The phenomenon I fell in love with is a narrative about 4 individuals living in New York City, who have to hide from society and living in isolation because they are different and they are ninjas which makes them cool. These factors made TMNT an original and fascinating story."

Wow, that pretty much sums it up for me too! Don't get me wrong though, I don't mind a little change of pace every once and a while. But at the end of the day, this should be what defines the Turtles.

Take exhibits A & B...

Batman has been around since the 30s and is more popular and fresh today than ever. Is this because he has "gone in a different direction" than being a morally-driven vigilantee agent of justice in Gotham City? Has he ever felt the need to expose his identity to the world so that he can walk around in the daytime in peace?

Not a chance.

What about Superman, the original comicbook superhero? Does his relevance endure because he decided his classic blue & red color scheme was too passe? Is his boy-scout morality too naive to appeal to new generations?

No, the less Superman changes the better.

As it is with the most enduring superhero types, so should it be with the Turtles.

The thing is though, is that from the beginning Batman and Superman have fit a formula. That formula has been expanded upon so that the storytelling is a little deeper and more detailed, but the basic formula is still that Batman and Superman fight evil doers and try to maintain justice, typically by battling supervillains.

The Turtles cartoon shared that formula with the Turtles fighting Shredder every episode, although it was done with the kind of goofiness of old comic book plots. The comic on the other hand didn't necessarily always have the general superhero formula. It did from time to time in the Turtles' major storylines, but a lot of the old stories were wacky adventures too. It makes the Turtles comic kind of refreshing, that sometimes it could be a superhero story and at other times it would be all sorts of different adventures.

I will say though, that I don't like the sound of this new "cyber world" story. Maybe it works for other cartoon series, but The Turtles shouldn't be made to fit that mold of the new Megaman cartoon or whatever it is they are trying to rip off. If it is done as a story arc for a couple of episodes, that's fine, but it shouldn't become the new formula for the show. I don't get why they feel the need to change the turtles that way. Isn't that Naruto show that's really popular these days all about ninjas? Why not emphasize the ninja aspects of the Ninja Turtles then?