Do you like it that the original toon actually took place in the 80's and early 90's?

[Dragon Turtle]

Originally Posted by Cipher Classic

I think one of the things about the 2003 cartoon that majorly bothers me is that it's set in modern times.

Turtles will always be a period piece to me. It can follow the characters to whatever decade it wants, but when you're doing TMNT, you start in the mid-eighties.

Unless you started reading the comics in the eighties and just like to grow old with the turtles, there is no particularly meaningful reason for setting the turtles beginnings in the 80's, I personally wouldn't have any problem with Mirage adopting a sliding time scale like Marvel and DC.

[Warhorse]

Originally Posted by Dragon Turtle

Unless you started reading the comics in the eighties and just like to grow old with the turtles, there is no particularly meaningful reason for setting the turtles beginnings in the 80's, I personally wouldn't have any problem with Mirage adopting a sliding time scale like Marvel and DC.

Neither would I. The Turtles of the 87 cartoon and the 90's movies were fine, in that they were depicted in their decade that they were released. If this reboot movie is an actual go for launch, I have no problem with it being set in modern times.

Although, a 1800-1900 century timeline would be interesting to read in comic book form, or to watch unfold in an animated version like the 2k3 toon once was.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

I started this thread http://forums.thetechnodrome.com/showthread.php?t=22273 about if the TMNT lived in another time.

[Mr._Mutant_Man]

Originally Posted by Cipher Classic

Actually, if you're going to do something besides the 80s or "vaguely-defined-present-day" (which I kind of hate), I've always thought setting the Turtles in the Red Scare '50s could make for a really cool alternate version.

You have an increasingly sci-fi oriented culture, the nuclear family, constant paranoia (that the Turtles could really run with), Japan going through a major cultural shift. All good stuff.

Maybe April in a poodle skirt, too?

[Type 97 Chi-ha]

Originally Posted by Mr._Mutant_Man

Maybe April in a poodle skirt, too?

I don't know if there were female TV reporters in that era. If there were, April would hardly dress in a poodle skirt; she'd have to look professional. But she'd definitely be wearing a woman's hat.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by Cipher Classic

Actually, if you're going to do something besides the 80s or "vaguely-defined-present-day" (which I kind of hate), I've always thought setting the Turtles in the Red Scare '50s could make for a really cool alternate version.

You have an increasingly sci-fi oriented culture, the nuclear family, constant paranoia (that the Turtles could really run with), Japan going through a major cultural shift. All good stuff.

I love Cold War fiction (best if it's set in the 1950's and 60's, but the 70's and 80's work well too), with spies sneaking around the borders, and people being afraid of the USSR police instead of the 2009 flu pandemic. The "Vacation in Europe" would also have been much cooler in the 1950's and 60's. Back then it was the "real" Cold War (you had the Berlin Wall, the riots in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 196.

[Winnychan]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Or how in the Tales comics, Donatello playing Guitar Hero on an Xbox 360 back in the early 90's. It just seems so wrong.

and

Originally Posted by Powder

that **** pissed me off!

OMG you people are insane! I loved that part so much! That whole page was freakin' hilarious... the Oracle rant, his frantic attempts to salvage the game while bitching out Leo...

One of the things I love about the TMNT genre is that they ARE timeless... they travel with you through the decades, but stay teenagers eternally. It is arrogance to pin them down to a single timeline when the creators never bothered to do so. The movies were very much based in the 90's... did that bother you too? No matter what version of the TMNT universe you happen to be enjoying, one thing you absolutely cannot separate from them is the regular references to pop culture in their joking and banter. That is something ALL versions of TMNT have indulged in, and one of the best things about them IMO.

You retro purists should all go read the Lucindra issue from volume 1 of Mirage... *checks box-o-comics for accurate reference* 'The Violent Underground', volume 1, issue #44. It's painfully dated for the early 80s, probably more-so than any other TMNT material that comes to mind.

Check it out:



Some of the cheesy 80s terms used in this comic's dialog made me groan, but I love it at the same time. And I wholeheartedly adore Lucindra's nickname for Raphael... 'what up, homeshell!' Never gets old. XD

I guess my main point is that TMNT is not like Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo or Wendy Pini's Elfquest (two independent, low-budget franchises which came out around the same time) in that the turtles cannot be assigned any one timeline, and have never lived in a static or consistent world.

Suffice to say, I am a huge fan of any TMNT that is well written. Since TMNT came into existence there has been good and bad turtles material for us to enjoy or not enjoy, and assuming Nickelodeon will not run it into the ground I imagine that will continue to be the case.

XOXO

Winny