Compare and Contrast Time: TMNT

In my life there are a few passions that rise above the others one of such is my childhood love of Ninjas. No not that Orange Track suit version that come from Japan no I mean the Teenage Mutant Turtle verity. Back in May of 1984 Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird created 4 characters name after four Renaissance artists. These 4 iconic turtles have survived the test of time and much more. So I though that with the new Nickelodeon show coming up I'd take this time to look back and compare the different iterations over the years. I will look at the story and characters from the original Mirage comics, The original Animated series, the movies, the 4kids series, and the IDW comics.

Story

Mirage comics

The Mirage comic are where the turtles where born. Most of  stories  we know.  The 1st few issues introduce the origins turtle how a chemical truck nearly missing a young boy carelessly walking the street causing both to lose a item the boy his fish bowl with 4 baby turtles and truck a canister with a chemical mutagen. One of the Major thing that is diffrent is the story of Hamato Yoshi. The major aspect is Yoshi and his love Tang Shen are forced to leave japan so they may be together and are later found and killed by Oroku Saki. However it is not Saki that was in love with Shen it was his brother Oroku Nagi. He challenged Yoshi to a duel and was killed. The second major deference is the tone of the comic as a whole is darker than most of the others their is more violence and death.  This Series would set up the classic turtles stories that are now known as: The Fugitoid, Return to New York, and City at War. 

The Original cartoon.

This is very different very unique take on the turtles. The story with exception of the first season and some of the last episodes season 9 and 10 hardly ever connect. It was very hero of the day and the turtles would have to fight Krang and Shredder's evil schemes. Every now then there was episodes that stood out and just stick with you. One of mine is the episode with the microwave pizza monsters. The story wasn't the selling point of the show and it did set up some themes that would later be carried over to other things like pizza and the bandana colors. But on the most part it was a half hour toy commercial. 

The Movies.

The movies feel like the perfect amalgamation of the above two. all three movie borrow the bandana colors and the love of pizza. The first movie has a darker tone as the comic and losely borrows from Origin, Silent Partner, and Return to New York. story lines and the Raph one shot. The movie has darker tone of the comic. The second movie only use one element from the comic and that is the company that produced the ooze. It borrows more elements from the show like evil mutants who are well dumb. The Turtles are also less worried about public appearances. The third movie is just a WTF. I would like to say the time travel thing was done in the show but the only place I can place time travel is the Game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time and the plot of that makes more sense than this movie. The Fourth and last film to date is TMNT. This film borrows less from the above mentioned cartoon and more from the 4kids cartoon. It borrows from fourth volume of the comics as the turtles are now grown up and April and Casey are living together. The fourth movie gave some closure to the series while still setting up for a future release.

The 4Kids cartoon

The 4kids cartoon was actually really good in terms of story. the first three season loosely follows the Mirage volume one stories. it had a dark tone though not as dark as the original comic. This show was great for me it  was every thing I wanted as a turtle fan that was until the fourth season. The fourth season wasn't bad  it was just a different direction. In truth is the story shift from the comic starts more in season three but not as much as season four. in season three we have and alien invasion which wouldn't be that uncommon in the comic. The fourth season deals with more mysticism which was not really used all that much in the comics. One of the better themes of this season was Leo's character growth. The next season added a sub heading called Fast Forward. this in my opinion is what killed this series Ninja Turtles.  This is official the sixth season  of the show but I'll get into that more later. In the season the turtles are flung forward to year 2105 where they meet Cody Jones, April and Casey's great grandson. This season came out of no where and had no really memorable stories. Because of this season and demand to know how the true season 5 ended 4kids release a small season called Lost Episodes that never aired on a broadcast network but on demand. The story picks up with the mysticism and a new Shredder. A demon Shredder called Tegu Shredder. With the success of The Lost Episodes and the out right hate for Fast Forward we get the eighth and final season called Back to the Sewer.  Now I know my number are off but the reason this was the eighth season and not seventh is because their was planed a second Fast forward season which was either never aired or never completed. This season was just confusing Splinter was trapped on the net, There where now three Shreaders, and why was the robot nanny from the future with them. This season didn't really end on a high note for fans. It wasn't much later that we were presented with a special/movie called Turtles Forever or as I came to call it Crisis of Infinite Turtles. This was a cross over of both cartoons and the original comic. It was a fun watch and a beautiful way to end both cartoons.

IDW comics.

This was a surprise to me. This comic takes from every thing and throws it on its head. The story is new and different with out changing what makes the turtles. The story take some bold moves and even takes original characters from the original cartoon and does some interesting things with them. I would really like to go into this more but I would spoil it and the story is still on going. Needless to say the comic is very good and I do recommend you pick up. I will put a warning here when I get to the characters section I will end up spoiling some things from this section.

Characters

Splinter

The Turtles father and mentor and has been through every incarnation. though his back story not so much. In the original comic, the movies, and the 4kids cartoon he was a pet of Hamato Yoshi who master ninjutsu by mimicking his master. The cartoon would change this making him Hamato Yoshi being changed into a rat by the mutagen on the turtles. The IDW would change it further. Before I get into this to much I must first say WARNING SPOILERS. Now in the IDW Splinter is both a rat and Hamato Yoshi at the same time. The story is that some time in the past Hamato Yoshi is black list by The Foot now lead by old friend turned tyrant Oroku Saki. The Foot kills his wife Tang Shen but Yoshi escapes with his four sons (this will be important later). He secretly trains them in the art of ninja until one day they are caught by the foot clan. Yoshi is forced to watch his sons be kill before he him self is killed. He then wakes up in modern day New York in the body of rat who is the subject of a psychotropic compound experiment at Stockgen. Stockgen is then attacked by ninjas who are attempting to steal the psychotropic compound, the mutagen, Splinter, and four turtles. An accident happens and all 5 are exposed to the mutagen. that in a nut shell is the story for IDW. The personality of the character is roughly the same in all mentor/father figure.  The IDW expand more on his personality and gave him a lot of charter flaws that work well with the story.

April O'Neil

April is a conflicting character trough out the different adaptions.  in the original comic and 4kids cartoon she a scientist and acts as moral support for the turtles. In the Cartoon and first three movies she is a reporter. The Difference in the movies and the cartoon was in the movie she was like the comic she acted as moral support. The cartoon she was the damsel every time. The IDW take a similar route as the original she is a scientist but she a college student interning at Stockgen and even names the turtles while they are still in fish tank. In the fourth movie she took a more active roll we learn she been training with splinter fighting along  side the turtles.

Casey Jones

Casey Jones in all is a vigilante in a hockey mask. In most adaptions he is a angry man who has feelings for April. In the original comic he ends up adopting a daughter named Shadow who is never seen out side of mirage comics. The 4kids and the Movies one is closest to the mirage minus the dad part. In the IDW like April he is a college student on academic probation so he can't play hockey. His father in this series is a drunk who beats him and though Casey can defend him self he doesn't because of a promise to his mother.Now the Cartoon Casey was a nut case in a hockey mask. I really feel like they saw the mask and said ok a good Jason Voorhees and went from there. Casey in all but the original cartoon is a balance for Raph and always the best friend. 

Baxter Stockmen

Baxter Stockmen in every continuity is an evil scientist. However in most telling of the story he is a black man. In the Mirage and 4kids versions he ends up a cyborg. The IDW one is still playing out his story no clue what General Krang (yeah Krang in the new comics) will do with him. Now the original cartoon chose to make Stockmen a ginger not a black man. Then instead of a cyborg he becomes a mutant fly this has to be on there biggest mistakes made with this character.

Karai

Karai only appear in the comics, the last movie, and the 4kids cartoon. Her relationship to the Shredder is diffident in each telling. In the Mirage comic she comes off as just a disciple of his. In the 4kids cartoon she was an adopted daughter. In The fourth movie it not really went into though her bio from her toy has her as his daughter. The IDW comics she is his grand daughter of Oroku Saki. She is portrayed as a very loyal but conflicted at times over if she is on the right side or not.

Shredder

Oroku Saki is the most...out right diffrent character in every continuity. I'll take each one as they came out so first is Mirage. Oroku Saki in this telling is very much the evil ninja. He kills Yoshi and Shen over the death of his brother see above. He however didn't play a major role in the comics. He is killed in the first issue fighting the turtles. Though he is brought back to life by the closest thing the comic ever had to mysticism. This resurrection is short lived though because after his return he dies again in a duel with and is cremated by the Turtles to prevent more resurrections. This one seems less evil war lord and more of a man bound by his skewed code of honor. Next is original cartoon who is needless to say a typical Saturday morning cartoon villain, an idiot. His back story in not explained much other than hating Splinter/Yoshi. There is very little to no depth for this version. Then there was movie version who like the movies is a mix of both cartoon and comic.  He has a lot more depth to him than the cartoon and is more involved than the comic one. He comes off very angry and will do any thing for revenge and power. Like the comic he makes a desperate movie and it ends of being his down fall. The 4kid one is the most confusing Shredder out of the bunch not because of his personality no because at one point there are three Shredders at once. The first Shredder who shares a lot of   similarities with the comic version at first. It later revealed that this Shredder is a Utrom named Ch'rell. Yes you read that right Shredder is a brain in a robot suit. This doesn't however take away from the character and was an awesome twist on the show. This Shredder would serve as the main antagonist through the whole show with the exception of Flash Forward. His personality was very different from many of the others he was a warlord and truly evil. The second Shredder of the 4kid cartoon is called Tengu Shredder. Long ago Japan was terrorized by a Tengu Demon. The emperor chose 5 warriors to defeat the demon (this is starting to sound like a Power Rangers Season). the warriors fought but only one could best the demon and he was Oroku Saki. The demon offered Saki a deal of great power and he took it. Tengu Shredder would then attempt to conquer Japan until being sealed away by his former allies. Ch'rell would here this legend and take both names to amass his armies of the Foot. The last Shredder is called Cyber Shredder it's an A.I. based off of Ch'rell and using the Flash Forward villain to take a physical form. That's it there is not much to this Shredder at all. The Last Shredder is the IDW incarnation who is Oroku Saki but also lived in feudal Japan with Yoshi. He aparently died long ago and is resurrected by his Grand daughter Karai. Out side of that we are not told much about this Shredder yet.

Michelangelo

Mikey in all adaptions has a similar personality he is a kindhearted and fun loving turtle. He does his best to act as a buffer for his brothers when they disagree. Each version show little to no differences. Though each character progress differently they remain roughly the same. Another little known fact is Mickey is also quite the ladies man in at least 2 of the 5 continuities he has a girlfriend. Although the different Mickey's are so similar he is the only one of his brother to share a personality with the original cartoon.

 Donatello

Donnie is almost a 180 of Mikey described as calculating even cold some time. Donnie is the smart one in all continuities even being an inventor in the cartoons. I do have to argue with the cold part yeah he is smart but there is so backing for the cold and detached. In both comics he is given a one shot where he makes a  human friend and we see just how out going and smart Donnie is. The only time we see him detached is in the fourth volume of the original comic and this almost borderline on racism. In the IDW comics he the last to believe Splinter story of reincarnation and is skeptical until they fight The Foot and Shredder.  Donnie is the most conflicted character because it seems he the hardest to write for. I personal like how the movies portrayed him as smart, level headed, and trying to relate to humans in the out side world. 

Raphael

Raph Is the hot head with the short temper and a lot of time that's how they build is character is to play off that anger. Though the original cartoon he was just a jerk not really short tempered. The fourth movie shows the most depth to Raph. Shows how he directed his anger inward and blames Leo as well. Raph isn't always the same in all the adaptions. Like I said in the original cartoon he was more of a jerk, the Mirage had anger issues and they played it up by making him a monster in the fourth volume. The 4kids cartoon was similar to the Mirage but he learned more control. The New IDW comic actually started the comic with Raph missing and with no memory of who he was. Raph is the character with the most depth to him in all the adaptions.

Leonardo

Leo is the teams unofficial leader and the most disciplined of the bunch . This carries over in to all continuities in a way. The original cartoon he was more of the motivational one liner type of leader and not really disciplined. Other adaptations are close to the original and even expanding on the he self worth by  making him doubt his abilities. In the IDW comic he is the most trusting of Splinter's story of reincarnation he him self even dreams of his mother. Leo's character has a lot of depth brought on by his personality conflict.

Conclusion

The turtles story has changed over the years and has taken on many different forms, but for the most part the characters have stayed the same. Now there where a lot of turtle continuities I didn't cover like the third volume of the comics by Image Comics, the Archie Comics, or Next Mutation. there are reason for why each of these was not covered. the Image comic was written to take place after the first two Mirage volumes. It only last 2 years and was thrown out by Peter Laird when Mirage started volume four. The Archie comics are  where my knowledge lacks. Here is what I do know, the comic lasted 72 issues the longest single volume turtle comic, it started out as an adaption of the original cartoon, and eventually went in its own direction. Next Mutation well is just bad and led to the  one of the most hated things in the turtle fandom Venus de Milo. To end this lengthy post I will just say this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all it's characters are classic and iconic as the older heroes of bigger comic companies and just as much a part of my childhood. To Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird thank you for this one of my all time favorite group of heroes.