There's a LOT of artists out there who have put their own spin on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and I thought it was about time I threw mine on the pile, starting with Mikey here!
A lot of versions have Michelangelo as the little guy, but I always saw him as more of a big fratboy-type goofball. Oh! And I had to give him a ton of accessories. That was the whole fun of it.
One turtle down. We'll see what the odds are of me actually seeing this through and drawing all four. Place your bets, kids.
The Premise: Just like the title says, four TURTLES who also happen to be TEENAGERS, MUTANTS, and NINJAS protect New York City from the forces of the evil Shredder and his “Foot Clan.”
This is definitely the most popular show I’ve talked about so far in this thing, so it’s going to be difficult to say anything that hasn’t already been said by someone else. Then again, what am I, Hot Take Harry over here, certifying every single utterance as 100% FRESH?!? Not at all!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. These were just two guys who, as I understand it, were just goofing around drawing one day and sketched up a little masked turtle wielding nunchucks. This very quickly turned into a comic book, which turned into a toy line, then a cartoon show, movie, video game, reboot, remake, reboot, and so on and so on until the very end of time itself. But that original Saturday morning cartoon? That’s where I was hooked.
Playtime as a kid was never the same after that. Before, if we were playing Batman, then every kid wanted to be Batman. If we were playing Peanuts, every kid wanted to be Snoopy. (Yeah. I played Peanuts. What of it?) Compromises had to be made, but then Eastman and Laird’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comes along and suddenly there were options! We didn’t all want to be the main character, because there wasn’t just one main character. This was a team of four different characters each equally matched in awesomeness. Although to say the Ninja Turtles were equals is NOT the same as saying they were all the same. In fact, anybody who did make the mistake of saying that was cancelled faster than a dissenting celebrity on Twitter. No! These were four individuals who, although practically identical in appearance, had distinct personalities… or rather… temperaments.
There’s Leonardo - Analytical, sensitive, the ideal leader.
Michelangelo - Enthusiastic, talkative, a party dude.
Donatello - Pensive, cautious, good with machines.
And Raphael - Passionate, aggressive, cool… but rude.
Get a load of me nersdsplaining all of this as if it wasn't a universal phenomenon that literally everyone knows about! Of course, as with all phenomenon, there were several attempts to mimic the success of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, seemingly throwing random words together and cranking out a masculine-charged cartoon based on the result: Street Sharks, Biker Mice From Mars, Wild West COW-Boys of Moo Mesa… the list keeps going and keeps getting more absurd, all the while NEVER matching the appeal of the Ninja Turtles. I could be wrong though, but I don’t personally remember any kids on the playground discussing which Biker Mouse they most closely identified with.
And what I think is so great is that it’s all the product of two people just goofing around. They stopped “trying” for a second, and came up with one of the most successful franchises of all time! It’s kind of inspiring, if you think about it.
Oh! And it’s Donatello.
My favorite turtle is Donatello.
Kablama Slam! Fun Fact: The term “cowabunga” originated on The Howdy Doody Show as the nonsensical greeting of Chief Thunderthud, a character who wasn’t… by today’s standards… in the best of taste.
By far, one of my consistently favorite things to draw for this blog over the past 10 years has been these lovable little guys that I call 'Penguin Suits!' I'm a little fuzzy on where the concept comes from. As I said in my last post, I'm a sucker for mashups and, while this isn't technically a mashup per se, it's still along those same lines.
Back when things like Custom Mighty Muggs were all the rage, I wanted my own little thing to make look like other things. I don't remember why but I chose these emotionless little penguins to be my canvas and voila! Penguin Suits!
These little guys have gone through a couple of revamps over the years and so I only thought it fitting to bring the first lineup up to date. Hopefully those of you checking in have enjoyed looking at these as much I enjoy drawing them because I don't think I'm going to let up anytime soon.
If there's two things I'm a sucker for, it's Nostalgia and Toys! This is why I love Funko's ReAction figures! They're retro-styled action figures for big pop culture films that didn't originally provide much in the way of merchandising. They're pretty much the only way I can fulfill my dream of having a 3 3/4in scale Quint from Jaws watch me while I work. Yeah! I know it's a weird dream, but last I checked... this is America!
There is one film that I would LOVE to see get a line of ReAction figures! So much so that I decided to put my Photoshop skills to good use and trick my brain into believing they already exist. It's the 1990 pop culture classic, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
Of course, I realize that when it comes to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles there were, and ARE, more than enough toys out there already. But none of them pay tribute to this cult classic in the way I think it deserves... with smaller, cruder action figures!
Here's part two of my attempt at Saul Bass meets TMNT. For this installment, we have the one responsible for the phrase, "Cowabunga!" ...or at least the one responsible for its popularity.
I don't know. I'm not a vernacular historian. Is that even a thing?
So aside from the fact that Saul Bass made awesome posters, he also had a cool name. Someone else with a cool name: the leader of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Leonardo. Incidentally, Leonardo was named for artist Leonardo da Vinci, who painted "The Last Supper" which depicted Jesus and a bunch of apostles. Jesus also had an apostle named Paul, who's original name was... wait for it... Saul.
