TMNT (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

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Thad
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Re: TMNT (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

Postby Thad » Mon Oct 24, 2022 6:53 pm

Still working through the final season of the '12 series. Finished the Usagi arc; really dug it. This is an older, gruffer Usagi than the one in the '03 series (and apparently Sakai had more direct involvement in this show, including helping Andrea Romano choose Usagi's VA). I was a little disappointed Gen didn't show up, but it's not really that kind of story; it's a bit of a grimmer, more supernatural Usagi tale, and features Jei as the villain.

I always liked Jei; he's a legitimately unsettling, otherworldly monster, and an implacable, unstoppable killing machine besides. (There's certainly some slasher-movie influence to him, too -- Jei-San, get it?)

A couple good Usagi Easter references in there, too -- his "RIYAAAAAAAH!" battlecry appears across the screen during his final charge, and you better believe somebody dies and there's a skull icon.

Also, one more detail about the season 5 opening titles that I didn't mention when I praised them the other day: there's some variation to them depending on the arc; for example, this arc shows the Turtles in their samurai outfits and it shows Jei in the background.

I might skip ahead to the Savanti Romero arc that looks to be a Universal Monsters riff, see if I can get through that while it's still Halloween season. Unpopular opinion: Savanti Romero is the best TMNT villain.

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Re: TMNT (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

Postby Thad » Thu Nov 03, 2022 2:46 pm

TMNT 3 for the NES is one of those games that appear late in a console's lifecycle and are therefore extremely technically advanced and largely ignored. I rented it once over a weekend, played through it, and never really got around to replaying it until the Cowabunga Collection (aside from once a few years ago when I fired it up and played the first two levels with my nephew).

But it's a great fucking take on the formula! It's Konami going "Okay, we adapted the arcade game for the NES; now what can we do to build an original game on that engine?" (They'd do much the same thing a few years later with Hyperstone Heist on the Genesis, a game which is based on Turtles in Time but is not Turtles in Time. I never owned that one, either, but I rented it several times, rather than just once like TMNT 3.)

The complexity and attention to detail are really impressive! The number of different Looney Tunes-style animations of the Turtles being smashed, burned, frozen, electrocuted, or falling straight out of their shells alone.

It's quite good, and well worth revisiting. Or visiting it the first time, if applicable.

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Re: TMNT (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

Postby Thad » Wed Dec 07, 2022 4:57 pm

TMNT 2012 ends the same way as TMNT 2003: a team-up with TMNT 1987.

Turtles Forever was better, ultimately, but the 2012 finale does a lot right, most notably reuniting the original cast in their original roles (less the late James Avery, of course; Kevin Michael Richardson replaces him as Shredder and does an excellent impression). In particular it does a delightful job with Shredder and Krang as a bickering married couple, and the most fun thing to write must have been the alliterative insults they keep throwing at Bebop and Rocksteady.

And in addition to all of the 1987 and 2012 Turtles, it also features 50% of the 1990 team, with Corey Feldman and Robbie Rist returning as Slash and Mondo Gecko.

On the whole, I really liked the final season's grab bag/teamup approach, with Miyamoto Usagi, a "last" Turtles story set in a postapocalyptic Mad Max future, Savanti Romero traveling through time to recruit the Universal Monsters, and, finally, the Turtles teaming up with the Turtles. The whole thing made for a good, solid victory lap, and the kind of anything-can-happen weirdness I've always enjoyed in this franchise.

And yeah, I'll get around to Rise one of these days.

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Re: TMNT (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

Postby Thad » Thu Dec 08, 2022 8:13 pm

Some nice Easter eggs and references in the last season, too. Like April dressing as Travis Bickle for Halloween, or the EDF having Freddy Krueger's claws and hat in their warehouse of dangerous objects.

And I'll add another entry to the list of Archie Comics characters who have appeared in other media: Verminator-X appears in the Mad Max arc (though I'm pretty sure he's called "Verminator Rex" in this version).

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Re: TMNT (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

Postby Mongrel » Fri Dec 09, 2022 1:44 am

Thad wrote:Like April dressing as Travis Bickle for Halloween

Haha, holy shit.

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Re: TMNT (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

Postby Thad » Fri Dec 09, 2022 3:13 pm

Here's a screencap.

Image

Not sure why her and not Casey, but maybe because Casey's so much more obvious a fit. It's funnier that it's April.


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Re: TMNT (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

Postby beatbandito » Thu Jan 12, 2023 8:42 pm


Amazed that this is a real episode / was based off a real comic. I had a very kid friendly version of the story in my childhood, where it was just Donatello and Kirby, and Kirby had a much less "likeness lawsuit" design. Having a hard time finding it in Google at work, though.
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Re: TMNT (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

Postby Thad » Fri Jan 13, 2023 12:27 am

I know the one you're talking about; I had that book too, before I read the original comic.

As far as not having a "likeness lawsuit" design, as much as anything I suspect that's just an "Eastman and Laird weren't very good artists" thing. (It's been close to 40 years and I think they've gotten better; I definitely recognized Eastman's Frank Miller a few years back.) I'm not aware of Kirby having any public reaction to that issue in particular, but I know he was thrilled in general by creator-owned comics. I think he'd have been flattered by the homage, but I don't know for sure; maybe that's a question for Mark Evanier's "Ask ME" feature.

I know Kirby drew the TMNT on at least one occasion; Peter Laird posted the sketch on his blog some years back. I think I might have it around here somewhere; I'll post if I can find it.

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Re: TMNT (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

Postby Mongrel » Fri Jan 13, 2023 12:33 am

This one?

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Yeah, it rocks.
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Re: TMNT (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

Postby Thad » Fri Jan 13, 2023 12:41 am

That's the one; thanks.

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Re: TMNT (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

Postby Büge » Fri Jan 13, 2023 8:17 pm

That Kirbonian energy...
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Re: TMNT (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

Postby Thad » Thu Mar 23, 2023 1:30 pm

Thad wrote:Yeah, I was thinking about that. And I think in terms of game design, the two most fundamental facts about the TMNT are:

1. There are four of them;

Well shut my mouth.

Beloved TMNT graphic novel The Last Ronin is becoming a video game

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Re: TMNT (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

Postby Mongrel » Thu Mar 23, 2023 1:43 pm

What really made my eyes bug out was the Mutant Mayhem image at the bottom where Mikey has... braces and a handful of dynamite??

(I know its supposed to be his nunchuks, but lol)
Image

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Re: TMNT (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

Postby Thad » Wed Jun 07, 2023 1:51 pm


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Re: TMNT (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

Postby Thad » Wed Jun 07, 2023 5:09 pm


...and wow, that's motherflippin' Ninjara at 0:40, isn't it? I thought for a second maybe it was Kitsune, but no, that's Ninjara's outfit, with the yin-yang belt clasp.

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Re: TMNT (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

Postby Thad » Thu Jun 08, 2023 5:34 pm

I think my favorite thing about Rise of the TMNT is the kinda-urban fantasy conceit that mutants are everywhere and the Turtles are never more than five minutes from stumbling across a mutant speakeasy or whatever.

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Re: TMNT (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

Postby Mothra » Thu Jun 08, 2023 11:54 pm

I TOLD YOU TO WATCH IT SO MANY TIMES AND YOU NEVER DID IT TOOK YOU SO LONG THAD

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Re: TMNT (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

Postby Thad » Fri Jun 09, 2023 12:50 am


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Re: TMNT (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird)

Postby Thad » Fri Jun 09, 2023 2:20 pm

also

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that's...that's the motherfucking mannequin from Today's Special

like, that's definitely the mannequin from Today's Special

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i'm as surprised as you are, Raph

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