Black and White Sunday: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is hitting Canadian Netflix next week. Cowabunga! 

I remember when the cartoon hit the airwaves, I was disappointed with the turtles wearing different coloured headbands (eye-bands?) and I also didn't like the Michelangelo lacking his nun-chucks. My disappointment was later alleviated with the release of the first movie where Mikey's nun-chucks were back. 

Below are some wicked black and white drawings from the issue #1 way back in 1984 and late 80's. Because the images were black and white, you had to rely on the dialogue and weapons to figure out who was who. 

(Unless noted, all art by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird).

Remember this scene? In issue #4, Splinter is caputured by Baxter Stockman's mouser robots. Raph is distraught! This scene was adapted to the big screen when Splinter is captured by the Foot Clan.

via GIPHY

Remains of the Shredder (first death, issue #1, 1984)

By Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird

Just some cool action shots!

Swagger!

---

Issue 21 (1989), the second time Oroku Saki (The Shredder) died. Great issue!

Art by Kevin Eastman and Jim Lawson

Issue 32, a fun one by Mark Bode, inked by Kevin Eastman and Eric Talbot

Back to issue 1, the alpha and omega turtles!

Guest contributor: We Heart Ninjas

WeHeartNinjas offers clothing print designs, accessories, stickers, and more. 

Makes great gifts for kids and adults who love ninjas (and not always Teenage mutant ninja turtles, no offense!). 

Visit the We Heart Ninjas Redbubble store or the TeePublic store.

Saga of the Swamp Thing # 21

Writer: Alan Moore

Artists: Stephen Bissette, John Totleben, Tatjana Wood

Publisher: DC

Published: February 1984

The last few years I've been guilty of buying comics based on art alone. Story was always important, but art became even more important. Often the artwork or cover art will dictate if I buy a comic. If the story's good, then that's just a bonus.

After reading a recent 5 issue mini series, which I bought based on the cover art, I was forcibly reminded of how important, nay, vital, story is. Directly after finishing reading the last issue of this mini series, I picked up my Vol 1. Saga of the Swamp Thing and broke into the first issue of this collection. Reading it was like a fresh rain during a drought.

The art is fantastic, and I love it, but in one small paragraph, Alan Moore reminded me of how great prose can be. Below is an excerpt:

(Setup - Swamp Thing origin: Alec Holland is working on a top secret bio-plant formula. The experiment is sabotaged, with Holland and his wife killed during an explosion. Alec flings himself into the swamp, covered in his formula. This transforms Alec into the Swamp Thing. He then tries to restore his humanity. Swamp Thing is later killed, frozen, and in the possession of the Sunderland Corp. The excerpt is regarding Swamp Things rebirth and anger at the person who has held him captive.)

The old man shouldn't be in any real danger at all...

...as long as the creature hasn't read my notes.

But if he has read my notes...

You see, throughout his miserable existence, the only thing that could have kept him sane was the hope that he might one day regain his humanity...the knowledge that under all the slime he was still Alec Holland. But if he's read my notes he'll know that just isn't true. He isn't Alec Holland. He never will be Alec Holland. He never was Alec Holland.

He's just a ghost. A ghost dressed in weeds. I wonder how he'll take it? And I wonder how the old man will take it...when the doors won't open?

He'll pound. He'll hammer. He'll wheeze and he'll scream and he will not be able to comprehend how this could be happening to him...the old reptile.

And will there be blood? I don't know. I don't know if there will be blood. It isn't important. It won't spoil things if there is no blood. The blood doesn't matter. Just the dying.

The dying's all that matters.

Spidey Super Stories # 11

Writer: Jean Thomas

Artists: Winslow Mortimer, Mike Esposito, and T. Mortellaro

Publisher: Marvel

Published: 1975

With the new Spidey film in works, there has been a call for Donald Glover to audition. The debate has been whether Peter Parker/Spider-Man can be black...this whole debate kinda reminds me of todays issue.

After having one of Peter Parker Spidey bindle webs fall into Valerie's hands, she gets the idea to be a superhero!

And after a few training sessions, The Sensational Spider-Woman is born!

Spidey seems ok with this...

Then trouble strikes! The Vulture! Good thing Valerie is there!

And after Valerie's wall suction cups fall off, Spider Woman is no more. The End?

This is a fascinating story. It has a black Spider-Woman, but the fact Valerie is black has no bearing on the story. Valerie's a down on her luck gal, who has her luck turn around when she dons the costume of Spider-Man. And then in the end, she returns to just Valerie, while the real Spider-Man continues his adventures.

This tale has certain elements that are surprisingly similar to the plight of Don Glover and his quest to don the mask of Spider-Man. He's wants to have some of the fun as it were, be a hero. And as much as internet fans photoshop him into the costume, at the end of the day, he'll most likely not be the next Spider-Man. But, unlike Valerie's story in this issue, where she did become Spider-Woman and happened to be black, Don Glover will not be Spider-Man because he is black.

Call me jaded, but the proofs in the pudding. Take for instance the up-and-coming movie The Last Airbender, where 3 of the 4 lead actors are white and are dressed to look Asian/Inuit. If Hollywood won't even cast Asians/Inuit to play originally intended Asian/Inuit characters, they sure as hell won't cast a Black actor to play a White Peter Parker/Spider-Man. (Note: I am not comparing skin colours, but actors to character roles).

But, I'm ambivalent on the issue. Part of me wouldn't want a black actor to be cast as Spider-Man because it would be a gimmick at best. However, another part says yes to a black Spider-Man because characters of such resonance shouldn't be determined by what colour their skin is. Another part of me says why should there be a black Spider-Man when they're are so many other great characters who were written as black. Then again, when I close my eyes and think of Spider-Man and other heroes I enjoy reading, they are always white; my own mind is "white washed" - maybe a simple change of colour could shakes things up for the better?

As a thought experiment on the debate, I photoshopped this image together. Sorry to J. Scott Campbell!

I don't know about you guys, but after looking at this image, I think a world of fresh, controversial, and exciting stories could be culled from making Peter Parker/Spider-Man black.

*****Update*****

So I added this photo to a comic site and the responses I got were awful, and then it opened up the doors for really bad comments. I don't get it. This image wasn't created as a form of blackface. It's trying to imagine what a world would be like where Peter Parker/Spider-Man is black. And as the image suggests, just because Peter's black, doesn't mean his supporting cast would be black as well. I think that is what would be so awesome about a black Spider-Man - he'd tackle racial politics. So this image can be taken a number of ways. Is MJ shocked at Peter cheating, or is she shocked at a black man and a white woman kissing, or both? What exactly would happen if Spider-Man was black?

On a related note: Years ago I saw Joey Jeremiah (Pat Mastroianni) and Snake (Stefan Brogren) do a live show where they talked about their experiences growing up filming Degrassi. One of the stories that stood out was when Degrassi started airing down in the States, their biggest complaints they received weren't the episodes where they tackled child abuse, abortion, drugs, suicide, etc, but the episode where BLT (black) and Michelle (white) kissed. Wow. Living in Canada, where we embrace (or at least pretend to) our differences, I find this to be perplexing. Colour is just that - colour. It makes our world brighter, better, and beautiful.

So either people are offended by this rendition because it's photoshopped, or they immediately think it's a blackface, or they are offended at the potential racial politics therein. I don't know. Any thoughts?

Check out my follow up!



More Comix 365 articles:  

Solo: Mike Allred

The Goon #8

THB - Comics From Mars # 1

Writer/Artist: Paul Pope
Publisher: Adhouse Books
Published: July 2007

Comix-365 is back! And what better way to kick start things with one of my favorite artists/writers: Paul Pope! (That, and I just recently met the guy in Toronto at the TCAF show - but more on that later.)

THB is one of those comics that is largely overlooked by the mainstream. This is a shame...I consider this series a diamond in the rough. It's the perfect cross between adolescent rockabilly and high-minded Sci-Fi. This particular issue has four tales. The first is an awesome 5 page graphic of Popes futuristic sport, Zoo Ball. The second is a history lesson from the main character HR, and the third is, well I'll let Pope describe: "Fun! Comics - The UR-PEOPLE are the unseen continuity mechanics living between sequential phases of meta-fictive time/space." This is in my opinion the best tale of the four. It has a certain quirkiness, not unlike the film "Being John Malkovich" but crossed with a Disney-esque pedigree. Finally the final tale concerns the famed Bumble Hipshakes that only a certain gangster on Mars can make.

As stated above, a few weeks back I attended Toronto's The Comic Art Festival. It celebrates and discusses comics, with a focus on independent creators. The reason I attended was to catch the panel discussion between Paul Pope and Dash Shaw. The panel was neat. It was cool to actually hear some thoughts and opinions from one of my favorite comic creators. He seems like a nice guy, a bit introverted, but not in socially-shy way. What I found interesting during the discussion, is that Pope is bit of a paradox. He comes from indie roots, produces amazing indie works, but also has an active and widely sought out style by mainstream press. He's been in GQ, Playboy, has worked for the big guys, DC and Marvel, and so on... one of the possible reasons for this dichotomy stems from his work on THB.

As I had mentioned earlier, THB has yet to capture a mainstream audience. There have been an handful of issues over the years, and while each are golden reads, THB's stunted success seems to be bit of a frustration for Pope. Here's a magnificent series, but it has yet to be fully appreciated. And Pope wants to be appreciated. As an artist, this is paramount. While producing art for a singular audience is rewarding in of itself, it is so much more rewarding to have a larger audience embrace and demand more of your artwork. THB is series that screams to be appreciated, not just because it's awesome, but because it bleeds awesome. So, as Pope mentioned in the discussion, one way to get his message, his art, his way of thinking out was to tackle the superheroes. He want after the big guy - Batman. He wanted to reach a larger audience. What better way than the greatest fictional comic character in history?

What is interesting about this statement, is that it worked. On me. I never heard of Paul Pope until I read Batman Year 100. I was blown away. I got it. I saw and embraced the Paul Pope vision. Now I'm hooked.


More Comix 365 articles:  

Basil Wolverton Plop!

Wolverine Lord of the Vampires

Scalped # 12

Writer: Jason Aaron

Artist: John Paul Leon

Colours: Giulia Brusco

Publisher: Vertigo

Published: February 2008

My town's local public library is a great place. They have DVD's, CDs, a huge assortment of books, magazines, but more importantly they have a pretty decent selection of graphic novels. The library has Paul Pope's Heavy Liquid, Darwyn Cooke's Selina's Big Score, Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing, Grant Morrison's WE3 - we'll as you can see they got's the greats....however, they also have Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera's Scalped; which catapults this great selection to a spectacular selection.

Being fairly on-top of the comic scene, I am ashamed to say that this series has slipped under my radar...boy am I grateful for my library! Scalped is a story about a group of individuals on the Prairie Rose Reservation. It is dark, crime-noir story, filled with murder, deception, lust, betrayal, pride, heritage, drugs, and well, you get the point. Aside from these basic noir elements, what makes this series so great, is that Aaron has brought Aboriginal Americans to the forefront of his story. In 12 issues, Aaron has covered government interference vs. autonomy, measuring one's aboriginal status in fractions, spirit totems, protests, reservations vs. prisons, and remembering one's heritage, no matter at what price that memory costs.

In issue 12, Aaron and guest artist John Paul Leon deliver a standalone story to bring new readers up to speed on Dashiell Bad Horse's situation. The story consists of Dash caught in vicious dreams of his past, present, and possible future.

Of key note, in six pages, Dash relives and experiences

horrific events of Aboriginal American history. He is confronted with hate, prejudice, murder, theft, foreign disease, and ultimately, the importance of heritage and unity. I don't want to give away too much, but let me just say that the image below is enough to drive home the fact that Scalped is a great series that merits immediate attention.

Living in Canada, and having lived in a town that was less than 10km away from a First Nations Reservation, I have had many opportunities to consider what life may be like for a First Nations person. However, before I start, I want to preface my thoughts with the fact that although I may think and imagine what life is like for a First Nations person, I can never actually know or understand what that life is like....

Nevertheless, from what I do know and understand, if I were to imagine myself in the same shoes as a First Nations person, I know for fact that I would be in a very negative mood. First, being segregated into reservations is a negative for me. I don't like being told were to live. Second, if I were to leave, I don't like being told there will be consequences, be it social, financial or otherwise. Third, I don't like that on government forms I am constantly confronted with the "aboriginal" check box. Fourthly, I don't like the idea that political posts that work with Aboriginals are called 'Indian Affairs.' Fifthly, I don't like that children who attend schools with aboriginals don't see aboriginals as classmates, but see their aboriginal classmates as just aboriginals.

Maybe I'm the biased one and my frustrations are unfounded, but one thing I do think is valid is that a persons identity and self worth can never be fully realized as long as someone else is telling them what they are and what they should do.

Solo # 7: Michael Allred

Writers: Mike Allred, Lee Allred
Artist: Mike Allred
Colorist: Laura Allred
Publisher: DC
Published: December 2005

It's been a while since my last Comix 365 post...so I thought I would kick start it with another spectacular stupendous stellar Solo issue from decadent DC! And which artist you may wonder is DC displaying? Well if you haven't read the title or looked at the cover image, then rejoice and hollar aloud: MIKE ALLRED!

If you don't know who Mike Allred is, then please take your head out of the muck and wake up (NOW). Mike Allred has worked on such hits as X-Statix, Deadgirl, and his own acclaimed Madman series. His style is sleek, poppy, dynamic, and with the Laura Allred coloring, his work is all the more awesome.

Anyway, enough Allred worship...this ain't no Perez Hilton-esque blog...

Solo # 7 has Allred focusing his whimsy on the DC universe. There are 7 chapters, with 5 complete stories. The first story 'An Hour with Hourman' has our hero battling a case of the highs and lows of being a superhero who derives his powers from a pill. The second story 'Doom Patrol vs. Teen Titans' involves a case of Doom Patrol having to deal with vitality of youth, which is even more pronounced when the youths in question are the Teen Titans! Thirdly, Batman A-Go-Go is a throwback to the swinging, care free 60s where Batman realizes that 'times are a changing'. Fourthly, 'Fourth World Wager' involves Mister Miracle taking up a wager of even he may not be able to escape from. Finally 'Comic Book Clubhouse' is a wordless, visual odyssey involving comic book heroes meeting the kids who draw them.

This was a great Solo issue, that was even more fun reading the second time around. Allred has an innocent playfulness with a sly nod to seriousness shining through his work. In my mind, the highlight tales were Fourth World Wager and Batman A-Go-Go. Mister Miracle taking up a challenge of escape, with Orion concocting the trap was probably one of the funniest moments in this issue. As for Batman I really dug the light, shiny optimism turned sour Lee Allred breathed into the Batman A-Go-Go tale. Mike and Laura's art was all the more exemplary as they turned Batman from the brooding hero of today back to the swinging, goody two shoes of the 60s.

As a side note, if you google this Solo issue and you see a cover of Batman, don't be fooled to look for an actual copy with that image. I looked for years at various comic shops for this cover, and not once did I find it. Turns out it was never printed...I guess due to legal likeness issues of Batman looking like Adam West they had to scrap it. Oh well, thank heavens to the internet preserving a digital copy...

Anyway, see you next time: Same Bat Time. Same Bat Blog!

Tek Jansen # 3

Writer: John Layman & Tom Peyer, Jim Massey
Artist: Robbi Rodriguez
Cover: Darwyn Cooke
Publisher: Oni Press
Published: September 2008

Issue # 3 has Tek Jansen (Stephen Colbert's Sci-Fi alter ego) furthering his war against the sinister Opticlons! This is about the only series that has consistently made me chuckle aloud.

Think he saw that one coming?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles # 42: Juliet's Revenge

Writer: Rick McCollum
Artist: Bill Anderson
Publisher: Mirage
Published: December 1991

What do Mr. Howard, Bruce Lee, Mae West, Leonardo, Edgar Allan Poe, and the ninja turtles have in common?

This comic!

That's right, all these fantastic figures make a guest appearance in this issue, making this a star studded comic not seen since the Avengers assembled to battle some powerful earth shattering thing-a-majigy.

If you want to know more, T.S. I'm tired.

How come Donnie gets all the babes?

And what's her deal?

Spider-Man the Manga # 3

Writer/Artist: Ryoichi Ikegami
Translators: Mutsumi Masuda & C.B. Cebulski
Publisher: Marvel
Published: January 1998

The manga version of Spider-Man is pretty cool. It sticks fairly close to the Spider-man ethos. Peter Parker is Yu Komari. In issue # 3 Komari is lamenting his latest defeat at the electric hands of Electro. Meanwhile, Electro is realizing that his lust for money carries a larger price tag then he could ever imagine.


Classic Peter Parker Manga style:
Electro paying the impossible price:
Classic Spider-Man Remorse:

At my old job I met a customer named Peter Parker. When I asked his name he said his first name no problem, but then slightly mumbled his last name. I never said a word. After we were done talking, I kinda felt bad for the guy. He has to live with the name of one of the most famous fictional characters in comic history. However, unlike his comic alter ego, this guy doesn't get to be Spider-Man on the side, swinging from building to building, saving lives, and bringing joy to people. Oh well, I'm sure at the end of the day he'll be alright. Hell, maybe his nickname is Spidey. I can see this guy being good on the bb court. He'd be blasting through defenses, rebounding like a mad nun, and scoring 3 pointers left right and center, all the while, the crowd is shouting: "Go Spidey! Go Spidey!" Yeah, this Peter Parker will be alright.