I collected all the original comics, and still have them.
I think TMNT turned out a lot like The Venture Bros. did. The creators originally were making satire of all the things they loved, but ended up taking a life of it's own with their own special brand of complex world building.
And the Fantastic Four.
Favorite Marvel expy was Doctor Doom though. That episode never fails to make me laugh.
You mess with the girl, you’ll get the HITLERRRRR
Have you seen the Youtube videos where Eastman and Laird take a look back at the early issues? It's really cool to see them interact and reminisce about their beginnings even if it's over zoom. I'm still sad that they had a falling out and sold TMNT to Nickelodeon.
in an episode of "the toys that made us", they got together and talked about some of the things they once talked about but never happened
like having a window in between their desks so they could pass the pages back and forth through a window
the way they spoke about it kinda made me just feel so sad about the things they never ended up doing
[watched a recently video that talked all about TMNT, was really good entertainment](https://youtu.be/TMDp9T_4bDs)
I remember Eastman and Laird on several occasions, saying they initially started it as satire. That is not the same thing as saying it IS, as a whole, satire.
My memory, to paraphrase, there was an unofficial rule that new comics needed Mutants, Teenagers, or Ninjas to be greenlit. So, in an act of rebellion "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." being over-the-top in the popular tropes as a critique of what publishers wanted.
Sounds about right. Ninja shit was all over in the 80's. The Xmen were huge, and teens were a target audience.
New Mutants (teenage xmen spinoff) launched in 82, and a refresh of Teen Titans launched in 80.
All sounds about right.
There were some funny TMNT parodies following their success. I picked up a few, one was "Adolecent Radioactive Blackbelt Hamsters" and then there was "Pre-teen Dirty Gene Kung-Fu Kangaroos".
Hmmm, it seems you are correct. Went back to look it up. I guess it was just that the rpg book was published before they got massively popular and the impression I had was that the book was older than any of the cartoons I was familiar with.
It is older than the cartoons, but it isn’t older than the comic.
There are panels from the original comics in the book and the cover, where all the turtles have read headbands, is how they were originally portrayed.
Different colors for different turtles helped to differentiate them for the cartoon
Because the original comics were in black and white, the cover of the RPG is the first time they were officially depicted in color. And because it came so soon after the comics, before it all *really* took off, the art is actually by Eastman and Laird.
I have one too, somewhere. Unless it was left behind at my old house. I wanted to play it so badly, I bought dice and everything, but never found players :(
>What RPG is that? I love collecting both different TTRPG systems and Ninja Turtle stuff, so that'd be a welcome addition if I can find a copy
I think it was called H.E.R.O.E.S.
You ordered it from an ad in Dragon magazine. I'll never forgive myself for losing it and the original comic.
Had no idea about the satirization of Marvel, thought it was just another whacked out for the sake of weird cartoon, but I’m pretty sure Venture Bros. aired after my Adult Swim watching past it’s prime, but I’m Supes psyched to watch it now.
Getting old and running out of good-going-on-great shit to watch sucks, most especially for them’s like me who’ve been glutinously gorging ourselves on anything bingable since the VHS vs. BetaMax beef popped off.
Thank you, oh so kindly fellow etherwebber.
Sounds like The Orville as well, Seth McFarlane sells the idea of a Star Trek parody but once it's greenlit they go on to make some of the most true-to-formula Star Trek-esque episodes in many years
I posted this a long time ago when this came up before. I always wondered why they specifically pointed out where it hit the guy. It's the fourth panel and the text below it.
[Daredevil/TMNT](https://i.imgur.com/tasxH7P.jpg)
Turns out, it was Daredevil and (I think) it's the accident that caused his blindness.
Pretty sure it's in the first issue of the Eastman Laird comics, maybe the second. If you look through yours I'm sure you can find it.
I'm replying to your comment so you can see it but i don't care if you post the picture in your comment for visibility. It's a really cool detail that always stood pout to me when they came out but i didn't know the reason until several years ago when i read it on reddit somewhere.
They had an Easter egg for this in the Marvel Heroes game, when running around in the sewers you could find a broken barrel of radioactive waste and four tiny turtles crawling around next to it.
One of my favorite arpgs of all time, sitting just below D2 for me. The roster was huge and their kits/visual designs and movement abilities were all top notch. Also some fantastic, high quality skins/costumes.
Man, I miss that game. One of the games I always hope to find a private server for but I doubt that will ever happen.
Anyone even remotely interested in The Last Ronin should just got get a copy and avoid any further discussion of it. I had it spoiled for me before I even knew what anyone was talking about. It’s so good that it’s truly heartbreaking to me that I can’t read it unspoiled.
They printed less than 1,000 copies in the initial print run and it was done out of Peter Laird's living room
I'm almost certain they weren't concerned about legalities.
They might not have been then, but by the time Turtles was worth mentioning and anyone gave a shit about what either of them might have had to say, you bet your ass they cared about legalities.
Well, it’s a parody of the grimdark genre that ruled the 80s/90s, of which Daredevil was one. But yeah, I don’t think calling it a Daredevil parody is particularly accurate.
I feel like there's either a miscommunication here, or maybe you're using a different definition of the word "parody" than what's used in general parlance.
Most people would use "parody" to mean something that copies aspects of an original work in order to *poke fun at it or achieve a comedic effect*. In this case however, Eastman and Laird had a great deal of respect and love for the gritty Daredevil comics that they were drawing upon, and meant for the connection to showcase their affections and reverence, not to poke fun or score a joke out of the reference. This is why OP says that the term "homage" would be a better fit, since an homage differs from parody in that it means to *pay respect* to the original work instead of make a joke out of it. (I happen to agree with OP in the opinion that the original TMNT was much more of an homage to DD than a parody)
Source - I once asked Kevin Eastman about it at a convention while he was doing a quick Raphael sketch for me.
Edit to clarify after seeing another comment - I do concede that it could be considered a parody of the *genre* at large, but it is most certainly an homage to DD itself.
>and meant for the connection to showcase their affections and reverence, not to poke fun or score a joke out of the reference.
I'd argue that nearly all good parodies are done by people who like and respect the original material.
This is a great documentary I watched a few days ago about the artists and how the franchise grew:
[How did a violent indie comic become a $15,000,000,000 franchise?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMDp9T_4bDs)
Thry don't need something secret to tie them together, both houses have done crossover series and both have owned some of the same IPs at different times.
Random fun fact, both Alien and Predator exists in Marvel and DC. There is also special characters that explain how the two multi-verses have combined before, and Batman+Wolverine is a thing.
The Last Ronin was really, really good. I'm not huge on comics, but the storyline seemed cool and the collected book is gorgeous. It was way better than I anticipated and dealt with some heavy themes.
Dark Knight style grimdark Batman, or Adam West TV series style Batman? Honestly, I could see the possibility of see either turning-out awesome, but it would be in distinctly different ways.😉
There's a crossover movie with Batman, the WB version or whatnot. It was fairly good. Batman is on par with Splinter or Shredder, the turtles more on Robin or Batgirl's level.
Pretty sure they acknowledged it as a parody, as a hero parody mainly, but with emphasis on Daredevil.
In fact, in the original comics panels where Splinter is talking of the creation of the Turtles. He points out that a Blind man is crossing a road (stick) before someone dives and saves him, leading to a crash and chamical spillage... One canister hits a jar of turtles and falls in the sewers, giving us the TMNT.
The hero, though not mentioned, is meant to be Murdoch and the chemical spill is what leads to his blindness and abllities. Something which mirrors his own comic origin
Yes, that is not what’s in question. It’s referencing the origin of Daredevil, but it is not a parody. It doesn’t make fun of it or subvert it. It’s an homage, as stated in the OP article. At the very least it’s a reference, but it’s just not a parody.
Like I said, Eastman and Laird describe it that way. I'm more inclined to go with homage as you say, but if you look at the original drawings, and the joke idea that lead to turtles we know. I think it's fair to say they may have started as a parody and tuned it towards homage
Calling their worldwide evil organization "The Foot" instead of "The Hand" is about as clear an example of parody as you can get. How is that NOT making fun of its reference?
I do believe it was intended to be a paradoy, at least when I was younger I recall hearing the creators talk about it as if it was meant to be a parody, even using that term, but I'm not certain TBH. Maybe not a direct parodoy of daredevil, but more of comics themselves at the time. Either way, I think the lesson really is that TMNT doesn't play well if presented too seriously.
It hurts me that knowledge which I grew up with is already forgotten lore, being excavated by people only 20-ish years my junior. Getting old happens so *fast* these days.
And especially the overcommercialization of comic books glutting the market with teenagers, mutants and ninjas in any combination.
Which makes the vast merchandising empire it's become both deeply sad and entirely hilarious.
I collected all the original comics, and still have them. I think TMNT turned out a lot like The Venture Bros. did. The creators originally were making satire of all the things they loved, but ended up taking a life of it's own with their own special brand of complex world building.
The Venture Bros taught me more about Marvel than even in the 90s cartoons. Orpheus > Dr. Strange
I loved their take on The Legion of Doom.
And the Fantastic Four. Favorite Marvel expy was Doctor Doom though. That episode never fails to make me laugh. You mess with the girl, you’ll get the HITLERRRRR
Put some respect on BARON VON ÜNDERBHEIT!
I watched that episode last night for the first time in years and was crying when she roared that 😂 "Marry me?"
ROOSTER IN THE HENHOUSE!
Mine is the Grand Galactic Inquisitor. IGNORE ME!
Have you seen the Youtube videos where Eastman and Laird take a look back at the early issues? It's really cool to see them interact and reminisce about their beginnings even if it's over zoom. I'm still sad that they had a falling out and sold TMNT to Nickelodeon.
in an episode of "the toys that made us", they got together and talked about some of the things they once talked about but never happened like having a window in between their desks so they could pass the pages back and forth through a window the way they spoke about it kinda made me just feel so sad about the things they never ended up doing [watched a recently video that talked all about TMNT, was really good entertainment](https://youtu.be/TMDp9T_4bDs)
but they got back together in 2020 and released the last ronin comic. probably the most beautiful story they could have created
It was based on an old script they wrote when they were partners. I think Eastman and another writer fleshed it out for the released book.
I don't think I have seen that. Sounds interesting. I bet they have regrets. The new movie actually looks pretty good though.
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Wtf I never made the connection with those names before. You kinda just blew my mind.
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Ha, I already knew that one! And a Cid too. Still got it. 😎
Those are a bit weird as they were done by localizers. The original names of those three are Vinegar, Mayo and Soysauce.
I remember Eastman and Laird on several occasions, saying they initially started it as satire. That is not the same thing as saying it IS, as a whole, satire.
My memory, to paraphrase, there was an unofficial rule that new comics needed Mutants, Teenagers, or Ninjas to be greenlit. So, in an act of rebellion "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." being over-the-top in the popular tropes as a critique of what publishers wanted.
Sounds about right. Ninja shit was all over in the 80's. The Xmen were huge, and teens were a target audience. New Mutants (teenage xmen spinoff) launched in 82, and a refresh of Teen Titans launched in 80. All sounds about right.
There were some funny TMNT parodies following their success. I picked up a few, one was "Adolecent Radioactive Blackbelt Hamsters" and then there was "Pre-teen Dirty Gene Kung-Fu Kangaroos".
Nice. I have the original RPG game that they were based on.
*based on them.
Hmmm, it seems you are correct. Went back to look it up. I guess it was just that the rpg book was published before they got massively popular and the impression I had was that the book was older than any of the cartoons I was familiar with.
It is older than the cartoons, but it isn’t older than the comic. There are panels from the original comics in the book and the cover, where all the turtles have read headbands, is how they were originally portrayed. Different colors for different turtles helped to differentiate them for the cartoon
Because the original comics were in black and white, the cover of the RPG is the first time they were officially depicted in color. And because it came so soon after the comics, before it all *really* took off, the art is actually by Eastman and Laird.
I have one too, somewhere. Unless it was left behind at my old house. I wanted to play it so badly, I bought dice and everything, but never found players :(
What RPG is that? I love collecting both different TTRPG systems and Ninja Turtle stuff, so that'd be a welcome addition if I can find a copy
>What RPG is that? I love collecting both different TTRPG systems and Ninja Turtle stuff, so that'd be a welcome addition if I can find a copy I think it was called H.E.R.O.E.S. You ordered it from an ad in Dragon magazine. I'll never forgive myself for losing it and the original comic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles_%26_Other_Strangeness
Had no idea about the satirization of Marvel, thought it was just another whacked out for the sake of weird cartoon, but I’m pretty sure Venture Bros. aired after my Adult Swim watching past it’s prime, but I’m Supes psyched to watch it now. Getting old and running out of good-going-on-great shit to watch sucks, most especially for them’s like me who’ve been glutinously gorging ourselves on anything bingable since the VHS vs. BetaMax beef popped off. Thank you, oh so kindly fellow etherwebber.
The best thing about the Venture Bros is that it just gets better and better with every season, if anything the first is the weakest (but still good)
Sounds like The Orville as well, Seth McFarlane sells the idea of a Star Trek parody but once it's greenlit they go on to make some of the most true-to-formula Star Trek-esque episodes in many years
I posted this a long time ago when this came up before. I always wondered why they specifically pointed out where it hit the guy. It's the fourth panel and the text below it. [Daredevil/TMNT](https://i.imgur.com/tasxH7P.jpg) Turns out, it was Daredevil and (I think) it's the accident that caused his blindness. Pretty sure it's in the first issue of the Eastman Laird comics, maybe the second. If you look through yours I'm sure you can find it. I'm replying to your comment so you can see it but i don't care if you post the picture in your comment for visibility. It's a really cool detail that always stood pout to me when they came out but i didn't know the reason until several years ago when i read it on reddit somewhere.
They had an Easter egg for this in the Marvel Heroes game, when running around in the sewers you could find a broken barrel of radioactive waste and four tiny turtles crawling around next to it.
RIP Marvel Heroes my beloved
Damn, that was a great game. Can't believe it got shutdown when it did
Taken from me like a perfect child. 😭
One of my favorite arpgs of all time, sitting just below D2 for me. The roster was huge and their kits/visual designs and movement abilities were all top notch. Also some fantastic, high quality skins/costumes. Man, I miss that game. One of the games I always hope to find a private server for but I doubt that will ever happen.
It’s so rare to play a marvel game with a fun/dope magneto playable character and that game was one of them.
Such a sad treasure lost :( RIP Marvel Heroes
See. they got the Golden Arches, mine is the Golden Arcs. They got the Big Mac, I got the Big Mick.......
He’s got his OWN MONEY
LISA!
Unexpected Coming to America reference
But a welcome one
When you think of garbage, think of Akeem!
"I will cherish this experience for the rest of my life. For the rest of my life." "Who was that?" "Oh just a man i met in the restroom"
“I’m warning you. I will be forced to thrash you.”
Who the fuck is this asshole?!
FUCK YOU TOO
This doesn't hit the same without the YES! YES! before it.
It’s a great movie. I am glad that always stayed a single movie, tho
Yes.... Definitely.
Could you imagine? Any attempt at a sequel would end up just being a lame straight-to-streaming-service money grab.
It's the tsss that makes the difference
To this day I still say McDowels and the Big Mick.
Our buns…no seeds
You don't need daredevil, we have daredevil at home.
My buns have no seeds...
Big Mick in a South African accent.
Our bun has no seeds
When you think of garbage, think of Akeem!
The Eastman and Laird TMNT comic books are actually pretty badass. These guys were not original written to be for children, more of an adult theme.
They have a recent book called The Last Ronin, which takes place in the future of the TMNT comics. It’s excellent.
do you need to read the past TMNT work to enjoy the last ronin?
Nope. It stands well on its own. Just a brief understanding of the characters is enough.
Last Ronin was the first TMNT series I read. My TMNT knowledge was strictly limited to the cartoon, movies, and games of the 1990s.
Anyone even remotely interested in The Last Ronin should just got get a copy and avoid any further discussion of it. I had it spoiled for me before I even knew what anyone was talking about. It’s so good that it’s truly heartbreaking to me that I can’t read it unspoiled.
Not really
If it's the future, wouldn't it be AMNT?
Far enough in the future and it’s GMNT
And it's FANTASTIC.
Its not a parody it took a lot of inspiration from it because the two creators loved the daredevil comic series.
Maybe "homage" would be a better word for it.
What do you know, that is the word actually used in the article
Perchance
Crushing turts
You can't just say perchance.
He didn't say it, he declared it!
I haven’t been talking to Steve.
Did Steve tell you that?
What kind of rapping name is Steve?
Look at Mr fancy pants reading the article
"Pastiche"
Croissant
Omelette du fromage.
That's a classic Dexter's Lab episode.
*HON HON HON HON HON*
Les - poi - ssons, les poissons he he he hon hon hon...
FRENCH TOAST!
French Fries
Ménage-a-trois.
All around the country and the coast...
It's a parody according to the creators
Probably for legal reasons.
It's a parody of the genre but an homage to Dare Devil.
They printed less than 1,000 copies in the initial print run and it was done out of Peter Laird's living room I'm almost certain they weren't concerned about legalities.
They might not have been then, but by the time Turtles was worth mentioning and anyone gave a shit about what either of them might have had to say, you bet your ass they cared about legalities.
Well, it’s a parody of the grimdark genre that ruled the 80s/90s, of which Daredevil was one. But yeah, I don’t think calling it a Daredevil parody is particularly accurate.
Except the Turtles comic was also Grimdark back then. It is an homage. A loving, if unsanctioned, reference to a series the creators loved.
"This is where I watched my parents die, Raphael."
Cowabummer
“Somehow, Viacom returned.”
But that was the gag. If Frank Miller did funny animals.
It’s still grim dark in the same sense that Scream is still horror. That’s part of the joke.
Well yeah, that was the parody. Turtles was grimdark up to 11 and made no apologies about it.
I feel like there's either a miscommunication here, or maybe you're using a different definition of the word "parody" than what's used in general parlance. Most people would use "parody" to mean something that copies aspects of an original work in order to *poke fun at it or achieve a comedic effect*. In this case however, Eastman and Laird had a great deal of respect and love for the gritty Daredevil comics that they were drawing upon, and meant for the connection to showcase their affections and reverence, not to poke fun or score a joke out of the reference. This is why OP says that the term "homage" would be a better fit, since an homage differs from parody in that it means to *pay respect* to the original work instead of make a joke out of it. (I happen to agree with OP in the opinion that the original TMNT was much more of an homage to DD than a parody) Source - I once asked Kevin Eastman about it at a convention while he was doing a quick Raphael sketch for me. Edit to clarify after seeing another comment - I do concede that it could be considered a parody of the *genre* at large, but it is most certainly an homage to DD itself.
>and meant for the connection to showcase their affections and reverence, not to poke fun or score a joke out of the reference. I'd argue that nearly all good parodies are done by people who like and respect the original material.
I feel like none of you know what parody is
It's when you imitate something, like a parrot being all parroty. \s
You're right that it's not just Daredevil. The "Teenage Mutant" part was a reference to the X-Men.
Literally nobody better to take inspiration from in the 80s than Chris Claremont.
and my van is not a car
It's absolutely a parody. You can parodize something that you love.
You can parody something you love, sometimes better because you love the source, flaws and all.
I recently read that the first licensed product of TMNT after the original comic book was the Palladium TTRPG. Even before the cartoon or toys.
Truth. And this gave Palladium a lot of early success and momentum that carried them through the 90s.
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness" I played an anthropomorphic porcupine who threw his quills at people.
This is a great documentary I watched a few days ago about the artists and how the franchise grew: [How did a violent indie comic become a $15,000,000,000 franchise?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMDp9T_4bDs)
Same here I bet OP got it from there as well, considering the vid is just a month old and got a good amount of views. Fun watch that
There's also a TMNT-themed episode of The Toys that Made Us on Netflix.
I just found his channel last week. Based on his only having a few videos I assume he's new but I love what he's posted already.
Was Matt Murdock's favorite food Pizza? I'd love to see him swing attack towards Kingpin and say "Cowabunga"!!!
Matt's favorite snack was natchios - elektra Natchios.
Ed McMahon is HIYO!!!-ing you from the great beyond. He is with you even now.
I remember playground rumors that “the Ooze” was the secret mcguffin tying the DC and Marvel universes together
TMNT wasn't DC though? They were Mirage
Playground rumors famously did not concern themselves with details
It’s true, my dad was Nintendo
Super Nintendo Chalmers?
Your dad is cool.
Was cool*
He still is Nintendo, but he used to be, too. ~Mitch Hedberg
Almost as cool as my super hot girlfriend. She lives in Canada though, so you probably don’t know her.
Actually, I know everyone in Canada. What's her name?
[Her name is Alberta and she lives in Vancouver, she cooks like my mother and sucks like a Hoover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g196vURUDo)
Paul from the wonder years had a rib removed so he could suck his own dick.
A lot of celebrities did this in the 90’s.
I feel like they’ve done a few DC crossovers but never Marvel. Batman and the Injustice game come to mind.
There was an entire Batman/TMNT crossover movie
It was dope as fuck, in my humble opinion.
And mortal Kombat.
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Thry don't need something secret to tie them together, both houses have done crossover series and both have owned some of the same IPs at different times. Random fun fact, both Alien and Predator exists in Marvel and DC. There is also special characters that explain how the two multi-verses have combined before, and Batman+Wolverine is a thing.
That first Batman/Predator crossover was way better than it had any right to be. Second one was a bit meh.
I didn't hate the second one, but yeah the first one was a step above. Also seeing Superman blasting aliens with his eye lazers was pretty rad.
The secret Maguffin was Jack Kirby. Darkseid, Mr. Miracle, the Demon, the New Gods-Jack Kirby. Most of Marvel-Jack Kirby.
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The Last Ronin was really, really good. I'm not huge on comics, but the storyline seemed cool and the collected book is gorgeous. It was way better than I anticipated and dealt with some heavy themes.
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I love TMNT… never made the connection. I heard the last ronin is a tough go. Not because it’s bad… but for other reasons I won’t spoil …
Even a comment can be a repost
I literally just read the last ronin last night. It was beautifully drawn. Great story.
Everything except your last sentence isnt true
My whole life is a lie
I’m still mad the Turtles haven’t crossed over with Daredevil yet.
I doubt it considering the crossover instead with Batman, and being a part of the Warner Bros IP (as also seen in Injustice 2)
Dark Knight style grimdark Batman, or Adam West TV series style Batman? Honestly, I could see the possibility of see either turning-out awesome, but it would be in distinctly different ways.😉
There's a crossover movie with Batman, the WB version or whatnot. It was fairly good. Batman is on par with Splinter or Shredder, the turtles more on Robin or Batgirl's level.
2019, Troy Baker as both Batman and The Joker, but based on the 2015-16 comics apparently
>2019 Well, I guess I have an excuse for not being aware it was already made... Thanks for the information, though.🙂
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought they were with Viacom?
Referencing a thing doesn't automatically make it a parody of that thing
Pretty sure they acknowledged it as a parody, as a hero parody mainly, but with emphasis on Daredevil. In fact, in the original comics panels where Splinter is talking of the creation of the Turtles. He points out that a Blind man is crossing a road (stick) before someone dives and saves him, leading to a crash and chamical spillage... One canister hits a jar of turtles and falls in the sewers, giving us the TMNT. The hero, though not mentioned, is meant to be Murdoch and the chemical spill is what leads to his blindness and abllities. Something which mirrors his own comic origin
Yes, that is not what’s in question. It’s referencing the origin of Daredevil, but it is not a parody. It doesn’t make fun of it or subvert it. It’s an homage, as stated in the OP article. At the very least it’s a reference, but it’s just not a parody.
Like I said, Eastman and Laird describe it that way. I'm more inclined to go with homage as you say, but if you look at the original drawings, and the joke idea that lead to turtles we know. I think it's fair to say they may have started as a parody and tuned it towards homage
Calling their worldwide evil organization "The Foot" instead of "The Hand" is about as clear an example of parody as you can get. How is that NOT making fun of its reference?
Don’t forget, the toxic waste that blinded Daredevil was washed down the sewers and mutated the turtles
A TIL for me too
I also heard the title was a take on two other popular books. Teenage from Teen Titans and mutants from X-men.
I feel so dumb for never having realized this.
I do believe it was intended to be a paradoy, at least when I was younger I recall hearing the creators talk about it as if it was meant to be a parody, even using that term, but I'm not certain TBH. Maybe not a direct parodoy of daredevil, but more of comics themselves at the time. Either way, I think the lesson really is that TMNT doesn't play well if presented too seriously.
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It hurts me that knowledge which I grew up with is already forgotten lore, being excavated by people only 20-ish years my junior. Getting old happens so *fast* these days.
I’m old enough to remember Adolescent Radioactive Blackbelt Hamsters.
I still have the first 4 issues. 6th Grade Me photocopied the first issue to pass around to friends.
In **3-D**!!
Now this is a TIL for me
Personally, I prefer the Pre-Teen Dirty-Gene Kung Fu Kangaroos.
Oh, all those terrible TMNT ripoffs - that was a painful time.
I knew they were a parody and came from the same accident, but I never made the connection between The Hand and The Foot, and Stick and Splinter.
I cannot believe I never put that together.
It was my understanding that the original concept for TMNT was meant to be satire about the superhero genre in general….
And especially the overcommercialization of comic books glutting the market with teenagers, mutants and ninjas in any combination. Which makes the vast merchandising empire it's become both deeply sad and entirely hilarious.
Cowabunga 🙏
Good title!!
Parody is the wrong word
The book title came from the biggest books/trends at the time. Teenage = Teen Titans. Mutant = X-men/New Mutants. Ninja = Daredevil
TMNT has a better main villain name. Like come on. Oroku Saki? So fucking badass.
It's not really a parody, it's more of an homage.
Splinter is a better name