IIRC, it’s because Stan Sakai is a treasure of a human being, and didn’t want to sign a terrible deal that would have any lasting, negative effects on Usagi or his awesome readers. Might be a little off on the details, as it was 20+ years ago that he said as much on a convention Q&A panel.
That looks awesome dude! I was actually thinking they could have given him a really good spinoff from the 2003 series. The character had a lot more depth and they clearly took it much more seriously in that one! I grew up on the original 80s series but the 2003 run has always been my favorite lol
Also, trivia time! Eastman & Laird were two unknown artists back in the day, getting salty about the recent success of a certain simplistic, stylized samurai comic when they decided: if ya can’t beat 'em, join 'em. With a healthy dash of occupational spite, a squad of juvenile irradiated reptiles and their oversized rodent sensei were born.
It wasn’t long before the two ran into Stan Sakai and learned that he, true to form, was a huge fan of their comics — and wanted to put together a crossover! The rest is history. 🤣🤗
Oh wow! I always thought TMNT was inspired by Frank Millers Daredevil run! There are so many similarities: ninja jumping across rooftops at night, an older martial arts mentor named after wood “Splinter/Stick”, a clan of ninja bad guys named after a body part “The Foot/The Hand”, a secret war going on in the sewers of NYC, etc
That, and the original comics were b&w with the only other color being red. Very bloody, all four masks were red, etc. Also, Shredder straight up died in the first issue. (Splinter dropped a grenade inside the dumpster he’d kicked Shredder off a building into) Their previous styles were much grittier, frenetic, violent, but when they decided they wanted some of that anthro cartoon pie, they shifted completely. 😅 Sometimes, ya gotta go to unusual lengths to get ahead, ya know?
I thought the origin of Daredevil and the Turtles were literally the same event also? The same chemicals that sprayed DD in the eyes and blinded him ran into the sewers and mutated the Turtles.
That might’ve been a crossover thing for marketing, but the origin of their concept was the simple fact that the duo was fed up with getting passed over for some cartoony wabbit. 🤪 My favorite part of the story is that Stan Sakai’s gentle nature won the guys over, despite their initially competitive angle. 🤗
IIRC, it’s because Stan Sakai is a treasure of a human being, and didn’t want to sign a terrible deal that would have any lasting, negative effects on Usagi or his awesome readers. Might be a little off on the details, as it was 20+ years ago that he said as much on a convention Q&A panel.
Also, here’s the art that your post inspired!
Ahem, Ahem…Fuck Yeah!
That looks awesome dude! I was actually thinking they could have given him a really good spinoff from the 2003 series. The character had a lot more depth and they clearly took it much more seriously in that one! I grew up on the original 80s series but the 2003 run has always been my favorite lol
Right on! Same here 🤘🏽
Also, trivia time! Eastman & Laird were two unknown artists back in the day, getting salty about the recent success of a certain simplistic, stylized samurai comic when they decided: if ya can’t beat 'em, join 'em. With a healthy dash of occupational spite, a squad of juvenile irradiated reptiles and their oversized rodent sensei were born.
It wasn’t long before the two ran into Stan Sakai and learned that he, true to form, was a huge fan of their comics — and wanted to put together a crossover! The rest is history. 🤣🤗
Oh wow! I always thought TMNT was inspired by Frank Millers Daredevil run! There are so many similarities: ninja jumping across rooftops at night, an older martial arts mentor named after wood “Splinter/Stick”, a clan of ninja bad guys named after a body part “The Foot/The Hand”, a secret war going on in the sewers of NYC, etc
That, and the original comics were b&w with the only other color being red. Very bloody, all four masks were red, etc. Also, Shredder straight up died in the first issue. (Splinter dropped a grenade inside the dumpster he’d kicked Shredder off a building into) Their previous styles were much grittier, frenetic, violent, but when they decided they wanted some of that anthro cartoon pie, they shifted completely. 😅 Sometimes, ya gotta go to unusual lengths to get ahead, ya know?
I thought the origin of Daredevil and the Turtles were literally the same event also? The same chemicals that sprayed DD in the eyes and blinded him ran into the sewers and mutated the Turtles.
That might’ve been a crossover thing for marketing, but the origin of their concept was the simple fact that the duo was fed up with getting passed over for some cartoony wabbit. 🤪 My favorite part of the story is that Stan Sakai’s gentle nature won the guys over, despite their initially competitive angle. 🤗