TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES ADVENTURES (1989) #14 & TMNT ADVENTURES MINI #1 (1988)

[Zorro]

Naturally, TMNT debuted as a quirky indie comic in 1984, and it became a syndicated cartoon series which took the world by storm in 1987. While Mirage still published their own series in its own continuity, Archie Comics got the license for a comic centered around the animated series' incarnation. They published a mini series in 1988 and then an ongoing in 1989; the mini and the first 4 issues of the ongoing series were essentially comic book versions of animated episodes for the first and second season of the show. Starting with issue 5, however, TMNT Adventures started doing their own stories and took things in a different direction than the animated series did. By 1990's 13th issue, there had been a titular "Final Conflict" that essentially eradicated the status quo and mostly eliminated Shredder, Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady as the main villains of the series (with their appearances being sporadic at best for the next 1-3 years of the comic, and even those appearances were mostly of the Shredder). One of the consequences is that April O'Neill got captured far less often in this comic than in the cartoon -- where she averages being bound and/or gagged in roughly 1:8 or 1:9 episodes. I know; I checked, and even this is a lowball estimate.

One of her rare scenes is in issue #14, where the Turtles meet Jagwar, a jaguar-being who wants to defend the jungle from those who'd do it wrong. By this point the Turtles had been apart from April for some time, between adventures in space and in other areas. Raphael is even wearing a black costume which was "gifted" to him during a stint in intergalactic wrestling (which is a shameless knockoff of Spider-Man's black costume). Through sheer coincidence, in trying to help Jagwar they learn that a reporter he'd mentioned was kidnapped by the villains he was after happens to be April O'Neill.

https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Teenag ... d=49502#20 (hands bound behind her back, kneeling)
https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Teenag ... d=49502#21 (cut free by Leonardo)

And just for a bonus, here is the first issue of the TMNT Adventures mini series from 1988, which basically was a comic version of 1987's pilot episode, "Turtle Tracks." In this episode, April is famously kidnapped by Foot Soldiers after exposing their criminal enterprise, being hand-gagged and drug away from a payphone (since even local TV reporters didn't have cell phones in 1988). The biggest difference is the scene after; while in both the cartoon and the comic, April is tied up on a rooftop by the Foot as bait for the Turtles, in this comic version, she's gagged.

https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Teenag ... d=49601#17(the hand-gagged abduction)
https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Teenag ... d=49601#18(bound & gagged bait)
https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Teenag ... d=49601#19 (After a mumble from April, the Turtles decide it's time to free her now that the Foot are defeated and there's no one else to trade wisecracks now)

A part of me always wondered if this was an embellishment from Michael Dooney, who was rewriting these issues from episode scripts from David Wise & Patti Howeth (as in even lines of dialogue from the show are repeated), OR if in the original script for the pilot, April was gagged and then sometime down the line of production that was changed. The lead-time for an animated TV episode is at least 2-3 times longer than for a comic, with re-writes or edits often altering things from an original script draft.

Forgive the length of the post here, but this stuff takes me back. April, along with Penny Gadget and syndicated reruns of the third season of the 1966 Batman TV show featuring Batgirl likely helped create my own fascination for the whole "DID" thing. I doubt I am alone.

[somedude37]

Great post here man. I’ve known these scenes since childhood but it’s always good to see them again. Any April scenes do bring back warm and fuzzy memories for me too. Along with Daphne Blake and Penny Gadget, she was the biggest influence on me becoming attracted to DiD as a kid. I would have to say she is still my all-time #1 damsel, although Daphne is right up there too.

As far as your speculation on why April was gagged in this comic but not in the cartoon, I do have a theory about that. I’ve always thought it was much more likely that the actual cartoon pilot episode deviated from a script in which April was originally supposed to be gagged. Of course, there’s no way to prove this for certain without seeing the original David Wise/Patti Howeth episode script. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that script has ever been made publicly available.

However, there seems to be significant evidence in the form of other versions of this scene. Over the years I’ve become aware of at least 4 different adaptations of April’s scene based on the “Turtle Tracks” episode, including this one from the comic. ALL of them have April gagged in the scene, with the lone exception being the cartoon episode.

There was the TMNT “How It All Began” coloring book, which had a lovely drawing of April kneeling bound and gagged on the rooftop. There is an audio cassette drama tape that was sold with a book where the narrator mentions April being bound and gagged and the voice actress for her makes some nice mumbling noises. And there was a TMNT trading card I had as a kid where the back description mentions the Turtles have tracked April to a rooftop, “where she is bound and gagged.” There is of course no screenshot reflecting that, as they were taken from the episode, and she wasn’t gagged in that. Still, it seems to be another indication that at one point or another, April was likely meant to be gagged in the episode.

It seems unlikely that these other versions of the scene would all end up gagging her, unless they were working from an earlier script as a common source material.

[Zorro]

Thanks for the well thought out and researched reply. The weight of evidence you state suggests that it's probable that the original script had April as gagged in "Turtle Tracks." By and large the "lead time" for producing an animated TV episode is 8-10 months (give or take), and those merchandise tie-ins usually work with earlier drafts since they have to debut around the same time.

Who knows why that was changed for the "final" version of the animated pilot in 1987, but it's hardly as if the show's producers and/or writers were shy about placing April in peril. Again, across all 10-11 seasons the ratio of her getting tied up is roughly 1:8 episodes, and that's with me only focusing on ropes, gags, and/or chains. There was, for example, an episode where April was rolled up in a carpet during her abduction and I decided not to include it. I also didn't include any episodes where she was just caught in a sack, since that isn't my bag (pun intended). Even in the last three seasons -- the "red sky seasons" where the show made modest attempts to get slightly more serious to compete in an era which had BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES and X-MEN -- April gets at least one peril scene a season (which by then were 8 episodes long). Even in the series finale, she's bound and gagged to a chair.

The only caveat is that a chunk of the dialogue during the original series was ad libbed, as director Susan Blu often had the actors play off each other rather than record individually. Stuff like, say, Rocksteady merrily singing about tying up April could have been spontaneous by Cam Clarke. Or another bit where April brags about having "toes for news" since she's apparently been tied up so often she's become skilled at aiming her video camera with her feet. Regardless, her status as a damsel-in-distress was pretty deliberate and if anything became something the show's producers and actors had fun with, along with the Turtles' obsession with pizza with increasingly disgusting toppings or having Shredder and Krang bicker like an old married couple. Renae Jacobs, April's original VA, also had to overcome original director Stu Rosen's initial disapproval of her in the role (she wasn't cast until they literally exhausted all other actresses who auditioned for it), so for all we know it could have come down to something as simple as not wanting her to have to grunt in the pilot or saving on animation or something.

[mailbagfan]

There was, for example, an episode where April was rolled up in a carpet during her abduction and I decided not to include it. I also didn't include any episodes where she was just caught in a sack, since that isn't my bag (pun intended).

Whoa, could you point me in the direction of that carpet episode? Also, was there more than one episode where she got bagged in a sack? I only know of the one where they're on a train. ("Turtles on the Orient Express" IIRC.)

[Zorro]

There was, for example, an episode where April was rolled up in a carpet during her abduction and I decided not to include it. I also didn't include any episodes where she was just caught in a sack, since that isn't my bag (pun intended).

Whoa, could you point me in the direction of that carpet episode? Also, was there more than one episode where she got bagged in a sack? I only know of the one where they're on a train. ("Turtles on the Orient Express" IIRC.)

The carpet abduction episode is "Michelangelo the Sacred Turtle," 20th episode of 1991's Season 5 (episode 124 overall from the show). Be warned, the episode revolves around Egyptian cultists and, well...let's say their depiction hasn't aged well.

I apologize I do not specifically remember another sack episode off the top of my head beyond the one you mentioned. My last marathon of the show was over a year ago.

Incidentally, throughout the show the sheer number of people who sling April over their shoulder to carry her is pretty staggering. Even the Turtles themselves carry her that way a few times.

[mailbagfan]

Thanks. It seems that one sack scene is the only one for April.