When IDW collected Archie’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures” in the 2010s, it skipped over Issues 32-37 and “Mighty Mutanimals” (Vol. 2) Issues 1-5 (1992). Although the company made no statement why, and Wikipedia cites “culturally offensive” material without a source, the real reason is that these issues cover topics a large corporation won’t touch due to world politics.
Issue 34 chronicles the China-Tibet conflict, and Issue 35 depicts Muhammed in a flashback. Some have cited “Mutanimals” Issue 1’s story of Jagwar being the offspring of a human and a jaguar as being among the offending material.
This is Dean Clarrain (Stephen Murphy) doing his usual thing of filling human-geography-driven tales with anthropomorphs, but because these adventures go to the Eastern Hemisphere (in “TMNT Adventures”) and Latin America (in “MM”), rather than staying in NYC, it wasn’t worth the headache for IDW.
“TMNT Adventures” Issues 32-37 and “Mighty Mutanimals” (Vol. 2) Issues 1-5 (1992)
Archie
Issues: “The Good, the Bad and the Tattooed” (32), “The Karma of Katmandu” (33), “The Search for the Charlie Llama” (34), “The Black Stone” (35), “Steel Breeze” (36), “Stump’d Again” (37), “The Mighty Mutanimals” (MM1), “Snake, Rattle & Roll” (MM2), “Deadheads” (MM3), “Days of Future Past” (MM4), “Big Guns and Bad Attitudes” (MM5)
Writer: Dean Clarrain (Stephen Murphy)
Pencils: Chris Allan (32-37), Garrett Ho (MM1-2), Mike Kazaleh (MM2-5)
Inks: Brian Thomas (32, 34, 36), Rod Ollerenshaw (33, 35), Jon D’Agostino (37, MM1-4), Scott Shaw (MM5)
Colors: Barry Grossman
Ironically, these “banned issues” find Clarrain and primary artist Chris Allan doing some of their most vibrant teaching to kids about religion and folklore (Buddhism, Islam and South American mysticism) and the environment (oil spills, nuclear warfare and pollutants’ effects on bottlenose dolphins).
Clarrain can be blunt – Leo says “I hate guns” as often as Mikey asks “Are we there yet?” – and his themes always come before plotting. But these issues could’ve spiced up any grade-school history classroom (unfortunately, political correctness was big in the ’90s, too, just not as corporate as today).
From Tattoo to Katmandu
It starts utterly generic with Issue 32 (“The Good, the Bad and the Tattooed”), in which Japan’s mobsters kidnap Inky, the dog of sumo wrestler Tattoo, so he’ll throw a fight. It’s the same plot as a “Police Squad” episode – a fine structure for adding jokes, but this issue doesn’t do that. It’s still a better Tattoo origin than the cartoon’s, where Tattoo is a mutant hamster (somehow).
With that mandated action-figure shilling out of the way, Issue 33 (“The Karma of Katmandu”) seemingly creates a cooler action figure, although the four-armed tiger was never produced. He’s also a deeper character, teaching the Turtles and readers about Buddhist philosophy.
An “Indiana Jones”-style map shows the progress of the caravan by sea, river, plains and mountains. Splinter (a.k.a. Hamato Yoshi) aims to visit his old mentor.
Issue 34 (“The Search for the Charlie Llama”) is a faithful re-creation of the Tibet-China conflict with the anthropomorphic llama standing in for the Dalai Lama. The plot is well-structured as the end of Charlie’s life intersects with the birth of a child, as midwifed by Splinter and Donatello, who would rather be fighting.
More history you aren’t allowed to teach
Clarrain’s accessible history lessons continue in Issue 35 (“The Black Stone”), as the anthropomorphic falcon Al-Falqa represents Muslims. Splinter explains the history of Islam, and the fact that non-Muslims can’t enter Mecca. The flashback includes a depiction of the prophet Muhammed, which is edited out on Turtlepedia’s image.
“Adventures’ ” groan-worthy plotting convenience comes back. The heroes no longer have a destination; they just wander across the brutal Saudi Arabian desert – not the ideal path home. They happen to pass a caravan led by Shredder, who has stolen the titular stone (one of a pair that grants immortality) from Mecca off-page.
Issue 36 (“Steel Breeze”) proves you don’t always have to earn your plotting in a kiddie comic; doing something cool (bringing back Shredder) is good enough. He is teamed with a cat-mutant-cyborg from the future unflatteringly named Verminator-X, who can open time portals.
Other than the bland Tattoo story, Issue 37 (“Stump’d Again!”) is the worst of this batch to me, not being a fan of Intergalactic Wrestling. It’s a way to get the Turtles out of the desert, with Cudley slurping them up. A backup story in Issue 35, “Mah Name,” had warned us about the return of Cryin’ Houn’, who I can’t imagine anyone likes.
One neat aspect: This is “Adventures’” take on the Raph-Leo rivalry. The Turtles are uncomfortable being pitted against one another – except Raph, who revels in the chance to fight his brother.
On the other side of the globe …
Clarrain simultaneously has the Mutanimals on a less-geographically specific trek through the rainforest. The infamous Issue 1 (self-titled) explains that Jagwar’s mom, Juntarra, is human and his dad is a jaguar. He’s a spiritual creation, so although it’s weird, it’s not quite as weird as you might imagine. But it’s best to not imagine too deeply.
Clarrain makes Juntarra – who dresses like Jane from “Tarzan” — not quite Brazilian, not quite Spanish, not quite Portuguese, perhaps to avoid offense. She’s hard to pin down, but not in a deep way. For the sake of knowledge, she had taken the Path of the Four Winds (which the Mutanimals now follow), but her dialog is peppered with expletives, a shallow way to establish that she’s tough.
Granted, she has been kidnapped by the Grim Reaper, who is in league with Null – who wants to draw in the Mutanimals for “revenge” – but I sense Clarrain didn’t put a ton of thought into Juntarra.
On the other hand, he peppers in backstory about the seven Mutanimals. Wingnut was an outcast but Screwloose helped him acquire mechanical wings (Issue 2, “Snake, Rattle & Roll”), and Man-Ray claims he’s not afraid of death (Issue 3, “Deadheads”). Though sharks are scared of manta rays, Man-Ray himself doesn’t have this effect on them. It’s hard to know if that’s a bit of intrigue or the writer acknowledging the logic hole.
Really big weapons
The end bosses of the cardinal directions aren’t as memorable as those on the Turtles’ journey, but Issue 4 (“Days of Future Past”) features neat solar-system sci-fi told by an alien dragon. He is the last survivor of an ancient war for control of a planet between Mars and Jupiter, which was destroyed via a nuclear bomb.
The aliens left huge laser guns on Earth, which the Mutanimals take up in Issue 5 (“Big Guns and Bad Attitudes”). To his credit, Clarrain’s anti-gun stance specifically comes through Leo, so maybe it counts as characterization rather than bias. At any rate, Null uses Reaper robots, so guns are OK.
Though this concludes the “banned issues,” the Mutanimals still haven’t met up with Juntarra. Among the two caravans, the Turtles get more done, both in terms of miles covered and history learned.
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