Comic Book / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures

Issue 1 of the comic.

Initially based on the massively popular first cartoon, the Archie-published Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures eventually became one of the strangest incarnations of the franchise, and one that fans still remember with some fondness.

After adapting the cartoon pilot and a couple other episodes, the book set off in its own direction, introducing its own original characters and stories. While cartoon mainstays like The Shredder, Krang, and the Rat King still made appearances, they eventually took a back seat to characters like Ninjara, a Japanese Ninja fox; Cudley the Cowlick, living spaceship in the shape of a cow's head; Null, a businessman/demon with plans to sell Earth; and Armaggon, a mutant shark from the future.

The book had an environmentalist tone, with green aesops galore. It also introduced young readers to political topics such as Apartheid, the Chinese occupation of Tibet, the Gulf War, and even showing the more unpleasant aspects of Christopher Columbus' "discovery" of the Western Hemisphere and the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While the quality of the actual stories was variable and debatable, several of the concepts introduced here proved quite popular with fans of the franchise, some of whom continue to hope that elements from the book will be introduced in further incarnations.

The series lasted for 72 issues (March, 1989-October, 1995). In 1995, the series was cancelled before the book's regular creative team could begin their biggest storyline, dubbed "The Forever War". Instead, a three-issue storyline entitled "Year of the Turtle" was published in 1996, which had the Shredder return for a final battle against the Turtles only to end up in a coma. Despite serving as the finale to the Archie series, the miniseries still left some story arcs and conflicts hanging and unresolved.

The "Forever War" story arc remained in limbo for more than a decade, until Mirage Comics announced that they would allow the story to be completed and released. Unfortunately, the project was plagued by scores of delays, and the project was cancelled after Nickelodeon's purchase of the franchise. However, IDW Publishing has gained the rights to publish Ninja Turtles comic books, which include reprinting this one, so if you're interested, you can buy a paperback copy. There is also an IDW forum thread dedicated to reviving the "Forever War" storyline, as well as a crowdfunding campaign.

A re-edited version of the comic, including some original stories, was published by Fleetway in the UK from 1990 to 1994 under the title Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles Adventures.

For more details on the TMNT franchise in general, visit the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles page. For a list of some of the characters in the series, visit the franchise character page. For information on the cartoon the book is based on, see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987). Besides being based on the 80s cartoon, this series is unrelated to the much later Saturday Morning Adventures comic, which is designed to be in the continuity of the 80s series.

---

Tropes:

• Action Girl: April, Ninjara, several others.
• Aborted Arc: Like the second season of the cartoon series, the comic sets up a storyline where the Turtles have to prevent Shredder from getting his hands on powerful alien gemstones called the Eyes of Sarnath. By the sixth issue, this storyline is completely abandoned, as neither the Turtles nor Shredder are seen actively searching for the Eyes again. This is subverted when the Eyes and their origins are revisited and play key roles in later storylines.
• Adaptation Dye-Job:
  • In the adaptation of the cartoon episode "A Thing About Rats", Baxter Stockman's hair was mysteriously colored white. His hair color was returned to its normal blond in the ongoing series, though.
  • In the adaptation of "Return of the Shredder", Vernon has brown hair rather than black, and Irma has black hair rather than brown.
• Adaptation Expansion:
  • The series made an effort to expand the backstory of Hamato Yoshi before he became Splinter far more than the 87 cartoon series did, revealing that he was a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, studied under the Charlie Llama in Tibet, is a devout practitioner of Buddhism, led the Foot Clan in Japan before Oroku Saki had him banished, and even made friends in New York prior to his mutation into a rat. Similarly, a few issues showcase the Turtles growing up and training under Splinter's tutelage, including how they obtained their multicolored bandanas and signature weapons.
  • While the cartoon was never entirely clear about Dimension X's status, the comics firmly establish it as a corkscrew-shaped galaxy distant from Earth. The Turtles also visit it more frequently, revealing that it is home a variety of different planets, species, and its own entertainment industry. Most of the alien creatures that the Turtles come across in their adventures end up being connected to Dimension X in some way.
• Adaptation Name Change: In the adaptation of "Return of the Shredder" Vernon's last name is revealed to be Prindle, while in the cartoon it was Fenwick.
• Adapted Out:
  • Casey Jones never appears in the series. Oddly enough though, he is mentioned in "Year of the Turtle," so the Turtles did apparently encounter him at one time, though the meeting is never shown.
  • The original "Heroes in a Half-Shell" three-issue miniseries, which consisted of adaptations of the cartoon's first five episodes, omitted Burne Thompson, Vernon Fenwick, and several bit characters. They would appear in the "Return of the Shredder" two-parter after that though, but only that.
• Adaptational Villainy: While Krang was always an evil alien despot responsible for conquering Dimension X and trying to do the same on Earth, the comics turned his villainy up to eleven by revealing that he has destroyed multiple worlds as part of his past conquests, including committing genocide upon Wingnut and Screwloose's people. He was also willing to sell out the Earth to Maligna in order to receive her assistance in obtaining the Turnstone, knowing full well she planned to destroy all life there. In his final appearance, he tried to take revenge on both Shredder and the Turtles by forcefully possessing the former's body; a fate that even the Turtles think Shredder doesn't deserve. Krang's increased villainy as a whole can be seen as the first signs of the more serious direction that the series would ultimately take.
  • To a lesser extent, Shredder is also a more dangerous threat than he was in the cartoon and far less incompetent. In the revised version of Splinter's origin, instead of merely setting Hamato Yoshi up to look like he was about to attack a visiting clan leader, he did so while also murdering two younger members of the Foot Clan and framed Hamato Yoshi for their deaths.
  • In the 1987 episode "The Incredible Shrinking Turtles" and subsequently the comic adaptation based upon it, the alien that the Turtles meet and bury in Central Park is straightforwardly portrayed as benevolent guardian who wants them to find and protect the Eyes of Sarnath from evil. In the comic, it is revealed that the alien is a member of the Mergia, a race who created, enslaved and ultimately abandoned a race of sentient robots known as the Triast. Sarnath is established to be the Triast who served the alien, whom he regarded as little more than his property. In a final act of spite, the alien stole all of Sarnath's eyes before abandoning the planet, leaving Sarnath to chase after him while totally blind. It also implies that, while he might have legitimately not wanted the eyes' incredible power to fall into the wrong hands, he also may have intended for the Turtles to collect them so that Sarnath would never see again.
• A Hell of a Time: In issue #46, Raphael ends up in the underworld alongside Ninjara, Naga and their grandmother. There, they meet a affable "demon babe" that takes a liking to Raph and tells them how they can return to Earth.
• Animorphism: A whole lot of it, though most of it was the permanent kind.
• Area 51: The turtles are temporarily held here in "Blind Sight".
• Art Shift: While the art initially tried to stay somewhat close to the toon, it eventually went in its own direction. Special note should be taken of Splinter and April, who went on to look completely different from their animated counterparts.
• Badass in Distress: Armaggon kidnaps Leonardo in part two of "The Future Shark Trilogy" and his teammates Shredder and Verminator-X capture 3 of the 4 future Turtles (only Future Raphael escapes).
• Bittersweet Ending: How the series ended in the "Year of the Turtle" miniseries. The Shredder is defeated for good because he ends up in a coma and Splinter is returned to the form of Hamato Yoshi, but Yoshi's return to his human form is only temporary and he will eventually become a rat mutant again. In addition, the Turtles had lost many of their allies by this point, whether they were killed like the Mighty Mutanimals or merely had a falling out like Ninjara.
• Blood Knight: Subverted with Raphael. Although he enjoys fighting to some extent, it's revealed in "Dreamland" that his worst nightmare is becoming one of these; completely obsessed with battle and relishing in pain.
• Book Ends: The comic book series began as a three-issue miniseries that adapted the first five episodes of the Fred Wolf cartoon detailing the Turtles' first encounter with the Shredder and was concluded with another three-issue miniseries about the Turtles' final battle with him.
• Brain in a Jar: Hitler's brain, which gets hijacked after his death as a sort of hot potato to make various villains more evil by virtue of carrying it around.
• Brain Theft: Crainiac's M.O.; stealing brains from creatures who have led exciting or interesting lives and selling them off to aliens who wish to experience these memories.
• Brought Down to Normal: Temporarily happens to Splinter and Michelangelo in the three-part finale of the series "Year of the Turtle". The magic amulet Shredder uses in the story ends up restoring Splinter to the form of Hamato Yoshi and Michelangelo to the form of an ordinary turtle. Later, the other Turtles use the amulet to restore Michelangelo to his mutant form and Yoshi's transformation wears off as he reverts back to his mutant rat form.
• Canon Discontinuity: The second April miniseries was so reviled that it was later retconned into being a nightmare April had.
• Canon Foreigner: This being TMNT, a ton.
• Canon Immigrant:
  • Cudley the Cowlick, as well as the idea of April becoming a martial artist herself.
  • Several characters that appeared in the comic (such as Scumbug, Mondo Gecko, Tattoo, Wingnut and Screwloose) made their way into the Fred Wolf cartoon the comic was based on, but had completely different looks, origins, and alignments (e.g. Wingnut and Screwloose were one-shot villains from the planet Flagenon in the cartoon, when here they were allies of the Turtles from the planet Huana, which was destroyed by Krang).
• Cerebus Syndrome: The series went from having a tone similar to the cartoon to becoming second only to the Mirage comics in seriousness. It was the darkest thing Archie had published up to the change of leadership in The New '10s. However, this comic was easier to come across than the Mirage series, and being edgier than the cartoon while staying lighthearted at times attracted its own following.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Hitler's brain.
• Comic-Book Adaptation: Before establishing its own continuity, the comic started as an adaptation of the 1987 cartoon, with the three-issue "Heroes in a Half-Shell" miniseries and the first four issues of the ongoing series being adaptations of the cartoon's first seven episodes.
• Conqueror from the Future: Seems to have been Armaggon's motivation.
• Corporate Conspiracy: Null earned his title as "The Man Who Sold The World" when his company made a deal with a Horde of Alien Locusts to assist in the smooth and easy conquest of Earth in exchange for the technology to move their business off world. That their Queen Maligna planned to feast on the human race didn't seem to bother him at all. He later did this again with the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Someone should really take his business license away.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Null.
• Crossing the Desert: As part of their trek back home, the Turtles, Splinter and Ninjara cross through a desert in Saudi Arabia.
• Crossover: One special sees Cudly the Cowlick deliver the Turtles to an alternate version of Earth, where they arrive in Riverdale and team up with Archie Andrews and his friends.
• Cthulhumanoid: Boss Salvage, who is an Expy of Tessek from Star Wars.
• Da Editor: Murdock Maxwell, in the first April mini-series.
• Darker and Edgier: And how. Although not quite on the level of the original Mirage Comics, the series is far darker than the cartoon it was initially based on comic, whether it be from the more explicit violence, more threatening villains, and even death, to the more grim subject matter that it addresses, including war and its effects, the ultimate consequences of climate change, Domestic Abuse, torture, genocide, among many, many more.
• Deadly Dust Storm: The Turtles face one while travelling through the desert.
• Death by Adaptation: Due to the death of the Mutanimals, this marks the only version where Leatherhead is outright killed in any TMNT media.
• Demoted to Extra: Any major character featured or introduced in the cartoon had this happen to them. Irma and Vernon only appear in the first two issues and are never seen again, while Burne Thompson lasts up to issue 3 before he likewise vanishes. Baxter only shows up during issues 2-4, then makes once more appearance during a flashback in the "Future Shark Trilogy" arc a few years later. Shredder, Krang, Bebop, and Rocksteady were all regulars at first, but ended up getting written out after the book's second year. While Shredder would at least remain a minor recurring villain afterward, the other three returned for just one more three-part story before never being seen again. The Rat King meanwhile only shows up for a few pages in issue 11 and one fight scene in the "Future Shark Trilogy".
• Devil in Disguise: Null is revealed to actually be Satan.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Utilized in the "Blind Side" story arc. As part of April's plan to prove that the Turtles are heroes, Oyuki dresses up and romances McIntyre's assistant Squint during his live show; distracting him while she sneaks a tape into the studio cameras.
• Doesn't Like Guns: Leonardo thinks guns are dishonorable weapons. And whenever he comes up against an opponent who uses guns, he'll be sure to let them know.
• Downer Ending: Since the final two issues are a lighthearted flashback to an adventure the Turtles had as preteens, the series effectively ended with issue 70 where Raphael and Ninjara break up.
• Gosh Darn It to Heck!: Even with the adult subject matter in the series, characters are rarely seen swearing, with some minor exceptions.
  Future Michelangelo: You know something? This...This really bites!
  Future Raphael: No spit, Sherlock.
• Face–Heel Turn: Vernimator-X was apparently a good guy and the apprentice of Donatello in the future before turning evil.
• Failure Is the Only Option:
  • During the "Terracide" storyline, the Turtles and their allies stop Maligna's planned invasion of Earth two months ahead of when it was scheduled to happen. However, the future Donatello learns that despite this, the green house effect that has flooded the Earth has not changed. This causes him to realize that Maligna had no real influence upon the Earth and that mankind would cause the extreme effects of climate change regardless of her involvement.
  • Likewise, the future Raphael is revealed to have had a falling out with Ninjara and has not seen her for quite some time. Raphael and Ninjara's relationship is ultimately doomed to fail, and the two have their falling out in the "Moon Eyes" storyline.
• Flooded Future World: By 2092 climate change is in full effect, and much of the Earth is now submerged.
• Fugitive Arc: Starting in issue #47, the Turtles are caught on live television freeing Sarnath's seeing eye dog from captivity, and are believed to be dangerous threats to the public. This forces them to lay low, even escaping to Dimension X for a period of time, while they are hunted after by both the media and the government. This is ultimately brought to a conclusion in the "Blind Side" story, where April manages to prove their heroics to the public.
• Fusion Dance: Chien Khan's origin story. He was originally a mixed-race Japanese/Chinese hoodlum who was mystically fused with his pit-bull terrier Mauler by the evil oni Noi Dai Tar.
• The Future: We eventually get a glimpse of the Earth one hundred years in the future.
• Future Badass: Future Raphael in particular seems to invoke this with his missing eye.
• Future Me Scares Me: Subverted with Raphael and Future Raphael, who butt heads as only two The Lancer characters stuck together could.
• Genius Bruiser: Armaggon, the giant Shark Man who upon commandeering a space ship rants at the crew because their tech isn't advanced enough for his tastes.
• Good Smoking, Evil Smoking:
  • Null is introduced in silhoutte and is almost always smoking a cigar.
  • Verminator-X is usually seen smoking and is an evil Beast Man (a werecat specifically).
  • Trap the wrestler seems to be a blue collar version of smoking cigars. He's not evil, just doing a job.
• Grand Finale: The 1996 three-issue miniseries "Year of the Turtle", which involved Shredder ending up in a coma after his final battle with the Turtles and Splinter restored to the form of Hamato Yoshi, albeit temporarily.
  • The "Forever War" storyline was supposed to be this, but it was canceled at the time. Reprints have made it Un-Cancelled and is able to be purchased!
• The Grays: The Sons of Silence.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Yoshi Chen was fused with his own dog via dark sorcery to become Chien Khan.
• Heel–Face Turn: Many of the Turtles' enemies end up pulling one, most notably Ninjara, as well as Leatherhead, Chameleon, Slash, and Kid Terra.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Slash goes out this way.
• Hitler's Time Travel Exemption Act: Subverted, as the Turtles actually trick Hitler into his historical suicide.
• Hive Queen: Queen Maligna, an insectoid alien tyrant.
• Hurl It into the Sun: Maligna's hive world plummets into the Sun as the organic engine is destroyed. Slash stays behind to make sure Maligna cannot escape.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: Played with. While April, Oyuki, Chu Hsi, and the Turtles' other human allies obviously defy this trope, more than once Splinter and the Turtles have expressed their dismay in human kind in general. Considering that most of the problems that they face are usually directly linked to human behavior (corporate greed and pollution, criminals, shady government activities, or being hunted by them outright), it's justified.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Cited by the Future Raphael after he kills Verminator X. Although his brothers are furious at him for violating everything that Splinter had taught them, Raph reasons that Verminator would've inevitably just kept coming back and trying to kill them.
• I Hate Past Me: Future Raph expresses constant woe about his younger self's stubbornness and aggressive behavior, knowing exactly where it's going to lead him.
  Future Raphael: Sorry gang...but I will mellow with age. Honest.
• In Name Only: Adventures' version of Ace Duck strays the farthest from his toyline counterpart of all the characters adapted into the series. Whereas that Ace Duck was a mutated pilot who became allies with the Turtles, here, he is a muscular alien Fighting Narcissist who works for Stump's Intergalactic Wrestling Circuit and has no direct association with the Turtles. He is also never seen wearing his pilot outfit; and in fact is never seen in any clothing other than a pair of red trunks.
• Interspecies Romance: This version of Raph had a thing for canine ladies, romancing Ninjara (a fox) and eventually marrying Mezcall (a coyote). Also, Candy Fine continued her relationship with Mondo Gecko even after he'd turned into a mutant.
  • On the other hand, Chameleon never had any luck with his female detective partner, whom he had a crush on; but in fairness, she had rejected him back when he was still human. Her stated objection wasn't that he was a mutant, but that he was her business partner.
• Killed Off for Real: On the villains' side, we have Queen Maligna and her hive world. On the heroes' side, we have the Mighty Mutanimals and Slash.
• Knight of Cerebus: Null, who is a demon intent on selling away the Earth. He was beaten twice by the joint efforts of the Turtles and the Mutanimals, so he starts killing the Mutanimals. He doesn't try to kill them. He kills them.
• Last of His Kind: The crazy human-sized bat Wingnut and his mosquito companion Screwloose are among the last surviving members of the planet Huanu, a planet in Dimension X destroyed by Krang.
  • Later into the series, Raphael addresses the fact that he and his brothers are essentially this. They are the only mutant turtles on Earth, and they're all male. As such, when they die, their species will effectively die out.
• Left Hanging: Several plot threads are left unsolved due to its cancellation, such as Null still being out there.
• List of Transgressions: In #23, a space criminal named Bellybomb is sentenced to a toxic prison planet for seventeen life sentences for extortion, armed robbery, hijacking, kidnapping, torture, murder, man-eating, brain poaching, soul thievery... and impersonating a primitive deity named Bob. After the jailers read off these crimes, Bellybomb points out that they didn't mention his unpaid parking tickets.
• Living Ship: On the heroes' side, Cudley the Cowlick. On the villain's side, Hiveworld. Maligna even feels the pain when the engine organ is cut.
• Magic Knight: Chien Khan is a magic samurai. Who is also a Beast Man.
• Mask Power: Subverted with Chien Khan's samurai kabuto. It's just an ordinary helmet, and its only purpose is to disguise him as a Beast Man before The Reveal.
• Mecha-Mooks: Aside from the Foot Ninja, Null also uses a quartet of robotic mercenaries to kill the Mutanimals.
• Monster Mash: In one of the specials, the Turtles are seen watching a movie that is essentially this, with Dracula, the Wolf Man, Frankenstein's Monster and the Gillman teaming up to rescue Frankenstein's Bride from a mad scientist. Then, Krang hits their TV with a mutating ray, and really mashes the monsters together...
• Moral Guardians: The letters page in one issue included parents complaining about "satanic" concepts like meditation and a mutant who happened to have three eyes (Bellybomb), and that the writers were trying to "brainwash" children by discussing Buddhism and Islam in a couple issues. The writers published the letters just to tell the parents to chill out.
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Sarnath and Katmandu.
• Must Have Nicotine: Oyuki Mashimi, for the duration of the first April mini-series.
• Mythology Gag: The one-eyed future Raph (see 1993's "The Future Shark Trilogy" storyline) references Mirage giving him a Eyepatch After Timeskip in their 1990 short story, "A Christmas Carol." It would not be the last time a different continuity would feature a future Raph with an eyepatch.
  • The opening to the third "Adventures Special" features Raphael narrating with the lines "Let me tell you a story..." This line was always used to introduce the stories in the original Tales from the TMNT comic.
  • A story that took place when the Turtles were little kids showed that they used to all wear red bandannas before eventually deciding to wear differently-colored bandannas to make it easier for Splinter to tell them apart. This was a reference to the fact that all of the Turtles wore red bandannas in the original Mirage comics.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Like in the 87 cartoon, Shredder is the one responsible for putting mutagen into the sewers in an effort to poison/humiliate Hamato Yoshi. All he actually ends up doing is creating his four greatest enemies. They wouldn't be the last enemies he'd make for himself, either, as his schemes and otherwise irresponsible use of mutagen would result in the creation of Ray Fillet, the Chameleon, and turning Chu Hsi into the Warrior Dragon.
  • Chien Khan is the original employer of Ninjara and is responsible for sending her to kill the Turtles. This sets into motion a chain of events ending in her betraying him to side with the Turtles.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: More than a few of the original characters created for the title veered to this territory.
  • Armaggon, Time-Traveling Conqueror Scientist Sharkman.
  • Chien Khan, Samurai Crimelord Sorcerer Dogman.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Unlike many adaptations of the franchise, midway through the series, the Turtles and Splinter would have their presence exposed to the world at large. This would lead to multiple subsequent stories where they are hunted after by the news or and captured by the government, although April's efforts ensure that they are still seen as heroes.
• Off with His Head!: Subverted when Slash is fighting Leonardo. Slash tries to decapitate Leo, but he narrowly avoids it by pulling his head into his shell. Slash still slices off the cords of Leo's bandana.
• Our Mermaids Are Different: Merdude, whose appearance overlaps with Fish People.
• Our Werewolves Are Different: Dreadmon, permanently turned into a humanoid wolf by a Voodoo curse.
• Paint It Black: For quite a number of issues, Raph wore an all-black ninja body suit so he could better blend into the shadows. It was a holdover from the brief time when he and the others were intergalactic wrestlers. While the other three got rid of their costumes as soon as they could (they were much more outlandish than Raph's), Raph kept his for quite a while because he liked it. Even after he stopped wearing the whole thing, he still wore the pants for a few issues before finally dumping it altogether.
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: In her first appearances, Ninjara is introduced as one of the greatest thieves in all of Japan. However, apart from stealing some spell ingredients off-screen and taking the Black Stone of Mecca from Shredder, she is never seen putting her thieving skills to use.
  • The latter is justified, because those several issues were how long it took for the Turtles to get home, allowing Raph to switch to his regular gear.
• Plot Tailored to the Party: Played with (or double subverted) in one of the one-shot specials.
• Powered Armor: The turtles donned Cyber Armor for the "Dreamland Arc" and Armaggon pilots a Power Loder-size suit in part two of "The Future Shark Trilogy"
• Put on a Bus:
  • Ninjara, after her breakup with Raphael. Perhaps she would have returned in time, if the series had lasted.
  • Bebop and Rocksteady eventually get sick of fighting the Turtles, and of civilization in general. They decide to accept their animal natures and go to live on an unsettled wilderness planet.
  • And Baxter Stockman only appeared a couple of times, before vanishing. Really, the only villain from the cartoon who wasn't Put on a Bus was Shredder... and even he was Demoted to Extra as the comic went on.
• Put on a Prison Bus: Krang, too, was phased out of the comic, being imprisoned on the planet of Morbus for intergalactic crimes. He would appear in a few of the specials afterward though.
• Race Lift: In the comic book's adaptations of the cartoon episodes "Turtle Tracks" and "Enter the Shredder", the skin color of Bebop's human form was for some reason made Caucasian, when he was an African-American in the cartoon. This was later changed in Archie and IDW's reprints of the comic.
• Reality Warper: The Turnstone is an alien artifact that can do this. It also showed up in the Turtles' Newspaper Comic, albeit with different characteristics.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Despite sharks usually having Empty Eyes, Armaggon has these.
• Ridiculously Successful Future Self: Although the world has been flooded by 2092, the Turtles ultimately end up doing quite well for themselves, founding a corporation called TurtleCO that makes them all them wealthy and successful. Donatello moves on to creating more elaborate inventions, like a Time Machine; Leonardo becomes a tutor and father to at least three other ninjas, including April's great-granddaughter; Raphael is Happily Married and owns a hotel; while Michelangelo is an artist who seemingly runs a local orphanage. On top of all that, they are all now publicly recognized and beloved heroes.
• Refuge in Audacity: At times this series is almost too silly to be believed, which allows it to incorporate the kind of material one wouldn't expect to find in an Archie Comics series.
• Rewrite: It is eventually revealed that the mutagen did not change the turtles into their present form, but that the turtles instead grew into teenagehood – a blatant contradiction of the established backstory from the cartoon.
• Robotic Reveal: Occurs with Null's mercenaries during the "Terracide" arc.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: Noi Dai Tar, Great Oni and Chien Khan's benefactor.
  • This is eventually the fate of Khan himself, who is booted into Noi Dai Tar's dimension by April.
• Shark Man: Armaggon the Future Shark is a fairly stock example.
• Space Episode: The Turtles spend more than one issue hanging out in Dimension X. The "Black Hole Trilogy" is an entire space arc where they decide to spend some time there after being exposed to the world.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Due to being Put on a Bus after "The Incredible Shrinking Turtles," Baxter Stockman is spared his cartoon counterpart's fate of being mutated into a fly and trapped between dimensions.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: On the first page of her solo series, April is fired from her job as a news reporter by her boss, Murdoch Maxwell. Although he acts like a jerk about it, April admits he's in the right to do so; as she routinely blows off work while going on adventures with the Turtles. The fact that she constantly smells like a sewer probably doesn't help matters either.
• Take That!: The first issue of the three-issue miniseries "Year of the Turtle", which served as the finale of this series, had the Turtles fight the Power Raiders, a group of colorful costumed heroes that are soon revealed to be hired by the Shredder. This results in the Turtles beating the hell out of the Raiders with ease, mocking their lack of martial arts skill. ^note Not long after it debuted, Power Rangers was hailed as the kids merchandising franchise that dethroned the Ninja Turtles and ushered the latter brand into (temporary) oblivion.
  Raphael: Hey, Power geek! MORPH THIS!
• To Serve Man: Both Wyrm and Scumbug express an interest in eating everybody that they meet, from mutant turtles, to humans, to each other.
• Satellite Love Interest: Ninjara gets involved with the Turtles and their adventures because of her attraction to Raph, and although she is always seen helping the Turtles in their missions, any specific characterization or stories regarding her ultimately boil down to how they relate to her relationship with Raph. This gets deconstructed in the "Moon Eyes" story where Ninjara reveals that she's very unhappy about the fact that everything she does revolves around what the Turtles want to do and that she has lost touch with her own interests and the stability in her life because of it; leading to her breaking things off with Raphael.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Jagwar's mother Juntarra is often seen cursing a blue streak, albeit with Symbol Swearing, especially when she is fighting Null and his minions.
• Spinoff: Several: The Mutanimals eventually got their own series, April got two mini-series, and Ninjara eventually appeared in her own solo stories after the main series' cancellation.
• Story Arc: Most storylines concluded in 2-3 issues (Can you imagine Marvel or DC doing that these days?), but the World Tour was an overlying story that spanned 13 issues, taking the turtles (with Splinter and Ninjara) on adventures in Japan, Tibet, Saudi Arabia, outer space, Brazil, and the Bahamas.
• Stupid Jetpack Hitler: Armaggon retrieves Hitler's brain as one of the components needed to make his time machine work, creating a scenario where the shark jumps Hitler.
• Temporary Blindness: Happens to Michelangelo for several issues, after being too close to an explosion.
• Time Travel: Armaggon's specialty.
• Timey-Wimey Ball: One story arc had the Shredder team up with Verminator X and Armaggon, who were both villains from the future. Confusion arose when it was revealed that the Shredder that worked with Verminator X and Armaggon was actually abducted from the events of the "Incredible Shrinking Turtles" adaptation, which led to Fridge Logic in regards to Shredder's appearances between that older story and the then-current one.^note  This was resolved in the last reprint, in which the lost finale to the book the Forever War revealed that future Shredder gets brought back to the past, and takes his younger self's place. Forever.
• 20 Minutes into the Future: One story arc transports the Turles to the year 2094.
• Vague Age: Although they keep the "Teenage" part of their name all throughout the series, the Turtles' actual ages become somewhat speculative the longer it goes on. Events that happened early into the series are said to have happened "years ago", while the Turtles themselves show no explicit signs of aging. ^note  Assuming that they are the same ages as their 87 counterparts, they should all be 15 - 16 at the start of the series, and presumably nearing their 20's by the end of it. The only given hint is that Raph claims that he is an adult during "Moon Eyes".
  Raphael: I wouldn't know, Dave. I'm no spirit. I'm a teenage—no, I'm a man. I just happen to be of turtle descent.
• Verbal Tic: Leatherhead often yells "Ut!", especially when engaged in strenuous activity.
• Villain Team-Up: Several, most notably Null/Maligna, and Verminator X/Armaggon/Shredder in "The Future Shark Trilogy".
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Null manages to escape the turtles on Maligna's ship, which shortly afterwards falls into the sun.
• What the Hell, Hero?: In "Dreamland", after Raph shoots Verminator X.
• Wham Episode: Many examples throughout the series; the earliest of which comes from issue #8. The Turtles battle against Wingnut and Screwloose, who at first seem to be yet another pair of wacky mutants attacking New York. By the end of the fight, however, they learn that the duo are aliens from the planet Huana. And that they are attacking New York in search for Krang, intending to take revenge on him for invading their home world Huanu and killing their people, including Wingnut's parents; the effects of which drove Wingnut insane. This revelation completely changes the Turtles' perception of Krang and make them realize what a serious threat he really is to the Earth, and increases their drive to see him brought to justice.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: The Turtles and co. have strict rules about killing or harming living creatures, but have much less reservations about anything less than that. The moment that they realize that Null's henchmen are robots, and not humans, they stop holding back and annihilate them effortlessly.
• Whole Episode Flashback: Happened in the Year of the Turtle miniseries, where the framing device was Splinter, who had been temporarily restored to the form of Hamato Yoshi, telling the events of the miniseries as a bedtime story to an amnesic Michelangelo.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: The "Future Shark Trilogy" implies that a major reason for Raphael's constant angst, especially after meeting his future self, is knowing that he and his brothers will outlive all of their friends and pretty much everyone on the Earth. Downplayed in that they are not actually immortal, just very long-lived compared to other creatures on Earth.
• World Tour: The Turtles and their friends tended to travel abroad a lot. There are practically more issues where they are not in New York than issues where they are.

---