Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #61 Once, Again, Always

Issue Description

The TMNT, Splinter, Ninjara, Candy Fine, Kid Terra and his friends gather in the desert to place a headstone for Slash, who sacrificed his life to save his friends and the planet Earth from the evil alien Maligna. Raph goes off to brood and Future Raph joins him. Raph asks what will become of Ninjara and him, but Future Raph refuses to give details. On cue, Ninjara arrives and three sit together as the sun sets.

The others have built a fire and are seated around it when a portal opens up. Future Mike, Future Leo and April's future great granddaughter, Nobuko, jump through. Future Don and Future Raph are happy to see their future siblings (man, is this confusing or what?) Leo reveals that Nobuko is one of his students, and the girl gives April a big hug, thrilled with the chance to meet her ancestor. Future Don discovers that while their past has been altered, the future is unchanged - meaning that mankind brought on the flooding caused by global warming - and that the Mutanimals premature deaths were in vain. Kid Terra is shocked to hear that the Mutanimals were slain. Future Leo explains that in his past, it was Maligna who had killed the Mutanimals, surmising that their deaths were "their destiny... or something."

In the morning, Master Splinter and the janitor from last issue are doing their morning meditations and speaking to one another telepathically. The Future TMNT and Nobuko open a portal and go back to the future. The janitor then tells the Turtles the creation story he learned from his tribe, the story of how life began on the back of the gigantic Turtle Island.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures (1989)

Publisher

Archie Adventure Series

Volume Description

Published by Archie Comics, this comic was based on mainstream version of the turtles. It started out simply retelling episodes of the then popular animated series but with the fifth issue the book branched out into telling it's own stories. Primarily written by Dean Clarrain the stories would often have an underlying environmentalist themes, over time the storylines grew darker and more mature. The series drew negative press when a storyline saw the death of the turtle's allies The Mighty Mutanimals in a massacre.

The three part "Future Shark Trilogy" which saw the turtles, Splinter and their ally Ninjara come to the aid of the older turtles in dystopian future proved popular with fans and elements and characters from the story were revisited many times in the series. For five issues the comic was renamed Cyber Samurai Mutant Ninja Turtles in a storyline that was set soley in the aforementioned future. By now the turtles fad of the eighties and early nineties had faded which meant lagging sales. Mirage wanting to put out their own color TMNT book made the publishers nervous of competition leading them to consider cancellation. Growing frustration of darker storylines came to a head when Clarrain and co plotter and artist Chris Allen submitted a time travel story involving the the future turtles Archie was displeased. The covers for the seven part epic "Forever War" were made with the belief that this would be final storyline of the series. Clarrain and Allen were dropped from the book and it was cancelled two issues later with the final storyline focused on a present Splinter telling the story of how pre-teen turtles picked their weapons written by Steve Sullivan and drawn by Brian Thomas.

Years later Clarrain and Allen would work on the second volume of Tales of the TMNT writing the original turtles for Mirage. It has also been confirmed they are working on completing the final storyline of TMNT Adventures "Forever War" with Mirage publishing it as part of the TMNT's 25th anniversary in 2009.

Collected EditionsTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Vol. 1 (#1-4)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Vol. 2 (#5-8)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Vol. 3 (#9-12)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Vol. 4 (#13-16)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Vol. 5 (#17-20)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Vol. 6 (#21-22)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Vol. 7 (#23-27)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Vol. 8 (#28-31)Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Vol. 9 (#38-40)

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