Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #61 Cover (Archie 1994)
This issue of the TMNT Adventures is a head scratcher. The image on the cover never really happens in the book and after all the fighting and action that preceded this issue in the "Megadeath", "Terracide" and "Blind Sight" story lines we get a native american telling us a legend about how the world was formed by a giant Turtle, Beaver and Beetle! This is more of a morality tale, letting us know that if we don't take care of Earth big trouble is ahead. Not my favorite issue in the series, but when the opportunity arose to purchase the original cover art by Steve Murphy aka Dean Clarrain, I was all over it. I had read and enjoyed the old Archie Adventure series for years and Murphy is one of my favorite TMNT artists so it was worth it!
The above image is what the final colored cover looked like once it was published in 1994!
Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vol. 2 #34 Page 18 (Mirage, 2007)
The story featured within this issue of Tales of the TMNT involves a rogue group of wannabe Foot Soldiers convincing Master Splinter that one of them is his daughter Hamato Hana! This ruse is concocted so Splinter will teach them his secret ninja techniques. To confirm this claim of lineage, Splinter gives Hana a task to prove herself by stealing a piece of each of the Turtle's bandannas. Hana actually completes this quest, but while returning to her base she finds that she is not really Splinter's daughter. She is in fact his niece! Hana kills the other members of her group for misleading her and turns down Splinter's offer to train her. She then leaves, never to be seen again in the Mirage universe.
I remember reading this story over a decade ago and I thought it was pretty good. I just wish they would have continued Hana's story somehow. I bought this piece of original art directly from Mirage Studios out of Peter Laird's personal connection. I would have liked to have gotten a piece with the Turtles in it, but those go for big bucks and those are bucks I currently don't have. Maybe sometime in the future? For now I will enjoy this great piece of Turtle history drawn by longtime TMNT artist Jim Lawson!
The above image is what the final page looked like after the lettering was done. I hope to add more original art to my constantly growing Ninja Turtles collection and once I do, I am sure it will get posted onto the pages of 20 Years Before 2000!
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