Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Challenges

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Challenges, often shortened to just Challenges, is a graphic novel of vignettes by Michael Dooney and published by Mirage Publishing in 1991.

Origin
"...the hollow echoes cannot be forgotten."

Synopsis
Whilst searching for in Northampton, Massachusetts,  peers into a storm drain and begins reminiscing about 's origin, his and his brothers' origin, and his past adventures. As Leo contemplates, Raph finds him and says he has been looking for him.

Splinter
"...you will learn anything is possible."

Synopsis
Splinter meditates while his sons spar. Raphael becomes fed up with training the same moves over and over, and goes to leave the session. Splinter trips Raphael with his walking stick and asks Raph if he is now in charge of his training. Splinter goads Raph with multiple strikes from his stick until the Turtle loses his cool and slaps away the stick. Splinter insists they take this to an actual sparring match, and although Raphael refuses, Splinter kicks him in the back. Raphael attempts to fight back, but Splinter trounces him until the Turtle gets a kick in. Raphael and his brothers reveal that they planned the entire thing as a way to see if the old rat still had the skills, since he spent so much of his time meditating instead of training.

Raphael
"...I'm a bit of an alley cat too.."

Characters

 * Lucy
 * Mrs. Morrison
 * Mrs. Morrison

Synopsis
Raphael battles on a rooftop. After finishing off that group, a larger number comes looking for him, and Raphael ducks into an alley to lose them and encounters a blind old woman, Mrs. Morrison. She mistakes him for the son of someone called Mr. Rossetti who was supposed to come and move some boxes and a trunk into her cellar. Needing to dodge the Foot, he accepts and helps her, then sits down for tea and to play with her cat, Lucy. Mrs. Morrison sends Raphael on his way since it is a school night, but tells him he can come back any time. Raphael gladly accepts.

Michelangelo
"...aw shoot... it's no fun when they faint."

Characters

 * Jack
 * Stan
 * Stan

Synopsis
Michelangelo enjoys the view in Quabbin State Forest, when he overhears a couple of bow hunters, Jack and Stan. Since hunting in a State Forest is illegal, Mikey decides to set forth in sabotaging the hunters. As Jack takes aim at a deer, Mike snaps a twig, which spooks the deer - and Jack snaps at Stan, blaming him for scaring it. Later, Stan complains that they should leave, and Jack insists on "bagging" something.

The pair approach a moose, and Michelangelo links his Nunchaku together and flings them through the air and not only startles the moose but also the hunters. Stan goes to leave, and Mike rises from a pond, scaring him enough to drop his bow.

Mike tracks down Jack, who is approaching a mountain lion - which apparently had not been seen in Quabbin for years. Mikey uses Stan's bow to pin Jack's sleeve to a tree and jumps out, scaring him into fainting. Mike then ties up Jack and drops him off at the ranger's station.

Leonardo
"...he has his own reasons."

Synopsis
Leonardo trains in a barn, his mind at odds between becoming the best warrior and a big brother, and his youth - he often forgets he's just a teenager still. Raphael bursts into the barn asking if Leo knew anything about signing him up for the Barry Manilow fan club, and Leo bursts out laughing.

Donatello
"...ha, take that ya spawn!"

Synopsis
Donatello battles hordes of spaceships and robots. He then is suddenly ejected from his world; it was a video game he was playing, and Michelangelo unplugged the computer when he couldn't hear him calling to him to come eat.