Arrivano le Tartarughe is the first story in Le Tartarughe Ninja, published in Il Giornalino #18. The story presents a highly condensed and altered version of the events of the 1990 film, with some drastically different designs.
Appearing in Arrivano le Tartarughe[]
Major characters[]
- April O'Neil (debut)
- Donatello (debut) (mutates in flashback)
- Leonardo (debut) (mutates in flashback)
- Michelangelo (debut) (mutates in flashback)
- Piede Ninjia (debut)
- Ben Dixon (debut)
- Kurt Leyton (debut)
- Rex Fame (debut)
- Raffaello (debut) (mutates in flashback)
- Shredder (debut)
- Splinter (debut) (mutates in flashback)
Minor characters[]
- Da-tsuo (debut)
- New York Police Department (debut)
- Capitano Stearnes (debut)
- Doodley (debut)
- Ted (debut)
Species[]
Objects and vehicles[]
Locations[]
- New York City
- April's apartment
- Clan del Piede hideout
- Lair
Summary[]
Various reporters try to get a statement from New York Police Department Capitano Stearnes regarding a recent crime wave. One of them, April O'Neil, flummoxes Stearnes with her assertation that she was told that forensics had no leads, despite the captain's insistence that they were on top of the investigation.
Wrapping up her report, April declines a ride home from her cameraman, Ted, and decides to walk home. Cutting through an alleyway, she is startled to find a gang of masked ninja robbing a truck. They give chase and April trips on a curb, and as the ninja close in on her, a pair of green hands reach out from the darkness and smack the closest ninja with a bō, and the rest of them are similarly felled.
Down in the sewers of New York City, the four Tartarughe Ninja celebrate their victory with pizza. Their rat master and foster father, Splinter, however, is concerned that they were seen by humans during their scuffle. His sons assuage his fears and say that they were obscured. They turn on the TV and see April's report, where she profiles four members of the Clan del Piede and thanks her mysterious rescuers. The Tartarughe are excited that they got a shout-out.
Splinter tells them that he suspects his old enemy, Shredder is behind these crimes. Leonardo throws on a trenchcoat and fedora and heads out, saying he wants more pizza.
April goes to her apartment and finds Piede Ninjia inside, ransacking the place. Running down the fire escape and screaming, she catches the nearby Leo's attention. She again trips, knocking herself unconscious this time, leaving Leo to knock out the ninja and bring her back to the lair for recovery.
April wakes up startled to find she's in the company of mutant turtles and a mutant rat. To ease her mind, Splinter offers to tell her of their back story; he was once a human man, Hamato Joshi, who lived in the sewer with four baby turtles that he believes a child had lost. One day, a canister of a strange substance began to hyper-evolve the turtles, changing them into anthropomorphs. Joshi himself was turned into a rat-man, as before he found the turtles in their predicament, he had been caring for sewer rats.
Joshi, a ninja from Japan, raised these turtles as his sons and students, training them in the martial art of ninjutsu.
The Tartarughe find where the Clan del Piede are hiding out, and attack the punks guarding the facility. Shredder's second-in-command, Da-tsuo attacks them, but is knocked out in one hit by Donatello. Shredder escapes to the roof, where he is confronted by Splinter, who recognizes him as his old enemy, Horoku Sakj. Shredder doesn't know who he is, until Splinter reveals that he is Hamato Joshi, who Shredder had presumed perished long ago. Shredder rushes Splinter, and is kicked off the roof by the rat.
April tells Stearnes about the "Tartarughe Mutanti" that took out the ninja clan, but he is incredibly skeptical. He also says that there was no body on the street when they arrived, leading Splinter to contemplate that their battle with Shredder is not quite over yet....