Michelangelo Meets Bugman Again

“Michelangelo Meets Bugman Again”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 TV series) episode
Season Code:	05
Episode:	07
Original airdate	October 5, 1991
Written by	David Wise Patti Howeth
Producers:	Kara Vallow
Directed by	Yoshikatsu Kasai
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → "Donatello's Badd Time" "Muckman Messes Up"

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1991 Season 1991 List of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episodes

Episodes: "The Turtles and the Hare" "Once Upon a Time Machine" "My Brother, the Bad Guy" "Michelangelo Meets Mondo Gecko" "Enter: Mutagen Man" "Donatello's Badd Time" "Michelangelo Meets Bugman Again" "Muckman Messes Up" "Napoleon Bonafrog: Colossus of the Swamps" "Raphael Versus the Volcano" "Landlord of the Flies" "Donatello's Duplicate" "The Ice Creature Cometh" "Leonardo Cuts Loose" "Pirate Radio" "Raphael, Turtle of a Thousand Faces" "Leonardo, the Renaissance Turtle" "Zach and the Alien Invaders" "Welcome Back, Polarisoids" "Michelangelo, the Sacred Turtle" "Planet of the Turtleoids, Part 1" "Planet of the Turtleoids, Part 2" 1987 Season – 1988 Season – 1989 Season – 1990 Season – 1991 Season – 1992 Season – 1992-1993 Vacation in Europe sideseason - 1993 Season – 1994 Season – 1995 Season – 1996 Season

Michelangelo Meets Bugman Again is a season 5 episode of the 1987 TV series.

Appearing in Michelangelo Meets Bugman Again

Major characters

• Leonardo (Cam Clarke)
• Donatello (Barry Gordon)
• Michelangelo (Townsend Coleman)
• Raphael (Rob Paulsen)
• Splinter (Townsend Coleman)
• April O'Neil (Renae Jacobs)
• Burne Thompson (Pat Fraley)
• Vernon Fenwick (Townsend Coleman)
• Irma (Jennifer Darling)
• Brick Bradley/Bugman (Dan Gilvezan)
• Jerry Spiegel/The Swatter (Townsend Coleman)

Minor characters

• News Vendor (Thom Pinto)
• Short Criminal (Pat Fraley)
• Tall Criminal
• Juliet Schmooze (Jennifer Darling)
• Professor Higginbottom (Cam Clarke)

Species

• Human
• Mutated human
• Mutant rat
• Mutant turtle

Objects and vehicles

• Channel 6 newsvan
• Turtle Van

Locations

• Channel 6 building
• City sewers
• City streets
• Conspicuous Consumption Mall
• Entire State Building
• Happyvale Meditation Center
• Science Lab
• Swatter's hideout
• Turtle Lair

Plot

Michelangelo is displeased when when he discovers that the Bugman comic books are no longer being published. Raphael points out that he knows the real Bugman, and thus it's not a huge loss, but Michelangelo is still upset by the loss of his favorite comics.

Unbeknownst to the Turtles, a strange man is following them and taking notes on what they say, hoping to discover where their lair is. One of Donatello's alarms goes off when the man comes too close, but a spot of bad luck for the Turtles allows him to escape. While Michelangelo goes to check on Brick Bradley, the other three Turtles set out to find the mysterious intruder.

The intruder turns out to be shadowing Michelangelo in particular. After Michelangelo saves him from some bank robbers, the guy introduces himself as Jerry Spiegel, which Michelangelo soon finds is the writer of "Adventures of Bugman." He figures out that Spiegel wants to make a comic book series about the Ninja Turtles, which is what he did to Brick Bradley as well.

Meanwhile, April O'Neil covers the theft of some "designer" termites from a laboratory, who are capable of eating any substance. Elsewhere, a supervillain (dressed like a cut-rate Shredder copy) known as "The Swatter" is using a mind-altering ray to put the termites under his control, before releasing them into the world.

Returning to the lair, Leonardo, Donatello and Raphael tune in to the news and learn that the termites are devouring a shopping mall. They arrive just in time for Leonardo to rescue April from falling to her death, and the Swatter then announces that unless the Turtles come meet him, he'll unleash his termite horde again.

Michelangelo finally finds Brick Bradley, but unfortunately he has been at a meditation retreat and is now too at peace to become Bugman. Michelangelo drags Brick away physically, vowing to irritate him somehow until he saves the day, even as Brick declares that it's no longer his concern what happens to the city.

Leonardo, Donatello and Raphael all appear at the designated meeting place, and are amused by the Swatter's costume. Enraged, he engages them in a fight and ends up trapping them on a massive sheet of flypaper. Much to their surprise, he then pulls out a notebook and starts asking them questions about themselves.

Michelangelo and Brick arrive at the Channel 6 building just as the termites do, and April manages to accidentally provoke Brick into transforming into Bugman. He uses his power over insects to send the termites back where they came from. Then he and Michelangelo set out to confront the Swatter, who fights with Bugman as Michelangelo frees his brothers.

They unmask the Swatter, and discover that it's actually Spiegel, and that he was indeed trying to create a Ninja Turtles comic book series but ends up going to jail. Back in the lair, the Turtles bid farewell to Brick, and then scoff at the idea of comic-books based on them - right before Michelangelo crawls into bed and starts reading one.

See also

• Michelangelo Meets Bugman Again/Gallery
• Michelangelo Meets Bugman Again/Transcript

Notes and errors

• When The Swatter first attacks the three Turtles, Raphael's shell has flashing white smears on his shell.

Trivia

• Second and final appearance of Brick Bradley/Bugman.
• Jerry Speigel's name is a spoof of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel. Juliet Schmooze, meanwhile, is a parody of DC Comics editor Julie Schwartz.

Home media releases

DVD

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Season 5
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Complete Classic Series Collection