Solicit[]
Seymour Gutz was a hapless fella who got caught up in the weird world of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and wound up transformed into the Mutagen Man for his trouble! Though he was cured and returned to human form, sometimes the past comes back around to haunt you! That’s our way of saying his powers return…with a twist. Instead of being able to transform himself, Seymour has randomly developed the power to mutate others…and that’s a power Shredder wants for his own! The Mutagen Man is back, but can the Turtles find him before their arch-enemy does? There’s only one way to find out—grab yourself a copy of Saturday Morning Adventures #30!
Appearing in Revenge of the Mutagen Man?!?[]
Major characters[]
- April O'Neil
- Donatello
- Leonardo
- Michelangelo (mutates)
- Raphael
- Seymour Gutz
Minor characters[]
- Aka
- Albert McGuffin
- Ice Cream Kitty (debut) (mutates)
- Krang
- Manmoth
- Police officer (mutates)
- Rosenthal (debut) (mutates)
- Seymour's date
- Shredder
- Splinter
Species[]
- Anthropomorphic Mammoth God
- Cat
- Disembodied brain
- Humans
- Human-born mutant bear
- Human-born mutant hybrid
- Human-born mutant penguin
- Mutant rat
- Mutant turtles
Locations[]
Objects, vehicles, and weapons[]
- Air platform
- Bō
- Katana
- Krang's second Android Body
- Nunchaku
- Sai
- Turtle Blimp
- Turtle Line
Synopsis[]
Seated in Kutruff's Restaurant, Seymour Gutz is telling his date a story about an interaction he had with the President. His date doesn’t look impressed and when he finishes the story, begins to ask him something, but suddenly Seymour clutches his head in pain. She asks what’s wrong, and he says that his head feels like it’s about to explode. Then he shouts at the pain before abruptly changing into his mutated form.
A waiter walks up, touches his shoulder, and whispers that they don’t allow mutational transformations in Kutruff’s. As Seymour is disturbing the other customers, the waiter wants him to come along. Seymour grabs his arm and yells at the man not to touch him. The waiter is then overcome with a strange sensation before immediately mutating into a part-bird. Seymour’s date jumps up from her chair to ask what he’s done to the man.
Seymour leaps up, exclaiming he’s done nothing, at least not on purpose and that he can’t do weird things anymore. He’s not the Mutagen Man and shouts that he’s cured. But then he looks in a mirror and sees himself. A police officer arrives and grabs Seymour’s arm, telling him they need to go outside. Seymour yells not to touch him, but it’s too late. The officer is immediately transformed in a bear and Seymour rushes out of the restaurant.
Later, April O'Neil reports from Kutruff’s. She tells her audience that an NYPD officer and an employee were both mutated by a mysterious patron. April turns to Mr. Rosenthal, the waiter, and asks what happened. Rosenthal tells her that it happened fast, one touch and he was transformed. He’s been told the people at TCRI can undo this. Rosenthal expresses the hope that the authorities can find the man before he transforms anyone else. April asks if he was able to give them any leads, but Rosenthal only heard the man say his name was Seymour Gutz.
The Turtles and Splinter are watching the broadcast from their home. Donatello says that’s a name they haven’t heard in a while and Raphael adds not since April told them about her awful date with Seymour. He tried to haggle the price of appetizers down. Splinter reminds his sons that they live in an expensive city. He then says he thought that Seymour was cured of being the Mutagen Man. Don replies that he was, but Seymour’s condition was being able to turn into other things, not transform other people. This is clearly a new problem. Raph guesses that Don is going to say this is their problem, which he does.
Meanwhile, at their secret hideout, Shredder is asking if Krang has seen the news. Krang has been too busy, so Shredder explains what has happened with Seymour Gutz. Shredder says that Seymour’s new power to mutate others could be handy. Krang is excited to learn they could bolster their mutant ranks without having to waste mutagen. He tells Shredder that he still needs to track Seymour down. Shredder assures him he has a plan.
At TCRI, Professor McGuffin finishes taking samples from Rosenthal and thanks him. McGuffin says if prior calculations are correct, he should be able to revert the mutation without trouble, once he runs test to confirm. The Turtles arrive through a window and Don tells the professor that they need to talk. He recounts Seymour’s full history and McGuffin finds it fascinating that before, the man could only transform his own body. He thinks Seymour can be cured too, fi they can bring him in. The transformations he’s seen aren’t true, permanent mutations. Don asks if he has a gizmo that will help them track Seymour. The professor searches through piles of junk before finding just such a device. He hands it to Don with the explanation that Seymour’s creations are shedding a unique chemical and the device can track that down. Raphael snatches the tracker from Don’s hand, saying he loves a good tracking device.
In a dead end alley somewhere in the city, Seymour is seated on the ground. He laments that this is happening to him and everyone is going to hate him again. A cat pops up from a trash can next to him. It jumps down into a puddle of melting ice cream and purrs, which prompts Seymour to pet his head. Unfortunately, the strange glow happens again and the cat is transformed into an ice cream kitty. Seymour stares at his hand and says he didn’t mean to do that to the cat, or to anyone.
From above, Mikey calls out for Seymour not to worry, because they know he didn’t mean it. Seymour looks up to see the Turtles descending from the Turtle Blimp. He asks how they found him and Don tells him they used special equipment from TCRI. He tells Seymour that the scientists there can help fix him again, as well as anyone he’s transformed. Seymour is excited at the news, and Mike tells him to come with them.
Just then Shredder arrives on an air platform, accompanied by Aka and Manmoth. Shredder says not to listen to the Turtles because Seymour has a power men can only dream of. He tells Seymour to come with them and he make him rich. When Seymour seems to think about the proposition, Mike reminds him that Shredder used him the last time. Shredder says that’s how the world works, the powerful make use of the weak. He says that Seymour should have chosen to come with them, but since he didn’t, he’ll be taken by force. He calls for Aka and Manmoth to seize him. Seymour backs away, complaining that they didn’t even give him a full minute to decide.
As Manmoth races forward, he tells Shredder not to presume to order them around, or they will show him who is weak and who is strong. He pounds the pavement in front of Don and breaks it apart. Mikey urges Seymour to hide as Aka releases an ear piercing shriek. Raph takes a trash can lid and flings it at her, knocking her backwards. Leo battles Shredder and asks how he tracked Seymour. Shredder says that the Turtles are predictable; he knew they’d be looking for Seymour, so he watched the skies and followed their blimp. Leo tells Don that they need a cloaking device. Don is busy dodging Manmoth, but replies that this isn’t his favorite syfy and cloaking devices don’t exist. As he’s going on to explain about the power consumption, Ice Cream Kitty runs behind him. Don steps on his squishy tail and goes sliding, dropping his bō in the process. Manmoth grabs Don’s head and lifts him off the ground.
Don tries to talk Manmoth into putting him down. Instead, Manmoth says he’s going for a new record in the turtle toss and throws Don high into the air. As he soars above the rooftops, Don quickly takes out his Turtle Line and manages to catch a ladder with his grappling hook. He lands safely on the roof and looks down. He yells for Mikey to look out, but the warning is too late as Aka’s shriek throws Mikey back against Seymour, who puts his arm out to stop him. The mysterious green glow appears and the pair fall into the trash together. Rising to his feet, Seymour decides he needs to get out of there. Shredder yells for someone to grab him, but not to let him use his power on them.
Aka flies overhead and grabs Seymour’s arms, lifting him off the ground. He touches her arm, and alarmed, she drops him. Looking at herself, Aka realizes that she’s all right and that maybe only Earthlings can be transformed by his power. She shouts for Manmoth to grab Seymour. Manmoth tosses Raph at Leo and then turns to grab Seymour, finding that the mutants touch doesn’t affect him either. Departing the scene on the air platform, Shredder yells that the Turtles lose and it won’t be the last time.
Raph helps Leo to his feet as Don climbs down on the nearby fire escape. When Raph complains that they had just one job, Don says they can still do it. He says the Turtle Blimp can catch the air platform if they really gun the propellant systems. Leo asks where Mikey is and Raph says he’d better not be unconscious because he’s not carrying him again. Mikey announces that he’s not zonked out, but . . . His brothers turn to look at him and are shocked. He has been transformed into a mutant-hybrid mix of Turtle and fly. Mikey states that he feels mondo funky.