Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #6
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeTMNT Adventures #6 marks the comic-book debut of Leatherhead (as Jess Harley) and Mary Bones — two characters who would go on to anchor major story arcs stretching all the way to issue #13 and beyond, and who were important enough to eventually spin off into dedicated miniseries and the Mighty Mutanimals title. The Archie-continuity version of Leatherhead is a deliberate reinvention: a poor bayou human transformed by the magical Turnstone rather than by mutagen, giving the character a redemption arc and moral complexity that distinguished this series from its animated-TV source material. The issue also plants the first seed of the 'final conflict' prophecy through Mary Bones, a long-range serialized hook that was unusual ambition for a licensed all-ages comic in 1989. Coming just one issue into the Ryan Brown/Stephen Murphy creative era, it announced clearly that the Archie TMNT line intended to tell its own stories rather than simply recap Saturday-morning cartoons.
In "Of Turtles and Stones and Mary Bones," the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles face a supernatural twist when a magical gem known as the Turnstone falls into the hands of a bayou thief, only to be reclaimed by the mysterious Mary Bones, who transforms the thief into an alligator-like creature. As Shredder attempts to manipulate Leatherhead by framing the Turtles as enemies, the truth is soon exposed when the reptilian mutant confronts the heroes directly. Written by Dean Clarrain and Ryan Brown, with art by Ken Mitchroney and inks by Dave Garcia, this 1989 adventure blends urban mystery with mythic flair, all wrapped in a striking cover by Mitchroney and Garcia.
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Starting with issue #5, Mirage Studios staffers Ryan Brown and Stephen Murphy (writing under the pen name Dean Clarrain) took creative control of the Archie TMNT Adventures series after its initial run of TV episode adaptations. Issue #6 was only their second issue together, and its script — plotted jointly by Brown and Clarrain, with pencils by Ken Mitchroney and inks by Dave Garcia — introduced an entirely original character not found in prior TMNT comics: the Archie-exclusive Leatherhead, whose human identity of Jess Harley was, according to Ryan Brown at convention appearances, a nod to his favorite actor Lance Henriksen, with the name drawn from characters in the films 'Near Dark' and 'Pumpkinhead.' Murphy wrote the vast majority of his TMNT Adventures work under the Clarrain pseudonym, and the two men's editorial vision — incorporating environmentalist and social themes alongside new characters — was already visible in this early entry.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published November 1989 by Archie Comics; story title is 'Of Turtles and Stones and Mary Bones.'
- First appearance of Leatherhead (Jess Harley) in any Archie Comics continuity: a poor human from the Florida bayou who is transformed into a mutant alligator when Mary Bones uses the Turnstone on him.
- First appearance of Mary Bones, revealed in later issues to be Cherubae, a Vanguard of Dimension X living in disguise as a swamp witch in the American South.
- Ace Duck makes a cameo appearance on Krang's computer monitor — his first appearance of any kind in the series — though his full debut comes in the following issue, #7.
- Script by Dean Clarrain (pen name for Mirage staffer Stephen Murphy), plot by Ryan Brown and Clarrain; pencils by Ken Mitchroney, inks by Dave Garcia, colors by Barry Grossman.
- The Shredder tricks Leatherhead into fighting the Turtles by falsely claiming they are his enemies; Leatherhead turns on Shredder upon learning the truth, beginning his arc toward heroism and eventual membership in the Mighty Mutanimals.
- Mary Bones's cryptic warning to the Turtles about a coming 'final conflict' sets up a serialized prophecy arc that culminates in TMNT Adventures #13.
- The issue was reprinted in the United Kingdom by Fleetway in Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles Adventures #9, and the story was later collected in the Random House/Radio Arts audio cassette book 'Intergalactic Wrestling and Other Adventures,' as well as in the IDW paperback collections and the Archie/IDW TMNT Adventures Compendium, Vol. 1.
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Reprinted in Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles Adventures #9 (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (1991), The Collected Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #1 (1991), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Classics Digest #1 (1993), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #2 (2012)
Key issues in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures
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