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Bodycount
1st printing. Collects Bodycount (1996 Image) #1-4. Written by Kevin Eastman. Art by Simon Bisley and Kevin Eastman. Starring Casey Jones and Raphael from the pages of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Softcover, 110 pages, full color. Mature Readers
112 pages, Paperback
First published January 31, 1996
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70 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Eastman
1,108 books347 followersKevin B. Eastman is an American comic book artist, co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
March 11, 2025
I had much higher hopes for my favorite rebel buddy rival duo in comics. I would have preferred a more personal story focused on the complicated friendship between Casey Jones and Raphael as they resort to more aggressive means in their crime-fighting.
Instead, their involvement is incidental. A brother-sister mafia drama takes precedence and the cover characters I was here for barely shine through. A gory John Woo gunfight ensues for the entirety, and their are some badass, batshit pages—Casey donning a new stars-and-stripes hockey mask is a highlight—but ultimately what results is a lot of cheesy dialogue and no development between them. I wish the proceedings were at least in the service of a more essential chronicle for the iconic vigilantes.
After Kevin Eastman’s unprecedented success co-creating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , he eventually became editor of Heavy Metal, and that influence shows here, as does a sense of styles colliding—rather than seamlessly merging—of two artists and creators, which enhanced the mayhem transpiring on every page.
Woefully little required Jones and Raph to be involved at all—at least that justified it being these specific characters (which is a bummer for a TMNT nerd like me). I liked seeing them together, getting more extreme and taking out bad guys, but this wasn’t the team up they deserved.
Instead, their involvement is incidental. A brother-sister mafia drama takes precedence and the cover characters I was here for barely shine through. A gory John Woo gunfight ensues for the entirety, and their are some badass, batshit pages—Casey donning a new stars-and-stripes hockey mask is a highlight—but ultimately what results is a lot of cheesy dialogue and no development between them. I wish the proceedings were at least in the service of a more essential chronicle for the iconic vigilantes.
After Kevin Eastman’s unprecedented success co-creating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , he eventually became editor of Heavy Metal, and that influence shows here, as does a sense of styles colliding—rather than seamlessly merging—of two artists and creators, which enhanced the mayhem transpiring on every page.
Woefully little required Jones and Raph to be involved at all—at least that justified it being these specific characters (which is a bummer for a TMNT nerd like me). I liked seeing them together, getting more extreme and taking out bad guys, but this wasn’t the team up they deserved.
February 19, 2022
Raphael and Casey Jones help out a woman being chased by assassins. Kevin Eastman tries and succeeds at creating one long gun battle. Yet, it's still very monotonous and boring. Even with all of Simon Bisley's hyper-violence. Bisley also draws the woman in this with huge bewbs and rock hard nipples in a ripped up shirt and g-string in the middle of a knife fight. It's completely ridiculous.
June 2, 2022
Inspired by Heavy Metal magazine and the films of John Woo, Kevin Eastman and Simon Bisley team up to present a much darker take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as they spin a pulse-pounding yarn of over-the-top action and absurd ultraviolence as Raphael and Casey Jones are swept up in a very convoluted Kevin Eastman plot that leads into a wild 4 issue long gunfight.
Even with how over-the-top and edgy this frankly was, I honestly had a pretty good time with it. I think Eastman’s comics work for me (for the most part) because he seems to put out whatever he has fun making at the time, and it shines through in just about everything he does. This was a comic that both Eastman & Bisley were clearly having a hell of a time making, using a bunch of elements from other media they loved at the time, all coming together into what is one of the most insane TMNT comics I think anyone can read.
Eastman handles the story and layouts, while Bisley does the pencils, inks, and covers. Ellen Sullivan Farley of Altered Earth Arts handles colors, while TMNT mainstay Steve Lavigne helps on colors when needed and, as always, does the lettering. The story is honestly pretty messy and convoluted, but it’s just not the main draw here. The main draw is the insane Simon Bisley art that has been mapped out with Kevin Eastman layouts. I own a hardcover copy of this book, and in the back, you can see Eastman would lay out all the pages in his own style for Bisley, who would then take that and redo it in his own way.
Bisley also completely changed Eastman’s initial character designs, some for the better, and some for the absolute worst. Johnny Woo Woo definitely got an upgrade through Bisley, but Midnight may be the single worst-designed female character ever, even if I do love his art. Eastman describes Midnight as a strong independent woman in the back, but none of that can be taken seriously since Bisley draws her in pretty much no clothing all the time. It’s pretty bad, and Eastman’s original design for her was actually pretty good, so yeah that’s not too great. But I do like how Raphael’s style is always getting switched up throughout the book, as sometimes he’s drawn in his normal Mirage design, while at other times he is given elements from Bisley’s original design for Raph, which feature the character with the “R” belt, five toes, all while rocking a pair of jeans. It’s pretty funny because Eastman knows Bisley was doing it too, but I think they were both having too much fun making this to care about stuff like continuity.
I’d recommend this to any TMNT completionist, but I just can’t see anyone else really getting all that much out of it. It’s a fun story with some insane art and absurd moments, like Raphael mowing down goons with machine guns, but there isn’t all that much to it besides that. It’s also super hard to track down, but if you can find it easy or for cheap, I’d say give it a whirl. Maybe you’ll like it. I actually read this twice this past weekend, and I don’t regret it. I usually read with music, and playing some of the combat soundtracks from the Out of the Shadows game really helped with my enjoyment of the story. If anyone wants a physical copy of this as well, Kevin Eastman has a couple available on his website that I’ll link HERE
Even with how over-the-top and edgy this frankly was, I honestly had a pretty good time with it. I think Eastman’s comics work for me (for the most part) because he seems to put out whatever he has fun making at the time, and it shines through in just about everything he does. This was a comic that both Eastman & Bisley were clearly having a hell of a time making, using a bunch of elements from other media they loved at the time, all coming together into what is one of the most insane TMNT comics I think anyone can read.
Eastman handles the story and layouts, while Bisley does the pencils, inks, and covers. Ellen Sullivan Farley of Altered Earth Arts handles colors, while TMNT mainstay Steve Lavigne helps on colors when needed and, as always, does the lettering. The story is honestly pretty messy and convoluted, but it’s just not the main draw here. The main draw is the insane Simon Bisley art that has been mapped out with Kevin Eastman layouts. I own a hardcover copy of this book, and in the back, you can see Eastman would lay out all the pages in his own style for Bisley, who would then take that and redo it in his own way.
Bisley also completely changed Eastman’s initial character designs, some for the better, and some for the absolute worst. Johnny Woo Woo definitely got an upgrade through Bisley, but Midnight may be the single worst-designed female character ever, even if I do love his art. Eastman describes Midnight as a strong independent woman in the back, but none of that can be taken seriously since Bisley draws her in pretty much no clothing all the time. It’s pretty bad, and Eastman’s original design for her was actually pretty good, so yeah that’s not too great. But I do like how Raphael’s style is always getting switched up throughout the book, as sometimes he’s drawn in his normal Mirage design, while at other times he is given elements from Bisley’s original design for Raph, which feature the character with the “R” belt, five toes, all while rocking a pair of jeans. It’s pretty funny because Eastman knows Bisley was doing it too, but I think they were both having too much fun making this to care about stuff like continuity.
I’d recommend this to any TMNT completionist, but I just can’t see anyone else really getting all that much out of it. It’s a fun story with some insane art and absurd moments, like Raphael mowing down goons with machine guns, but there isn’t all that much to it besides that. It’s also super hard to track down, but if you can find it easy or for cheap, I’d say give it a whirl. Maybe you’ll like it. I actually read this twice this past weekend, and I don’t regret it. I usually read with music, and playing some of the combat soundtracks from the Out of the Shadows game really helped with my enjoyment of the story. If anyone wants a physical copy of this as well, Kevin Eastman has a couple available on his website that I’ll link HERE
January 8, 2021
I had this comic when i was kid i needed to review it now, this bring's so much memories!
The story is separated and i think it doesnt go anywhere theres only one turtle in the comic. And everything is illustrated in a The Maxx or The Incredible Hulk way. Hahah! The characters are jacked up everything is violent and gory. It was soooo opposite from the cartoon that was popular way back then. But i kind a aceppted it i was into comic world when i was a kid. I knew it would be different than a TV show.
So if you want some violent and goofy TMNT comic that is disgusting go ahead give it a try :D
The story is separated and i think it doesnt go anywhere theres only one turtle in the comic. And everything is illustrated in a The Maxx or The Incredible Hulk way. Hahah! The characters are jacked up everything is violent and gory. It was soooo opposite from the cartoon that was popular way back then. But i kind a aceppted it i was into comic world when i was a kid. I knew it would be different than a TV show.
So if you want some violent and goofy TMNT comic that is disgusting go ahead give it a try :D
December 23, 2025
This was the most incomprehensible, ineptly executed thing I've maybe ever read. I have no idea what it was about, what happened in it, why it happened, or what any of it meant. I am the poorer for having read it.
January 15, 2016
TMNT in Heavy Metal style with obvious John Woo inspirations. Not quite my thing.
May 17, 2021
Bisley's art (when not drawing ludicrously endowed women with antigravity chests) is really quite good, and that backhanded compliment is the best thing I can say about this book.
February 14, 2020
Škoda, že jsem si komiks nepřečetl v letech krátce po jeho vydání. Stejně jako jeho autoři jsem byl tehdy také silně okouzlen filmy Johna Woo. Požitek z četby by byl asi větší.
August 5, 2018
The Eastman/Bisley smash-up of Raphael and Casey Jones in a non-stop all-out violent action fest called Bodycount was something I always wanted to read, but was never able to acquire, so when IDW/Top Shelf announced a new hardcover version I knew I finally could.
Eastman has always been open to the TMNT being portrayed as incredibly violent, thanks to their origins as a Daredevil spoof, but to see this get reprinted in the era where they are owned by Nickelodeon is really a testament to their understanding the property in all of its forms.
Unfortunately the book is, well, exactly what I expected in some of the worst ways. Heralded for having the longest running gunfight in comics and being Heavy Metal meets TMNT, Bisley does what he does best: mashes Heavy Metal with TMNT. Except it seems far too unhinged and 1990s, which makes sense being from from 1996. It's a mess, albeit it a fun one, and embraces what it is, in all the wrong ways.
There just isn't enough time spent with Casey and Raph during all of this and it seems like an ugly crime story that they happen to weave in and out of, and is just disappointing from that aspect. What it does right is good however, but after having high hopes for so long, and literal trepidation as I started to read it, my fears weren't unfounded and the whole thing just seems like a big exercise in excess in all the wrong ways.
A very hard thing to recommend but if you want to see something different from the TMNT, this is something worth investigating for sure.
Eastman has always been open to the TMNT being portrayed as incredibly violent, thanks to their origins as a Daredevil spoof, but to see this get reprinted in the era where they are owned by Nickelodeon is really a testament to their understanding the property in all of its forms.
Unfortunately the book is, well, exactly what I expected in some of the worst ways. Heralded for having the longest running gunfight in comics and being Heavy Metal meets TMNT, Bisley does what he does best: mashes Heavy Metal with TMNT. Except it seems far too unhinged and 1990s, which makes sense being from from 1996. It's a mess, albeit it a fun one, and embraces what it is, in all the wrong ways.
There just isn't enough time spent with Casey and Raph during all of this and it seems like an ugly crime story that they happen to weave in and out of, and is just disappointing from that aspect. What it does right is good however, but after having high hopes for so long, and literal trepidation as I started to read it, my fears weren't unfounded and the whole thing just seems like a big exercise in excess in all the wrong ways.
A very hard thing to recommend but if you want to see something different from the TMNT, this is something worth investigating for sure.
January 20, 2019
I grew up a young devotee of the original Ninja Turtles cartoon. As an adult I've tried to go back and check various comics. I started at the beginning reading the bulk of their first comics run. I been a huge fan of their current IDW run. I've read various odds and ends in between. I thought I'd give this unique graphic novel a shot. Who doesn't love a team up with Raph and Casey?
Well let's start with the positives. Yes, Raph and Casey are always a good team up. There is lots and lots of action. It introduces some new story to the universe... Kevin Eastman is involved... Uh... well that's about it for the positives.
Let's talk negatives. First is Simon Bisley's art. It sucks. Listen Eastman (or Laird for that matter) were never the greatest artists in there world but their simple art and designs for the turtles had a certain charm. Bisley's art is inconsistent (except that it consistently sucks) and everything just looks... awful. Human beings look like radiated steroid overdosing mutant monstrosities. Raphael generally looks more like the Incredible Hulk than he does a ninja turtle. In one panel I swear he doesn't even have a shell. There are major continuity issues. In one panel Casey busts in with a hockey stick, the next panel still mid bust in he is then holding a bat. He throws 9 iron and the villain is hit with a 5 wood. Raphael sometimes is about the same height as the humans, sometime is a beast towering over them, other times is a tiny hobbit next to them. Everything just looks grotesque in a way that is not charming.
At the end of the new reprint Eastman shows some of his original idea sketches vs Bisley's results. In almost every case I think we would have been better off Eastman just doing things himself.
Also, there is very little substance to this. That's ok, it's supposed to be a thrilling shootout. The thing is, it doesn't need to be nearly as long as it is for how little happens. This could have been half as long and had the same result.
This is an interesting piece of Turtles' history. It has a couple fun moments of Raph and Casey. Ultimately though, I don't think this is a high point for the franchise, and unless you're a die hard fan of the turtles or Simon Bisley you can probably pass on this.
Well let's start with the positives. Yes, Raph and Casey are always a good team up. There is lots and lots of action. It introduces some new story to the universe... Kevin Eastman is involved... Uh... well that's about it for the positives.
Let's talk negatives. First is Simon Bisley's art. It sucks. Listen Eastman (or Laird for that matter) were never the greatest artists in there world but their simple art and designs for the turtles had a certain charm. Bisley's art is inconsistent (except that it consistently sucks) and everything just looks... awful. Human beings look like radiated steroid overdosing mutant monstrosities. Raphael generally looks more like the Incredible Hulk than he does a ninja turtle. In one panel I swear he doesn't even have a shell. There are major continuity issues. In one panel Casey busts in with a hockey stick, the next panel still mid bust in he is then holding a bat. He throws 9 iron and the villain is hit with a 5 wood. Raphael sometimes is about the same height as the humans, sometime is a beast towering over them, other times is a tiny hobbit next to them. Everything just looks grotesque in a way that is not charming.
At the end of the new reprint Eastman shows some of his original idea sketches vs Bisley's results. In almost every case I think we would have been better off Eastman just doing things himself.
Also, there is very little substance to this. That's ok, it's supposed to be a thrilling shootout. The thing is, it doesn't need to be nearly as long as it is for how little happens. This could have been half as long and had the same result.
This is an interesting piece of Turtles' history. It has a couple fun moments of Raph and Casey. Ultimately though, I don't think this is a high point for the franchise, and unless you're a die hard fan of the turtles or Simon Bisley you can probably pass on this.
August 13, 2023
Following their collaboration on "The Melting Pot", Eastman and Bisley work together on a Heavy Metal magazine influenced approach to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In this four-issue miniseries, Raphael and Casey Jones get roped into assisting a woman being pursued by assassins. The four issues are basically one prolonged bloody gunfight against a John Woo-esque villain. Just as they did in The Melting Pot, Eastman provides some layouts while Bisley contributes some of highly ostentatious character designs. The scantily clad woman is almost to be expected here, but it's the oddly shifting designs for Raph and Casey that were at times pretty perturbing. I quite enjoyed the loose artwork in here, but I imagine this would be very puzzling for the more traditional TMNT fan. While my review isn't the most positive since I overall don't think this is a good comic, I can't help but admire this for the more unique take. And given how milquetoast many later TMNT comics become, I would much prefer something like Bodycount over them.
January 2, 2024
Tenía curiosidad por este spin-off de las tortugas y su estilo artístico, creo que más parecido a los trazos irregulares del genio Frank Miller que de la primera versión ochentera de los quelonios.
En resumen, se trata de una macarrada inspirada en películas de acción de los noventa, con mucha testosterona, malos muy malos y mujeres pechugonas con poca ropa y muchas ganas de romper cuellos.
Si tuviera que destacar algo del cómic es la representación de Raphael, dejando atrás sus sais y pasando a descargar plomo con una ametralladora a cada mano. Raph ha sido siempre la tortuga más impulsiva, más agresiva, y aquí ya está desbocado.
Algo muy negativo, en mi humilde opinión, es Casey Jones. Pasa a ser una sobresimplificación de sí mismo, una mezcla entre Sylvester Stalone en lo físico y Steve Urkel en lo mental. No le hace justicia ni al Casey de los cómics originales, y mucho menos al Casey de la nueva serie regular.
En definitiva, leelo si eres muy, muy fan de las tortugas, completista y te apetece leer algo rápido, sin pretensiones y con mucha mala leche.
En resumen, se trata de una macarrada inspirada en películas de acción de los noventa, con mucha testosterona, malos muy malos y mujeres pechugonas con poca ropa y muchas ganas de romper cuellos.
Si tuviera que destacar algo del cómic es la representación de Raphael, dejando atrás sus sais y pasando a descargar plomo con una ametralladora a cada mano. Raph ha sido siempre la tortuga más impulsiva, más agresiva, y aquí ya está desbocado.
Algo muy negativo, en mi humilde opinión, es Casey Jones. Pasa a ser una sobresimplificación de sí mismo, una mezcla entre Sylvester Stalone en lo físico y Steve Urkel en lo mental. No le hace justicia ni al Casey de los cómics originales, y mucho menos al Casey de la nueva serie regular.
En definitiva, leelo si eres muy, muy fan de las tortugas, completista y te apetece leer algo rápido, sin pretensiones y con mucha mala leche.
September 30, 2019
Kniha "Počítání mrtvých" je přesně to, co je určené pro fanoušky, kteří mají rádi namachrované čtení ve stylu Loba, co si užívají spoustu hlášek, kdy skoro žádná není vtipná, ale je drsná. Já jsem fanoušek příběhu, který zde chybí, ale jsem i fanoušek kresby, která je dostatečně explicitní, a to se musí Simonovi Bisleymu nechat. Pokud dokázal něco skvěle nakreslit, jsou to masakry, jež jsou součástí tohoto komiksu. Jeho kresbě skutečně věříte vyvrhnuté mozky, rozpůlená těla, usekané končetiny, celkově krev, která se na vás ze stránek hrne. V tomhle ohledu jeho kresba funguje skvěle, a to i přesto, že je zřetelně stylizovaná. Minimálně pro tohle stojí za to komiks přečíst. A možná trochu i protože, že máte rádi Želvy nindža, i když přítomnost Raphaela je na některých stránkách skutečně spíše symbolická.
January 2, 2023
I remember buying the Heavy Metal trade paperback of this in high school when I got my first job, and loving it. Now, many many years later, I realize this book seriously sucks. The story is super generic and the dialogue does not make sense 90% of the time. The only think that saves it, and will keep it hanging around in my collection, is Simon Bisley's art. He has always been one of my favorite artists, and he doesn't disappoint here. However I can not recommend it on that alone because there are much better written books he has drawn. Even if you're a Turtles fan you should probably avoid this one
November 17, 2018
Genudgivelse af et ældre samarbejde mellem Eastman og Bisley, der virkelig er bizart, voldeligt og over-the-top. Et super-simpelt plot og gritty karakterer giver den en følelse af at være i 80'ernes underverden. Ikke så meget ninja-action fra Raphael, som man kunne ønske sig, og nok et alt, alt for fjollet plot til at kunne nydes igen og igen.
April 27, 2022
Holy fuck. Absolutely BRUTAL artwork by Simon Bisley. The story is almost moot because you're just here for the gunplay and it delivers in spaids. Blood, guts, decapitations, amputations, and a TON of headshots that leave zero to the imagination. If the story doesn't interest you, at least look at the art. I love this stuff!
October 17, 2023
If you ever wanted to read TMNT free of Peter Laird's influence, if you ever wanted pure, uncut Kevin Eastman, this is the comic for you. Unfortunately it highlights most of Eastman's flaws as opposed to his strengths. There's not a brain in the head of this comic. Despite this, it's fun. Kinda.
September 10, 2018
Fun, ultra violent, trashy. Like an 80’s action flick.
September 11, 2019
Overall, this story really sucks, but it's chock-a-block with Bisley artwork at it's craziest. Read it if you must, but a quick thumb through should suffice.
October 6, 2019
Akce, akce, akce. Přestřelky, automobily, mlátičky, všude krev. Raphael by tu vlastně ani nemusel být.
Komiksové devadesátky v ryzí podobě.
Komiksové devadesátky v ryzí podobě.
June 28, 2020
V rámci žánru nejspíš dobré, ale prostě až příliš devadesátková řežba. Třeba Sexcastle jako pocta osmdesátkovým Béčkům u mě fungoval daleko víc
June 4, 2023
this book is a mess
it has such simplistic dialogue, a near nonexistent story, and extremely 90s messy art, leading to this barely comprehensible mess of a book
it has such simplistic dialogue, a near nonexistent story, and extremely 90s messy art, leading to this barely comprehensible mess of a book
February 28, 2024
Sold/Quick/Fun read
It's probably more like a 3.5 or 4 star rating, but because of nostalgia, I had to bump it up a bit.
It's probably more like a 3.5 or 4 star rating, but because of nostalgia, I had to bump it up a bit.
Read
May 2, 2024Well that happened.
September 29, 2024
Well…that was…kinetic….
November 25, 2024
What the hell was that?
December 8, 2024
Insane
Totally over the top TMNT adventure, that ooze’s 90’s cinema. Would love to see more like these one off adventures.
Totally over the top TMNT adventure, that ooze’s 90’s cinema. Would love to see more like these one off adventures.
June 15, 2019
I grew up watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon as a kid (Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles for those like me, watching it in the UK) and fell in love with the gang of green heroes. As I got older, I found out that the show was based upon comics and that the books were much more adult and darker in tone than the children’s series.
I’ve now read quite a bit of these comics and have experienced this ‘darker’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but even the early comics didn’t quite prepare me for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Bodycount.
Originally published as a mini-series in 1996, the story tells the bloody and gruesome tale of Hong Kong gangster Midnight, who has travelled to New York City on the run from her former colleagues who are now hunter her for apparently betraying them. Running into Casey Jones, then Raphael, the two of them end up helping Midnight as she travels across the country seeking Sanctuary, a place where she can be safe.
Whilst this doesn’t sound too far removed from a fairly standard TMNT plot, the execution (and I’ve chosen that word intentionally) is something very different. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Bodycount, as the name suggests, wracks up a huge amount of kills. Johnny Woo Woo, the cyborg assassin sent after Midnight, cares nothing for collateral damage and as such mows down anyone that’s between him and his target.
The majority of the book is one long gun fight with dozens killed. They are not quick, clean kills either; people have arms and legs blown off, their guts blasted out, and are even decapitated by bullets. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Bodycount isn’t helped in its ultra-violence by the artwork of Simon Bisley.
An artist that I’ve always considered ‘messy’, Bisley’s scraggy and misshapen people look gross at the best of times, but are downright disgusting when being shot to pieces. It makes the death and violence more visceral than it otherwise would be. Whilst the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has never shied away from violence, it has never been gratuitous or disgusting; but this book seems to revel in it, appealing most to people who love gore and torture porn.
Bisley’s art also adds horror to the book whenever he draws Raphael, making the heroic turtle look like like a hideous monster. His limbs are misshapen and uneven, covered in veins and bulges, his mouth looks like The Joker and the Cheshire Cat had a nightmare baby; he’s ugly and looks like a demon.
The worst of the artwork has to be Midnight in the final battle against Johnny Woo Woo. Wearing what can only be described as a thong and strips of skintight cloth, Midnight’s over the top breasts are barely held in place as she participates in a knife fight, every panel focusing on either her arse or pointed nipples. She’s made into a violent sexual fantasy designed to arouse as she performs violence.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Bodycount has been described as encapsulating the ‘grim and gritty’ sensibilities of the 90s and turned it to the extreme. This is completely true, but it takes everything that was awful with 90s comics and dials it up to 11. The violence is over the top and full of gore. Women are sexualised objects with breasts bigger than their heads and costumes that could barely clothe a cat, and even the heroes are pushed into ‘ultra-dark’ as Eastman makes Raphael murder dozens of people with guns and grenades.
The book might be written by Kevin Eastman, one of the creators of the Turtles, but it feels like he’s failed to capture the essence of the characters or the series at all. Gory and violent for the sake of it, filled with awful language and even has Raphael using disgusting slurs such as ‘retarded’; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Bodycount is the goriest, most violent and vulgar TMNT comic I’ve ever read. Absolutely awful.
I’ve now read quite a bit of these comics and have experienced this ‘darker’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but even the early comics didn’t quite prepare me for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Bodycount.
Originally published as a mini-series in 1996, the story tells the bloody and gruesome tale of Hong Kong gangster Midnight, who has travelled to New York City on the run from her former colleagues who are now hunter her for apparently betraying them. Running into Casey Jones, then Raphael, the two of them end up helping Midnight as she travels across the country seeking Sanctuary, a place where she can be safe.
Whilst this doesn’t sound too far removed from a fairly standard TMNT plot, the execution (and I’ve chosen that word intentionally) is something very different. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Bodycount, as the name suggests, wracks up a huge amount of kills. Johnny Woo Woo, the cyborg assassin sent after Midnight, cares nothing for collateral damage and as such mows down anyone that’s between him and his target.
The majority of the book is one long gun fight with dozens killed. They are not quick, clean kills either; people have arms and legs blown off, their guts blasted out, and are even decapitated by bullets. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Bodycount isn’t helped in its ultra-violence by the artwork of Simon Bisley.
An artist that I’ve always considered ‘messy’, Bisley’s scraggy and misshapen people look gross at the best of times, but are downright disgusting when being shot to pieces. It makes the death and violence more visceral than it otherwise would be. Whilst the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has never shied away from violence, it has never been gratuitous or disgusting; but this book seems to revel in it, appealing most to people who love gore and torture porn.
Bisley’s art also adds horror to the book whenever he draws Raphael, making the heroic turtle look like like a hideous monster. His limbs are misshapen and uneven, covered in veins and bulges, his mouth looks like The Joker and the Cheshire Cat had a nightmare baby; he’s ugly and looks like a demon.
The worst of the artwork has to be Midnight in the final battle against Johnny Woo Woo. Wearing what can only be described as a thong and strips of skintight cloth, Midnight’s over the top breasts are barely held in place as she participates in a knife fight, every panel focusing on either her arse or pointed nipples. She’s made into a violent sexual fantasy designed to arouse as she performs violence.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Bodycount has been described as encapsulating the ‘grim and gritty’ sensibilities of the 90s and turned it to the extreme. This is completely true, but it takes everything that was awful with 90s comics and dials it up to 11. The violence is over the top and full of gore. Women are sexualised objects with breasts bigger than their heads and costumes that could barely clothe a cat, and even the heroes are pushed into ‘ultra-dark’ as Eastman makes Raphael murder dozens of people with guns and grenades.
The book might be written by Kevin Eastman, one of the creators of the Turtles, but it feels like he’s failed to capture the essence of the characters or the series at all. Gory and violent for the sake of it, filled with awful language and even has Raphael using disgusting slurs such as ‘retarded’; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Bodycount is the goriest, most violent and vulgar TMNT comic I’ve ever read. Absolutely awful.
August 7, 2014
TMNT John Woo Style
This is just a bunch of crazy, violent fun. Everything Bisley draws is bulging. Muscles are bulging. Breasts are bulging. The freaking guns are bulging. Eastman's story is pretty thin, but that's the point. This is just an exercise in John Woo style shoot 'em ups, with Raphael and Casey Jones in the middle.
This is just a bunch of crazy, violent fun. Everything Bisley draws is bulging. Muscles are bulging. Breasts are bulging. The freaking guns are bulging. Eastman's story is pretty thin, but that's the point. This is just an exercise in John Woo style shoot 'em ups, with Raphael and Casey Jones in the middle.
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