Fanboys Anonymous

From one crowd funding campaign to the next, sometimes it seems as though there is a gap between what comics can be and what they tend to be. Among the many campaigns, there are beautiful and popping gems that gleam among other bland or less captivating works. Really, even the big-name comic producers seem less invested than the fans are, but as an indie enthusiast and arguably the greatest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) fan alive, I take great pride in the selections I make involving my favorite series and less-known creators.

I learned to walk in the '80s and grew up in the '90s. The biggest, baddest comic to me as I was growing up was TMNT. Oddly enough, it also happened to be a bit of a joke comic; even though I thought it was serious and took it very seriously, the fact is, it was created as a spoof.

Into the '90s, the long-awaited animated series began and blew us away, and it was no time at all before I was spending my afternoons watching and rewatching the episodes. In those days, I don't even remember catching the poorly constructed news reports of April O'Neil or the odd storylines followed by jokes from the turtles emphasizing the ridiculousness of occurring events. To me, it was all serious. To me, it was practically a reality.

To this day, the series is something I take more seriously perhaps than I should. I mean, mutagen, fighting turtles and rats, animal gangsters by the names of Bebop and Rocksteady…the very foundation of the series is comical at best. Still, I feel like it was never taken as seriously as it should have been from a creative standpoint or as seriously as we took it as fans when we were children. It's all changed now.

You may wonder what TMNT has to do with indie, even if you know what it has to do with comics. Perhaps you might even wonder what indie has to do with the serious rebranding of the TMNT series. After all, the comics have taken on a very serious tone of late. However, I assure you, there is more to my words than jibber-jabber. Dawn of the Ninja is every bit as serious as I thought the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were already, going back years.

This fan art graphic novel piece that takes everything we were so passionate about and relive it through our and others' art. The story goes something like this: Two stories begin in this mystifying and gruesome tale. One is the story of Oroku Saki, The Shredder, and the second is the more familiar tale of the Ninja Turtles. In this comic book, started by a fan for the fans, Oroku Saki suffers the loss of his father, Oroku Nagi, and battles the complicated feelings of retribution that eventually warp his perception of honor. In the future, the turtles try to uncover the secret behind the transformation of Baxter Stockman into a dangerous mutant. Both tales are supposed to focus on the very human elements of vengeance and honor, as we all know the tale of the turtles already. Eventually, the two tales converge and the legend that is the rivalry between the turtles and The Shredder is born. Check out this indie turtles fan comic at Dawn of the Ninja. Tell me what you think downstairs! Indie?