Chapter 39: Turtle-y Way
There is a tale that would be told in the past-future that would inspire comic book aspirants of any age and background.
It starts with two comic aficionados coming together and exchanging their passion for comic books.
They huddled together to register a comic studio that wasn't clearly a studio because it was just a basement. It would be named as Mirage Comics.
During their comic shenanigans, one of them jokingly drew a turtle wearing a ninja mask and holding a katana.
The other was not to be left behind as he drew a martial arts turtle of his own.
They went back and forth with their funny iterations with Ninja Turtle, Mutant Ninja Turtle, until they reached four Mutant Ninja Turtles.
With each turtle having a designated ninja weapon to themselves.
They planned to name the turtles with Japanese names but felt that whatever they came up with wasn't Japanese-y enough.
To compensate, they found a book about renaissance artist so Leonardo, Donatello, Rafael, and Michelangelo was chosen.
The joking duo got more and more inspired until they decided to make it a real deal.
An origin story was added that took inspiration from Daredevil. Mentor Sticks had his counterpart Splinter and the Hand clan had their Foot counterpart.
Thus, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was born. To think that it had come from the funny scene of a slowpoke turtle trying to be a ninja.
Whether the story was true or not, it wasn't the important detail in the story that Alexander fixated on.
The detail that Alexander could capitalize on is the fact that Mirage Studios would just be registering this time of the month and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would only be debuting two months later in May.
Before, Alexander hadn't put the Turtles in his plagiarize list because of the time constraints and lack of resources to make the comic publishing race be won.
Now that a team was assigned to his full use along with legal teams underway, his chances of winning just went up and the preliminary outlining began.
Unbeknownst to Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman, their glory was already being overwritten.
By the time they plan to loan and print their colorless copies, Creed Comics would already have an expanded and cohesive storyline that would win out against a basement duo having fun.
Alexander also set the Turtles to their globally popular version with color-coded headbands and belts for easy identification.
The tone of the entire thing also won't be as serious as the original timeline's comic but also not as childish as the 1984 animated series.
Just the perfect balance with the 2003 and 2012 remake for it's tone and mood while the art style would be inspired by the streamlined 2012 remake, instead of CGI though it would be hand-drawn to simulate it.
No matter how people in the future-past would argue at the classicness of Laird and Eastman's creation, they were outdated and grotesque in Alexander's opinion.
Wide-faced turtles, disproportionate and unnecessary muscles were not okay in the Creed comic books guideline. They needed to be streamlined and easier for the action figures to be aesthetically pleasing than they had been.
Like how he has doctored Toriyama's Dragonball, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would have his imprints as well. Like an expanded rogues gallery, side character expansions, and interesting storylines.
Donatello's garbage-inspired inventions had as much leeway for expansions as Bulma, Pilaf, and Dr. Gero had been.
Sibling rivalries would be tapped as usual. April and human relationships would be only canon as furry love, or in this case -scaly love is not within Alexander's tolerance.
Falling in love with what had been your pet animal is incredibly morbid after all.
There is also the catchy catchphrase 'Cowabunga' to be delicately handled as the previous TMNT had been sued left and right.
The upcoming Creed Comics legal consultant has to find the potential attack points and nip them in the bud before they could do any damage.
The New York pizzas were also a special idea point to exploit as Alexander was considering real-life pizzerias to be featured and be an advertisement deal of sorts.
Thinking far ahead was really something that everyone should do more often. Finding blindspots, profit points, and making a story brilliantly cohesive is an advantage no one could deny.
------
Alexander didn't overdo it much with the outlining and brainstorming though because TMNT could be used as an input point for the idea people in his subordinate list.
They won't just be forever relegated to being recreators, sketchers, inkers, colorists, and collators.
He could indoctrinate them with the manga and comic way as they make their cut through paneling, storytelling, and character designing.
Alexander wouldn't be able to sustain everything if he swallows all those responsibilities to himself after all.
Each of them has special ideas as previously suppressed creative people that didn't have a platform, so Alexander could tap at those resources to bolster his own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe.
Of course, he was there to be the prime decision-maker of what is allowable and what isn't so unfavorable storylines, controversial designs, and disagreements within those folks would be down to a minimum.
By the point where a person has known the quirks of his company vision and comic mantras, he could appoint him or her at the level of a decision maker and lighten his burdens.
From these possibilities, he is already setting the stage for the comic company to be self-sustaining as he can't just hole himself into being in charge of comic books all the time.
It may take some time but he is walking the miles to reach it.
--------
After some outlining and character designing works, Alexander proceeded to make the first issue.
He had already learned his lesson so instead of over perfecting everything, he made a standard work and his employees can do the rest.
24 pencil perfect Dragonball issues had already been moot after all with the normal bond paper being used.
Only bond paper is still available at his home, so doing subpar detailing is already enough. What matters is the paneling, the story, and the overall flow of the issue.
The first issue is always the important one as it sets the readers what to expect in the issues to come.
Since Alexander didn't want everything to be retconned, setting an undeniable turtle origin story is a high priority.
His special memories came to the rescue again as Michael Bay's version was perfect enough. Splinter being an experimental rat and picking up a training manual was far-fetched but grounded enough than the other iterations.
A sewer rat turning into a were-rat or a martial arts person turning into a ratman were out of the running.
The first issue was a standard origin story and ends with the Turtles deciding to use their skills for vigilantism and disobeying Splinter's ideology of laying low.
It set the tone for crime-fighting adventures and embodied the superhero tropes through a turtle-y way.