Anyone who was a child of the 80's can tell you who the Heroes in a Halfshell were. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles baby! On the surface its such a strange concept. I mean really. Mutant turtles? That can fight? That are ninjas? But sometimes the weirdest things can be the coolest things (though that is not a rule of thumb). What really made the turtles popular though was the Animated Series. Thus emblazoned for eternity into the fertile young American minds, TMNT would start raking in the money on all sorts of movies, cartoons, and ridiculous toys. 

Do you remember the toys? I sure do. I have a turtle that transformed from a regular-looking turtle into a full-fledged mutant dynamo. I also had power jump Raph - you could bend him all the way down, and springs in his legs would make him jump a few inches. I also think I had a turtle that swam in the bath tub. I'm sure they made a turtle for every occasion. Bar Mitvah Mikey sounds like a hit to me.

Anywho, the reason I bring this up is because it is hiiiiigh time for another art feature. Turtle Time! In my wanderings about the site called Deviant Art, I have stumbled across many homages to our half-shelled friends. So I took it upon myself to gather together the best of the best. The most awesome kick-butt turtle art I could find. And I have done just that. For your viewing pleasure, here they are:

1. Leonardo

Leo was always my favorite. The leader of the team, he knew what was goin on. Plus he had two monstrous blades. What kid doesn't like that? 

2. Donatello

3. Raphael

4. Mikey

5. The 5th Turtle 

The 5th turtles that got left behind. Love this one! 

6. Slash

Slash is one bad mutha...what? I'm just talkin about Slash? In case you don't remember, a quote from the almighty Wikipedia:

"In the 1987 TMNT cartoon, Slash was originally a pet turtle owned by Bebop. Slash was mutated with experimental Super-Mutagen, which Shredder and Krang were devising, by Bebop and Rocksteady. They were tired of doing all the work in the Technodrome, which was located in Dimension X, and wanted to make a new mutant who they could pass the jobs onto.

Unfortunately for them, Slash was much more powerful and dangerous than they were."

7. The Originals

8. The Team 

9. The Team 2 

This piece makes me want to run and cry. And hide under my desk. The turtles are coming, the turtles are coming! 

10. The Team 3

Patently awesome. I mean really. The patent on awesomeness? This piece of art owns it. Check the records.

Ah, well all good things must come to an end. Hopefully this stroll down turtle-memory-lane was as good for you as it was for me. We had to skip some classic greats like April O'Neil and Casey Jones (not to mention the most revered Master Splinter!), but perhaps another time. Until then, same bat time, same bat channel. 

cover image courtesy of MovieWeb