Which version of Michaelangelo/Michelangelo do you like?

[Michaelangelo]

Hey everyone,

Leo brought up in a topic about having a discussion about Mikey so here it is


Any how there's different versions of Michaelangelo/Michelangelo out there.   So let's talk about about the different versions and which ones holds you closes.  Why that one means so much to you, and what you think could be done better for the character over all.   How you feel the media treats him and so on (through out time, we may end up with a topic like this for each Turtle).  

Different versions

Mirage/Image:  This Michaelangelo is a calmed down version of Mike out there.  He's got his chucks, and still is able to tell a good joke.  Though he stands back a lot, with his creative mind running.  As shown in a few Mirage comics and through the Image series... Mike enjoys being creative with writing and art work.  He is also a cat lover, with his pet Klunk.  He's not really trying to prove himself for anything, he's just there for his family.

Original Toon:  He started off really as a goof ball, with his humor.  As he shows his humor through out the series though it gets to the point that others start to look down on him and he has to prove himself in episodes like "What is Michaelangelo Good For?"  Michaelangelo is best known in this series as the all out pizza lover and clown.  If he does anything to help, it's usually pointed out as if he never did anything helpful before... even though he's HELPED in many areas.  He's not really into writing or art work in this series though he does love comic books and cartoons.  He likes extreme sports like skate boarding & surfing.

Archie:  This series shows Mike as an artist and jester.   Though it does not high light Mike often, when it did there would be showing different sides of him, and what he goes through keeping his humor as the face everyone sees.  I kind of wish we could of had a few more solo issues on Mike to work with his character here.

Movies:  Mike is a little bit more serious in the first three movies though it's not shown too much cause he's still very light hearted.  Goofing around, though some serious moments come up.  His refusal to acknowledge Splinter not being with them and when he didn't want to return home, showing that he doesn't care for living in hiding.  Those were two strong points that showed Mike was not just a clown in this series.  We don't see much of an artistic or creative side of Mike in the movie.  Though we do see his strong love for pizza.

Next Mutation: He was there just to be fun and weird... his creative side not shown to well, besides for creative food taste... banana with mustard..????   He did have a cool pirate radio show in this series though.  And did have fun with stuff like throwing a rave to raise money for endangered animals.  I think we would of saw more character growth on him, if they were able to do more seasons.

4Kids:  This side of Mike has shown both the creative and the goofy side.  It's shown him get hurt by the way he's treated.. and be able to take it with a grain of salt.  He's the comic that we all know and love and he's still able to remain smart and helpful for his brothers when need be.  He's able to take a bad spot and not just lighten the mood, but help with the idea to make things better.  He enjoys attention, and will do the crazies stuff... you don't want to see this boy bored     Though there has been issues where he's been treated like he's not serious enough, by all means this series has shown that Mike is a very useful member of the team just the way he is.

Other:  Is your favorite area with Mike something like the Tour?  Or "We Wish You a Turtle Christmas"  or do you like some Fanfic or RP version of Mike out there... what about a web comic version?   If you choose other, please post and not just tell us about why you like Mike in that version... but tell us about the Mike of that version maybe even post a link!

[Michaelangelo]

Michaelangelo... smart... funny... creative... cute     ah four words that sums up my fav Turtle

He's the Turtle that has all the energy in the world, and can't help but be hyper a lot.  Though as he's hyper, he's also a man of many talents.  Using his energies, he's gotten into drawing, writing, music, acting, and sports... on top of all of that Ninja Training he goes through.  Some how he finds the time of day to be able to help save the world.

Out of his brothers he's the most misunderstood Turtle.  Because he's so hyper, people don't think he's taking things serious.  They think he's just being annoying and should calm down.  They get angry cause he's acting up when things are going bad and feel he could make things worse.  Examples of this can be found in the original Toon, Tales of TMNT (vol. 2), and the episode "Touch and Go" from the 4Kids series.    Where Mike is told that he has to learn to think, he has to learn to help out... where he has to learn to put his emotions on the back burner.  Though anytime people tell him and get down on him is when things go wrong.   He wishes people could understand him, though at the same time he even questions why he's as hyper as he is... and wonders if he'll ever truly fit in.  He won't let it get him down for long though, he'll bounce right back up to his normal happy self in no time flat.  (A good example of this is "The unconvincing Turtle Titan")

My favorite media with Mike has been 4Kids recently.  They explore all angels of him.  From him being the class clown, to him being the one to get out and want to do something more with their lives, and him being able to pull through many times to help his brothers by just being himself.  Mike may get over hyper at times, but that's just who he is.  It's not that he's going out of his way to be like that, it's his nature.

Though I've been a Mikey fan all along, so I really do love every version out there.  Started with the original series, and just went on from there.  The movies just had me fall head over heals for him.  

I'm going to be very open to admit that my lease favorite version of Mike is the Next Mutation.   Why?  Because I felt a lot of his artistic side was gone.  There was something about him that just felt like it was really missing in that series.

So feel free to explain how you view Mike and why you voted the way you did.

[Danceingfae]

Which Mikey is my fav? That can be a bit difficult because there's aspects of him that i like from every series i've seen. Though to be honest i'm not as familiar with the comics or the Next Mutation as i am with the cartoons and movies. And of course the tour  

In the original series, I loved the fact that Mike made me laugh. I was young and didn't really understand that they weren't showing too many sides of his character. He was just funny and that was enough for me.

When the movies came out, yeah he wasn't all goof like in the cartoons but he was more realistic. Not just in looks with the costumes but also in personality. He showed more then one, having his serious moments, sad moments along with his happy, funny moments.

In the new cartoon at times it reminds me of the original cartoon but also see a more serious side that the original cartoons didn't show either. I'm not sure if i would say it's as serious of a side that the movies showed since i am still trying to catch up on the cartoon. *Glares at TV for not getting regular tv channels*

So if i were to pick a fav.. at first i was gonna say 4kids, but really, it's the movie Mikey. He's the first one that made him seem more then just a character on tv.

[Mily]

My favourite version..., well, I think I'm gonna have to say 4Kids Mikey from the first remake of the series would be my fav, I was just getting back into liking the turtles when that series came out and I did realize that he was my fav though I'm pretty sure I liked him in the old series too, but I was pretty young and I vaguely recall liking Leo..., Lol,
But Mikey in the 1st remake was hilarous and a well-rounded character in my opinion, he always made me laugh and reminded my why he was my fav. I don't even like him as much in the FastForward Series..., which is a shame, he's still funny but just, kinda different from the other series.

[Leonardo]

For me? Classic Mirage is my fave version.
But I have enjoyed Mikey in all the other forms, because, yes, he makes me laugh. And that's important.
 

Other reasons I mentioned in the other thread and forgive me, I'm too tired to rewrite it here.
 

[tmntck1]

Michaelangelo is my favorite ninja turtle and I like all the Michaelangelos but I have to say the 4kids one is my favorite cause he's funnier,tougher,and,a lot cooler.        

[Jephael]

I went with the old toon incarnation because he was always the friend I wished I had growing up.

[Terri]

Although in the end I voted for movie Mikey, it's really a tie between that and the 4Kids Mikey.  Thinking back, the original cartoon Mikey sort of blended in with the others.  The opening theme seemed to point out their basic differences and Mikey was dubbed as the "party dude"...fine and well.  When the first movie came out, I was totally taken back.  All of the Turtle's characters just...came to life...each one becoming identifiable as individuals in their characteristics and personality traits.  I love how Mikey's character was developed.  Sure you saw the goof in him (and we all love the goof!), but we also saw a more sensitive, almost vulnerable side.  I could go on and on about this...but my basic point is made when it comes to movie Mike.

Now, the 4Kids Mikey I also love.  I love his energy, his spirit, his occassional serious/sensitive moments and most of all...his scream!  (lol)  In most episodes, Mikey is his fun-loving self...however it's great how he's given his moments to shine and show that he's not just a joker...he is a skilled fighter (I'll invite Wayne to recite the 'Mikey: Battle Nexus Champion" speech here, lol).  He has proven in many episodes that he can think his way out of a situation and hold his own in a battle.  Again, I could go on but we all already know how great this particular Mikey is.  

To sum things up, Mikey is an awesome guy!  Just one of those Turtles you wanna go up to and hug!  

[Aignatius]

When I first latched onto the TMNT with more interest than I usually had for popular culture, Mikey was my favorite. He's eclectic in nature, and can pull off silliness better than anybody. He can get away with wearing tights, making bizarre food and listening to sappy music that make others cringe.
I like the Mirage/Image Mike best, though the Archie Adventure version of Mikey was kewl, too.  

A friend who is a Mikey fan recently said, "So... what you're saying is, Mikey's the best."

Mmmm... no... buuut... he's a good egg. A happy Buddha type.  

[Buslady]

I like Movie 1 Mikey cause he's not soooooo HYPER. He's cute in 2, but he's a little calmer in 1. In 3, he's fine as well...you DO get to see more of the hero in Mike in 3 too.

[Mindy]

How did I get past this topic?! And I think it would be cool to have all four Turtles (maybe even Splinter, April, Casey, and various others) with topics like this, but we all know Mikey must be the first in line

I chose Movie Mikey. Back in the 80s with the original 'toon, I didn't really bond with him very well, but the movies changed everything I knew about Mikey for me. He was sweet, charming, cute, crazy [but not too much!], and a very strong hero. TMNT movie III is my least favorite of the trilogy, but Mike was given so much more depth and that's why I don't totally knock the film at all. If only he could've be just as creative as his Mirage counterpart and had Klunk in the movies, I think Mikey would've been "perfect" [to me].

But, so that I respect each of his incarnations (and that I have oodles of time here at work.. ), I'll jot 'em all down here:

Mirage/Image: I've only read a few issues, but this Mike would probably tie with 4Kids for my second favorite incarnation. We get to see his creative side and he is calmed down. Plus, when tramautic events happen to him and his family, he got depressed and turned to other ways of streaming his anger, his remorse, his entire being. A very solid, dimensional character. I love the relationship between him and Klunk. I am very close to my pet dog so I understand exactly how he feels about his cat.

80s/90s toon: He was pretty zany and very outgoing, but you know you could have a good time with this Mike! With every "Mikey", if you were having a bad day, he could cheer you up - maybe take you skateboarding, read some comics, and eat some "gnarly" pizza. I'm sure when most of us think back to the '80s, Mikey is the first one who pops into our heads. He so started the whole pizza craze in the early 90s

Archie: Can't say I know too much about this Mike since I never read the comics, sorry :/ He had a girlfriend, though, didn't he? A rather serious one? It sounds like he was more mature in this one.

Next Mutation: He was cute and silly but had a soft heart. Mikey with a pirate radio show was a great idea, too. I agree that if the series had progressed, he probably would've reached the character development of his Movie/4kids counterparts.

4Kids: He was still cute, charming, goofy, and extremely agile with his training. I love his girly screams and that he got to have Klunk! There's something about this version of Mikey that almost seems like... he has a deep sadness or a part of his soul that yearns for a lot more than he has. It's pretty apparent with Raphael, but Mikey has always been the one to push his feelings aside to help his family and friends. While Raphael channels his feelings of isolation through anger, Mikey chooses an opposite direction: humor. I've always found that the ones who are always smiling on the surface hide a very heavy heart.

[AristaNiara]

I personally liked the 4kids Mikey only because in this one, although he doesn't always seem...focused (I know I'm not using the right word at the moment but that's the word that's coming to me), he tends to be the one who can hit the nail on the head on things as well as have more insite on things than even Don or Leo which does impress me quite a bit however, being this way, he's VERY under utilized in the team, especially since no one tends to take his observations seriously...They do at times but it's rare but they always work.

[TurtleTitanMusician]

It's so hard to choose for Mikey!  He's always been the care-free, party loving Turtle of the bunch.

MOVIES:  On 1, he crashed some cymbals while on 3, he did the hula sportin super sized trunks.  Then he does Homer Simpson (D'oh!)

COMING OUT OF OUR SHELLS:  Really knew how to rock on the electric guitar as well as his singing.

NEXT MUTATION; Driving the jeep while doing his pirate radio show.

4KIDS; His love of comic books as well as his own super hero self, Turtle Titan!

MY FANFICS; Mikey's the same dude who never grows up.  He plays the drums because he was born to play rhythm.  Mikey rocks with sticks while playing jazz with brushes.  Mikey's a super drum roller whether it's the snare or tympani!  Mikey likes playing tympani because it makes him feel so powerful!

[Donatello]

I liked the movie and Mirage vesrions, just because there was so much more depth and characyer development to him there.  I latched onto him instantly after seeing the first movie.  Both him and Don.  

[Ninjara]

I ended up opting for Mirage/Image, but the 4Kids version was only edged out marginally.....and as far as Mirage/Image goes, I had some issues with the Image books because of the inking mainly....early issues were too confusing to the eye for my taste....but all that aside.....I'm focused on Mirage's Mike because I believe that the most accurate version of the Turtles comes from the original source. The guys who 'live' with them 24/7 for the most part.

    What can be gleaned from the first ten years of these comics will immerse you into the Turtles world 100% if you're in a quiet, uninterrupted space. You learn things that are not spoken.  One thing that seems to come across to me, and yes, is open to conjecture, is Mikey's dominant hand is his left one.  He is ambi-dexterous, like the rest of his brothers, but from what I've seen, if he writes, or reaches for something, he uses his left.

    I love Mike for his sense of humor, optimism and how he lightens up the group......even when his brothers, or his sensei, aren't in the mood for it.  He's creative, he's a gentle, loving soul, but he can be tough when the situation calls for it.  He has his dark moods too, but they are far and few between, and don't seem to last long.  I know there was some outcry over his behavior in Tales # 9, The Path.  I didn't find that too off the mark, considering the, if you will, the maternal instinct that dwells within Mike.  It was a deep, primitive reaction.  Step between an endangered, or injured offspring and it's parent, and this is the reaction you will most likely get, regardless of the species. Temperance sort of goes out the window momentarily.

     I have high hopes for Mike in this 2007 movie.  For the most part, I don't think we'll be disappointed. [/i]

[Brinatello]

Gads, this was honestly a tough one mainly because Mike's pretty much the same in all universes with slight differences in each one.  They always make him out as the jokester, or the lighthearted turtle of the bunch, and deciding on which I liked the most wasn't that easy.  Though, after much thought, I chose the Original Toon, surprisingly over Mirage which I adore Mikey in!  Thing is, the Original Toon Mike made me laugh a lot as a kid and I liked him very much.  He was a very good character, got great lines, and the surfer accent wasn't as bad as what I've heard before on the CA beaches!  Plus, when I met Townsend Coleman, I was beside myself and was so thrilled to hear him do the voice for Ivey on my cell phone.  I guess it's a combination of Mirage and Original Toon, but heh, being an animation fan over comics, the Original Toon won the toss-up!  

[MikeyFan]

I love the 4Kids version of Mikey! It's my absolute favorite. But in the end I love all my mikey's.  

[Dejablue]

i voted 4kids.  I would have voted for the Image CGI movie Mikey because of his cute blue eyes. But you hardly see him in the movie :/

[Sage Ninja]

I love all Michelangelo's he is my favorite turtle in all the muti-universe, but I choose old toon Michaelangelo because he is the first Michaelangelo that I came to love and inspired my fandom of his character. I'm going to post what I have written about him on this subject that I did on another message board on why I like OT Mike:

To be tottally honest I'm going to go with classic cartoon Michaelangelo. He is the first version of him that I knew and of him and the one that I became such a big fan of. I liked him because he was such a generous and good natured guy that was so sociable. He also had a big heart and I just thought he was cute and adorable. I also liked that even though he was generally cheery and up beat that he could show other emotions and wasn't two demincanal. I remeber times when he would be pensive or down or upset. I also liked that he could be serious at times too when the situation called for it. And to be honset I didn't find him annoying, I mean there where times when he could be a bit whinny but he I never found him annoying or obnoxious.

I also liked the concept of his character, here are four turtles that are out casts of society they tend to keep to them selves and seem to be fine with that for the most part. Michaelangelo was socialble and wanted to just go out and make friends and party. Which is weird for a freak of nature to do, all the the other turtles had personalities that more or less fit their status of misfits and ninjas. Leonardo was the serious dillegent leader , Donatello was the quite technical genous , and Raphael was this sarcastic wise guy that was cynical about every thing and Mike's the easy going party dude his personality didn't fit with being a social out cast. In that sence he was kind of the black sheep of the family or the odd ball. It was cool the way they did this, because normally the one that is anti social and introverted is the misfit of the group, but in the turtles unique situation that concept is reversed.

But then that are core elements that Michaelangelo in most mediums has possesed I gues that is why he is my favorite. I think he was like this his other incarnations as well. The only Michaelangelo's that I;ve seen are live action movie, classic cartoon, and new toon. I have no idea what he is like in other forms. Personallity wise and in nature is he basically the same?

[Raphs_Girl]

I think it would have to be a tie between the 4Kids version of Mikey and the Mirage version. I like the 4Kids version because he never fails to make me laugh. Anytime I'm a little down I can just watch any good Mikey episode and come out of my funk!   I like the Mirage version because they do a really good job with showing his sensitive side. (an example of this is Tales of the TMNT #9) I really like the way they show Mikeys thoughtful, creative side.

[Kazari]

I would have to say Mirage...I don't have to hear him LOL He's so annoying to me!

[Sage Ninja]

What I find interesting about new toon Michaelangelo and Classic toon Michaelangelo, is that they both seem to have self esteem problems, but their approach is toltally different from each other on how they handle it.

I mean take the whole fighting thing, classic toon Mike is a good fighter but when he is scrutinised to closely by his brothers he seems to freak and klutz up. As if that kind of close attention from them makes him feel awkwrad. But when he has to he is always an able fighter and does well.

New toon Michaelangelo on the other hand seems to adore rubbing his fighting talents in his brothers faces and shows off, as if he wants them to notice him and pay attention to him, and seems to thrive on it, but when faced with an uncertain sitution new toon Michaelanglo tends to become timid and his low self esteem shows...until he becomes comfertable again and he becomes cocky once more.

I was once inclined to think that new toon Mikey had more self esteem than classic toon Mikey becauise of his some what cocky attitude, but after watching his behavior in the "Notes from the Under Ground" and "The Grudge Match", despite his normal behavior he seems to be pretty unsure of him self, which is odd given his blatant taltents in fighting...so why the bouts of insecurity?

[Calypso]

I personally cannot decide.  Michaelangelo has always been my one true favourite out of the Turtles.  I haven't read the comics, but even if I do read them, guarantee Mikey will be the one I favour the most.

Mikey is the many things that a lot has been said on here.  But there are times where, I believe, Mikey has shown a nice amount of maturity.  Yes, he may be the wacky jokester with a cold guy attitude, but he does and has shown to be quite grown up.  Especially when he was told off for being late for the Christmas feast by Splinter - he turned right back round and said that Christmas is a time for giving or whatever it is, to not think of ourselves.

Also in the 3rd movie, Mikey looked a little cute when he was serious.  This was when he voiced that he didn't want to go back to living in the sewers.  Trust me, this was the Mikey I really wanted to hug.  Not that there was ever a moment when I didn't 

Right now, even after all this time, I am still trying to get used to the fact that the creators had dropped that 'A' in his name, going from Michaelangelo to Michelangelo.  I personally reckon they should have kept it the way it was.  Nothing wrong with a little bit of individualism when it comes to a name, in a small way it really did fit Mikey to a T.

[Sage Ninja]

I think allot of people disregard his character as being foolish because they just see what is on the surfice of his character and do not see what is beneath. He is in fact rather interesting character. In the old toon I he was always portrayed as being a compentent fighter but not as good as the others (mostly in the later seasons), he seemed to struggle the most during thier lessons (or at least showed the most reluctance). This interested me about him because he seemed very good in fighting but always seemed to struggle to keep up with the others. I sometimes wondered if he actually didn't want to really try hard so that he wouldn't cause conflict with the others. Any way the fact that things didn't come easily for him (or atleast they apeared to be) kind of endeared him to me because it made him human to me that he had to struggle just to keep up with the others and stay on the same playing field as them.

I always wondered if maybe he wasn't as good a fighter sometimes during practice because he deep down didn't want to be a ninja, personally as compentent as he could be in actual battle I don;t think he had the temperement for it.

I always got this empression from him that even though he was the most cheerful of the four, he was probably the most aggravated about not being able to go out in public and make friends and be normal. Here he is learning how to skate board and surf and engaging in all these very social activities and he really can't go out and do them in the open with other people. It was like he was forever getting ready to go party but there was never any one to party with . And he was always so excitable about these things but it was kind of sad that he really couldn't have done them in the way that he probably wanted to. I kind of felt sorry for him.

And because of Mike's blase attitude, I always got a vibe of excasperation off the other turtles and they where like :what the hell is wrong with you!? do you not realize that you are a huge walking, talking, friggen turtle! why don't you act like one. I think this made Michaelangelo an outsider even in a family of outsiders because his personalty was to extraverted. Which is a shame because the others didn't take him seriuosly as a result.

My biggest pet peeve is when people think that Michaelangelo is a moron or a simpleton, which I think is so far off from the truth. He is (I think) just as intellegent as Leonardo and Raphael. Michaelangelo in fact wasn't that dumb, there where plenty of times that he used he showed how smart and resourceful or insightful he was, particularly in battle. He was just never really given a chance to use them to often in the series. I think allot of people confuse his amiable dispostion as stupidity he was just guiless and unpretentious, if you watch him closley you will see that he is actually pretty quick on the up take in allot of things. People tend to attribute smarts and intelligence with being sly and cunning and even decietful; which Michaelangelo wasn't.

All in all classic toon Michaelangelo is the most likeable for me. And he just had a natural sweetness about him that I adored. Plus he was fun and very empathatic.

[Jephael]

I would have to say Mirage...I don't have to hear him LOL He's so annoying to me!

Man, that was kinda harsh!

[Jelly bean]

I ment to vote for movie Mikey (as in the CGI movie version) but I accidently voted for the 80's cartoon version of him instead  I really liked mikey in the movie and I thought his blue eyes looked great on him. he didn't seem as off the wall in the movie as he tends to be in the cartoon and I thought he was pretty funny too. I've heard some people say that Mikey in the CGI movie seemed unintelligent compared to other versions of him, does any one else here feel the same?

[Nightwatchersonlygirl]

I like the new toon Mikey he is so cool and Mikey got a cat called Klunk

[Aignatius]

Semi-coherent train of thought here... (been a longish sort of day)
 
The Mirage Mike is my fave by far, because he started out rather silly and immature, (being a 13-15 year old) But incompetent, never. He had his different moods, sometimes he was crabby and acted like Raph, other times he was serious, and thoughtful. And I loved the story on how he found his cat, Klunk.
 
In one short story by Richard Corben he was on his way home after partying and was so trashed he had trouble walking, and speaking complete sentences. He ended up in this other dimension where he got blamed for a crime against some female tribal leader, and nearly was executed, but then he escaped and got back to his world and tried to tell his brothers where he'd been but they didn't believe him, and pretty much told him to go home and sleep it off. Oy.
The Image Mike came off very well in that story arc, he was the only one who didn't get severely maimed, and ended up being a published author. There's other stories where he was the writer, so I admire those qualities in him.

[Jelly bean]

how many stories center around Mikey in the comics?