#complete carnage

[bobauthorman]

So, apparently April changed the license plate on her van just for the boys' brand.

[bobauthorman]

Radical & Complete Carnage

[thecomicsnexus]

Who is Radical (and Complete Carnage)? - TMNT comics

She started as a superhero, even though that wasn't what she was. In this video, I explore the story of Radical, and her nemesis, Complete Carnage, from the Mirage TMNT comics.

[mimeparadox]

DarthEmpress has been asking me to post TMNT stuff in Tumblr, and I'm happy to make her happy, so here goes.

One of the odder details about the 4Kids TMNT is the fact that it never got around to making its own version of “Complete Carnage and Radical”. Originally shown in Tales of the TMNT (Vol. 1) # 5, it is the only story in that series not adapted the screen, despite the fact that it properly introduces two rather prominent recurring characters (relatively speaking—this is Mirage TMNT we're talking about here) and features no particularly problematic content other than being fairly boring. Even so, the concepts the story deals with—a superheroine and her archnemesis—could have been worked around without much difficulty, had the writers wanted to.

(Complete Carnage and Radical, by Kevin Eastman.)

Still, I could always see why showrunners would be hesitant to adapt the character to the screen. While the idea of a female superhero presents no particular challenges, Radical's history eventually took a turn that turned her into the TMNT equivalent of Donna Troy or Power Girl—a character that has been subjected to so many retcons that it eventually become a challenge to figure out who and what they are.

“Complete Carnage and Radical” presented Radical as little more than a typical white super-hero. She has superpowers which she got from a bolt of lightning that also empowered Complete Carnage, and which turned her into a flying brick. She has no real background or context beyond that, to the point where the official TMNT RPG had to make one up for her, including a name, Hazel McIntyre.

The second major Radical story, however, changes all that. In the TMNT (Vol. 1) #27 Michael Dooney story “Dreams of Stone”, both Radical and Complete Carnage are given entirely new backgrounds, tying them to Native American mythology. Glossing over what little Tales #5 had established about her, the story casts her not as a super-hero—she denies ever being one, despite evidence to the contrary—but as an, I quote, “force of nature”. This new version of Radical--birth name: Raven Shadowheart, as revealed in a subsequent story--is suddenly all about her culture and heritage, despite apparently having no knowledge of it until after her encounter with the turtles.  This wouldn't be a problem if the shift weren't massive, largely off-panel, and to a degree contradictory.   

(Art by Michael Dooney.)

While a far more interesting approach to the character--indeed, it's the one that stuck--it also has the drawback of being somewhat problematic. While the story appears to be drawing from Lakota mythology (among possibly others), if the references to Wakinyan [sic], the Thunderbird, is any indication, no specific Native American nation is mentioned in the story, which frequently refers to Radical's people as simply “Indians”. Even Radical herself makes no attempt at speaking more specifically, rendering the elements generically Native American rather than as part of a specific culture with a specific context. What's more, Radical ends up being yet another mystical Native American to add to the pile—better than some, to be sure, but still stereotypical. 

And so, a dilemma arises: how can one reconcile these two versions of the character in a proper story and manages to turn her into a proper character without promoting problematic narratives? While not impossible, I believe that the limits of the 4Kids show and the creators idiosyncrasies, strengths, and weaknesses would have make succeeding at it incredibly challenging, to the point where I have no particular problem with them thinking about it and deciding not to attempt it (if indeed that's what they did; if her inclusion wasn't even considered...that I would have a problem with).

More importantly, the fact that there's no 4Kids Universe version means I get to create my own. (^_^)

Warning: Headcanon ahead.

Hazel is an amnesiac teenage girl living in New York. Part of the city's homeless population, she has survived due to a combination of wits and superpowers—specifically, the ability to turn into the Platonic version of any animal.

(This, means, essentially, that she may not be able to turn into a particular stag beetle, but rather, the staggiest possible version of a stag beetle. It also means that she can't turn into other people or change her appearance, as she herself is the Platonic human.)

After losing consciousness attempting to rescue people from a fire, Hazel enters the system, where she catches the attention of the Justice Force, who offer to take her in and train her. She accepts, in part because free room and board, and also because living with the Justice Force will allow her to get close to a particular intern, Angel, who has caught her fancy.

(Yes, that Angel.)

Eventually, Hazel—who adopts the supranym “Radical”—becomes a full-time member of the Justice Force and a public figure. One morning, two people truthfully claiming to be her parents show up and reveal her lost history, including her birth name and her heritage as part of the Lakota nation. 

Radical is tall, brown-skinned, long-haired, diamond-shaped, and fat (note: it's quite possible that I've attached the wrong body shape descriptor to the image in my head, which is essentially that of a person with a larger version of Francine Peters' body). She identifies as a lesbian, and is out to her friends, but not publicly. She is deeply aware of the way her circumstances have resulted in a relative lack of privilege, but is not entirely capable of translating that knowledge into any coherent stance. Her time on the streets have left her extremely skeptical of authority figures, and it is only because of Angel—who thanks to her own background has a similar issues with oppressive figures—that she agreed to join the Justice Force. While uncomfortable in the spotlight, she can be quite open and jokey and daring when among friends, or when the situation demands it.

Occasionally, in her dreams she dreams of a bird, whose wingbeats are like thunder...

All that's basically left is the costume.  I like the idea of keeping the bodysuit and combining it with some sort of jacket and maybe boots, but the ideas are far from final--if anyone want to help me out, I'd be ever so grateful.  But yeah, those are my ideas.  I won't pretend that they're  problem-free--constructive criticism is always welcome--but on the whole, I think the concept does a good enough job of both acknowledging both versions and making her a distinct character within the 4Kids-verse.