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turtlethon · 2 years

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“Michelangelo Meets Bugman Again”

Season 5, Episode 8 First US Airdate: September 28, 1991

The Turtles and Bugman tackle an unlikely villain and his swarm of unstoppable super-termites.

We’re comfortably in the middle of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles season five, and today arrive at “Michelangelo Meets Bugman Again”. David Wise is the writer of today’s outing, a sequel to the Dennis Marks-penned “Michelangelo Meets Bugman” from the previous year.

Raph accompanies Mikey as he visits a news-stand with a view to picking up the latest issue of the Bugman comic book. Our favourite party dude goes on to quiz the news vendor about the title’s absence, and is told that it’s no longer being published. The two Turtles return to the sewers, unaware that they’re being tracked by a bespectacled nerd, who’s been collecting details about them on a notepad.

Underground, Raphael points out to a dejected Michaelangelo that the end of the Bugman comic shouldn’t get to him as he knows the actual superhero. A flashback follows in which he recounts the events that led to Brick Bradley accidentally becoming Bugman; notably this retelling uses new (and slightly poorer) animation than the first time around.

When writing about Bugman’s debut episode, I mentioned that it felt odd that both the costumed hero and his arch nemesis, Electrozapper, were real people whose exploits also appeared in comic books. Here we start to explore what was going on with all of that business, as Mikey mentions to Raph that the reason the whole world knows Brick is actually Bugman is that “some dude spied on him and put all that stuff in the comic book”.

Back in the Lair, the Turtles speculate on whatever happened to Brick, who they haven’t heard from since the events of the previous Bugman episode. Things are interrupted by the sound of an alarm indicating an intruder on the prowl nearby. The group end up confronting the nerd who was tracking Mikey and Raph earlier, finding that he’s drawn a map to determine the location of the Lair. Our heroes are livid as they warn their unwanted guest about the dangers of wandering around in the sewers, only to all end up falling when a platform crumbles beneath their feet. The Turtles land on a pipe that also gives way, dropping for a second time into the dirty water below. As the pipe lands on the team, the intruder runs away.

Splinter arrives to check in on his pupils. He suggests that while someone finding out about the Lair is a cause for concern, he’s more worried about Brick’s disappearance – a little odd, considering that he never had any interaction with the superhero in the previous Bugman adventure. Mikey heads off to try and find his old friend while the other Turtles pursue the intruder.

In a rushed sequence, the still-unnamed nerd witnesses a bank robbery and winds up being taken hostage by the escaping crooks. Michaelangelo happens to be nearby too and steps in to handle the robbers before realising the hostage is the same individual who was spying on the Turtles earlier. The mystery man reveals his name is Jerry Spiegel before Mikey finds himself distracted by the crooks trying to escape once more. As the Turtle hurls a well-placed dagger to foil their getaway, Spiegel uses the opportunity to make a quick exit.

Looking for more information about Jerry Spiegel, Michaelangelo heads to Channel 6 only to find April is away on assignment, covering a robbery at a genetic engineering lab. Irma steps in to help him out, bringing up Spiegel’s details on the station’s computer files. It’s revealed that he’s the writer and artist behind the Bugman comic book, which kinda begs the question as to how Bugman superfan Michaelangelo wouldn’t have immediately picked up on that. Irma adds that the editor of the comic publisher is Juliet Schmooze, and so Mikey decides to call her. Schmooze reveals that Bugman’s cancellation came about after the world discovered that the superhero was a real person, with Brick suing them and bringing its publication to an abrupt halt.

Putting two and two together, Michaelangelo realises that Jerry Spiegel has now turned his attention to the Turtles, and is planning to reveal the details of their lives (and the location of the Lair) to the wider world in comic book form, effectively making it impossible for them to fight crime and leaving them vulnerable to an attack from Shredder.

At the genetic research lab, April interviews Professor Higgenbottom about the recent robbery that took place. He reveals that the theft was of a swarm of super termites that can chew through anything. In a rare occurrence, April completely lays into the professor, pointing out to him on live TV what an absurd decision it was to create such destructive creatures in the first place.

At “WAREHOUSE” - an abandoned warehouse that literally has a big sign out front declaring its intended use – we see a little guy in a home-made costume modelled after Shredder’s. He uses a hypnotising ray on the captured termites, which then fly off to wreak havoc upon his command. This, we learn, is “The Swatter”.

Michaelangelo arrives at Brick Bradley’s home and learns that he was evicted by the landlady, as “the place was swamped with comic book fans”. Having written Brick off as a troublemaker, she nevertheless provides Mikey with a forwarding address where his old friend can be reached.

April reports from the grand opening of the Conspicuous Consumption Mall, where the swarm of termites begins decimating parts of the building. Turtlethon favourite Stan, who is working the camera, flees the scene without saying a word. The Turtles see all of this unfold on TV, and rush into action.

The Swatter arrives at the Entire State Building – not the result of a miscommunication with the overseas animators, that’s really what it’s called – and despite his laughable appearance, somehow manages to scare away everyone on the ground floor. He heads to the roof, where he plans to use his transmitting gear to trap the Turtles.

April finds herself standing on a ledge outside the mall when the termites begin to chow down, causing debris to rain down upon the reporter before ground beneath her feet crumbles as well. She winds up clinging to the remainder of the balcony, itself being eaten by the bugs, as the Turtles arrive. Leonardo emerges from the Turtle Van’s launcher – making this the second episode in a row where we’ve seen it utilised – and catches the reporter in mid-air, wedging his katana blade into the side of the building and allowing both to land safely.

Michaelangelo arrives on the scene, explaining to the other Turtles and April how Jerry Spiegel exposed Bugman and now intends to do the same to them. After the swarm retreats, The Swatter makes a loudspeaker announcement from the roof of the nearby Entire State Building that draws the attention of our heroes. Leo, Raph and Donnie head off to confront him, with Mikey splitting off once more to search for Bugman, and April intent on trailing the swarm of termites.

We’re well past the halfway point of the episode as Michaelangelo arrives at the gates of Happyvale Meditation Center and actually does meet Bugman – or at least Brick, who wears a sleeveless robe and sits outside seeking enlightenment. He tells Mikey that after his role as Bugman was exposed to the public he was hounded non-stop by “fans, reporters, would-be supervillains”. To deal with the unwanted attention, he began a new life at the Meditation Center where he has now achieved inner peace.

Mikey is insistent that the city needs Bugman to stop the termite problem, but Brick has no interest in doing anything that would interfere with his chilled-out vibe. Infuriated, Michaelangelo drags the former superhero into the Turtle Van, vowing to do whatever it takes to agitate him.

From the uncharacteristically wonky-looking Channel 6 building, Burne, Irma and Vernon watch as the skyline is cut down by the termites. The sight of all of this is too much for Vernon, who like Splinter, has a substitute voice today as Peter Renaday is still absent.

The Turtles arrive atop the Entire State Building and can’t contain their laughter when they finally get a good look at The Swatter. He unleashes a pair of wrist-mounted giant swatters before catching Leo, Donnie and Raph on a giant roll of “super fly paper”. Whipping out a notepad, he begins to quiz the Turtles about trivial aspects of their lives.

In the Turtle Van, Michaelangelo continues unsuccessfully to try and provoke Brick, the buildings around them falling as they speak. They arrive outside Channel 6, where Mikey tries a different approach, bringing up Brick’s fleeting romance with April from his prior appearance. The ex-superhero replies that she was “a truly evolved young woman... I thought she and I might be soulmates”. Mikey uses this to goad him, pointing out that April works in the nearby building and is now in danger thanks to the looming termites. This scheme falls apart when April rolls up in her news van, nowhere near the office after all.

For some reason April has absolutely zero chill today; much as she did with the professor at the lab earlier, she mocks Brick, calling his robes a “stupid getup” that makes him “look like a pile of unwashed sheets”. Brick is greatly offended and continues to get madder as April throws his claims of having achieved inner peace back in his face, culminating in his transformation into Bugman. The superhero uses his powers to command the swarm to return to their place of origin, and “never harm anyone again”. With that somewhat anti-climatic resolution out of the way, Bugman and Mikey head off to aid the other Turtles.

The Swatter is continuing to prod the Turtles about all kinds of minutia when Michaelangelo arrives with Bugman, who gets a taste of the villain’s “bug zapper rays”. A smoke bomb briefly incapacitates the insect hero but by this point Mikey has managed to free the other Turtles, and the quartet restrain the makeshift villain. Bugman removes Swatter’s mask to reveal Jerry Spiegel, and somehow the Turtles are genuinely shocked that this annoying little guy with a notepad who wanted to know everything about them is the same annoying little guy with a notepad that wanted to know everything about them from earlier.

As Michaelangelo had predicted, Spiegel confirms that he was trying to learn everything about the Turtles for the creation of his new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book. When pressed as to why he couldn’t just come up with an original concept, he laughs at the prospect, declaring that he’s never had an original idea in his entire life. Leonardo suggests that he’ll have plenty of time to get creative in jail.

We wrap up the loose ends in the Lair, where Brick is seen thanking the Turtles. He vows to adopt a new secret identity that will allow him to live without being under constant scrutiny. As he leaves, Brick assures the team that if they ever need help fighting crime, they can continue to count on Bugman. Don’t read too much into that though, this is the last we’ll see of him.

Leonardo and Raphael laugh at the ludicrous idea that anyone, anywhere, would ever publish a comic book about the Turtles. Michaelangelo pretends to be in agreement, before quietly sneaking off to his bedroom. From underneath his mattress, he pulls out a copy of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book and addresses the viewers at home. “C’mon dudes, admit it – you read it too!”

I have to hand it to David Wise for what he’s trying to do here: it’s clear that he watched the first Bugman episode and reached pretty much the same conclusion I did, that there was a lot left unexplored regarding how this superhero could exist as a fictional character while also being a real guy, and what the repercussions of that would be. As a result, what we get here is an examination of the overlap between being a super-powered crime fighter and a celebrity, as well as some good-natured ribbing of the comics world that the Turtles (in our real world) started off as a parody of before becoming an industry staple in their own right. It’s a vastly different approach to the first Bugman story, which was more of a straightforward superhero pastiche, but one that I personally prefer.

The Swatter is obviously a pathetic villain, but unlike for example Mr. X, or some of the other lacklustre villains we’ve seen over the last year of Turtles, he sucks not by accident but by design. His real name of Jerry Spiegel is a nod to Superman’s co-creator, Jerry Siegel. Juliet Schmooze, the editor of the Bugman comics, is presumably a tribute to contemporaneous Editor in Chief of DC Comics Julius "Julie" Schwartz.

I don’t bring up the quality of the animation as much on Turtlethon as I used to as the various studios handling the show generally have a handle on how the characters are supposed to look at this point, and it’s rare to see glaring visual issues here in the fifth season. Having said that, “Michelangelo Meets Bugman Again” is definitely flakier than I’ve come to expect, never veering into looking outright bad but certainly seeming rushed. Our next entry, “Muckman Messes Up”, will make this one look downright normal by comparison.

#Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #TMNT #TMNT 1987 #Ninja Turtles #1991 #Bugman #Michelangelo Meets Bugman Again #Turtlethon #TMNT Mikey #TMNT Michelangelo #TMNT Michaelangelo #Mikey TMNT

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