Artist Sebastián Píriz playfully highlights the signature costume shared by members of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Fantastic Four.
The Fantastic Four and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles may inhabit different universes, but that isn’t stopping artist Sebastián Píriz from bringing them together for a fun incognito adventure.
In an original sketch posted on Twitter, Píriz, the artist behind Heavy Metal, showed off Raphael of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in a team-up with The Thing from Marvel’s Fantastic Four. The scene playfully highlights the common thread that connects the two teams — a love of trench coats. The Thing has famously worn a trench coat for decades whenever he needs to escape the eyes of the public. Similarly, the Turtles’ secretive lifestyles mean that they need to stay hidden, necessitating the use of disguises. While the Turtles’ unique anatomy limits what they can wear, bulky jackets have a nice “one size fits all” quality that makes them ideal for sneaking around and taking on deadly threats.
This year commemorates six decades of the Fantastic Four, and Marvel’s first family has been given plenty of opportunities to shine. In addition to an oversized anniversary issue that features Fantastic Four writer Dan Slott reuniting with frequent collaborator and legendary artist John Romita Jr., the publisher recently released Fantastic Four: Life Story. That adventure takes place in a world where the Fantastic Four aged in real time after their debut in 1961, altering the course of their history in new and exciting ways. Marvel also announced Fantastic Four: Reckoning War, an event over 15 years in the making that will be written by Dan Slott with art by Fantastic Four veterans Carlos Pacheco and Rachael Stott.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been keeping themselves busy as well, waging war with the Mutanimals in their ongoing comic series and trying to survive in The Last Ronin. While that latter story didn’t end well for Raphael, it proved to be popular with fans. The first issue sold over 130,000 copies, creating a demand for reprints and added variant editions. Additionally, it was announced that Leonardo will be featured as a playable character in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, an upcoming fighting game set to come to consoles later this year that pits iconic cartoon characters against one another, similar to Super Smash Bros.
While it’s doubtful that fans will see the Thing and Raphael officially team up anytime soon, there’s still a lot to look forward to. Marvel has already announced plans for an upcoming Fantastic Four film as part of the MCU’s Phase 4, and Paramount is moving forward with the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot, plus a new animated series from Seth Rogen. Hopefully, the costume departments for these projects remember to bring some trench coats onto the set as the definitive disguise for these famed crime fighters.
Source: Twitter
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