TUFFY TURTLE is described as a "scrappy throwback to an era where funny animals smoked and committed crimes!" It's written by Paul Kupperberg, features pencils by Pat & Tim Kennedy and inks by Barbara Kallberg. But who exactly is Tuffy Turtle?
"Mean Streak" introduces the Pix-C audience to Tuffy Turtle and his beaver buddy, Barney. They are a pair of tough guys who have visions of overthrowing Pondville's mayor, AKA Mayor Freddie Frog. The initial week's comic strip suggests that they plan to implicate Mayor Frog in a political scandal of their creation.
I originally assumed that Kupperberg and the Kennedys had created an homage to funny animal tales from earlier days. But then I decided to do some searching and discovered that Tuffy Turtle, like many great Pix-C and Charlton Neo comic book characters, has a history -- even if it was a very small history!
I went back to ATOMIC RABBIT #3 and discovered that Tuffy Turtle and his corrupt mob of awful animals has been plotting against Mayor Frog since 1956! It all started when Mayor Frog stood up against Tuffy's terrible antics and told our anti-hero that his criminal ways were no longer tolerated!
Of course, someone like Tuffy Turtle would never back down to authority, so he recruited Barney and Flick to eliminate Mayor Frog -- starting with an unwilling accomplice, Basil the Blowfish!
Soon enough, Basil found himself blowing up like a huge balloon. Tuffy takes advantage of Basil's bloated belly and hitches Basil's body to Mayor Frog -- with elevating results!
Once Basil and Mayor Frog were high and helpless, Flick flew over the whisked the pair to parts unknown -- but far, far away!
Flick pulled the string that kept Basil aloft and down he fell like a fish and a frog in the air!
Tuffy Turtle then appointed Flick as Pondville's new mayor, which immediately became problematic as Flick began rejecting Tuffy's influence. (Makes you wonder if Freddie Frog started out as a mobster in his earlier days!)
Before Tuffy Turtle and his gang had the chance to fight things out, we readers learned that Flick isn't very good at flying far, far away. It seems that he just flew around in circles and dumped Mayor Frog and Basil the Blowfish back in their own pond! The pair quickly overwhelm our resident tough guys and Freddy is officially the Mayor of Pondville yet again!
What do you think? How different will Tuffy Turtle be in 2015 compared to 1956? Will he stick with balloon games or have his plots become more advanced with age? Guess I'll need to keep watching TUFFY TURTLE's adventures unfold every week on Pix-C Web Comics!
You too can read Tuffy Turtle's first modern adventures -- not to mention Yang, No Name, N.E.O., Skyman, The Knightingales, Deathwatch, The Spookman, Sadistik, Ms. Molecule, and several other great characters, by becoming a patron of Pix-C Web Comics. Those who become patrons (for as little as $1 per month) gain access to several weekly online comic strips. The more you pledge, the more perks you qualify for. I've been contributing $30 per month towards this venture. I encourage to you to become a patron too!