SpeekyGeeky's NECA Archie TMNT Deep Dive Character Spotlight Series: LEATHERHEAD

“We’re looking for a few good Archie Comics mutants!”

Archie Comics Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures Logo

SpeekyGeeky's Leatherhead and Jess Harley original art by MistaJonz and Cerberoart created for SpeekyGeeky's "Which Figures Do We Want" Deep Dive Series

SpeekyGeeky's NECA Archie TMNT Spotlight Series deep dive on Leatherhead (Jess Harley)

Howdy folks and welcome to SpeekyGeeky, as always, I am your host Mr.Geek-E!

Today we are going to be discussing and  giving a big ol’ spotlight to NECA Archie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures (TMNT Adventures) Toy Line!

Over the years, we’ve tried to bring you episode after episode of all different lengths and realms of Turtles. Sometimes those episodes were Mirage, sometimes Fred Wolf, sometimes 2012, but HISTORICALLY (and we you know we LOVE diving deep into all the history here) those would focus on around 6 or so rad characters within each offering.

Over the years however, we’ve had a myriad of folks take time out of their busy days to ask us if we might be able to keep all the deep divey fun, but, y’know…break it down a bit to because there is a BIG difference between finding 15 minutes at a time to learn about ONE exciting character vs over an hour to hear about 6 or more.  We understand incredibly well that an hour or more is sometimes a long commitment than doable in this breakneck speed world we occupy. 

So we figured HECK, we think there is a way to meet folks where they are at, HOWEVER they’d like to view our deep dives by creating BOTH a long form episode AND a series of shorter, broken down character specific episodes so THAT way we’re putting the (ahem) TURTLE power of choice in the VIEWERS hands on how THEY would like to interact with all our dorky character goodness. 

PLUS, this way, if you like a specific character and want others to know how freaking BODACIOUS they are, BOOM, you can share a quick character specific story with them versus throwing a full on shelf of  encyclopedia books their way…

That said, we'd love for fans to weigh in on who YOU would like to see covered in our TMNT deep dives too, so be sure to let us know in the chat and in the comments below, because WHO KNOWS, some of your choices may end up making an appearance or two in one of our upcoming episodes as well.

SO, welcome to our NEW…ISH Spotlight series, where every episode we choose a different character from the various worlds of Turtles (and eventually other shows as well) to deconstruct their origins for your viewing entertainment. A reminder here too that EACH of these episodes can also be found in their fuller form within other episodes within our channel (which we’ll always be sure to conveniently drop links for within the video AND the description), so if THAT is your preferred way of hearing more, by GOLLY we got you covered THERE too.

Now sit back, relax, and enjoy hearing more about a specific character within the world of Turtles than you could ever want to know….

TODAY's episode 1 character spotlight focus is ALL about Archie TMNT's Leatherhead (AKA Jess Harley)

(TMNT Leatherhead Character Spotlight Deep Dive)

JESS HARLEY (PRE-MUTATION LEATHERHEAD) & CLASSIC LEATHERHEAD Deep Dive Character Spotlight TMNT

SpeekyGeeky's Archie TMNT Original Art of JESS HARLEY (pre-transformation Leatherhead). Illustrated by Cerbero Art.

UT! As things tend to go from time to time, originally we had imagined this option as a two-pack with Jess Harley AND his wrestling Leatherhead counterpart (set with removable clothes from Harley that could then be added to his wrestling version to recreate classic Leatherhead from the wrestling version base), but as we noted earlier in the deep dive, since that wrestling version appears now to be coming to us in toy form, we'll just plop that equally important classic comic version (which hasn't TECHNICALLY been revealed as of this recording) into THIS option. And boom folks, that's called a midstream changeover...and nobody in the audience has any idea.

Could what we just noted have been an internal dialogue versus saying this all out loud as a stream of consciousness for all to hear?

Sure, it COULD have been, but this is the kind of full transparency extra layers we like to provide here on the SpeekyGeeky channel. We're not JUST a deep dive, giving you all the nostalgic factoids you could shake a handful of pizza points at, NOOPE, you also get a front-row seat to the inner workings of our neuro-spicy mind Sherlock-Holmes-ing in real-time to see how the gumbo that we call the "which figures do we want" series all comes together. So buckle up and keep your arms inside the vehicle folks, because this deep dive just went off the rails real quick, we GUAR-EN-TEE!

So, longtime fans of the Turtles franchise likely know at least a little bit about Leatherhead (or can at least recognize him on sight that he is from this world). Boiled down, he's the big ol' gator the Turtles are often seen scrapping with or making nicey nicey with or BOTH depending on the specific iteration (heck, sometimes he even has an utrom living in his belly depending on where our first encounter was with the character), but just WHO IS this Jess Harley fella', huh?

He kinda looks like a human version of Leatherhead but that can't be right because Leatherhead is usually an alligator who mutates into a version of the reptile we know and love, that's what his Playmates card back says, that's what happened in Mirage, that's what happened in the Fred Wolf series, and that is what we'd CONTINUE believing ...IF we had never read the Archie comic series.

Yup, if you so astutely guessed that Jess Harley is indeed none other than Leatherhead within this iteration (as well as the TMNT comic strip that ran around the same time) you'd be entirely accurate. So firstly, let's take a moment to give you a well-deserved high three you awesome guesser you, and secondly, let's talk about this for a moment and break down how this version of Leatherhead is drastically different than all the versions that came before it and continues to stand out from all versions that came after as well.

But, before we do THAT, let's get this pesky little tidbit out of the way from the get-go, which is, that technically, Leatherhead in the Archie comic isn't ACTUALLY a mutant. WAIT?... HOLD ON...WHAT?...HOW? I mean, he sure LOOKS like a MUTANT, what are you trying to pull here Geek-E?

In the very technical aesthetic sense, yes, sure, he's mutant enough to be called a mutant if Dirk Savage existed within this universe he would still be trying to hunt him down as well, but rather than being transformed by Ooze within the Archie world, THIS version of Leatherhead is created when an old woman named Mary Bones (whom the human Jess Harley was attempting to steal from, uses the item he was trying to nab called the turnstone to transmute him into the mutant alligator...and yes, for folks who have been reading up on their IDW TMNT and feel like the name TURNSTONE sounds familiar, it is indeed the same turnstone connected to the character Cherubae that makes an appearance there, and almost 40-year-old spoiler alert here, that Mary Bones character we just mentioned is, in fact, the alien Cherubae in her HUMAN disguise (DUN DUN DUN DUNNNNN!)

The general gist of the Turnstone is that it's an incredibly powerful artifact from the far reaches of space that allows its users the uncanny ability to transform others into anything they want. We make sure to note this tidbit because later on, Leatherhead goes on to be a staunch ally to the Turtles, even going on some one-on-one adventures with his good pal Donatello in the Archie equivalent of Marvel's savage land, and then even assisting them further as a full-fledged member of the Mutanimals... BUT at no point, even after seeing the changeover to full-on hero territory, did Cherubae think to herself, "Gee, I wonder if maybe I should ask this demonstrated hero if he prefers this form or if he has a form of his own choosing I could easily transmute him into with my handy change-o-matic orb." That's neither here nor there, it's just adult us thinking that was kind of a jerk move to not at least circle back in with him to be like "ok lesson learned about being a better you, but like...you cool with this?"

In fairness, within the issue "The Final Conflict" Cherubae DOES give Leatherhead a little Deus Ex Machina closure by implying that she had prophesized that he MUST be in his Aligator form to help turn the tide of the upcoming conflict with the Turnstone, that it was always his destiny... but even after this she doesn't offer to turn him back, and if she prophesized THAT, one might ascertain she would have divined that she knew of his upcoming demise while still in THIS form that she once again is choosing to just simply look the other way on...so if we were leatherhead hearing THIS explanation, we imagine a whole wealth of uniquely cajun expletives that might be running through our head to toss her way right about now.

It is also worth pointing out that Leatherhead himself wasn't buying Cherubae's all-too-convenient "it was always your destiny" explanation and outright calls that out to her face, but even THEN she never makes the offer to revert him back to his original form. Again, while Cherubae is positioned as a hero, she sure doesn't always THINK like a hero.

At this point, you may be thinking to yourself, hey Geek-e, this Cherubae character seems important to this series also, what's her whole deal? And to that, we'll just say, well hold your horses overly anxious imaginary viewer, we'll be getting to THAT CHARACTER a little more fully later in the deep dive.

Circling back to Leatherhead's Archie origins for a moment, we know we said he isn't TECHNICALLY a mutant in the traditional sense, BUUUUT because in this series we don't technically know where the mutagen Ooze originated from, who are WE to say that he is any less mutant than any other ooze derived character? It very well could just be a centralized harnessing of the substance within a more targeted and centralized orb form. Since the mechanics of the Turnstone are never fully cleared up, it's as good an explanation as any.

What do we see this proposed 2-pack coming with? Well, part of this depends on what might ALREADY be coming with Wrestling Leatherhead, which at the moment of our writing, is still very much a mystery.

But assuming THAT character comes with items associated with his wrestling arc, we like to think this version would come with a Turnstone, a posable bendy tail, and a couple of extra pop-out expressions for Leatherhead himself so he can toggle between his peaceful and unassuming mode to a grizzled "taking the fight to Maligna's horde of Malignoid's" mode with a full set of chompers on full display.

TMNT Comic Strip Leatherhead transformed into a Turtle and a Vaughn Bode like bird creation

Though this WASN'T present in the Archie comic and was more specific to the comic strip arc, we'd also love to see some of the other alternate heads of forms Jess Harley transmuted into before Cherubae switched him back to his alligator form in the comic strip including a Turtle, a Vaughn Bode like bird creation, and a miniature Leatherhead the size of a rat.

SPEEKYGEEKY'S TMNT POLLS

Since we're already talking about wholly new characters in plastic, we figured we would take a moment to ask you the viewer who YOU would like to see in one of our upcoming videos. We have been running polls on our YouTube community page, as well as our SpeekyGeeky Instagram, Facebook, and Reddit pages as to which Archie TMNT characters we might want to see as Toys.

Here are some options from our latest polls, which you can weigh on in the comments here or head on over to any of our socials for the full list of option names to weigh in over there as well, and stay tuned because these winning options and more may very well appear in an upcoming TMNT deep dive or two...or ten.

SpeekyGeeky Archie TMNT Poll #1

SpeekyGeeky Archie TMNT Poll #2

SpeekyGeeky Archie TMNT Poll #3

SpeekyGeeky Archie TMNT Poll #4

SpeekyGeeky Archie TMNT Poll #5

There are also some incredibly talented TMNT customizers who are already creating some of those characters who appear on our polls, and it is a beautiful thing to see, here (in our video) are just a few of those absolutely creative folks that you are definitely going to want to keep up with so make sure to follow them on THEIR socials as well.

Finally, we wanted to give you a very brief tease of our brand new TMNT project we've got brewing on the channel that will be featuring some epic and familiar-sounding voice actors, incredible artistic talents, and perhaps an easter egg or two scattered into the mix for good measure. So, seen for the very first time, here is some fresh concept art for our upcoming TMNT X The TICK animation and webcomics series, art shown here from the astoundingly talented Cerbero Arte.

If you are digging the original art shown from Cerbero and (TMNT Saturday Morning Adventures Cover Artist) Mista Jonz style shown throughout the character options of this very episode, be sure to show their socials listed in the description some love and check out more of their upcoming art and projects on our Instagram channel as well.

WHERE ELSE CAN YOU FIND MR. GEEK-E IN THE COMING MONTHS?

Even though we are hard at work putting together a handful of geeky new deep dives and interviews together for you this very minute (never YOU mind how we know what time of day you are watching this buster, just trust us, if it's an hour of a day that ends in DAY, we're probably working hard on it), SpeekyGeeky's very own Mr. Geek-E (HEY, that's ME!) is still managing to make the rounds all over the YouTube's to spread his dorkiness far and wide (and yup, that sure DID sound way grosser than we intended didn't it?)

First up, over on our all-ages friendly sister channel GeekyJr, for those of you who appreciate the sound of a voice that can only be described as "if nails on a chalkboard" met Gollum from "Lord of the Rings", you're in luck because Mr. Geek-E tries his best all sorts of nostalgic classic stories with narration and voices for all your little geeklings and adults who are young at heart. We're talking characters from Sesame Street like Ernie, Bert, Grover, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Wonderpets, Daniel Tiger, Thomas the Train, Yo Gabba Gabba, Rubba Dubbers, and soooo much more.

SpeekyGeeky's Mr. Geek-E with Sesame Street characters Ernie, Herry Monster, Cookie Monster, and Grover from the classic storybook "The Red Hen"

You can also find SpeekyGeeky lending his voice to some upcoming Mirage TMNT comic read-alongs on TeddyGaming Review's bodacious channel here, as the voice of Professor Kaori on the fan-made audio adaptation of the hit fantasy series "The Fourth Wing" over on the astoundingly talented Maddie Mooregans channel here, and finally, we'll be geeking out and dishing on all the current TMNT news on Turtle Talk as well as helping some rad figures from their plastic confinement on Grippin and Rippin over on Dave Wonder's channel here.

ALSO, for more exclusive TMNT related product, be sure to check out figures inspired from TMNT Adventures characters that that ALMOST made it to us in the original series, but were unfortunately left on the cutting room floor...UNTIL NOW! Originated by former artists and writers on the TMNT Adventures comic series like Dan Berger and Jim Lawson.

And would you look at that?? if you use our special SpeekyGeeky code, you'll get an exclusive discount to make it even easier on adding some of these long lost treasures to your larger TMNT collection. You can find those riiight here: treasuremonstertoys.com/SPEEKYGEEKYOFFICIAL

SpeekyGeeky's Mr. Geek-E showing off the Treasure Monster Toy Group Figure TMNT Shadow Line Figure Grizz on Dave Wonder's Grippin' and Rippin'.

Alright, Shellheads, that's it for this episode, but don't stray too far from the Turtle Lair, because our SpeekyGeeky Archie TMNT spotlight series deep dive episode 2 is right around the corner.

We have no doubt you have some characters that make the tippy top of your list as well that you are stoked about seeing, so be sure to make your hopes known and join the discussion in the comments below.

We realize you could have gone anywhere and you chose to nerd out with us... and we appreciate that, so…

As always, I am Mr. Geek-E and Until Next We Archie NECA Turtle Speeky, Keep it Geeky Folks!

SpeekyGeeky's NECA TMNT Archie "Which Figures Do We Want" deep dive episode 1 (full episode)

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