A stunning piece of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan art has given the vile villain Krang a massive upgrade reminiscent of a monster from the video game franchise Doom. Throughout the month of October, the official TMNT Twitter posed a challenge to artists around the globe to come up with unique fan art just in time for the spooky season. The #TMNTober challenge inspired artists to flex their creative muscles in relation to Turtles characters, especially one piece that turned the normally humorous Krang into a truly menacing monster.
Krang was first introduced to fans in the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series and has been a main villain of the Turtles ever since. Krang is an alien conqueror who frequently works with the main villain of the TMNT franchise Shredder in an effort to take over the world. While his body looks like an exposed human brain with a wide face and two tentacles, Krang is usually seen sporting a robot body which offers him brutish fighting ability and intimidating size, though none of his canonical appearances are as intimidating as his updated fan-art look.
Posted on their Twitter page and shared by the official TMNT Twitter page, Erik Whalen drew the hulking interpretation of Krang, merging the villain with a more disturbing version of his robot bodysuit reminiscent of a monster from Doom. In a follow-up post adding color to the initially black and white drawing of Krang submitted to #TMNTober, Erik Whalen writes, “Wanted to doodle out more of my Krang idea where he is like a gross sweaty Doom monster”. The revolting nature of Krang is certainly captured in the image that simultaneously gives the villain a monstrous upgrade.
While the Krang/Doom mashup artwork is certainly a standout piece, many others were sent into the challenge including one that took inspiration not from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic or animated series, but from the initial toy line from Playmates Toys. A submission by artist Chris Sanford, again shared by the official TMNT account, depicted Raphael as Frankenstein’s monster just as Playmates Toys had designed roughly thirty years earlier.
Overall, #TMNTober was a fun way to involve fans in the lasting legacy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by encouraging artists to be as creative as they wanted with the beloved characters. From original monster toy design inspiration to the video game inspired mashup, fans put their awesome twists on the Turtles and their co-stars. A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan giving Krang a Doom-level upgrade with many other fans putting their spin on other characters is just the top of the iceberg for a celebration any TMNT fan should check out.
Source: Erik Whalen, TMNT