Character Spotlight: Dr. Howard Hodges

Dr. Howard Hodges first appeared in the Batman Beyond episode "Heroes" (1999). He was a friend of the scientists that became the Terrific Trio and (purposefully) caused the accident that led to them getting powers. The intent was to kill Mike Morgan so Dr. Hodges could get with Mike's girlfriend, Mary, but Mary and another scientist named Stewart Lowe were caught in the radiation blast as well, which gave them powers. Mike became 2-D Man, Mary became Freon, and Stewart became Magma.

In Batman Beyond #13 (October 2017), he appears in Freon's flashback as he tries to return Freon to health.

Character Spotlight: Gorath

The current run of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics by IDW is trying to more or less be the definitive TMNT story by synthesizing all the Ninja Turtles media that came before it. As such, that means it has had a ton of canon immigrants and will continue to have many more.

This week: Gorath!

This is a weird one, folks. Gorath is an alien who appeared in the Battle Nexus Tournament beginning in "The Big Brawl, Part 2" (2004).

He later appeared in IDW's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #74 (September 2017). Only this time, he's a...judge? He presided over Krang's trial until he was killed.

Team Spotlight: The Terrific Trio (Prime Earth)

I've mentioned the Terrific Trio on this blog before, but there's a difference. For one thing, that was on Earth-12 and this is Prime-Earth. But more importantly, that version of the Terrific Trio had a different roster with similar powers. This version has the same roster.

The Terrific Trio are a team of superheroes-turned-supervillains that fought Batman in the Batman Beyond episode "Heroes" (1999). The team consists of 2-D Man, Freon, and Magma, and they're clearly based on the Fantastic Four.

In Batman Beyond #13 (October 2017), Freon appears.

Later, 2-D Man and Magma are mentioned.

Character Spotlight: Vernon Fenwick

The current run of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics by IDW is trying to more or less be the definitive TMNT story by synthesizing all the Ninja Turtles media that came before it. As such, that means it has had a ton of canon immigrants and will continue to have many more.

This week: Vernon Fenwick!

Vernon - or Vern, as he was often called - was a creation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, who first appeared in the pilot (1987). As the Channel 6 cameraman, he usually accompanied April O'Neil on stories, although he often played the role of antagonist by blaming the Turtles for things they didn't do.

He later appeared in IDW's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #78 (January 2017). Although not officially named, the character is a Channel 6 cameraman who accompanies Burne Thompson, who is also a character from the animated series.

In keeping with IDW's philosophy of pulling from all parts of TMNT history, this version of Vern (if indeed that's who he is) more closely resembles Vern as played by Will Arnett in the recent pair of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films that came out in 2014 and 2016.