Character Spotlight: Ace Duck

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: Ace Duck!

Ace Duck is an interesting character because he always gets the chance to touch Ninja Turtles continuities, but never gets to hold on and make an impact. He was first created by Peter Laird in 1988 when Playmates asked for new characters for the Ninja Turtles toy line:

Playmates changed his look a bit and gave him the name Ace when they released his figure the following year.

In November 1989, he made a cameo in the 1987 series, but he was a fictional character on a tv show so he never interacted with the Turtles.

He made his comics debut in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #7 the following month, and despite nominally taking place within the animated series continuity, this comic had a much different version of Ace that was a pro wrestler on a distant planet.

He was mentioned as an idea for a henchman in the 2012 animated series in the episode "The Lonely Mutation of Baxter Stockman" (2014), but never actually seen.

And then he appeared in the IDW series in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Dimension X #4 (August 2017) where he was a witness that the Ninja Turtles were looking for.

Whether he'll continue to show up remains to be seen, but it would be cool!