Thirty Days of Turtles: Cudley the Cowlick

Recently I decided that if I want to keep having new content on this blog, I'm going to have to branch out beyond Marvel and DC. They'll always bring in new content, and I'm sure I'll continue to find old ones I've missed, but it's time to move toward more unfamiliar territory. With that in mind, and because they have a new movie out, I thought I'd kick this new era off with Thirty Days of Turtles!

That's right: From June 3 to July 2, there'll be a post each day highlighting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles canon immigrants. Now, because TMNT canon is a little confusing, it can be hard to tell what counts as a canon immigrant and what doesn't. So for the purposes of this blog, a TMNT canon immigrant is anything (a) from the movies, cartoons, video games, toy lines, or tie-in comic series that later appeared in (b) TMNT volumes 1, 2, or 4 [because they're by the original creators] or TMNT volume 5 [because the original creators are involved, it's the new official continuity, and its goal is to use as much of the diverse TMNT lore as possible].

With that in mind, let's look at today's entry: Cudley the Cowlick!

We're switching it up a lot today, folks. Today's entry didn't debut in the 80s cartoon, and it hasn't appeared in the IDW continuity! But the oddity of this entry matches the oddity of the character.

Cudley the Cowlick, as you might be able to tell from the name, is bizarre. He is, to put it bluntly, a disembodied, giant cow's head that can travel through time and space. He first appeared in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #7 (December 1989), and made several more appearances in that series over the years.

Then, surprisingly, Cudley showed up in Tales of the TMNT #58 (May 2009), which is fitting since it (a) dealt with multiple dimensions, and (b) featured the Wild West C.O.W.Boys of Moo Mesa. You may believe it or maybe not, but it's actually the SAME Cudley!

Also, take note everybody: Bebop and Rocksteady? Dimension X? Not good enough for Eastman and Laird. But somehow Cudley the Cowlick made it through.