Purple Dragons' Lair (April Fools Day 2016)

[Updated April 5-6, 2016, with special thanks to ShinMusashi44]

Spent a while trying to polish this one up for April Fools Day 2016.  Seems like I've posted a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles related piece featuring April almost every April 1st since 2012.

This year it's a mock movie poster inspired by Don Bluth's promotional artwork for the classic 1984 laser disc arcade game "Dragon's Lair."  I always liked the iconic pose shared by Dirk the Daring and Princess Daphne at the center of the chaos, and I wanted to pay homage to it with classic cartoon versions of Casey Jones and April O'Neil (because it totally is April's Day, after all).  This is pretty much my idea of what the Purple Dragons might look like if they were ever formally integrated into the Fred Wolf cartoon continuity.  I kinda doubt the old cartoon would have used that logo now so familiar to the 4Kids TMNT cartoon, but it's a great design and I thought it helped fill the layout.

I don't have any present plans to do anything more with this idea beyond this poster, but if inspiration strikes me, who knows?  Maybe we'll finally discover who or what is casting that imposing silhouette standing before our hero and heroine! BTW, I totally revised the silhouette for this revised upload, because people just assumed they knew who could cast that imposing shadow.

Credit to Andrew McCluskey for creating the "Dragonslapper" font that I used heavily in this piece.  His font is "Donationware," so make sure you send him a little appreciation if you decide to use it.
www.dafont.com/dragonslapper.f…

A very special thanks to for volunteering to craft a new high resolution Purple Dragons logo which I added to this revised upload (he even created two variants!).  He is also responsible for  the high resolution TMNT logo that I have used a bunch to add some necessary verisimilitude to my pieces.  I also extend my appreciation to for advising me on color choices.  Do yourself a favor and check out both their galleries.

How great would it be to see the names of Pat Fraley and Renae Jacobs featured on a high profile movie poster?  Ah, I couldn't resist.  I hope they both get invited back to reprise their characters' roles in future episodes of the new Nickelodeon TMNT cartoon.

Full disclaimer as I employed some digital tracing for some background elements like the ring (Super Nintendo's Super Punch Out!, baby) and the punk spectators.  I'm glad to say that I finally found a good use for the infamously bad episode "The Gang's All Here"... plenty of visual reference for Bebop & Rocksteady's old gang members!