Mirage Studios
I had this idea; it was kind of a parody of all these vigilante characters that were in comics. You have the classics like Batman and Daredevil and all these characters where something tragic happened in their past that helped them choose the path to go out and fight crime on their own, and I thought it was really funny if we had a character who was inspired to do the same, but just from watching too much bad TV, like T. J. Hooker and A-Team and all that stuff. So I came up with the idea of this character who would be called Casey Jones and he would have two bats as his main weapon, and he would wear a hockey mask and sweats – just something he cobbled together. And at the last minute, Pete said, "Well why don't you give him a golf bag and he'll have all kinds of weapons in it?" And I'm like, "Dude, that's it!" But that's the kind of collaboration we had; it was always that kind of spontaneity, and how so many of the characters came together. But Casey and Raphael – they're fun. And they're a little retarded like me [laughs].
In the original Mirage series, Casey first appeared in the Raphael one-shot, by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. Casey was introduced as a violent, hot-tempered vigilante whose anger concerned even Raphael. The turtle stopped Casey from killing some muggers, causing an initial conflict between the two. This clash was quickly resolved, and Casey and Raphael became fast friends. Later, Casey came to the turtles' aid when they are attacked by the Shredder in April O'Neil's home. The vigilante even took the turtles to his grandmother's old farmhouse in Northampton, cementing his place with the group. [2]
In the Mirage series, Casey is extremely violent, even more so than Raphael, but he mellows throughout the course of the series. In Shades of Gray, Casey accidentally kills a teenager who tried to mug him. The incident sent him into a drunken spiral, damaging his relationship with April O'Neil. [3] His initial homicidal tendencies are especially present in his first appearance, although he never actually murders anyone in that instance. [4]
During the three-part episode City at War, Casey leaves the farmhouse and begins to drive to Los Angeles, planning to find April, but instead meets a pregnant woman named Gabrielle with whom he falls in love and marries. Gabrielle dies during childbirth and Casey is left to take care of her daughter, whom he names Shadow. After spreading Gabrielle's ashes, Casey returns to New York with Shadow to stay with his mother. In a chance encounter, Casey is reunited with April when she comes to buy the apartment building owned by Casey's mother. During this meeting it is revealed that Casey's real name is Arnold but prefers to use his middle name only.
Casey repairs his relationship with April and they begin dating. By volume four, he and April are married, raising Shadow as their daughter and trying to have a child of their own. April eventually leaves Casey and Shadow when April learns that she is a living drawing that was brought to life by a magic crystal. As April comes to terms with herself in Alaska, Casey takes to the nightclubs to drown his sorrows. He meets up with the Foot Clan leader Karai at one of these clubs and, after a few drinks, awakens at Karai's retreat with no memory of the night before, although Karai knows something of what had happened. This plotline was left unresolved as the fourth volume ended.
IDW Comics
In the TMNT series released by IDW Publishing, Casey is a young college scholarship holder. Following his mother's death from cancer, his father, formerly Hun of the Purple Dragons, became an alcoholic thug who would vent his daily frustration on his son. On one such occasion, Casey was saved from another violent beating by Raphael, who had at that time lived a solitary life as a street vagrant following his mutation (unaware that he had a family searching for him), and the two quickly became fast friends and fellow vigilantes until Raphael was reunited with his family, at which point Casey was introduced to and befriended the other three turtles as well. He later meets April when she becomes his tutor, and introduces her to the turtles. After an especially violent beating by his father, Casey comes to live with the turtles, while his father returns to the Purple Dragons.
