The Story of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1

First Issue of Eastman & Laird's TMNT Cult Parody-Turned-Phenomenon

Aug 21, 2009

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 riffed on 1980s comics staples like ninjas and mutants. But the TMNT's debut still holds up as a comics and merchandising classic.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird in 1984. The pair wrote and illustrated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1, in part to make fun of many of the "serious" comics in vogue at the time.

That first issue of the numerous Ninja Turtles comics remains surprisingly close to what would later become familiar as a pop culture phenomenon. Celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 spawned one of the most successful creator-owned comics ever.

According to Kevin Eastman, he was inspired to draw a nunchuk-wielding turtle, and later showed it to his friend Peter Laird. The two young New Englanders then set out to make a comic book out of characters based on that original drawing, which they self-published on borrowed funds.

Eastman and Laird's original intent was to parody some of the fashionable comics of the early 1980s. Influences included Dave Sim's cult series Cerebus, with its wise-cracking anthropomorphic aardvark; Frank Miller's graphic novel Ronin, inspired by the honor code of feudal Japan; as well as Marvel comic book heroes The New Mutants (an X-Men spin-off) and Daredevil.

The storyline of the first TMNT comic begins in Japan, with ninjitsu clan-mates Hamato Yoshi and Oroku Nagi both wooing beautiful Tang Shen. When she chooses Hamato, Oroku becomes enraged, tries to kill Tang Shen, but he is in turn killed by Hamato.

Hamato and Tang Shen flee to America, where Hamato sets up a martial arts school. Meanwhile, Oroku's brother, Oroku Saki, vows to have his revenge against Hamato, and becomes the leader of the dreaded Foot Clan. When Oroku Saki, now calling himself the Shredder, comes to New York to expand the Foot's criminal empire, he murders Hamato Yoshi and Tang Shen.

During the struggle, Hamato's pet rat, Splinter, who spent years mimicking his master's movements, escapes. Splinter ends up in a sewer with four infant turtles, and all are covered in a mysterious industrial ooze which mutates them. Splinter names the turtles Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo, trains them as ninjas, and sends them to confront Shredder.

While this backstory would go on almost unchanged, TMNT #1 isn't exactly the same as the famous cartoon or its spin-offs. The style is rawer, and more violent; and the death of Shredder at the comic's conclusion is of course forgotten, as the Turtles needed a continuing villain. The Turtles' personalities were not yet distinct – and there's no mention of pizza either.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 had a print run of only 3000 copies. However, Eastman and Laird shrewdly promoted their new comic – which premiered at the Portsmouth, New Hampshire Mini-Con – through direct marketing, and thanks to a lot of free publicity, the comic became a hit. It soon spawned a cartoon and toy line, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles became a worldwide phenomenon.

Thus, the first issue of TMNT is notable not only as the debut of the Ninja Turtles, but is interesting as an example of cleverly capturing the early 1980s zeitgeist, and interesting as a comic in itself. With the Ninja Turtles' twenty-fifth anniversary, comics fans should get re-acquainted with this landmark in cult comics and pop culture.

The copyright of the article The Story of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 in Classic Comics is owned by Luke Arnott. Permission to republish The Story of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.