Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 1984
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a comic created in 1984 under Mirage Studios by Peter Eastman and Kevin Laird in the "studio" in their living room. It consisted of four turtles that had been mutated by radioactive ooze in a New York sewer. The story picked up as the teenage turtles fight crime as masked ninjas while keeping secret from the outside world. Named after Renaissance artists, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Rafael, and Donatello make up the mutant turtle clan. Each turtle had his own identifying weapon and the turtles appeared on the colored cover of the comic wearing matching red masks across their faces.
Using money from tax returns and a relative, Eastman and Laird self-published 3,000 black and white copies of the first issue. The comic gained popularity through an advertisement in Comic Buyers Guide, issue 547 and many more copies needed to be printed to fulfill demand. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles empire was born.
Using money from tax returns and a relative, Eastman and Laird self-published 3,000 black and white copies of the first issue. The comic gained popularity through an advertisement in Comic Buyers Guide, issue 547 and many more copies needed to be printed to fulfill demand. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles empire was born.
This website will examine the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as they are represented across multiple media including merchandise, television, movies, and video and how the concept changes based on its varying target audiences.