The origin
A young man pushes a blind pedestrian clear of a truck. A canister of radioactive ooze flies loose, strikes him near the eyes, bounces on, shatters a boy's fishbowl and knocks four baby turtles into the sewer, where the ooze finds them. It also finds a rat named Splinter, who once belonged to a murdered ninja master. Splinter raises the four turtles as his sons and teaches them everything his master knew, so that one day they can kill the man who did it.
What makes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles different
It was a joke. Eastman and Laird sketched a turtle with nunchucks one evening, put a tax refund and a loan from Eastman's uncle behind it, and self-published 3,275 black and white copies to parody the four biggest comics of 1984: Daredevil, New Mutants, Cerebus and Ronin. Read that origin again and you are reading Daredevil's origin exactly, the same blind man, the same truck, the same canister, except this time it hits turtles instead of Matt Murdock. Splinter is a parody of Stick. The Foot are a parody of the Hand. The cover parodies Ronin. That joke became a billion-dollar franchise, and TMNT #1 is one of the great modern keys.
Where to start reading
The full reading order
TMNT #1essential
Print run of 3,275 copies. A first printing in high grade is a five-figure book. The turtles kill dozens of gang members and blow up the Shredder. Nothing like the cartoon, and all the better for it.
TMNT #2-11essential
Eastman and Laird still doing everything themselves. Baxter Stockman, the Mousers, and the Triceratons. Rough, funny and violent.
TMNT #8, the Cerebus crossoverdeep cut
Dave Sim draws Cerebus himself, and Gerhard does the backgrounds. One of the great oddities of independent comics.
Return to New Yorkessential
The turtles come home and kill the Shredder for good. The best action in the Mirage run and the emotional core of the original series.
City at Waressential
Eastman and Laird together again for the first time since issue 11. Gang war, consequences, and the most mature the original book ever got. The proper ending.
IDW TMNTessential
Kevin Eastman returns, alongside Tom Waltz. Widely considered the best sustained TMNT storytelling ever done, and it ran over 140 issues. If you want a long modern read, this is it.
The Last Roninessential
One turtle survives into a brutal future and takes revenge. Built from an original Eastman and Laird plot from the 1980s. A genuine modern key, and it sold out repeatedly.
Know your printingsrecommended
TMNT #1 was reprinted many times. First printings have no printing indicated inside, later ones say second printing and so on. The value gap between them is enormous, so check carefully before you buy or sell.
Chasing any of these Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles issues?
Whether you are hunting a key, thinking about selling a collection, or just want to talk comics, I am always happy to hear from you.