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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the franchise as a whole. For specific entries in the franchise, see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (disambiguation).
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Cover of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1
Publication information
PublisherMirage Studios[1]
First appearanceTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles#1 (May 1984)
Created byKevin Eastman
Peter Laird
In-story information
Base(s)Manhattan
Member(s)Leonardo
Raphael
Donatello
Michelangelo
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (often shortened to TMNT or Ninja Turtles) are a team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, named after four Renaissanceartists, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu. From their home in the storm sewers of New York City, they battle petty criminals, evil overlords, mutated creatures, and alien invaders while attempting to remain hidden from society. They were created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.
The characters originated in comic books published by Mirage Studios before expanding into cartoon series, films, video games, toys, and other general merchandise.[2] During the peak of the franchise's popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it gained considerable worldwide success and fame.

History[edit]

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles first appeared in an American comic book published by Mirage Studios in 1984 in Dover, New Hampshire. The concept arose from a humorous drawing sketched out by Eastman during a casual evening of brainstorming and bad television with Laird.[3] Using money from a tax refund, together with a loan from Eastman’s uncle, the young artists self-published a single-issue comic intended toparody four of the most popular comics of the early 1980s: Marvel Comics’ Daredevil and New Mutants, Dave Sim’s Cerebus, and Frank Miller’s Ronin.[4] The TMNT comic series has been published in various incarnations by various comic book companies since 1984.
The Turtles started their rise to mainstream success when a licensing agent, Mark Freedman, sought out Eastman and Laird to propose wider merchandising opportunities for the franchise. In 1986, Dark Horse Miniatures produced a set of 15 mm lead figurines. In January 1987, Eastman and Laird visited the offices of Playmates Toys Inc, a small California toy company that wanted to expand into the action figure market. Development was undertaken by a creative team of companies and individuals: Jerry Sachs, ad man of Sachs-Finley Agency, brought together the animators at Murakami-Wolf-Swenson headed by Fred Wolf. Wolf and his team combined concepts and ideas with the Playmates marketing crew, headed by Karl Aaronian, VP of sales Richard Sallis and VP of Playmates Bill Carlson.
Aaronian brought on several designers, and concepteur and writer John C. Schulte and worked out the simple backstory that would live on toy packaging for the entire run of the product and show. Sachs called thehigh concept pitch "Green Against Brick". The sense of humor was honed with the collaboration of the MWS animation firm's writers. Playmates and their team essentially served as associate producers and contributing writers to the miniseries that was first launched to sell-in the toy action figures. Phrases like "Heroes in a Half Shell" and many of the comical catch phrases and battle slogans ("Turtle Power!") came from the writing and conceptualization of this creative team. As the series developed, veteran writer Jack Mendelsohn came on board as both a story editor and scriptwriter. David Wise, Michael Charles Hill, and Michael Reaves wrote most of the scripts.
The miniseries was repeated 3 times before it found an audience.[clarification needed] Once the product started selling, the show got syndicated and picked up and backed by Group W, which funded the next round of animation. The show then went network, on CBS. Accompanied by the popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987 TV series, and the subsequent action figure line, the TMNT were soon catapulted into pop culture history. At the height of the frenzy, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Turtles' likenesses could be found on a wide range of children's merchandise, from Pez dispensers to skateboards, breakfast cereal, video games, school supplies, linens, towels, cameras, and even toy shaving kits.
While the animated TV series, which lasted for 10 seasons until 1996, was more light-hearted, the comic book series continued in a much darker and grittier tone. In 1990 a live-action feature film was released, with the turtles and Splinter being portrayed by actors in partially animatronic suits created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. The film became one of the most successful independent films, and spawned two sequels, as well as inspiring a 3D animated film set in the same continuity, which was released in 2007 under the title TMNT. After the end of the cartoon series, a live action series in the vein of the films was created in 1997 in conjunction with Saban Entertainment. The series was called Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation and introduced a fifth, female turtle called Venus De Milo. However she was largely unsuccessful and the show was canceled after one season.
The property lay dormant until 2003, when a new animated TV series also entitled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles began to air on Fox Box (4Kids TV). The series storyline stuck much closer to the original Mirage comic book series, but was still less violent. It lasted for seven seasons and 156 episodes, ending in February 2009.
On October 21, 2009, it was announced that cable channel Nickelodeon (a subsidiary of Viacom) had purchased all of Mirage's rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles property. Mirage retains the rights to publish 18 issues a year, though the future involvement of Mirage with the Turtles and the future of Mirage Studios itself is unknown.[5] Nickelodeon has developed a new CGI-animated TMNT television series and partnered with fellow Viacom company Paramount Pictures to bring a new TMNT movie to theaters. The TV show premiered on Nickelodeon on September 29, 2012.[6] The live action film, produced by Platinum Dunes, Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Pictures, directed by Jonathan Liebesman and produced by Michael Bay, was released on August 8, 2014.[7]

Main characters[edit]

Main article: List of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters
  • Leonardo (Leo) – The tactical, courageous leader and devoted student of his sensei, Leonardo wears a blue mask and wields two katana. As the most conscientious of the four, he often bears the burden of responsibility for his brothers, which commonly leads to conflict with Raphael. Leonardo was named after the Italian polymath, painter, engineer, inventor, writer, anatomist, and sculptor, Leonardo da Vinci.
  • Michelangelo (Mike or Mikey) – The most stereotypical of the team: An easy-going and free-spirited jokester, Michelangelo wears an orange mask and wields a pair of nunchucks. He is the least mature of the four Turtles and provides the comic relief. Michelangelo has an adventurous side coupled with a love of pizza. He shows characteristics of a "surfer" type and is often depicted with a Southern Californian accent. He is named after the Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer, Michelangelo. His name was originally misspelled "Michaelangelo" by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman.[8]
  • Raphael (Raph) – The team's bad boy, Raphael wears a dark red mask and wields a pair of sai. He is physically very strong, has an aggressive nature, and seldom hesitates to throw the first punch. He is often depicted with a New York accent. His personality can be fierce and sarcastic, and oftentimes delivers deadpan humor. He is intensely loyal to his brothers and sensei. He is named after the Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance, Raphael.[8]
  • Donatello (Don or Donnie) – The scientist, inventor, engineer, and technological genius, Donatello wears a purple mask and wields a bo staff. Donatello is perhaps the least violent turtle, preferring to use his knowledge to solve conflicts, but never hesitates to defend his brothers. He is named after the early Renaissance Italian artist and sculptor from Florence, Donatello.
  • April O'Neil – A former lab assistant to the mad scientist Baxter Stockman, April is the plucky human companion of the Turtles. April first met the Turtles when they saved her from Baxter's Mouser robots. She embarks on many of the Turtles' adventures and aids them by doing the work in public that the Turtles cannot. In the 1987 TV series, Archie Comics series, the subsequent three films & the 2014 film reboot, April was a television news reporter. In the 2007 CGI film (Following the continuity from the original 3 films), she and Casey Jones work for a shipping firm. In the 2012 series, April is a teenager who is rescued by the TMNT and later is given some 'crash courses' in being a ninja by Splinter.
  • Casey Jones – A vigilante who wears a hockey mask to protect his identity, Casey Jones has become one of the Turtles' closest allies, as well as a love interest to April. Casey first encountered the Turtles after having a fight with Raphael. He fights crime with an assortment of sporting goods he carries in a golf bag, such as baseball bats, golf clubs, and hockey sticks.
  • Shredder – A villainous ninjutsu master called Oroku Saki who is the leader of the Foot Clan. In every incarnation of the TMNT franchise, he has been the archenemy of Splinter and the Turtles. Shredder prefers to use his armor instead of weapons in some versions.
  • Karai – A female high-rank member of the Foot Clan who has appeared in several different TMNT comics, cartoons and films, as well as in multiple video games. In some incarnations of the character, she is closely related to the Shredder as his adopted daughter or biological granddaughter. In most works, she shares an ambiguous rivalry with Leonardo, which occasionally even borders on romantic interest.

Comics[edit]

Mirage[edit]

Main article: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Mirage Studios)
Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles premiered in May, 1984, at a comic book convention held at a local Sheraton Hotel in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It was published by Mirage Studios in an over-sized magazine-style format using black and white artwork on cheap newsprint, limited to a print run of only 3,250 copies.[9] Through a clever media kit that included a press release in Comic Buyer's Guide #542 and a full page ad placed in Comic Buyer's Guide #547, the public's interest was piqued and thus began the Turtle phenomenon. The small print runs made these early comics and trade magazines instant collector items, and within months they were trading for over fifty times their cover price. The name "Mirage Studios" was chosen because of Eastman and Laird's lack of a professional art studio at the start of their career, before their creation made them both multi-millionaires.
Mirage also published a bi-monthly companion book entitled Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, featuring art by Ryan Brown and Jim Lawson, which was designed to fill in the gaps of continuity in the TMNT universe. This put the original series and Tales in the same mainstream continuity, and the two are thus canon to each other. The title's first volume was from 1987–1989, released in alternating months with the regular Eastman and Laird book. All seven issues of Volume One have been collected in trade paperback form twice, and twenty-five issues of Volume Two have been collected in trades of five issues each.
As the TMNT phenomenon proliferated to other media, Eastman and Laird would find themselves administrating an international merchandising juggernaut. However, this prevented the two creators from participating in the day-to-day work of writing and illustrating a monthly comic book. For this reason, many guest artists were invited to showcase their unique talents in the TMNT universe. The breadth of diversity found in the various short stories gave the series a disjointed, anthology-like feel. Fans stuck with the series, and what was originally intended as a one-shot became a continuing series that lasted for 129 issues spanning four separate volumes (having 62, 13, 23 and 31 issues in the four distinct volumes).
In June 1996, Image Comics took over publishing the title in what is considered "Volume 3" of the series. It was a slightly more action-oriented TMNT series and although notable for inflicting major physical changes on the main characters, Peter Laird, co-creator of the TMNT, has said this volume is no longer in canon as he began publishing Volume 4 at Mirage Publishing. As an explanation, he offered in the pages of Volume 4's letter column: "It just didn't feel right."[volume & issue needed]
After taking back the series from Image Comics, Mirage Studios resumed publication of a fourth volume in December 2001, under the simple title TMNT. After the publication of issue #28, writer Peter Laird placed the series on an eight-month hiatus to devote himself to production of the 2007 TMNT movie. However, after that eight months had passed Mirage's official website went on to list the series as in "indefinite hiatus". In January 2008, Mirage had finally confirmed that the series would return in May 2008. Issues 29 and 30 had a limited printing of 1,000 copies each, and were available through the official TMNT website. Although the purchase agreement with Nickelodeon allows Laird to produce up to 18 comics a year set in the original Mirage continuity, no new material has been released in next few years. The latest issue of TMNT Volume 4 was issue #32 which came out in print May 4, 2014 and online on May 9, 2014, almost 4 years after issue #31 was last released. It is not known when this series will be continued or be concluded.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures[edit]

Main article: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures was a comic book series published from August 1988 to October 1995 by Archie Comics. The initial storylines were close adaptations of the 1987 TV series, but with the fifth issue Eastman and Laird decided to hand the series over to Mirage Studios employees Ryan Brown and Stephen Murphy who immediately abandoned the animated series adaptations and took the title in a decidedly different direction with all-new original adventures, including the uniting of several of the series' recurring characters as a separate team, the Mighty Mutanimals.

Dreamwave[edit]

A monthly comic inspired by the 2003 TV series was published by Dreamwave Productions from June to December 2003. It was written by Peter David and illustrated by LeSean Thomas. In the first four issues, which were the only ones directly adapted from the TV series, the story was told from the perspectives of April, Baxter, Casey, and a pair of New York City police officers.

IDW[edit]

Main article: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW Publishing)
In April 2011, IDW Publishing announced that they had acquired the license to publish new collections of Mirage storylines and a new ongoing series.[10] The first issue of the new series was released on August 24, 2011. Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz write, with Eastman and Dan Duncan handling art chores.

Manga[edit]

The Turtles have appeared in several manga series.
  • Mutant Turtles (ミュータント・タートルズ Myūtanto Tātoruzu?) is a 15-issue series by Tsutomu Oyamada, Zuki mora, and Yoshimi Hamada that simply adapted episodes of the original American animated series.
  • Super Turtles (スーパータートルズ Sūpā Tātoruzu) is a three-issue miniseries by Hidemasa Idemitsu, Tetsurō Kawade, and Toshio Kudō that featured the "TMNT Supermutants" Turtle toys that were on sale at the time. The first volume of the anime miniseries followed this storyline.
  • Mutant Turtles Gaiden (ミュータント・タートルズ外伝 Myūtanto Tātoruzu Gaiden?) by Hiroshi Kanno is a re-interpretation of the Turtles story with no connection to the previous manga.
  • Mutant Turtles III is Yasuhiko Hachino's adaptation of the third feature film.

Comic strip[edit]

Main article: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (comic strip)
A daily comic strip written and illustrated by Dan Berger began in 1990. It featured an adventure story Monday through Friday and activity puzzles on weekends (with fan art appearing later). The comic strip was published in syndication until its cancellation in December, 1996. At its
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