The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are such an integral part of geek and pop culture, it's pretty difficult to imagine a world without them. Seriously, they've influenced a ton more comics and material than you may think.The turtles had some pretty humble origins, however. Back in 1984, a couple of cool but obscure artist dudes were joking around and one of them, Kevin Eastman, sketched a turtle standing on it's hind legs with nunchucks strapped to its arms. He titled it "Ninja Turtle".
Kevin's fellow artist, Peter Laird, liked the idea so much that he drew his own version of the "Ninja Turtle".
He also suggested that it be a "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle", for added effect. They both liked the idea and not long after decided to run with it and establish a story. Using it to parody the then-popular Superheroes and "funny animal" comics of the time through concept (X-men [mutant], Daredevil [ninja], Cerebrus [turtles]) and execution (it was dark and gritty in style, similar to Daredevil, etc. One of my favorite stylistic parody aspects is the Noir-like narrative the turtles give as they fight the villains and roam the city. It just reeks of Watchman's Rorschach).
The original comic is rough around the edges, in more ways than one, but I personally love the style and the execution myself. Despite being a parody, it's an excellent story on it's own and the turtles have a quirky charm that makes them appealing. I think this element has been able to transcend the original material into other works of the TMNT, and thus lent to the turtles' longevity as characters, enabling them to survive several major shifts in tone, characterization, story, and style throughout the years. Whatever the medium, however, one things for sure; the turtles are cool, about as cool as it gets (even non-nerds typically end up agreeing with that in the end), and they're here to stay. Hopefully for a good long time.
Sketches found here along with the much of the story. More facts and such regarding the ninja turtles' origins can be located here.
Kevin's fellow artist, Peter Laird, liked the idea so much that he drew his own version of the "Ninja Turtle".
He also suggested that it be a "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle", for added effect. They both liked the idea and not long after decided to run with it and establish a story. Using it to parody the then-popular Superheroes and "funny animal" comics of the time through concept (X-men [mutant], Daredevil [ninja], Cerebrus [turtles]) and execution (it was dark and gritty in style, similar to Daredevil, etc. One of my favorite stylistic parody aspects is the Noir-like narrative the turtles give as they fight the villains and roam the city. It just reeks of Watchman's Rorschach).
The original comic is rough around the edges, in more ways than one, but I personally love the style and the execution myself. Despite being a parody, it's an excellent story on it's own and the turtles have a quirky charm that makes them appealing. I think this element has been able to transcend the original material into other works of the TMNT, and thus lent to the turtles' longevity as characters, enabling them to survive several major shifts in tone, characterization, story, and style throughout the years. Whatever the medium, however, one things for sure; the turtles are cool, about as cool as it gets (even non-nerds typically end up agreeing with that in the end), and they're here to stay. Hopefully for a good long time.
Sketches found here along with the much of the story. More facts and such regarding the ninja turtles' origins can be located here.
