Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Mirage Studios)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
TMNT #4, 2nd print. Cover art by Michael Dooney
Publication information
Publisher	Mirage Studios
Main character(s)	Leonardo Donatello Michelangelo Raphael
Creative team
Created by	Kevin Eastman Peter Laird

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an American comic book series published by Mirage Studios, featuring the characters of the same name, with a 26-year run from 1984 to 2010. Conceived by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, it was initially intended as a one-shot, but due to its popularity it became an ongoing series. The comic inspired a franchise of four television series, six feature films, numerous video games, and a wide range of toys and merchandise.

Over the years, the Turtles have appeared in numerous cross-overs with other independent comics characters such as Dave Sim's Cerebus, Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon, Bob Burden's Flaming Carrot and Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo.

In 2009 Peter Laird sold the Turtles to Viacom, the parent company of Nickelodeon. At WonderCon 2011, it was announced that IDW Publishing had secured the rights to publish a new series and reprint the older comics.

The concept originated from a comical drawing sketched out by Kevin Eastman during a casual evening of brainstorming with his friend Peter Laird. The drawing of a short, squat turtle wearing a mask with nunchakus strapped to its arms was humorous to the young artists, as it played upon the inherent contradiction of a slow, cold-blooded reptile with the speed and agility of Japanese martial arts. Laird suggested that they create a team of four such turtles, each specializing in a different weapon. Eastman and Laird often cited the work of Frank Miller and Jack Kirby as their major artistic influences.