Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a media franchise that features a group of four anthropomorphic turtles who fight crime with Ninjitsu. These turtles are Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo. Meanwhile, their Sensei, Splinter is also a humanoid rat. Living in the sewers of New York City, they fight crime, evil villains, and alien invaders.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise began as a comic book that a young artist, Kevin Eastman, and his friend, Peter Laird created while brainstorming. Mirage Studios first published the comic book in 1984. The comic book was an instant success, and it grew into a media franchise, which contains four more comic books, five television series, six feature movies, ten video games, and lots of other media packages.
The Comic Books
Mirage Studio’s Eastman And Laird Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1984-2014)
Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird released their first issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in May 1984 through Mirage Studios. The first issue quickly became a rare collector’s item in just a few months since Mirage only ever printed over 3,275 copies.
The story began when four turtles had accidental exposure to a chemical substance called the Mutagen after their new owner was involved in a traffic accident. Meanwhile, a sewage rat, Splinter, recently witnessed the gruesome murder of its owner, Hamato Yoshi, by the Shredder and his Foot Clan. This rat also encountered the same mutagenic substance. Splinter and the Turtles became anthropomorphized, had a human form, developing both speech and intelligence. Splinter adopted the Turtles and named them according to a book about Renaissance artists. Then, Splinter trained them in the art of ninjutsu, a skill it learned from mimicking Hamato Yoshi. After mastering their fighting skills, Splinter and the turtles set out to avenge Hamato Yoshi by defeating the Shredder and his Foot Clan.
Archie Comic’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventure (1988-1995)
Archie Comics published the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventure that released in August 1988. This comic book is based on different major story arcs based on the adventures and trials of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and their humanoid rat master. The comic consists of 72 issues and numerous distinct stories.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures portrayed some new characters of different origins like humans, aliens, more mutants, and so many others. The series also improved some previous characters by giving them more responsibilities. For instance, the most notable change occurred when April O’Neil trained with a Katara.
Image Comic’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1996-1999)
Gary Carlson wrote this version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Meanwhile, Frank Fosco penciled the comics. Image comics published the comic series which contains 23 issues.
Fans know this comic book run for its incredibly fast pace and darker and more intense actions. It is also popular for affecting some major physical changes to the Turtles’ appearances. For instance, Leonardo loses an arm while Donatello became a Cyborg/Android. Splinter also transformed into a bat while Raphael’s face became permanently scarred. Raphael later gave in to evil and became the Shredder, the leader of the Foot Clan. The comics’ production stopped due to failing to make its sales numbers.
Dreamwave’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)
Dreamwave’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was based on the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated television series. Dreamwave only created seven issues which ran from June 2003 to December 2003 before the company canceled the run.
IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2011-Present)
IDW published this version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in August 2011, with a creative team that featured Kevin Eastman, the co-creator of the franchise. The series recreates the origin of Splinter and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as the last wish of Hamato Yoshi’s wife reincarnated him and his four sons.
It all started after Yoshi witnessed the leader of his clan, Oroku Saki, make a ruthless choice. So, Yoshi left the Clan which resulted in the Clan declaring that he was a traitor and enemy. Saki then ordered the death of Yoshi and his family. As the Clan killed his wife, she wished for the rest of her family remain safe. Yoshi and his sons eventually died, but they came back to life in form of a rat and four turtles.
Their new lives started in containment at StockGen’s research. The owner of the facility, Baxter Stockman, was in a secret alliance with an alien life form, Krang, from Dimension X. In this comic, April O’Neil, an intern at StockGen, named the four turtles. One night, the Foot Clan attempted to steal some chemicals which resulted in Splinter and the Turtles experiencing exposure to a Mutagen. This substance subsequently transformed them into humanoid creatures.
Thus, Splinter regained all of Yoshi’s memories and then trained the Turtles in the art of ninjutsu to avenge his wife’s murder and fight against Oroku Saki, his Foot Clan soldiers, and the extraterrestrial Krang and his army from Dimension X. The comic book has become the longest-running comic book series in the franchise.
The Television Series
Fred Wolf Film’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987-1996)
Murakami Wolf Swenson, Inc produced the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, which premiered in December 1987. In some countries, like the United Kingdom, viewers knew the cartoon as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles since those countries felt the word Ninja was too violent for children. When Playmate Toys picked up the license to create toys, they pushed for the creation of the cartoon series to help promote the toys. The television show became the most popular media work on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. The television series was based on the Eastman and Laired comics. However, the production significantly toned down the violence to be accessible to kids and early teenagers.
The television series depicted Splinter to be a humanoid rat who used to be Hamato Yoshi, an honorable ninja master who was wrongful convicted of assassination and banished from the Clan. Yoshi came to New York City and lived in the sewers where his only companion were the sewerage rats until a young boy accidentally dropped four turtles in the sewer. Thus, Yoshi decided to keep them as pets.
One day, Yoshi returned to find his Turtles covered in some glowing ooze, which transformed both Yoshi and the Turtles into the last living thing they encountered. So, Yoshi transformed into a humanoid rat while the turtles became humanoids. Yoshi named them after his favorite artists and then trained them in the fighting art of ninjutsu. As the turtles became teenagers, they used their skills to fight crime and protect the city.
Saban Entertainment’s Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (1997-1998)
The Ninja Turtles is a live-action television series that is based loosely on the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book by Mirage. Saban Entertainment produced this television series that premiered in 1997 on Fox kids.
The show added so major elements to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. For instance, it changed the primary antagonist to Dragon Lord who leads an army of vicious humanoid dragons. There was also the inclusion of a new teenage mutant, Venus de Milo. Meanwhile, the show completely omitted April O’Neil. The show never received approval for the second season. Instead, Fox canceled it after the one season which contained 26 episodes.
4Kid’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003-2010)
4Kids Entertainment and Mirage Studios produced the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series. It premiered in February 2003 and was based on Mirage’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic.
This show is more character-based and it focuses more on the personas of the Turtles. While Michelangelo was wise, funny, and lazy, Raphael was grumpy and inclined to act and talk tough. Leonardo is the strict leader, while Donatello is the egg head of the group. The series covers a lot of the Turtles’ adventures and even depicted them to have mystic powers at some point in the fifth season.
Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012-2017)
Nickelodeon Animation Studios created and produced the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series that premiered in September 2012. Once again, a show rebooted the franchise to bring the story to a new audience.
The show begins with Hamato Yoshi carrying his pet turtles in the street of Manhattan when they encountered members of the alien race called Kraang. During their encounter with these extraterrestrials, Yoshi and his Turtles experienced exposure to a radioactive alien chemical called the Mutagen, which physically transformed them. Yoshi and his Turtles went back to the sewers and stayed there.
Yoshi taught them the sacred art of ninjutsu and on their 15th birthday, they decided to go back up to the city. On the street of Manhattan, they witnessed the kidnapping of a young April O’Neil and her father. The Ninja Turtles tried to stop the kidnapping but could only save April. They vowed to rescue her father, but the leader of the Foot Clan, the Shredder, noticed their heroics. The Shredder is an old adversary of their master, so he quickly became the turtles’ adversary as well. The turtles now must fight against the Shredder and his Foot Clan army and stop Kraang’s agenda of total world domination.
Nickelodeon’s Rise of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018-Present)
After the run of the 2012 Turtles concluded, Nickelodeon premiered The Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in September 2018. The show focused on the Ninja Turtles before they began fighting crime on the streets of New York City. The show depicted Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo as four turtle brothers that received mystical powers beyond their imagination. So, they must now must work together to form a team of superheroes.
Final Thoughts
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles took the world by storm in the 1980s. While many believed that the idea was too silly to take seriously, the franchise has embraced its silly roots. So, its imaginative premise has enthralled the minds of children and adults since its first publishing. Since the comics and television series have experienced astounding success, the franchise has expanded to include 6 theatrical films and a couple of animated direct-to-video films. Expect to see even more versions of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show up in the years to come.
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About the author
Author: Chris Ingledue
Contact: email
Bio: I am the founder and owner of Wheeljack’s Lab pop Culture and Toy Shop. My vision has always been to reunite customers with their favorite childhood toys and pop culture, triggering fond memories, and reigniting their imaginations. Every day, I work in the “lab” where it’s Christmas 365 days a year. I scour the internet, like when we had the Sears Catalog of yesteryear, for the next great treasure. Then, I await the arrival of the postman as if he were Santa Claus himself and helping collectors worldwide with their own versions of Christmas. Every day as a vintage toy buyer is an absolute joy!