TMNT Mirage Comics Volume 1 #1
Series: Eastman And Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Volume: 1
Issue: 1
First Printing : May 1984
Second Printing : June 1984
Third Printing: February 1985
Fourth Printing: September 1985
Fifth Printing: November 1988
Sixth Printing: August 1992
Collected in:
TMNT Collected Books Volume 1 2009
TMNT The Ultimate Collection Volume 1 January 2012
TMNT Colored Classics #1 May 2012
TMNT Colored Classics Volume 1 April 2018
Page Number: 40
Cover Art: Kevin Eastman
Writers: Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird
Pencilers: Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird
Inking: Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird
Toning: Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird
Letters: Kevin Eastman
Tittle: The Turtles' Origin Is Told
Publisher: Mirage Studios
Story:
The issue opens with a narration provided by Leonardo, who explains that he and his 3 younger brothers, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo are cornered, in an alley, in New York City. The Ninja Turtles are cornered by fifteen members of the Purple Dragons, the toughest street gang on the east side, as Leonardo remarks. Our heroes are able to defeat the purple dragons with ease and leave them for the police without being seen by anyone. 
Later, they arrive at their home in the sewers and are gritted by their master, Master Splinter. Master Splinter remarks that their ninja training has reach their peak. After this, Splinter decides to tell the turtles their origin and the reason why he trained them in martial arts in the first place. Twenty years ago, Splinter was simply a pet rat of his owner and mentor, Hamato Yoshi in Japan.Throughout the years, Splinter would observe his master practicing ninjutsu from his cage and mimic his movements. This tactic, eventually, led Splinter to gradually learn and master the art of ninjutsu. Hamato Yoshi was a part of the ninja clan known as the Foot, along with his fellow clan member and rival, Oroku Nagi. The two where shadow warriors and competed fiercely in all things ,especially, for the love of a beautiful, young woman named Tang Shen. When Shen refused Nagi's affections and chose Yoshi over him, he began to beat her up until Yoshi, who was coming to visit her, arrived and brutally killed Nagi in a blind rage. This violent act ,however, had dire consequences for Hamato Yoshi. He had only two choices, the first one was honorable suicide and the second one was to flee from Japan and start a new life. Yoshi, chose to leave Japan and along with Shen and Splinter left for New York. Meanwhile, Nagi's younger brother, Oroku Saki, wanted revenge on Hamato Yoshi for the death of his older brother. He began emeance training such that he surpassed all of the other members of the clan, including his teachers. As a result of his training, at the age of 18 he was chosen by his elders to lead the New York branch of the foot. Within only a year, the clan became the most feared criminal organization in the city, and Saki took on the persona of The Shredder. With his new identity, Shredder was able to track down Hamato Yoshi to his apartment and then he killed both him and Tang Shen. But during the fight, Splinter's cage broke open and he was freed.
He lived in the sewers, alone seeking vengeance on the Shredder. Everything changed however, when one day an old blind man was crossing the street, unaware that a truck labeled "TCRI" was coming straight for him. A young man (without fear) jumped to push the blind man out of the way, just as the truck was going sideways. During the comousion, a metal canister with a strange green liquid fell out of the van, hitting the young man in the eyes, fell to the street and hit a glass bowl containing 4 baby turtles that a kid had bought from a pet shop. Then, the weird green substance fell down the sewer along with the baby turtles. Splinter, who saw the hole incident, went down to the sewers and saw the turtles field with the mysterious ooze, cleaned them up and took care of them. Over time, Splinter and the turtles grew in size and developed spetch and human-like appearance. And thus, Splinter decided to train the turtles in the art of ninjutsu so that they can get revenge on Shredder for the deaths of both Yoshi and Shen.
After learning their origins, the turtles decide to avenge Hamato Yoshi. Splinter instructs the turtles to challenge the Shredder to a fight. Raphael running through the rooftops sending a letter to Shredder's HQ, by killing a few Foot Ninjas. The comic shifts to Oroku Saki trying to convince a client of his, Mr. McAdam for protection money. Just then, Raph's sai comes through the window and Shredder picks it up, reading Spliter's letter. As a result of this haole-ordeal, McAdam refuses Shredder's proposal and this inraiges Saki who accepts the challenge.
The following night, the Ninja Turtles arrived in a rooftop ready for their showdown with the Shredder. The Shredder arrives with a group of Foot Ninjas ready to battle the turtles. Then, the fight begins, Shredder orders his soldiers to attack the turtles. Eventually though, the turtles defeat the foot ninjas even though they are injured during the battle, all of a part of Shredder's plan to weaken the turtles. The fight between the Ninja Turtles and The Shredder. Shredder defeats Raph, Donnie and Mikey with ease but Leo was able to slice Shredder's midsection before ultimately getting defeated by Saki. Leonardo gathers his team and instructs them to use group tactics to defeat the Shredder. The turtles throw shurikens at him overpowering Shredder. Donnie chimes in hitting Shredder with his bo staff destroying his helmet. After that, Raph throughs his Sai at Shredder who duages them and Leo finds an opening stabbing Shredder with his katana at his chest. Shredder now defeated tells the turtles to finish him off, but Leonardo, being the honorable warrior he is, gives his sard to Shredder offering him the chance of an honorable death by committing seppuku (honorable suicide). Shredder ,however, (being an Ahole) refuses and decides to kill both the turtles and himself via a thermite grenade. Donatello though, throughs his staff at Shredder who falls out of balance blowing up into pieces, dieing. With the battle over and Shredder dead, the turtles decide to go home with their mission complete
.
Down in the alley, the turtles find pieces of Shredder's armor all over the place proving that he truly is dead after the fight. Having succeeded in their revenge mission, the Ninja Turtles head to the sewers, strikking hard and fading away into the night.
Later, they arrive at their home in the sewers and are gritted by their master, Master Splinter. Master Splinter remarks that their ninja training has reach their peak. After this, Splinter decides to tell the turtles their origin and the reason why he trained them in martial arts in the first place. Twenty years ago, Splinter was simply a pet rat of his owner and mentor, Hamato Yoshi in Japan.Throughout the years, Splinter would observe his master practicing ninjutsu from his cage and mimic his movements. This tactic, eventually, led Splinter to gradually learn and master the art of ninjutsu. Hamato Yoshi was a part of the ninja clan known as the Foot, along with his fellow clan member and rival, Oroku Nagi. The two where shadow warriors and competed fiercely in all things ,especially, for the love of a beautiful, young woman named Tang Shen. When Shen refused Nagi's affections and chose Yoshi over him, he began to beat her up until Yoshi, who was coming to visit her, arrived and brutally killed Nagi in a blind rage. This violent act ,however, had dire consequences for Hamato Yoshi. He had only two choices, the first one was honorable suicide and the second one was to flee from Japan and start a new life. Yoshi, chose to leave Japan and along with Shen and Splinter left for New York. Meanwhile, Nagi's younger brother, Oroku Saki, wanted revenge on Hamato Yoshi for the death of his older brother. He began emeance training such that he surpassed all of the other members of the clan, including his teachers. As a result of his training, at the age of 18 he was chosen by his elders to lead the New York branch of the foot. Within only a year, the clan became the most feared criminal organization in the city, and Saki took on the persona of The Shredder. With his new identity, Shredder was able to track down Hamato Yoshi to his apartment and then he killed both him and Tang Shen. But during the fight, Splinter's cage broke open and he was freed.
He lived in the sewers, alone seeking vengeance on the Shredder. Everything changed however, when one day an old blind man was crossing the street, unaware that a truck labeled "TCRI" was coming straight for him. A young man (without fear) jumped to push the blind man out of the way, just as the truck was going sideways. During the comousion, a metal canister with a strange green liquid fell out of the van, hitting the young man in the eyes, fell to the street and hit a glass bowl containing 4 baby turtles that a kid had bought from a pet shop. Then, the weird green substance fell down the sewer along with the baby turtles. Splinter, who saw the hole incident, went down to the sewers and saw the turtles field with the mysterious ooze, cleaned them up and took care of them. Over time, Splinter and the turtles grew in size and developed spetch and human-like appearance. And thus, Splinter decided to train the turtles in the art of ninjutsu so that they can get revenge on Shredder for the deaths of both Yoshi and Shen.
After learning their origins, the turtles decide to avenge Hamato Yoshi. Splinter instructs the turtles to challenge the Shredder to a fight. Raphael running through the rooftops sending a letter to Shredder's HQ, by killing a few Foot Ninjas. The comic shifts to Oroku Saki trying to convince a client of his, Mr. McAdam for protection money. Just then, Raph's sai comes through the window and Shredder picks it up, reading Spliter's letter. As a result of this haole-ordeal, McAdam refuses Shredder's proposal and this inraiges Saki who accepts the challenge.
The following night, the Ninja Turtles arrived in a rooftop ready for their showdown with the Shredder. The Shredder arrives with a group of Foot Ninjas ready to battle the turtles. Then, the fight begins, Shredder orders his soldiers to attack the turtles. Eventually though, the turtles defeat the foot ninjas even though they are injured during the battle, all of a part of Shredder's plan to weaken the turtles. The fight between the Ninja Turtles and The Shredder. Shredder defeats Raph, Donnie and Mikey with ease but Leo was able to slice Shredder's midsection before ultimately getting defeated by Saki. Leonardo gathers his team and instructs them to use group tactics to defeat the Shredder. The turtles throw shurikens at him overpowering Shredder. Donnie chimes in hitting Shredder with his bo staff destroying his helmet. After that, Raph throughs his Sai at Shredder who duages them and Leo finds an opening stabbing Shredder with his katana at his chest. Shredder now defeated tells the turtles to finish him off, but Leonardo, being the honorable warrior he is, gives his sard to Shredder offering him the chance of an honorable death by committing seppuku (honorable suicide). Shredder ,however, (being an Ahole) refuses and decides to kill both the turtles and himself via a thermite grenade. Donatello though, throughs his staff at Shredder who falls out of balance blowing up into pieces, dieing. With the battle over and Shredder dead, the turtles decide to go home with their mission complete
.
Down in the alley, the turtles find pieces of Shredder's armor all over the place proving that he truly is dead after the fight. Having succeeded in their revenge mission, the Ninja Turtles head to the sewers, strikking hard and fading away into the night.
Turtle Tips:
*The story continues in TMNT Vol.1 #2
*The story, Old Times, which was published in Plastron Cafe #1 and created by Peter Laird, places this story in 1985 (despite of the fact that it came out in 1984)
*The leader of the Purple Dragons, Hun, won't appear until Tales of the TMNT Volume 2 #56
*At least one of the Purple Dragons the turtles fight in this issue, will reappear in Tales of the TMNT Vol.2 #57
*Oroku Nagi will reappear ,(as a ghost), in Tales of the TMNT Vol. 2 #19
*Another member of the Oroku family/Clan, the Oroku Elder, will appear in Tales of the TMNT Vol. 2 #65
*The evil Foot Clan will appear again in TMNT Vol. 1 #4
*The origin, creation and fundassion of the Foot Clan will be witnessed in TMNT Vol. 1 #47
*Tang Shen's sister, Tang Amaya -the Mistress- will appear in Tales of the TMNT Vol.2 #22
*The origin of the Mutagen/Ooze and the mystery behind TCRI will be revealed in TMNT Vol.1 #7
*The identity of the person driving the TCRI track will be revealed in Tales of the TMNT Vol.2 #23
*The fate of the kid who lost the turtles will be revisited in Turtle Soup Vol.2 #4, in the story: ''15 Years Later''
*The fate of the mutagen ooze will be revealed in the story, TMNT 2030.
*The Shredder will return in Leonardo Microseries #1
*This comic has been reprinted numerous times throughout the years:
*The first printing (May 1984) has a dedication to Jack Kirby and Frank Miller ,due to the fact that this issue was a parody of Daredevil and had many inspirations from both artist's works. It also had an ad for Gobbledygook #1 and Gobbledygook #2.
*The second (June 1984) and third printing (February 1985) have only 2 content changes to the first one: A note in the top left corner of the inside front cover mentioning the printing, and the inside back cover is changed to an ad for iron-ons.
*The fourth (September 1985), features a new cover by Eastman and Laird. The inside front cover features a unique Turtle Tracks in which Eastman and Laird interview each other. The backmatter includes five pages of art chronicling the development of the TMNT characters and premise, and an ad for iron-ons. The back inside cover features a pin-up of the Turtles, April and Splinter by Ryan Brown.
*The fifth (August/November, 1988), features a new cover by Eastman and Laird. The inside front cover features an Eastman/Laird drawing of all four Turtles pointing out the fifth printing designation. The backmatter consists of a bonus story “Not One Word!” by Eric Talbot. The back inside cover is actually the final page of that story rather than a pin-up. Also, in this printing of TMNT Volume 1 #1 Letters were done by Steve Lavigne.
*The sixth (August 1992), was released as a "Special Deluxe Edition" in both hardcover and softcover formats. This printing features a 6-page foreword by Harlan Ellison which is peppered with development sketches by Eastman and Laird. The backmatter includes 10 pages of sketches and historical artifacts (including the original Mirage Studios press release for TMNT #1). There is no content on either the front or back inside covers.
*The PBBZ reprint (May 2005), available only at the PBBZ Comic Con Small Press Fest, contained a new cover by Peter Laird and completely re-lettered and “digitally touched-up” interior pages. The front and back inside covers feature retrospectives by Peter Laird and Ralph DiBernardo. The back cover features photos of Eastman and Laird from 1984 at the time of the issue's original publication. Additionally, his edition was limited to 3,000 copies and distributed via Ralph DiBernardo's "PBBZ Comic Con Small Press Fest". Peter scanned the original inked artwork and redid the toning (and lettering) with a computer. Ralph provided the forward explaining his involvement with Kevin and Peter back when they originally released the comic in 1984.
*The PBBZ version was only ever reprinted once as a pack-in with TMNT: The Video Game (2007). This version removes all retrospective content and replaces it with ads for products based on the Imagi TMNT animated movie released that same year, an ad for TMNT Fast Forward, and a single Mirage Publishing ad for the TMNT Movie Prequel comics, TMNT Movie Adaptation, and Tales of the TMNT Vol.2 #31.
*The Free Comic Book Day reprint (May 2009), available as a give-away only at comic book stores. The inside front cover includes the Jack Kirby/Frank Miller dedication art from the original 3 printings along with new legal text. Frontmatter includes a new 2-page retrospective from Laird and Eastman. Backmatter includes an ad for Tales of the TMNT Volume 2, TMNT Adventures Future Tense trade paperback, the TMNT Adventures Forever War miniseries, the Mirage TMNT Volume One Collected Edition, TMNT digital comics via the Uclick service, and DVD sets of the 1987 Fred Wolf TMNT animated series. The back inside cover is an ad for a DVD and blu ray set of the live-action TMNT movies. This edition was also published as part of Mirage Studios' 25th Anniversary celebration. Pluss this reprint has a new cover by Peter Laird and Steve Lavigne.
*The full-color reprint (November 2009), featuring a newly colored cover and new colors of the entire issue by Steve Lavigne. The front inside cover features a foreword by Dan Berger. The back inside cover features the original dedication art to Jack Kirby and Frank Miller. This edition was published as part of Mirage Studios' 25th Anniversary celebration and features new coloring by Steve Lavigne. This is the first time that Mirage published this issue in full color.
*TMNT Color Classics #1 (May 2012) from IDW, featuring a newly colored cover and containing new colors of the entire issue by Scorpion Studios. The front inside cover is a simple credits page. The back inside cover is an ad for IDW's Ghostbusters comics. The back cover removes the original Eastman/Laird art and replaces it with an ad for IDW's Trio comics. The Color Classics series would proceed with colorized reprints of all of the TMNT Volume 1 which IDW could get the reprint rights to. They contain no original content other than the new colors and will not be cataloged here as they are otherwise not noteworthy.
*Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Works Volume 1 (May 2013
*TMNT Original # 1 Reprint 2014 Con Edition (Color Version)
*Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles # 1 Artisan Edition (HC) (July 2017)
*TMNT Color Classics Volume 1 (April 2018)
*In Other Media:
*The 1987 TV Series borrowed elements from this issue for its' first episode, ''Turtle Tracks'' (S01E01)
*The 1990 movie took elements from this comic, more specifically the first battle between the turtles and the Foot Clan (instead of the Purple Dragons) and the rooftop final battle with Shredder and the Foot.
*The 2003 TV Series had references to this specific comic in the following 5 episodes:
''Things Change'' (S01E01)
''Attack Of The Mousers'' (S01E03)
''The Shredder Strikes Parts 1&2'' (S01E10+S01E11)
''A Tale Of Master Yoshi'' (S04E22)
*The TMNT 2003 Fox Box Mini-Comic
*The 2012 TV Series used portions of the comic for the rooftop fight between the Turtles and Shredder in the episode ''The Gauntlet'' (S01E09)
*In Turtles Forever, this was Turtle Prime, the source of the TMNT multiverse.
*Portions of the text and the scenes shown in this story, as well as the banner image on the second page, were used directly for the crossover movie Turtles Forever, where the Mirage Turtles meet the 1987 and 2003 versions of themselves.
*A direct parody of this comic was released by Brad Dyver under the name Genetically Modified Punk Rock Pandas.
*At the end of the 2012 TV series opening, the Turtles did the same poses as the ones made by their Mirage counterparts in the cover of this issue.
*Leonardo's final sentence is the title of a short film from the 2017 TMNT Summer Shorts mini-series ''We Strike Hard And Fade Away Into The Night''.
*The final dedication of the second edition of the comic is in the final episode of the 2012 animated series "Carmageddon!" (S05E20), as an ending memorial with a dedication to Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.
Review:
This is where it all began! TMNT Volume 1 #1, the first piece of TMNT media ever made. Personally, I love this issue, it's great overall, an interesting, completely unique, visually appealing, and incredible self-contained story. Remember that Eastman and Laird thought that there wouldn't be a second issue and that is why Shredder is dealt with from the beginning of the Turtles' journey. The art of TMNT #1 is amazing with both of the creator's distinct styles complement each other, providing an impressive and amazing artstyle. The story is another outstanding element of this comic as well. A story about the dark and brutal cycle of violence and revenge seen by the eyes of 4 teenage turtles, it's truly tragic because of the fact that i the Mirage universe, the Turtles are essentially used as tools of vengeance by Splinter to kill Shredder. However, as demonstrated by the return of the Foot in latter issues, the cycle of revenge is inescapable. This comic, as you can already tell, is with one word-simply put, great I'd give it a 10/10 it is an amazing beginning to the story of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles all together.
*Mirage Group= https://www.miragelicensing.com/comics/mirage/volume01/01/01.html
*TMNT Pedia= https://turtlepedia.fandom.com/wiki/The_Turtles%27_Origin_is_Told
*TMNT Entity= http://tmntentity.blogspot.com/2009/05/tmnt-vol-1-1.html
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