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| Ronin #1
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Ronin 1 Signature
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8.0
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Frank Miller's Ronin #1
Signed by Frank Miller
For the uninitiated, TMNT was meant to be a parody comic that drew heavily on the creators who inspired Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird as artists. After all, the very first issue is dedicated to none other than Jack Kirby and Frank Miller. If you were looking for examples of the similarities, you need look no further than the cover. The art style and color palette for the cover to TMNT #1 was lifted directly from this very book, released less than a year before TMNT hit the stands for the first time.
While not technically an homage to the TMNT, this book clearly has a place in this set.
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| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 1 #50 |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 50
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9.8
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This cover features co-creator Peter Laird's take on Kevin's original cover. With a publication date of 1992, this was the first time this artwork was used for a cover, but it would be far from the last.
First Printing: August, 1992
NUMBER OF STORY PAGES: 40
COVER:..........Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird
WRITERS:......Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
PENCILERS:.Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
INKING:...........Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
LETTERS:...... Mary Kelleher
NOTES:
"City at War" Part 1
What’s not to like about this issue? It the first time Eastman and Laird have done the art and story for the TMNT title since the end of “Return to New York” (issue 21). It has Laird’s interpretation of Eastman’s iconic TMNT #1 cover. It brings the Turtles back to the gritty roots that made fans fall in love in the early issues. It’s the beginning of a 13-part story that remains highly revered in the eyes of the fans. And if all that weren’t enough, it even has some great pin-ups in the back including one by none other than Todd McFarlane. This issue has it all. This first volume of TMNT is loaded with guest artists and writers. The stories are usually 1-3 issues long and some are more memorable than others, but City At War brought it all back to the humble New York beginnings and this issue started off a story that fans still talk about now.
SOURCE:
I bought this from a fellow CGC board member. Thanks, Jesse!
SYNOPSIS:
This issue lays the ground work for the 13 part story in the typical artistic Eastman and Laird fashion, utilizing the theme of shards - both literally and metaphorical.
Much of what goes on in this issue occurs simultaneously - revealing only fragments of everyone's lives. Hence, this synopsis will be fragmented as well, to maintain the theme. :)
Splinter meditates in the woods of Northampton.
A Foot soldier plants a bomb in a New York City pornography shop.
An old man gets back to his ragged apartment, above the porno shop, and begins to watch the world news, which is filled with depressing stories.
Casey Jones is packing his bags. As he picks up a photograph of himself with April and the Turtles, he focuses his view onto O'Neil and then throws the picture angrily against the wall, breaking the glass of the frame.
April is startled awake. She's seated at an airport waiting area.
The Turtles prepare to leave Casey's farm in Northampton, Massachusetts.
April boards her flight to Los Angeles.
Casey finishes packing, but before he leaves, he picks up the broken frame and retrieves the photo.
The old man in the apartment eats his dinner as he watches the news.
Everyone is feeling isolated, upset and unhappy.
Cut to New York City, where we see a gang of Foot Soldiers beneath a bridge. As one advances, he is quickly slain by a Foot Elite who appears out of nowhere. The Elite proceeds to kill all of the remaining Foot, hunting the last one who flees to the City's rooftops. The retreating Soldier slips on the ledge of building, but is saved by the Elite. As the underling pleads for his life, the Elite beheads him with his own blade.
Casey fires up his Chevy and heads out.
April's flight lifts off.
The TMNT stow away on the roof of a bus, making their way back to the Big Apple.
Splinter continues his meditation.
The old man continues to watch the television, growing more morose as the news of the world appears to get more grim.
The bomb in the porno shop explodes, sending shards of metal, stone, glass and humanity into the night sky.
Splinter continues to meditate.
Continued in TMNT #51.
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| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 3 Trade Paperback |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Trade Paperback nn Qualified
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8.0
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Frank Fosco gives us his take on Eastman's original cover on the first and only collected edition from the Image run of TMNT (Volume 3). Due to a low print run, this book tends to be pretty tough to find.
Cover: Frank Fosco & Erik Larsen
Writer: Gary Carlson
Penciler: Frank Fosco
Inkers: Andrew Pepoy, Erik Larsen and Chance Wolf
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
First Printing: 1997
Number of story pages: 100
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| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles PBBZ Exclusive Reprint |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 Signature
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9.8
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Here is the "remastered" linework from Peter Laird's take on Kevin's original cover first seen as the cover to Volume 1 #50. A few details about the artwork can be found on the Mirage website (pasted below).
Additionally, this cover was used as the Jetpack Comics exclusive variant cover to the TMNT #50 Treasury Edition released in 2014. As Treasuries cannot be graded by CGC, this book can't officially have its own slot in this set, but it belongs in the collection nonetheless. This book was limited to 250 copies.
PBBZ Reprint: May, 2005
Number of Story Pages: 40
Cover: Peter Laird
Writers: Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
Pencilers: Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
Inking/Toning: Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
Letters: Peter Laird
NOTE: This 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.
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| TMNT Sneak Peek (2007 Movie Promotion) |
TMNT Sneak Peek nn Signature
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9.8
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This book placed the 2007 movie version of the TMNT into the classic poses of the original 80's comic. This book served as a promotional item for the movie.
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| TMNT Sneak Peek San Diego Comic Con Exclusive (2007 Movie Promotion) |
TMNT Sneak Peek nn Signature
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8.0
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This book placed the 2007 movie version of the TMNT into the classic poses of the original 80's comic. This book served as a promotional item for the movie.
The cover art is the same as the other sneak peek, but one was handed out at San Diego Comic Con and the only real difference between the two are the words under "Sneak Peek" on the cover.
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| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 GameStop Promotional Variant |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 Signature
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9.6
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This variant was a promotional comic book available at GameStop. It was given to people who pre-ordered 2007's TMNT movie tie-in video game. As the game wasn't terribly popular, is pre-order exclusive can be pretty tough to find.
This particular issue was signed on the cover by TMNT co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird and it was signed on the interior by the movie's director, Kevin Munroe.
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| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 Free Comic Book Day Edition |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 Signature
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9.8
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Free Comic Book Day TMNT #1: May, 2009
NUMBER OF STORY PAGES: 40
COVER:..........Kevin Eastman
WRITERS:......Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
PENCILERS:.Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
INKING:...........Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
LETTERS:......Kevin Eastman
NOTE:
This reprint was published as part of Mirage Studios' 25th Anniversary celebration. This is the last book Mirage ever put out for Free Comic Book Day as later that year, Peter Laird sold the TMNT property to Nickelodeon and Mirage started to close their doors. Definitely sad news for a fan.
SOURCE:
I picked this copy up from a CGC board member.
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| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Color Special #1 |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Color Special 1 Signature
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9.8
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TMNT Full Color #1: November, 2009
Number of Story Pages: 40
Cover: Peter Laird and Steve Lavigne
Writers: Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
Pencilers: Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
Inking: Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
Letters: Kevin Eastman
Colors: Steve Lavigne
NOTE: 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.
This is the very last comic book that was Published by Mirage Studios before Peter Laird sold the TMNT property to Nickelodeon.
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| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Color Special #1 Error Edition |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Color Special 1
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9.8
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Reprint: November 2009
NUMBER OF STORY PAGES: 40
COVER:.........Peter Laird & Steve Lavigne
STORY:..........Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
PENCILS:.....Kevin Eastman & Laird
INKING:.........Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
TONING: ......Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
LETTERS:.....Kevin Eastman
COLORS:......Steve Lavigne
NOTES:
This reprint came out in November of 2009, one month after the sale of the TMNT property to Nickelodeon was announced. It reprints the first issue in full color and it features a remastered version of the cover originally used on TMNT #50. This "error" version has a strange grid pattern in the margins of 8 interior pages. The error didn't affect the story or art, but the books were corrected and reprinted anyway. These error versions were then sold off on the Mirage website for $1 each.
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| IDW Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 Jetpack Comics Variant |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1
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9.8
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This is a variant for the first issue of the IDW TMNT series exclusively for Jetpack Comics in New England. It uses Peter's rendition of the #1 cover washed in red similar to the original 1984 cover.
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| IDW Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 Jetpack Comics Variant |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 Signature
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9.8
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The original version of this book was released as a store-exclusive variant cover for Jetpack Comics for IDW's TMNT series. When the first shipment arrived, there was a notable printing error...namely the red wash looked way more orange than red. There are 400 of these error versions. I've copy/pasted Jetpack Comics' recounting of the events that led to the discovery of this error:
The rumors are true! Yes, it really does exist! Once again there is another error edition of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Here's the story!
As you probably know we have a very long and close history with Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird (don't make me tell you who they are). Peter once published a piece, in the PBBZ TMNT #1 edition, that has a brief outline of that history! Being a very small part of Turtle Lore is something we cling to reverently! Our association with them is an honor to us!
When IDW publishing announced that they would be printing the Turtles again we were psyched because we already had a great working relationship with IDW, having produced numerous other variants with them (many of them being from another NH resident - ie Joe Hill, Locke & Key, The Cape). As we started to formulate our plan, for our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Exclusives, we wanted to produce something that paid homage to Peter and Kevin. Something that was more historical than modernized. The book would already be the modern take on the classic! We wanted to remind everyone of the Turtle’s roots!
The first issue was easy. Peter had already created a piece that was a duplicate of the original TMNT #1, but in his own style! It was the perfect piece for the Jetpack Comics first issue. Of course we wouldn’t be able to continue to find images that directly matched up to the original series (are there even going to be Mousers in the new series?) and getting images through the Turtle licensing people would be a hurdle all it’s own! From there it was a matter of us scouring every TMNT resource we could in an effort to locate images that were deserving of being a cover, but had never been used as one. Of course they had to be classic art and not modern! CLASSIC style is what led us to the unique color schemes you see on our covers.
The original Turtles 1 through 4 & Raphael were all created using very unique coloring and shading styles ,and the printing process was a whole other animal. Two plus decades later computers have taken over the world. The processes of days passed are no longer used. We explained to IDW that we wanted to have the colors on our covers mimic the colors & coloring style of the originals. It was the best homage we could come up. With little effort (because they are a skillful bunch) IDW was able to present us a coloring style that was reminiscent of those original books. We could not have been happier.
The day the Jetpack Comics TMNT #1 arrived was awesome! A van full of new comics and cases upon cases of the Jetpack Edition as well as multiple cases of the regular edition! Orders had been spectacular for the book. Staff was ready to start packing and shipping the hundreds of orders we had received for our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1. This was our most successful variant before it even arrived at our door! By day 2 TMNT became our best selling comic of all time!
As we cracked the cases of books we noticed some very glaring and distinct flaws. The most prevalent was that about every 5th issue had a staple that was not folded. It might sound petty but after being stabbed several times we figured out what the problem was and saw that it created a problem of it’s own. The unfolded staple caused a protruding mark in the front and back cover of the book with the unfolded staple. This, in turn, rubbed ink off the book on top of it and under it. So every one of these mis-stapled books there were damages to 2 others. When all was said and done we estimated about 20% of our print run was damaged
It is important that people keep in mind that publishers and printers do not create collectibles. Publishers and printers create for us a form of entertainment. It is the collector and buyer that drive the market for mint condition comics. Supply and demand. The publishers and printers make no claim to provide us all MINT condition comics. Their jobs are to produce the product and put it to paper. Comic books go through a long process and lots of hands before we all get them. Mistakes and problems happen. That is what makes a graded 10.0 comic worth so much. They are few and far between.
Being friends with IDW we wanted to inform them of the problem. We made it clear that we were not looking for replacement copies. We simply wanted IDW to be aware and to work with their printer to provide the best possible product they could. It would be too easy to shake down a publisher every time there was a little issue with a print run. There is no way we would damage our relationship with our publishing partners over not perfect comics. There’s an old adage about not being able to fix a problem you are not aware of. We were looking to make IDW and the printer aware of a problem.
A few days later we got an email from IDW thanking us for informing them of the problem. They were going to address it with the printer. A few days after that IDW let us know that the printer was going to go back to press and replace the damaged copies. That is generally unheard of in printing. Firing up a massive printer to churn out 400 books is more work for the printer than the cost of printing those 400 books. Printers depend on volume of print run to make printing a profitable business. We were impressed that IDW and the printer thought enough of us to do this. Of course producing such a small quantity on machines designed to produce 100 to 1000 times that quantity would be problematic on it’s own, but who knew at the time!
In an effort to get the newly printed books directly to us, the printer had them air freighted half way around the world. We were very excited when the 2 boxes arrived but it was noticeable that such a long, fast trip had been hard on the boxes. Blunted corners & edges of the boxes could only mean similar damage to comics inside. The one group LEAST interested in the condition of any product is the package carrier. Proper packing falls on the person doing the shipping. The carrier just delivers. Of course the damaged boxes were no big deal to us. We hadn’t even requested replacements and the fact that everyone had worked so hard and fast to provide us something we didn’t expect was testament enough to the professionalism of the companies involved. Damaged or not, it didn’t matter to us.
Then we opened the boxes. At first it appeared to be a trick of the light. Literally hundreds of florescent lights brighten our store so sometimes things appear off at first glance. Upon further inspection we found it was not so, in this case. Given the fast and short print run there was not enough time to do a full color check. What should have been dark red had been printed in orange! Four Hundred copies of the Jetpack Comics Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 in a distinct color scheme. We’ve provided a side by side below.
So, for the third time, and the second time on a first issue, there was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles error edition.
The first was with issue #3 of the original series. Kevin and Peter were coming back to NH to set up a show (run by me) and then heading to New York City for another show. TMNT #3 was at the printer, but at the time & through the process they were using, the cover had to be run through the printer twice to get the 2 color tones to print. Kevin and Peter had the printer bind about 350 copies of the book, with the one color on the cover, so they would have product for the 2 shows. You can find this listed in the Overstreet price guide. The TMNT #3 variant is one of the most sought after TMNT comics ever.
For the 25th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage studios produced a color edition of the very first issue, with an all new cover. The same cover used for the PBBZ edition but inked and in color (of course we prefer the raw pencils to the inked version – the pencils are so tight). With in days of it shipping to comic shops it was recalled “to be destroyed” by Mirage Studios. There was an error in the book. While we’ve never had an actual confirmation on what that error was, the noticeable difference between the recalled and the regular color edition #1 is that all the type inside the front cover is in bold, making it very hard to read. This recalled edition sells for $70 or more! There is no confirmation on what the print run was, the qty destroyed or the print run of the corrected edition!
And now there is The Jetpack Comics * Orange * error edition! Only 400 of these were printed. We do not believe that a single one of them are mint. We are offering them on a first come basis in three different conditions. Sadly we can’t offer them in a numerical grade of condition. We are offering them based on the amount of time we will spend sorting through them. Since the news broke for this we’ve had dozens of emails and requests. The quantity of them that people want (including offers to but the whole print run) far exceeds the quantity we have available.
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| IDW Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Color Classics #1 |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Color Classics 1 Signature
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9.4
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IDW released a "Color Classics" line of reprints. These books reprinted the original Volume 1 comics with brand new colors. For the covers, they used the linework from the original covers and added new colors to them. This cover features Eastman's original linework with brand new colors.
This particular copy was signed by the cast of the 2012 cartoon show. It has:
Jason Biggs - Leonardo
Sean Astin - Raphael
Greg Cipes - Michelangelo
Rob Paulsen - Donatello
Mae Whitman - April
Kevin Michael Richard - Shredder
Hoon Lee - Splinter
Ciro Nieli - Art Director
Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird - TMNT co-creators
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| IDW Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Color Classics #1 |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Color Classics 1
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9.8
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This is a store-exclusive Variant cover to TMNT Color Classics #1 made for Jetpack Comics. Like the regular edition, it uses the linework from the original cover. However, while the regular edition added color to the original linework, this variant took away all the color, including the original red color normally associated with it.
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| IDW Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #12 |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 12 Signature
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9.8
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| IDW Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 Special Edition |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 Signature
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9.8
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This is a promotional giveaway created for Target and Playmates to promote the new TMNT toyline that would accompany the 2012 Nickelodeon cartoon. The book is mini-sized and doesn't contain an original story, rather it has sneak peeks of upcoming release from both the show and the toyline.
The cover took the standard figures from the Playmates toyline and posed them in the classic pose from the 1984 cover. Upon close inspection of the cover, you can see some odd things. For example, Mikey is sporting Donatello's torso as evidenced by the shoulder strap and the staff holder (maybe paying homage that Mikey DID sport a shoulder strap on the original cover). Raphael's torso is replaced with Leonardo's, Leo's is replaced with Mikey's and Don's right arm needed to be broken in order to pose him properly. There may be more...let me know if you find anything else.
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| IDW Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #33 Retailer Incentive Edition |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 33 Signature
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9.8
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This is another exclusive cover made for Jetpack Comics. The cover features Laird's take on the original 1984 cover as first seen on TMNT #50 (although the colors have been adjusted here) within an IDW frame.
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