Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vol. 1 #1 Review (Mirage)

First Printing: May 1984
By Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird

What is there that can be said about the first issue of Ninja Turtles that hasn't already been said? Probably nothing, but I want to put my own spin on it since it's such a huge part of pop culture and Turtles history. For those who don't know, there are only 3,275 issues of this comic ever printed. Thanks to reprints and collections, the rest of us get to enjoy it. Coincidentally, if you want to get your hands on one of these comics, it's going to cost you about $3,275.

The issue opens with the Turtles cornered in a dark alley surrounded by the Purple Dragons. The dialogue is uncanny in how similar it sounds to Frank Miller's Batman or Daredevil. Leonardo gives a very dramatic inner monologue before the Turtles jump into action on a splash page. This is the most iconic image in Turtles history. Countless more images of the four Turtles drawn in action poses would be done over the years, but nothing comes close to this.

Original drawing of the Turtles

There is a quick, but brutal fight that follows the scene. The Turtles waste no time happily killing as many Purple Dragons as they can before the police show up. Happy probably isn't the word I should use, as this is not a light story. Everything is dark, gritty, and covered by shadow. Eastman and Laird's duo-shading art is the prefect style for this kind of comic.

The Turtles return home to find Splinter, who is hopeful the Turtles got into a random fight. This is the first time one of the Turtles actually says something. It takes ten pages to get something other than a hammy monologue. Splinter then explains the origins of the Turtles. Originally, Splinter was a rat located in Japan in the 60's. He knew kung-fu. This is the weirdest part of the issue for me. I'll buy that a ninja owned a rat, but that rat mimicking those movements is a little silly and breaks away from the serious tone of the issue.

Since I'm sure everyone knows the origin story, I won't go into details. It's more interesting to play "Frank Miller Connections". This is a game where you try and point out everything that was inspired/ripped off/blatantly identical to Frank Miller. The Turtles

mentor is Splinter, instead of Daredevil's being Stick. There's one. Instead of The Hand, the Turtles have The Foot. That's two. And they Turtles are apparently mutated by the same chemical that blinded Daredevil. Like the exact same canister. Yes, these things are mostly from the origin of Daredevil, but Miller's retelling at the time was huge and the influence isn't hidden, it's more celebrated.

Splinter is the most interesting character in this issue. Mostly because he's so different from later versions. Here, he's brood thirsty and pissed off. He encourages the Turtles to get into a fight so they can perfect their skills before they assassinate the Shredder. He is not the caring father figure here trying to teach the Turtles about honor and respect. Here, he's been training them for fifteen years in order to kill one guy. Splinter is very single minded.

The issue continues with more inner monologue, this time from Raphael. Not that you can really tell, since it sounds identical to Leonardo's in tone. Since this comic was only planned as one issue and done, Eastman and Laird didn't waste time with pesky things like personalities. Raphael delivers a message to the Shredder that essentially says "Meet by the flagpole at 3:00 so we can kick your ass".

The Shredder decides to show up to the Turtles school yard brawl where the Turtles finally speak again. Seriously, it's been 18 pages since Michelangelo had one line. Again, personalities took a back seat to atmosphere and exposition. The Shredder, being generally
evil, brings the Foot clan along to wear the Turtles down. After the Turtles kill everyone of the roof, they turn their attention to Shredder.

The fight on the roof is great. Action packed with a bunch of over the top lines from the Turtles and Shredder. The fight seems to end when Leonardo impaled Shredder with his sword. Hard to come back from impaling. Unless you have a thermite grenade (very ninja like). Before the Turtles can be blown up, Donatello knocks Shredder off the roof, where he explodes in the alley below. And just for good measure, in case we didn't know he was dead, Leonardo tells his brothers "It seems that the Shredder...has been Shredded!". It's ridiculous, but I love this stuff.

After striking hard, the Turtles fade away into the night. End of story. Forever. Except for a few more decades of Turtles stories in all possible mediums. Turns out musical and anime where two mediums that probably should have been avoided, but it's mostly good stuff.

5/5