New Age Comics 1

New Age Comics 1
1985


It's tough to nail down which image of the TMNT first appeared in color in a published piece. There's certainly the back cover to this Fantagraphic's published one-shot, but without the month listed, we can't know for sure. There's also TMNT #1, 4th printing, which also appeared sometime in 1985, and TMNT #2, 3rd printing, from February 1985. The RPG TMNT & Other Strangeness (1st printing) was printed later in the year, in September. So was there a color image published prior to February 1985? The answer is yes. Stay tuned!

Amazing Heroes 73

Amazing Heroes 73
June 15, 1985

A later entry but a cool find nonetheless, this promo image features the inked art to the cover of the Raphael one-shot. Duo-Shade was typically used by the creators to shade their art to give it depth, but is noticeably absent here (similar to the Comics Buyer's Guide and Amazing Heroes 45 press release art).

Although Amazing Heroes listed many of the upcoming issues of TMNT in their Preview Specials, most of the listings typically did not feature any accompanying artwork.

Amazing Heroes 45

Amazing Heroes 45
April 15, 1984

This recently discovered gem shares the same press release image as CBG 542 along with a brief description of the then soon-to-be released 1st issue.

Comics Buyer's Guide 547

Comics Buyer's Guide 547
May 11, 1984

This full page ad, purchased with the remaining money borrowed to print the 1st issue, appeared 6 days after the Portsmouth, NH, MINI-CON, where TMNT premiered. It served Eastman and Laird well, as this fully illustrated ad garnered lots of interest from the public and comic dealers. This copy has the added bonus of being signed and sketched by both creators!

Comics Buyer's Guide 542

Comics Buyer's Guide 542
April 6, 1984

To promote their new comic book, Eastman and Laird sent press releases to various news outlets and comic magazine, or "fanzine," publishers. CBG 542 is one of the earliest known to feature the cover art from the 1st issue, as well as background information on the creators and the book itself.

Comics Buyer's Guide 544

Comics Buyer's Guide 544
April 20, 1984

This CBG contains an ad for the Portsmouth, NH, MINI-CON, which featured the premiere of Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Although there isn't an actual image of the Turtles, this ad does call out the comic by name. And the "LONG-AWAITED" refers to the Turtles earlier appearance in CBG, issue 542.

Welcome!

Welcome to my TMNT Rarities blog! I'll share some pics and background info on some of the hardest to find TMNT print pieces from my collection. Stay tuned!

Pete