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Ghosts of Comics’ Past: May in Comic History – TMNT, literacy, and more

By | May 1st, 2023
Posted in Columns | % Comments

Multiversity’s history column is back with another batch of events from the annals of comic history. Since today is May 1st, the theme for the four entries will be “May.” We’ll start 39 years ago with the creation of the TMNT…

May 1984
In 1983, comic fans Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird were rooming together in New Hampshire. Eastman, 21, was working in a restaurant and trying to find a publisher who liked his portfolio. Laird, 29, was earning a living doing illustrations for the local newspaper and hoping to transition to comic books. One night, while trying to amuse themselves by drawing funny sketches, Eastman drew a turtle standing up with a mask and nunchukas. He called it a ninja turtle, and Laird added “teenage mutant” to the label.

The concept tickled them, and they expanded it over the next few months. Most of the backstory was riffing on Frank Miller’s recently concluded run of “Daredevil,” which introduced The Hand, a ninja warrior group. Other elements came from DC’s “Teen Titans” and Marvel’s “X-Men” and “New Mutants.” By the end of the year, Laird and Eastman had enough confidence in their project to commit real money to it in a self-publishing venture. Through a combination of tax return money and a small loan from an uncle of Eastman’s, they created Mirage Studios (because the studio wasn’t real, get it?).

Considering their luck breaking into the comic industry so far, they didn’t bother submitting “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” to distributors. Retailers were unlikely to take a risk on an unknown black and white comic priced at $1.50, double the standard price of a full-color comic from DC or Marvel. Instead, Eastman and Laird chose to sell it direct to readers through mail order. They paid for an ambitious print run of 3000 and used the left over funds to place an ad in the April issues of “Comics Buyer’s Guide,” the long-running weekly newspaper for comic fans, with intent to start filling orders in May.

For whatever reason, readers went nuts over it. They asked their local retailers to get a copy for them, so the retailers called their distributors, and the distributors called the phone number in the ad. They quickly sold through the 3000 and used their revenue to pay for a second printing of 6000 in June. The limited numbers made the book even more exciting to fans, and things really got crazy. Somehow, maybe because of the oddball name, the United Press International wire service picked up the first issue news and spread it outside of fan circles. Suddenly, the same high cover price that made retailers nervous about an unknown property was now delivering them double the regular profit per item, and the low supply meant they could charge more than cover and still sell it! “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” became an instant gold mine, and orders for the third issue were 55,000 because no one wanted to miss out.

With the prospect of money, rampant speculation began. Retailer Mike Richardson (soon-to-be founder of Dark Horse) called Second Genesis, his distributor, demanding they offer every black-and-white small press title available. After seeing the product, however, Richardson quickly realized how much of of was garbage and called back within weeks, asking them to please drop all of them. Others weren’t as discriminating, and by 1986 print runs for independent books were ten times higher than their 1984 levels. There was an influx of untalented entrepreneurs, along with a proliferation of new comics with titles that were 3 adjectives and a noun.

Some of the new publishers who appeared during this time – Dark Horse, Malibu, SLG – got an early boost from the independent boom and produced some good stuff, but there was never a repeat of the “TMNT” phenomenon. The boom turned to bust in 1987 when independent sales fell 25% across the board as readers and speculators moved on to other things.

May 1, 1989
Kate & Allie was a 1980s sitcom about two divorced moms sharing a living space as they went through all the typical TV drama/comedy of raising children. In the sixth season, Kate was being romantically pursued by Lou, their apartment’s superintendent. In the May 1, 1989 episode, Kate discovers that Lou is illiterate. She proceeds to teach him to read, and comic books are held up as a good aid for learning. The episode was endorsed by first lady Barbara Bush, who used her position to fight illiteracy.

This wholesome message was seized upon by crusaders who remembered comics being the cause of juvenile delinquency. The episode ended up being the most controversial one of the series, which is saying something for a 1980s sitcom that had two divorced women pretending to be lesbians to avoid higher rent. Worried about what this might do to children, the anti-comics crowd sent 150 hate letters to Frederick Koehler, the 14 year old actor who played Allie’s son. In September 1989, Koehler wrote about the experience for “Comics Buyer’s Guide.”


//TAGS | Ghosts of Comics' Past

Drew Bradley

Drew Bradley is a long time comic reader whose past contributions to Multiversity include annotations for "MIND MGMT", the Small Press Spotlight, Lettering Week, and Variant Coverage. He currently writes about the history of comic comic industry. Feel free to email him about these things, or any other comic related topic.

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