CGC Registry Featured Set: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Posted on 2/1/2023
Before they were a hit Saturday morning cartoon for kids, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were first introduced in comics as a dark, noir team of mutant vigilantes. CGC Registry member pubmonkey has four early issues of the original series in a radical CGC 9.8 grade! CGC has certified thousands of the first edition versions of these four books combined, and none has graded higher than CGC 9.8.
 |
 |
| Click images to enlarge. | |
Created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were first published as a violent black-and-white comic book at Eastman and Laird’s own Mirage Studios (from their living room) in 1984. The series was created as a parody of contemporary superhero comic books and introduced four turtle brothers — Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo — who live secretly in the sewers with their rodent sensei Splinter. The comic was a huge success as copies flew off the stands. Each issue sold more than the last and Mirage Studios began to grow.
The comic was licensed to Playmates, who altered the tone of the noir story to a more child-friendly concept to sell their line of toys and an animated series in 1987. The rebrand was a huge success, but Eastman and Laird weren’t always thrilled with the changes, and they decided to keep producing their own black-and-white Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book for mature audiences at Mirage Studios.
As the years went on, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were everywhere — from a breakfast cereal to appearing on Oprah. They starred in many video games, new cartoons and several movies — both animated and live-action. In 2009, the rights were officially sold to Viacom (Nickelodeon), and the comics are still published at IDW Publishing.
But those original issues of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are still popular with fans and collectors. A copy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 graded CGC 9.8 was sold by Goldin Auctions for $264,000 in February 2022. Only 35 copies exist in CGC grade Universal 9.8 (along with 1 graded CGC Qualified 9.8 and 6 graded CGC Signature Series 9.8). Because of the oversized print of the comic, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series is graded as a magazine by CGC Comics and encased in an oversized magazine holder.
Registry member pubmonkey has issue #1 in Universal 9.8 grade in their Py Turtles 1-4 collection, as well as issue #3 in Universal 9.8 grade; issues #2 and #4 (second print) are both CGC Signature Series books signed by Eastman. These books helped win the collection the Best in Set Type Award from 2012-2015 and again in 2020.
About the CGC Comics Registry
The CGC Comics Registry is a place where comic book collectors come together to share their collections and knowledge with one another. It's a valuable resource for new collectors and experienced fans alike, with a wide range of collections on display. To participate, all you need is a free CGC Collectors account. The group is an online community developed to increase the choices, convenience and education available to collectors.
The CGC Registry has grown to over 95,000 registered sets in the last year! There are now more than 575,000 books registered and it is thrilling to see the steady, continued growth of the CGC Registry. To learn more about how to navigate the CGC Registry, click here.
Related Links:
Stay Informed
Want news like this delivered to your inbox once a month? Subscribe to the free CGC eNewsletter today!