Art by Kevin Eastman.

Kevin Eastman Peter Laird

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1984)

Paramount Global[1]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Mirage Studios) (1984–2014) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures (1988–1995) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Dreamwave Productions) (2003) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW Publishing) (2011–present)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (comic strip) (1990–1997)

List of films

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 TV series) (1987–1996) Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (1997–1998) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 TV series) (2003–2009) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 TV series) (2012–2017) Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018–2020)

Mutant Turtles: Superman Legend (1996)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness

List of video games

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures

List of characters

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an entertainment franchise created by American comic book authors Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers trained in ninjitsu who fight evil in New York City.

Eastman and Laird conceived the characters as a parody of elements popular in superhero comics at the time. In 1984, they founded Mirage Studios and self-published the first issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; it was a surprise success. They licensed the characters to Playmates Toys, who developed a line of Turtles action figures. About $1.1 billion USD of Turtles toys were sold between 1988 and 1992, making them the third-bestselling toy figures ever at the time.

The action figures were promoted with an animated series, which premiered in 1987 and ran for almost a decade. In some European regions, the word "ninja" in the name was replaced with "hero" for its violent connotations. Three live-action films were released in the 1990s; the first film became the highest-grossing independent film up to that point. In 2009, the franchise was purchased by Viacom, now Paramount Global. Viacom commissioned a new comic series, two new live-action films, and new animated series.