Welcome to the First Appearance & Key Issues List! With so many comic book character first appearances, Key Comic Books and more it’s tough to know “what’s what” beyond the well established comic key issues exists. The Keys and First Appearances list will serve as a comic book resource tool to help comic hunters on the go who need a comic book first appearance list.
This week, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Comic Books Resource.
THE MIRAGE YEARS
Gobbledygook 1 & 2 : The first printed image of the Turtles, while it used to be a hot debate, it is now a quagmire of confusion, see notes at the bottom for the results of Paul W’s research.
TMNT 1 :
1st Appearance of Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michaelangelo as well as Splinter, the Shredder, the Foot Clan, Hamato Yoshi, Tang Shen, Oroku Nagi and Chester Manley.
Arguably the most important comic printed since 1974, there are 3 printings of the “Original Oversize Style” cover, with the 4th and later printings being alternate cover art as well as “normal comics” size.
TMNT 2 : 1st Appearance of April O’neil, Baxter Stockman and Mousers.
TMNT 3 : 1st Utroms
TMNT #5 : 1st Commander Mozar
TMNT 6 : 1st Zog, Zanramon, Monza Ram
TMNT 8 : 1st Renet, Savanti Romero, Lord Simultaneous
TMNT 18 : 1st Warrior Dragon
TMNT 49 : 1st Robyn O’neil
TMNT 53/54 : 1st Karai / 1st Full Karai.
TMNT 58 : 1st Shadow
TMNT #4(1994) : 1st The Bog
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #9 : 1st Mr Braunze
Fugitoid #1 : 1st Fugitoid
Raphael #1 : 1st Casey Jones
Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #4 (Mini): 1st Rat King
Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #5: 1st Complete Carnage, Radical
Tales of the TMNT 6(Mini) : 1st Leatherhead
Tales of the TMNT #61 : 1st John Bishop
TMNT ADVENTURES:
TMNT ADVENTURES #1 (Mini) : 1st Bebop / Rocksteady / Krang
TMNT ADVENTURES #2(Mini) : 1st Traag
TMNT ADVENTURES #5 : 1st Ray Filet
TMNT ADVENTURES #7 : 1st Ace Duck, Cudley Cowlick, Cryin Hound & Trap
TMNT ADVENTURES 8 : 1st Wingnut
TMNT ADVENTURES 12 : 1st Maligna, Malignoids, Scul & Bean
TMNT ADVENTURES #14 : 1st Jagwar, Juntara
TMNT ADVENTURES #15 : 1st Mr Null, Dreadmon, Kid Terra
TMNT ADVENTURES #18 : 1st Mondo Gecko, Candy Fine
TMNT ADVENTURES #23 : 1st Slash
TMNT ADVENTURES #28 : 1st Ninjara, Oyuki Mamisha, Chien Khan
TMNT ADVENTURES 33 : 1st Catmandu
TMNT ADVENTURES #35 : 1st Verminator X, Al-Fal Que’
TMNT ADVENTURES SPECIAL #11 : 1st Mei Pieh Chi(First female turtle)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutant Universe Sourcebook #3 : 1st Dead Eye, Lynch, Golani, Kid Cortex, Sarnath, Toxzeem and many more 1-4 appearance characters.
IDW :
Keep in mind, most issues have cover A, B(or sub) and an incentive, some have Retailer Exclusive(Store Variants) as well.
SDCC Ashcan : 1st Old Hob
TMNT 11: 1st Purple Dragons >> Chun, Link, Malo
TMNT 14 1st Quanin
TMNT 25: 1st Koya, 1st Xiang Fei Tong
TMNT 34: 1st Metal Head, 1st Pigeon Pete in comics(TMNT Animated Book Vol 2 is 1st appearance)
TMNT 37 : 1st Bludgeon
TMNT 38 : 1st Herman the Hermit Crab
TMNT 51 1st Jennika, Maze, Turk, Jammer
TMNT 56: 1st “modern” Leatherhead
TMNT 95 : 1st Jennika as a ninja turtle
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Secret History of the Foot Clan #1 : 1st Kitsune
TMNT Turtles in Time 1 : 1st Peperoni
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe #1: 1st Zodi
TMNT Universe #9 : 1st Toad Baron
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe #19: 1st Krisa
OTHER ISSUES OF NOTE :
TMNT 1: 1st Pimiko
TMNT 2 DW : 1st Ch’Rell
TMNT #3 DW : 1st Hun
THE RAREST TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES COMIC BOOK
TURTLEMANIA SPECIAL : A one shot printed 1986 by the owner of Metropolis Comics with unpublished art and preview material from Eastman, Laird and Bob Burdon. The regular “white version” is common though there were 2 other versions produced.
Turtlemania Special #1 Gold Sketched Edition (special collector’s edition) Only 10 Printed, each has a hand drawn sketch and is numbered. The first five sketches are by Eastman, 6-10 are Laird.
Turtlemania Special #1 Silver Edition signed by Eastman and Laird(not sure on print run, extremely rare though).
More about Gobbledygook: If you had sent in a copy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 to CGC Comics for grading prior to 2004, you might have been surprised when you received the book back to find that it was not credited with the first appearance of the turtles on the label. That’s because prior to 2004, Gobbledygook #1 was credited industry-wide (both at CGC and in the various price guides) as containing that key first appearance. Yet CGC had never been sent any original copies for grading, and throughout the industry people would swear they had never even seen one or only seen a photocopy. But Mirage cleared up the confusion, explaining that Gobbledygook was not actually a printed comic book; instead, it was made on a xerox copier and stapled together by hand. That’s not to say that original copies aren’t very highly collectible… but they are still just (literally) xerox copies, not an actual comic book with a printing date. That means anybody with an original copy, a photocopier, and some vintage 1984 paper could churn out forgeries today that would be indistinguishable from the original photocopies (given the frighteningly high level of forgeries of TMNT #1 as I will discuss further, collectors should likewise be extremely wary of shelling out big bucks for Gobbledygook; I don’t know how even a professional grader could realistically certify what is a true original copy). So in 2004, the industry changed over to recognizing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 as containing the first appearance of Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello, Splinter, and Shredder. Trivia: Michelangelo’s name was originally misspelled.
“There are numerous forgeries of the first printing out there! The bogus copies are easy to spot because the interior pages were printed on stark white paper, not the off-white newsprint of the originals.
Another forgery trick is to take legitimate copies of the second or third printings and bleach out the printing notation text to make them appear to be first printings.
Second and third printings are labeled as such on the top left corner of the inside front cover directly beneath the “Special thanks to Quentin Eastman” text (there is no printing notation on first printings).
Also of note: The inside back cover of first printings features an ad for the two “Gobbledygook” zines. The inside back cover of second and third printings features an ad for TMNT t-shirt iron-ons. Also of note is that the address for Mirage Studios changed from Dover, NH to Sharon, CT on the indicia of the third printings.” -PAUL “PDUBS” W.
TURTLEMANIA SPECIAL : A one shot printed 1986 by the owner of Metropolis Comics with unpublished art and preview material from Eastman, Laird and Bob Burdon. The regular “white version” is common though there were 2 other versions produced.
Turtlemania Special #1 Gold Sketched Edition (special collector’s edition) Only 10 Printed, each has a hand drawn sketch and is numbered. The first five sketches are by Eastman, 6-10 are Laird.
Turtlemania Special #1 Silver Edition signed by Eastman and Laird(not sure on print run, extremely rare though).
