Ah, the Turtles... I can pull out my nerd card on this one and nearly guarantee I was a huge TMNT fan before ANYONE else was-- and probably the first kid to dress as one for Halloween (about a year or two before the cartoon, believe it or not). Yes, I was a Turtlemaniac for ages... and suddenly it was... COOL?

I was young-- 8 or 9, and I came across a weird comic book on the stands at my local comic shop (which my dad ran at the time)... Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I simply HAD to pick it up. Human-sized, butt-kicking turtles?! Count me in!

Growing up the oldest of four boys, we gravitated to the tales of the TMNT pretty easily. I chose Leonardo as my favorite-- his natural leadership skills and eye for teamwork seemed a natural fit. We'd play turtles for hours on end-- and when the action figures came out? We played even longer. We LIVED and breathed ninja turtles... as did every other kid our age.

I'm really glad they have found a niche outside of a fad in the current marketplace, too. I haven't read a TMNT comic in years, but I still flip through them and watch the new cartoon every now and then. Fun stuff!

Drew this piece in a couple hours-- I literally threw all the pieces together on this one. April was an afterthought, having been tossed into the mix at the last minute. Hope you all enjoy!

All the pieces in this sketch series are available for sale, by the way. Contact me ( [link] ) if you're interested and we'll make great things happen.


- jeremy