Anyone growing up in the nineties will remember the Teenager Mutant Ninja Turtles; the cartoons were regularly soon on the TV in the UK. Now, the first ever artwork featuring the famous turtles is to go up for sale at an auction run by Heritage Auctions.
The black and white artwork was created in 1983 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laid and will go on auction as part of Heritage's Vintage Comics and Comic Act Auction on May 10-11. Co-creator Kevin Eastman has consigned the item which is expected to reach more than $50,000.
Commenting in a press release Eastman said:
“Peter and I were sharing a studio – our living room – in Dover, NH. One work night, in an effort to make Peter laugh, I drew a sketch of this character I called a ‘Ninja Turtle’ and threw it onto Peter's desk. He did laugh – and did a version of his own, to which I needed to take it one step further and did a pencil sketch of four different Turtles, each holding a different weapon. I gave it to Peter, who wanted to ink it in. When he did, he added ‘Teenage Mutant’ to the ‘Ninja Turtle’ part of the logo and we both fell off our chairs!”
The next day, they wrote a story about the characters. Later they would find a printer, and with a loan from an uncle they printed the first 3,000 copies; the comics would get their premiere at the Portsmouth comic convention in the US, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Barry Sandoval, Director of Operations for the Comics Department at Heritage, said:
“From that day forward, through the next 30 years and through this very day, the TMNTs have been a worldwide phenomenon, entertaining hundreds of millions of children and generating close to a billion dollars in revenues."
“There have been numerous movies, cartoons, live action shows, toys, you name it. There’s a CGI-animated show being made right now and there’s a major motion picture planned for next year. I can’t think of the last time the first artistic rendition of a major franchise has been offered for public sale. All TMNT fans have seen this piece reprinted in books and articles over the years, and I’m sure they assumed Kevin would never part with it.”
The black and white artwork was created in 1983 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laid and will go on auction as part of Heritage's Vintage Comics and Comic Act Auction on May 10-11. Co-creator Kevin Eastman has consigned the item which is expected to reach more than $50,000.
Commenting in a press release Eastman said:
“Peter and I were sharing a studio – our living room – in Dover, NH. One work night, in an effort to make Peter laugh, I drew a sketch of this character I called a ‘Ninja Turtle’ and threw it onto Peter's desk. He did laugh – and did a version of his own, to which I needed to take it one step further and did a pencil sketch of four different Turtles, each holding a different weapon. I gave it to Peter, who wanted to ink it in. When he did, he added ‘Teenage Mutant’ to the ‘Ninja Turtle’ part of the logo and we both fell off our chairs!”
The next day, they wrote a story about the characters. Later they would find a printer, and with a loan from an uncle they printed the first 3,000 copies; the comics would get their premiere at the Portsmouth comic convention in the US, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Barry Sandoval, Director of Operations for the Comics Department at Heritage, said:
“From that day forward, through the next 30 years and through this very day, the TMNTs have been a worldwide phenomenon, entertaining hundreds of millions of children and generating close to a billion dollars in revenues."
“There have been numerous movies, cartoons, live action shows, toys, you name it. There’s a CGI-animated show being made right now and there’s a major motion picture planned for next year. I can’t think of the last time the first artistic rendition of a major franchise has been offered for public sale. All TMNT fans have seen this piece reprinted in books and articles over the years, and I’m sure they assumed Kevin would never part with it.”
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