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The Legend Who Helped Inspire the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Is Officially Part of Their Jam-Packed Anniversary Celebration
Frank Miller, the acclaimed comic book writer-artist whose work helped inspire the creation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, is contributing a cover to the franchise for the first time, as part of publisher IDW's celebration of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #300. The milestone issue also features covers from J. Scott Campbell, Stan Sakai, Giuseppe Camuncoli, and TMNT creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, marking a significant moment for a series that has grown into a multimedia empire since its origins as a parody of 1980s comics.
Miller's gritty, noir-style work on titles such as Daredevil and Sin City directly shaped the Turtles' original concept, with creators Eastman and Laird building the characters as a send-up of Daredevil's origin story and mythology. Beyond the covers, the issue's main story by Gene Luen Yang and Freddie Williams III sees the Turtles battling villain Baxter Stockman, while a back-up story by Tom Waltz, Eastman and several artists reintroduces "Timestress" character Renet, first seen in 1986, to take readers through the franchise's history. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #300 is on sale now.
In short
- Frank Miller draws his first TMNT cover for issue #300
- Miller's Daredevil work originally inspired the Turtles' concept
- Issue also features new Stockman story and Renet history back-up
Explained simply
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles began in 1984 as an independent comic by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. The four turtle heroes and their adventures drew on, and made fun of, popular comics of the time, including Frank Miller’s darker Daredevil stories.
The characters have since appeared in comics, films, television and games. IDW publishes the current comic series, whose 300th issue brings together work by several artists and writers, including Miller, who is contributing a cover for the first time.
The milestone reflects how a small comic-book parody became a long-running franchise. The issue also looks back at the series’ history through a story featuring Renet, a character introduced in 1986.