If the names Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo mean something to you — and not in the context of the great artists of the renaissance — you’re probably familiar with the cartoon phenomenon known as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
What you might not know is that the story got its start right here in New Hampshire.
Ralph DiBernardo owns Jet Pack Comic Book store in Rochester. But he started selling comics decades ago, on a much smaller scale.
“In the late 70s, early 80s, I was still in high school,” DiBernardo said. “I used to sell comic books at a flea market that used to be in Newington. Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird were customers of mine. They lived in Dover, so they would come and buy comic books from me every Sunday.”
One day, DiBernardo recalled, those two young customers brought him their own comic book. It was a spoof of the popular Daredevil comics, which are about a man who gains superpowers and studies martial arts after being exposed to radioactive waste. But the stars in Eastman and Laird’s story were turtles.
“They asked me if I would buy some because they needed to pay their uncle back the money they borrowed to print them,” DiBernardo said.
DiBernardo wasn’t sure the comics were going to be a hit, but he said he bought 500 copies as a favor. Sales were slow, so he used them in advertisements or as comic strips in local newspapers like Foster's Daily Democrat, Portsmouth Herald and others.
“Had I been smart enough to even keep one of them, I could have paid for my house,” DiBernardo said.
You could say they were a hit. Laird and Eastman eventually launched a popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV show, toys and even a few movies — plus their own comic studio, Mirage Studios.
Today, DiBernardo estimates that those original comics he got rid of could sell for as much as $250,000 dollars, in the right condition.
Eric Talbot was an original artist for the turtles comic books, and he did a bit of everything: penciling, inking, production and covers. He came to New Hampshire recently, to celebrate free comic book day at DiBernardo’s store in Rochester.
Looking back on the early days of Mirage Studios, he said he could have never predicted how the turtles would take off.
“We were all so young that we just all grew together. We all kind of fed off each other and it was kind of a cool experience in that way,” Talbot said. “I don't think you find that in the comics industry anywhere else. It's kind of neat, especially something that went on to become so big and so well known.”
Now, one local turtles fan is working to honor their connection to New Hampshire.
James Lane, who lives in Dover, said he got the idea while he was walking his dog in the neighborhood where Laird and Eastman’s home used to stand, at 28 Union St.
“When I learned that it started here in Dover and really near my home, I got excited about that,” he said. “ [I] was disappointed to see not only that the building was gone, but there wasn't anything recognizing the spot at all.”
Lane got the OK from city officials to move ahead with a marker. They talked through a few different options but eventually settled on a manhole cover that would display all of the cartoon turtles’ faces — which is appropriate, since in the comics, when the turtles aren’t eating pizza or fighting crime, they live in the sewers beneath New York City.
Once finalized, Lane said, the manhole cover will look functional and will include historical marker information.
Dover’s not the only place that’s tried to cement its ties to the turtles. Northampton, Massachusetts, where the creators eventually moved their company, set aside $20,000 in federal pandemic relief aid for custom sewer covers honoring the comic.
But in Dover, Lane relied on grassroots donations. He set — and exceeded — a fundraising goal of $13,000, and he plans to donate leftover money to charity, including the Seacoast Science Center in Rye.
DiBernardo, the comic book store owner, has helped to promote the campaign and said this project is long overdue.
“It always befuddled me that they never took the time to acknowledge the birthplace of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” DiBernardo said. “I mean, it's a multi-billion dollar property and it started on a side street in Dover, New Hampshire.”
Next up is installment. City officials said the marker could go in by the end of the summer.
Soon enough, Dover will have a manhole cover the turtles could theoretically dwell beneath.
