All throughout April, we’re crowdsourcing a coronavirus quarantine comics reading list. Each weekday for a month, we’ll post a new recommendation from someone in the comics industry to help folks get through the isolation. This includes writers, artists, letterers, editors, comics journalists, publicists, and more…often with a local comic shop still doing mail order or curbside pickup.

Today’s pick comes from writer David Avallone…enjoy!

It was decades ago, so I don’t quite remember how a copy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 found its way into my hands. I was at Bard College in 1984. Did I get it at Iron Vic’s in Poughkeepsie? Pick it up on a trip to Manhattan, at Forbidden Planet? However I found it… I remember thinking it was a delightful kick: an entertaining and imaginative pastiche/parody of two popular and beloved 1980s comic book “genres.”  The Chris Claremont mutant teenager comics, and the Frank Miller Ronin/Daredevil “urban ninja” thing. Much in line with creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s own expectations, I read it, loved it, but assumed it was a one-joke one-shot.

How wrong we all were. Public demand turned Eastman and Laird’s one-off into a beloved franchise that revolutionized comics. I reread the first twenty or so issues recently, and they were even better than I had remembered. I was struck by the reckless enthusiasm, the absolute joy and love of comics, on every page. I was also struck by the wonderful lack of editorial/publisher oversight, in the best possible way. Five issues in – FIVE! – the Turtles are already in Outer Space. No editor or publisher would have let them do that.  “Can they fight crime in a NYC for a few years before we go nuts with this?” NOPE. We’re going nuts RIGHT NOW. And it’s awesome.

For my recent reread, I chose The Ultimate Collection Volume 1 (and 2 and…). Big, well-designed books that recreate the black and white art beautifully.  There’s also some funny running commentary by Kevin and Peter, between the issues. You won’t find a more entertaining quarantine read than this. – David Avallone

After a thirty-plus year as an independent filmmaker, David Avallone turned to comic book writing in 2014, and since then has written multiple series for Dynamite, including Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, Bettie Page, Twilight Zone: The Shadow, and Legenderry Vampirella. He is also – full disclosure – the co-creator, with Kevin Eastman, of Drawing Blood and the Radically Rearranged Ronin Ragdolls.  For more info on what he’s up to and where to find him, visit www.davidavallonefreelance.com.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Writers: Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman
Artist: Kevin Eastman
Publisher: Mirage Studios

Buy Comics Here: Looking for this and other comics during the crisis? Los Angeles’ Golden Apple comics is currently doing shipping, and you can find them here.

Or, get it from a local comic shop near you with this directory from the Comics Industry Collective of stores open and doing mail order!

Click here for the full coronavirus reading list!