Advertise on podcast: Iconic Origins: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The Turtles are bigger than ever, but no longer belong to the guys who started it all. The brand has mutated again, in ways Kevin and Peter never could’ve imagined. But after years of distance, something unexpected happens: a phone call, an idea, and maybe… a chance to reconnect with what they built… and each other. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin moved to L.A., launched a publishing empire, and tried to change the comics industry. Peter stayed in Massachusetts, kept the brand on track, and quietly built a nonprofit. One went big. One played it safe. While the Turtles were turning into video games, musicals, and action figures with pizza-shooting vehicles… their creators were turning into total strangers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first movie crushed it. So naturally, the sequel had… less fighting, no weapons, and a dance battle with Vanilla Ice. Welcome to the 1990s, where the Turtles go from gritty rebels to full-blown pop stars. As the franchise gets safer, sillier, and way more marketable, Kevin and Peter find themselves on opposite sides of what their creation is becoming and wondering if the monster they built is still theirs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before it became a box office smash, the first Ninja Turtles movie was a giant red flag. Studios passed. Toy execs panicked. No one knew if guys in rubber suits could carry a film or if anyone would show up to watch. But Kevin and Peter pushed forward, determined to make something darker, weirder, and truer to the original comic. This is the story of how a movie everyone expected to fail… didn’t. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One minute the Turtles were gritty, underground comic book vigilantes. The next, they were shouting Cowabunga and riding filing cabinets like surfboards. As a toy company races to turn them into kid-friendly icons, Kevin and Peter watch their creation mutate into something they barely recognize. The show is loud, colorful, wildly successful - and for the guys who started it all, kind of a gut punch.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A guy in a green suit and rented car shows up with a wild idea: let’s turn these violent, black-and-white ninja comics into action figures for kids. What could possibly go wrong? Spoiler: everything. This is the moment the Turtles stop being a comic and start becoming a brand.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Issue #1 was a hit. Issue #2? Uh… they killed the main villain in the first book. Whoops. As Kevin and Peter scramble to keep the momentum alive, they invent April O’Neil, killer robots, and a whole new rogues’ gallery - while slowly realizing they’re accidentally building an empire.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before the cartoons, the toys, and the catchphrases, it started with a single sketch—just one dumb joke to make a friend laugh. Kevin Eastman drew a turtle with nunchucks. Peter Laird added a mask and attitude. Back and forth they went, one-upping each other until a bizarre, brilliant idea took shape. This is the story of that night, that drawing, and how two broke artists turned nothing into something legendary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before the billion-dollar empire, before the Saturday morning cartoons and pizza-shouting action figures, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were just a joke. A dumb sketch made by two broke artists with zero expectations. This is the wild, funny, and unexpectedly emotional true story of how a scrappy indie comic became a global phenomenon - and how it nearly destroyed the friendship that created it. Hosted by Ben De Almeida, this eight-part series follows the rise, reinvention, and ripple effects of a franchise that mutated far beyond anyone’s control. New episodes every Thursday starting October 9. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices