Michaelangelo

One of four ordinary pet turtles exposed to a mysterious radioactive ooze in the New York City sewers, Michelangelo mutated into a humanoid ninja trained by the rat sensei Splinter, taking his name from the Renaissance artist.

Few characters carry the weight of a genuine comics revolution quite like Michaelangelo, who burst onto the scene in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 in 1984 — a scrappy, self-published Mirage Comics debut by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman that would reshape pop culture forever. A Bronze Age original with four key-issue appearances to his name, Michaelangelo has kept remarkable company across nearly four decades of adventures, sharing pages with the likes of Splinter, April O'Neil, Casey Jones, and Karai. His presence stretches across titles as varied as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Color Classics Vol. 3 and even Savage Dragon, speaking to a longevity — 126 catalog appearances spanning 1984 to 2023 — that few indie-born characters can match. If you're building a serious TMNT collection, Michaelangelo is absolutely where the story begins.