Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) is a comic book series that was published by Mirage Studios between 1984 and 2014. Conceived by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, it was intended as a one-shot, but due to its popularity it became an ongoing series. The comic created the Turtles franchise of five television series, seven feature films, numerous video games, and a range of toys and merchandise. Notable for its black and white format and darker tone compared to the rest of the adaptations that followed, the series follows the exploits of four genetically-mutated turtles who were trained under the orders of Master Splinter, a pet rat, to combat various foes, most notably involving the likes of the Foot clan and their leader Oroko Saki, who secretly takes on the identity of the Shredder. Over the years, the Turtles have appeared in numerous cross-overs with other independent comics characters such as Dave Sim's Cerebus, Bob Burden's Flaming Carrot, Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo, Image Universe series including Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon and Todd McFarlane's Spawn. In October 2009, Peter Laird sold the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise to Viacom, the parent company of Nickelodeon. Mirage Studios was shut down on September 19, 2021.[1] In 2011, IDW Publishing secured the rights to publish a new series and reprint the older comics