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As the self-published creation
of two amateurs, the wildly lucrative TMNT inspired
thousands of fans to self-publish their own comics, usually
in black and white. The growth of independent comics,
already underway when TMNT was launched, suddenly
exploded, fueled by creators hoping to achieve the success
of Eastman & Laird and speculators hoping to profit from the
exploitation of supply and demand. Several new publishers
such as Eclipse, First, Comico, and Dark Horse Comics grew
to prominence during the 1980s independent comics boom. The
economic effects were even felt in the UK comics industry.
As Eddie Campbell would later write, "suddenly, because of
the Turtles, the game was open to everybody." [2]
Although the TMNT had
originated as a parody, the comic's explosive success led to
a wave of small-press, black & white comic parodies of
TMNT itself, including Adolescent Radioactive Black
Belt Hamsters, Pre-Teen Dirty-Gene Kung Fu Kangaroos
Cold-Blooded Chameleon Commandos, and a host of
others. Dark Horse Comics' Boris the Bear was
launched in response to these TMNT clones; its first issue
was titled "Boris the Bear Slaughters the Teenage
Radioactive Black Belt Mutant Ninja Critters." Once the
Turtles broke into the mainstream, parodies also
proliferated in other media, such as in satire magazines
Cracked and MAD Magazine.
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