HEY, KID, YOU'RE
A LONG WAY
FROM NICKTOONS!

Some TMNT stuff was always meant for grownups.

Splinter is kidnapped and the Turtles asks April for help to find him.

Mirage Studios Volume 1 > Issue # 3
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#3

Script: Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
Pencils: Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
Inks: Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
Lettering: Kevin Eastman

Major characters: Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Splinter, April O'Neil, Mousers, Utroms, Ralphie, Nick, Slim, Rico
Cover date: March, 1985

Synopsis

In this issue, the Turtles return to their sewer lair to find that Splinter has been abducted by the Mousers. They call the only person who they know that might help them... April! She shows up in a van, and a wild car chase ensues when the police mistakenly think that April's vehicle was the one used in a recent robbery. As luck would have it, the chase leads the cops to the actual robbers in their van... which looks exactly like April's vehicle! O'Neil and the TMNT make their escape and head for her apartment to rest and make plans to find Splinter.

Meanwhile, Splinter takes a serious blow to the head while battling the Mousers in the sewer. Just as the rabid robots are about to make mouse meat out of the Sensei, they mysteriously march off in another direction. Splinter, dazed and nearly unconscious, takes this opportunity to escape by crawling into the tepid waters of the sewer system. The Master is discovered by two human guards, who take him to the TCRI laboratories. At the hi-tech facilities, Splinter discovers that the humans that work there are actually small alien creatures that utilize humanoid robotic bodies to disguise themselves.

Notes

The person on the cover looks very much like Carter from the 1987 TV series.
These aliens, known as the Utroms, are the precursors to what would become Krang on the television cartoon.
This story is continued from TMNT (Vol. 1) #2. The story continues in Raphael (microseries) #1.
The sewer lair will be revisited in TMNT (Vol. 1) #19.
The second printing of this comic (November, 1988) featured a new cover by Peter Laird and Jim Lawson, redone lettering by Steve Lavigne, a bonus pin-up by Bernie Shuman and a new back-up story, “Complete Carnage an’ Radical”.
For the color TPB, TMNT Book II published by First Comics, the epilogue to this issue was changed to a prologue for TMNT (Vol. 1) #4 (this issue having actually been collected in their TMNT Book I TPB).