It's strange how after all these years, I've never considered myself to be a Ninja Turtle fan until now.  Upon discovering it, I thought it was a ridiculous action-packed cartoon for BOYS.  And the name alone was the ultimate turnoff.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?  Anything with a title like that meant cornballish or campy.  But, why was my hand smarter than me?  Why did I keep clicking the remote control back to this silly, bad dialogue kid show?

There was something about the show that wanted me to keep watching more of it.  The comedy of these wise-cracking sewer dwellers must have been the reason.  That's pretty much all I can guess at an early age of 9.  Number 9.  Nine was a well-known number to me back then.  I was nine years old, my class was in room 9, my number in list of names of students was nine, and.....Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came on the KUSI Kids Club station.  Channel 9.  I was destined to become a fan.  Hands down.

In this dedication, I'd like to first devote my thanks to the ones who started it all.  Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.  Without them and their imaginations, there would be no websites, no movies, no cartoons, and worst of all, no comics of these phenomenal reptiles!  Who knew cold-blooded creatures would be a new wave in popularity?  Who would have guessed turtles would make powerful crime fighters if mutated?

For all we know, Kevin and Peter could have used dogs, cats, or even wild four-legged animals to fill the pages of their unusual adventures.  Would we have loved them just the same?  No one can quite answer that.  The Turtles that we know and love today are the ones everyone grew up with.  But success doesn't start on the first page.  They've been around since 1984 when they were still in comic book form.  The world didn't actually notice them until the spawning of the cartoon in 1987 and the enormous chain in toys, clothing, food, and videos.

I'd also like to acknowledge the hard workers at Mirage for their time and effort, the people at New Line Cinema and Jim Henson's Creature Shop for creating the films, the animators at the Wolf Productions for bringing out the wacky cartoon to make the Turtles a smash hit, the actors whom breathed life into making our heroes a reality, this includes the voice actors whom lent their talents to the animated series.

I extend my dedication to friends whom have helped me rediscover them again and let me know that there are others out there who do love them as much as I do.  The tie that binds.  Heh, or the phones that connect us on-line to keep in touch.  The world wide web has been a large help in bringing us all together.  I have learned of more people being fans since getting the internet than I can possibly imagine.

I could thank everyone right down to the janitor but that would take forever.  Hey, janitor, caught ya reading an issue of TMNT, ha, ha!  Just kidding.  So, you ask dear boy, why do I have this fascination of the TMNT?  I ask myself that every so often.  There has to be an explanation for the reason of why I not only like them, I love them!  Could it be these characters deal with normal problems like the rest of us?  Could it be we feel their pain and pity of their rejections to the world? Wherever the path leads to, the TMNT will be with me every step of the way. In my final words, I have no answers for my love of the Turtles.  They are here now and will live on for a very long time, despite their popularity in the public eye.

I will always have a place in my heart for this comic book tale.
This comic book legend.
Thanks, dudes.  For everything.