Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: First Color Complete Story GRIMJACK #26 (TMNT) 1986

So this entire 8 page bar scene chronologically takes place during TMNT issue #5, pages 13 & 14. Eastman and Laird were huge Star Wars fans and wanted to give their take on the classic "Cantina Scene." It was originally published in Grimjack #26 and predates TMNT #7 where Kevin painted a short Corben-drawn story for an insert making this the first published color story ever. On top of that, instead of the usual small Duo-tone artboards that Mirage Studios used back then, these pages were drawn on 11 X 17 artboards that First provided, thus making these some of the largest of the early TMNT interior pages out there. The story would be reprinted a number of times through the decades well.

Kevin Eastman, in his book "Artobiography", said that this story is "By far one of the best drawn Eastman & Laird short stories." Owning a single, early TMNT page is special enough but owning a complete story is something I would have never dreamt possible.