Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles get too-perfect commemorative manhole cover at the spot of their creation

Dover, N.H. unveiled a "TMNT" manhole cover with art by co-creator Kevin Eastman.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles may evoke the stylized and smoky, rain-splattered streets of New York (or maybe just sewers in general), but Dover, N.H., doesn't want to be forgotten in the conversation.

The city unveiled a pair of commemorative markers honoring the crime-fighting sewer dwellers on Wednesday, including a too-perfect commemorative manhole cover designed by TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman. The unveiling coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Turtles, which were created in 1983 and made their debut in a one-shot comic a year later.

Eastman and co-creator Peter Laird are often associated with their Northampton, Mass.-based Mirage Studios. However, they got their start in New Hampshire and first created the quartet of mutants while living together on Dover's Union Street.

The city celebrated that creation with a state highway historical marker on Central Avenue and a decorative manhole cover outside 28 Union Street. The house where the characters were dreamed up has since been destroyed, but the street-level marker outside the former residence will be a reminder that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were first born above these sewers.

The commemorative sign reads: "In November 1983, while living in Dover, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird created a cast of ninja-weapon wielding turtles during a late-night drawing session. Amused by the absurdity of the idea, the duo developed the story of four teenage brothers — Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo. The one-shot comic, published independently by Mirage Studios on Union Street, debuted in 1984. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles soon became a full comic series and ultimately an international multimedia franchise."

The tribute was crowdfunded by Dover resident James Lane, a city representative tells EW. When Lane proposed the idea years ago, he told the city's Arts Commission that the Turtles are "a part of Dover's hidden history that needs to be told." The unveiling was timed to coincide with the citywide celebration of Dover's 400th anniversary.

"I live nearby where Mirage Studios was and often thought there should be a historical marker here, but the house is gone," Lane told Foster's Daily Democrat in 2021. "While on a walk, I looked down and there was a manhole cover there, and it was instantly very obvious to me that this is exactly how we should commemorate the site."

Eastman continues to be occasionally involved in Turtles comics. He most recently penned the critically acclaimed mini-series The Last Ronin, based on a story he wrote with Laird, which follows Michaelangelo attempting to avenge the deaths of his brothers and father figure, Splinter. The Last Ronin was followed by this year's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin—Lost Years, also written by Eastman along with co-writer Tom Waltz.

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