Eastman loved to distract his friend when he was glued to the boob tube, so he quickly sketched something to make Laird laugh: a turtle standing upright wearing a mask and carrying nunchaku.

Finding the concept funny, he drew a masked turtle standing upright with some nunchucks in its stubby arms, which came out of its huge shell. He showed the drawing to fellow artist, Peter Laird ...

And so I did this drawing of a turtle standing upright with a mask on, nunchucks wrapped around his arms." Co-author Peter Laird was more than onboard with the idea and that became a running gag ...

Each turtle handles and looks the same except for the weapon that he carries. When standing upright, attacking will cause you to take a swipe with it. If you’d rather throw a shuriken at your ...