Raise Some Shell critically and cleverly examines the origins, evolution and impact of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles phenomenon. It starts with the beginning as a self-published black-and-white comic book in 1984, through its transformation into a worldwide phenomenon by the mid-'90s and beyond. With the the voice of a true lifelong Turtles fan, Rosenbaum argues that the Turtles' continuing success isn't mere nostalgia, but rather the result of characters, and a franchise, that mutated in a way in which they survived and thrived in a post-modern world.