Creation Story
Casey Jones is the Turtles’ most human ally, in the sense that he has no powers, no training beyond a temper and a willingness to use it, and a costume built out of a hockey mask and whatever sporting goods are within reach. Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird created him for Raphael’s solo one-shot, and the pairing is deliberate. Casey is what Raphael looks like without Splinter’s discipline behind him: a vigilante who throws himself at street crime and enjoys it a little too much.
He becomes a central part of the wider Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cast, the Turtles’ closest non-mutant friend and, in time, April O’Neil’s partner. But he starts as a problem.
First Appearance: Raphael #1
Casey Jones first appears in Raphael #1 (April 1985), the micro-series one-shot titled “Me, Myself, and I,” and he arrives as an opponent. Raphael, sent out by Leonardo to cool his temper, spots Casey on the street in a hockey mask, swinging a golf bag full of bats and clubs at a group of muggers, well past the point of stopping them. Raph moves in to end it, and the two wreck a park fighting each other. That fight is the start of the friendship.
Because it introduces him, Raphael #1 is a sought Mirage key, valued as the first Casey Jones and as the first TMNT spin-off comic. The rest of the franchise’s first-appearance keys are tracked on the team page.
