Although anthropomorphic, funny animal books go back to the earliest days of comic books (think Mickey Mouse, for example), the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) are generally credited with initiating a funny animal bubble in the mid-80's. Although there was a fair amount of humorous titles, the term 'funny animal' does not imply only comedy. There were also many serious titles. But, for the most part, this deluge of black and white books were made cheap and produced fast. And seemingly, any animal that could hold a sword jumped into the fray. The funny animal bubble was part of a larger black and white publishing bubble brought on by a continental shift in the comic book market itself. The direct market was not that old, and comic book specialty shops had just begun to proliferate into suburbia. Comic books had outgrown the newstands. TMNT was an unexpected hit, with its popularity parlaying into even more popularity. What began as a simple parody grew into a phenomenon. The 80's trend generated a multitude of such parodies--even parodies of the TMNT themselves. Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters. Pre-Teen Dirty-Gene Kung-Fu Kangaroos. Geriatric Gangrene Jujitsu Gerbils. Most of the books from this period are horrible in retrospect, but for fans of the right age, they made a lasting impression. Some of the more well known funny animal books, like Disney's cartoon characters, Bugs Bunny and Heathcliff weathered this period of anthropomorphic glut. A rare few, created in the bubble, survived beyond its bursting: TMNT on originality and Usagi Yojimbo on masterful storytelling. Marvel's Rocket Raccoon, created in this timeframe, was reborn in the 2000's as part of a new Guardians of the Galaxy team.