Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles get not one but five new comics to celebrate their 40th anniversary
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Set that dial to maximum Turtle Power! To celebrate 40 years of the Heroes in a Half Shell -and the renewal of IDW’s contract to release comics based on them- the publisher has announced five brand new TMNT titles, including two ongoing series, a short story anthology, and a pair of one-shots.
Up first in May is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White & Green, a new “indie anthology” series that will hand the TMNT over to a raft of acclaimed comics creators, includingJock, Declan Shalvey, Paulina Ganucheau, and Javier Rodriguez, to tell adventurous new short stories using only black, white, and green art.
Here’s a selection of covers from the first issue by Declan Shalvey, James Stokoe, Dan Berger, and Paulina Ganucheau.
The following month sees the arrival of two oversized one-shots, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Alpha and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo: Saturday Morning Adventures.
The former is said to “set the the stage for the future of the TMNT universe” and features two new tales. One, by writer Tom Waltz and artist Gavin Smith, is set in the aftermath ofthe upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #150and will feature Jennika, the fifth Turtle. The second story is a 10-page prelude to Jason Aaron’s relaunch of the title in July.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo: Saturday Morning Adventures is inspired by the 1987 TMNT animated series. Written by Erik Burnham and drawn by Jack Lawrence, the one-shot brings the Turtles and their occasional ally Usagi Yojimbo -who also turns 40 this year- together once more.
Here’s a gallery of covers for the issue by Jack Lawrence, Chris Jones, Jon Sommariva, and Stan Sakai - the creator of Usagi Yojimbo himself.
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Next up is a new ongoing spin-off designed to scratch that superhero itch. TMNT: Nightwatcher is written byJuni Baand drawn by Fero Pe and follows a mysterious vigilante who has pledged to fight violence and discrimination against mutants.
“I find the world of TMNT extremely fun and fascinating, and I want to use the character of Nightwatcher as an anchor to explore that world in an action-packed adventure format that I hope people will love,” said Ba in a statement. “While it’s a spin-off series, I do want it to stand on its own as something you like for itself, and not just because it’s tied to TMNT. Expect some heartfelt stories, Saturday morning action cartoon vibes and cool vigilante badassery!”
Here’s Fero Pe’s cover for the first issue along with one of his character designs for Nightwatcher.
Finally - for now? - comes TMNT: Mutant Nation, a new ongoing series by veteran Turtles writers Tom Waltz and Sophie Campbell, along with a host of, as yet unnamed, fan-favorite creators. The new book is described as “a celebration of the long history IDW has with TMNT” by IDW’s editor-in-chief Jamie S. Rich.
“With TMNT: MUTANT NATION, we have the opportunity to further expand our long-running IDW TMNT universe alongsideJason Aaron’s relaunch of the main ongoing TMNT series,” said Tom Waltz. “We’ve built a massively diverse and exciting ensemble cast of characters and settings over the years, and I’m ecstatic to remain a part of its continued evolution alongside fellow creators, telling more TMNT stories that we all hope will continue to entertain our amazingly enthusiastic and loyal readership… both old and new!”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White and Green #1 is published on May 8, followed by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Alpha on June 5, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo: Saturday Morning Adventures on June 12. TMNT: Nightwatcher will publish in August, with Mutant Nation following in September.
Check out our list of thebest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles storiesof all time.
Will Salmon is the Comics Editor for GamesRadar/Newsarama. He has been writing about comics, film, TV, and music for more than 15 years, which is quite a long time if you stop and think about it. At Future he has previously launched scary movie magazine Horrorville, relaunched Comic Heroes, and has written for every issue of SFX magazine for over a decade. He sometimes feels very old, like Guy Pearce in Prometheus. His music writing has appeared in The Quietus, MOJO, Electronic Sound, Clash, and loads of other places and he runs the micro-label Modern Aviation, which puts out experimental music on cassette tape.
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