Hard as it may be to believe, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise turns 40 this year. In celebration, the folks at IDW Publishing are relaunching the Turtles with several new titles. These upcoming four titles are in addition to the new ongoing series coming soon from acclaimed writer Jason Aaron (Thor, Avengers). The first newly announced series takes the boys back to their original black-and-white comics roots. Only now, it’s black, white, and green. You can read all the details about the new book as well as several others right here.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White, & Green
This new anthology series will feature new writers and artists on every issue. Among them are names like Declan Shalvey, Paulina Ganucheau, Javier Rodriguez, Jock, and more. Here’s what Shalvey had to say about working on Black, White, and Green:
Getting to work on the Turtles is an absolute dream come true. I was a total Turtles nut as a kid (had the Turtle Van, the sewer playset, the works) and have always loved the characters. It’s amazing to see the passion behind these characters, even through all the different iterations over the years. I’ve been hoping someone would invite me to do something with them for a long, long time. For it to happen on the Turtles’ anniversary is a real treat… the cherry on the cake, or the pepperoni on the pizza, if you will.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White, & Green Issue #1 goes on sale May 8
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher
This ongoing series comes to us from writer Juni Ba and artist Fero Pe. In “Who is the Nightwatcher?,” a new vigilante rises up to stand against violence and discrimination against mutants. A prelude story will appear in the TMNT Free Comic Book Day 2024 issue. In the 2007 animated TMNT movie, this was the vigilante identity that Raphael used, and fans quickly fell in love with it. But who is the Nightwatcher in the IDW universe? That’s the big question as this new vigilante steps into the scene.
Here’s what Juni Ba had to say about Nightwatcher:
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. While it’s a spin-off, 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.
Artist Fero Pe had this to say about working on the new series:
I loved the idea of bringing this character to comics. It was one of the things I liked most about the 2007 animated film. Working alongside Juni Ba as a writer is awesome. At first, I didn’t know if it would be difficult, since he draws too and our styles are very different, but he is great and we have understood each other very well. With this comic I wanted to experiment with something new visually, always maintaining my style but playing with the techniques I use in my pages. When I was on the TMNT ongoing series I did everything on digital, for TMNT/Stranger Things, I decided to do traditional and a little bit of digital, and now I went completely traditional. You would see a little of that in the FCBD short story we made.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo: Saturday Morning Adventures #1
This 40-page one-shot issue is by writer Erik Burnham and artist Jack Lawrence, bringing the turtles together with one legendary badass rabbit. It hits comic shops in June. You can check out all four covers, as well as read the full solicitation for the issue below:
Usagi Yojimbo, an honorable samurai and rabbit out of time, has been stuck in New York City ever since one of Donatello’s experiments with a transdimensional portal went awry. Usagi has grown to appreciate the city, his friends in the Turtles, and most of all, pizza, but he still wants to return to his own dimension more than anything. When Donatello finally finds a way for Usagi to do just that, the rabbit warrior invites the Turtles to visit his home…where they find a dangerous new enemy. It’s the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Usagi Yojimbo together again in a whole new dimension!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Nation
This ongoing series features fan-favorite creatives Tom Waltz, Sophie Campbell, and more. Tom Waltz wrote 100 issues of the ongoing, and co-wrote Last Ronin. Sophie Campbell wrote 50 issues of the ongoing series. The IDW TMNT Universe is full of so many compelling and exciting characters, and this ongoing series will bring that array of mutants and other characters into the spotlight. Here’s what Waltz had to say about this new addition to the TMNT universe:
With TMNT: Mutant Nation, we have the opportunity to further expand our long-running IDW TMNT universe alongside Jason Aaron’s relaunch of the main ongoing TMNT series. 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!”
Issue #1 of TMNT: Mutant Nation goes on sale in September.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Alpha #1 (One-Shot)
Finally, we have a one-shot issue featuring a story by Tom Waltz and Gavin Smith, and Jason Aaron and Chris Burnham. This issue marks Jason Aaron’s debut as a TMNT writer—he’ll also be writing the relaunch in July, and this story will set the tone for the comics to follow.
As far as content goes, this issue will feature fan-favorite fifth turtle, Jennika. And the story by Waltz and Smith will “will explore the aftermath of the epic and emotional TMNT #150 (4/10).”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Alpha #1 will go on sale June 5.
Even more Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles titles than this are coming soon from IDW, with official announcements forthcoming. Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo are set to have a big birthday year in 2024.