IDW Continue To Celebrate 40 Years Of Turtle Power With More Announcements

Continuing a year-long celebration of forty years of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IDW has already announced five new comics coming out. They are TMNT: Sourcebook #1 (out now), TMNT: The Last Ronin II – Re-Evolution, TMNT: The Untold Destiny of the Foot Clan and the all-new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 and just announced, we now have a fifth title, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White and Green.

An anthology comic, it will feature a star-studded lineup of acclaimed writers and artists including Declan Shalvey, Paulina Ganucheau, Javier Rodriguez, and Jock.

Speaking of this new gig, Shalvey said:

“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 and Green #1 will be out on Wednesday 8th May #1 from IDW.

Then, on June 12th, the Heroes in a Half-Shell team-up with Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo: Saturday Morning Cartoon Adventures one-shot by TMNT veteran writer Erik Burnham and animated artist Jack Lawrence and inspired by the 1987 TMNT cartoon series.

And there’s more.

We also get news of yet another Turtle-powered title with new ongoing series TMNT: Nightwatcher by writer Juni Ba and the brilliant artist Fero Pecomes.

Ba said of the new spin-off series:

“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 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!”

And last, but by no means least we are also getting another new ongoing series with the announcement of TMNT: Mutant Nation, from TMNT writer Tom Waltz and artist Sophie Campbell.

Here’s what Waltz said about this one:

“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!”

Summing up the new books and the appeal and longevity of the TMNT, IDW Editor-in-Chief Jamie S. Rich stated:

“You can’t remain as popular and exciting for four decades without having variety, and if TMNT has proven anything since its debut in 1984, it’s that the characters can adapt to all kinds of stories in comics, from the ultra serious to the hysterically funny, aimed at young, old, and everyone in between. What we wanted to do over the course of this year was build out the line so that there is a Turtles book for everybody. If you’re a fan of cool art and high concepts, you will like BLACK, WHITE AND GREEN, for instance. If you’re a superhero fan, NIGHTWATCHER might scratch a particular itch for you. And MUTANT NATION is our celebration of the long history IDW has with TMNT, giving our regular readers all the characters they have come to love over those first 150 issues and maintaining the continuity as we enter a brand new phase of Turtles storytelling.”

With a new deal recently announced it would seem IDW are really pushing the boat out on this perennial favourite. Watch out for more announcements soon.