IDW Celebrates TMNT 40th Anniversary With A Special One-Shot

You may be more than aware that Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) are celebrating 40 years of turtle power this year and as part of that year-long celebration, IDW have announced a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 40th Anniversary Comics Celebration featuring creative teams from the four different decades of TMNT publishing.

This special one-shot features work from Jim Lawson, Ciro Nieli, Tristan Jones, Paul Harmon, Steve Lavigne, Andy Suriano, Ronda Pattison, Pablo Tunica, Freddie E. Williams II, Sophie Campbell, Tom Waltz, Lloyd Goldfine, Khary Randolph, Emilio Lopez, Dan Duncan, Erik Burnham, Sarah Myer, Luis Antonio Delgado, Chris Allan and more. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 40th Anniversary Comics Celebration one-shot will feature a cover by Eastman and Laird with additional covers provided by Sophie Campbell, Isaac and Esau Escorza, Simon Bisley, Michael Dialynas, Vincenzo Federici, Khary Randolph, Emilio Lopez, Michael Cho, Dave Wachter, and an IDW Exclusive cover by Ben Bishop.

Speaking about the anniversary celebrations, co-creator Kevin Eastman said:

“Having a childhood dream – in my case to write and draw comics for a living, is one thing – to then actually spending every minute of the next 40 years doing it, is a whole other matter altogether – humbling is the first word that comes to mind. My co-creation of TMNT with the amazing Peter Laird has been the driving force of living that dream, and working with a number of really talented writers and artists along the way has made, and still makes, the journey the greatest shared experience I never imaged and could not be more grateful for.” The iconic comic book creator added, “From the raw beginnings of a 40-page self-published black and white ‘origin of’ comic, to the 200-page full color ‘final tale’ of the original TMNT’s graphic novel, THE LAST RONIN, I want to thank the people directly responsible – our fans. Without them, I would not have had the chance to live that childhood dream.”

Editor-in-Chief Jamie S. Rich added:

“What’s amazing about the TMNT comics is just looking back over the breadth of the stories, how many creators have tapped in, and all the energy and excitement that has gone into the last four decades. It proves how great the original concept by Eastman & Laird was that it endures across media, across time, and the characters consistently find a new audience. This book tries to tap into as much of that as possible and bring back fan favorite creators to celebrate their contributions to the lore.”

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 40th Anniversary Comics Celebration is out on Wednesday July 10, 2024 from IDW.