Review by C.J. Bunce

With all the new series coming out from IDW Publishing to celebrate 40 years of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I’d figured a new TMNT-titled series would be rebooting the characters.  I’m glad I was wrong, the first of the new monthly series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arrives later this month from writer Jason Aaron and artist Joëlle Jones and colorist Ronda Pattison.  The first issue will be very familiar to both fans of the characters and Aaron’s comic book stories.  Aaron leans into the mutant nature of the Turtles in the first Turtle he showcases, Raphael.  In fact fans of his Wolverine and the X-Men series may see a lot of Logan’s voice come through in the first issue.

The setting is New York City, and it’s rough going in a jail where Raphael is incarcerated.  Raph in jail?  Say it ain’t so!  But there’s more going on here than meets the eye.  A familiar villainous element lurks in the shadows.

The setting, and another character–a new villain–feels like someone out of Metropolis or Gotham’s hives of scum and villainy.  We’ve discussed years of Batman/TMNT crossovers here at borg, so fans of the series featuring those characters will want to take note.

The action is fast so the issue seems very brief, subscribers to the previous flagship TMNT title will want to jump on for the ride now as the story takes hold in forthcoming issues.

For collectors, just check out all the variants available, from artists Rafael Albuquerque, Joëlle Jones, Kevin Eastman, Khary Randolph, Aaron Campbell, Danny Earls, Sean Gordon Murphy, J. Gonzo, Lee Bermejo, Darick Robertson, Peach Momoko, Matteo Scalera, Eric Talbot, (Robertson, Gonzo, Bermejo, and Earls offering continuity sets for the first five issues):

Check out our previous coverage here for all that’s happening with the TMNT this year.  Add the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to your pull list at Elite Comics or local comic shop.  The first issue is slated to be published July 24, 2024.