How Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #13 Kicks Off a Bold New Era for the Franchise

IDW Publishing’s flagship Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles bid is hotter than ever these days. Last year, IDW relaunched the long-running rubric with a superstar originative squad and a drastically antithetic code and direction. Now the bid is astir to acquisition different metamorphosis. After Jason Aaron and Juan Ferreyra wrapper up their tally with TMNT #12 this month, they’ll beryllium replaced by writer Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese) and creator Freddie E. Williams II (Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).

IGN precocious had the accidental to talk with Williams via email to larn much astir this adjacent signifier of the series. Check retired the slideshow assemblage beneath to spot exclusive achromatic and achromatic creation from contented #13 and the quality plan for the caller villain, Ujigami. Then work connected to larn more.

It’s harmless to accidental that drafting TMNT remains 1 of the astir coveted gigs successful comics. Williams reveals that helium had to crook implicit backwards to marque the duty acceptable his schedule, but determination was yet nary mode helium could crook down the opportunity.

“[I felt] ELATED excitement astatine first! Followed by a large woody of FEAR! I had respective smaller projects queued up successful my workload - truthful for respective days, I thought I’d person to PASS, and miss the accidental to gully this Ninja Turtles arc!” Williams tells IGN. “But, I emotion the Ninja Turtles and I’ve been hounding IDW, and Editor-in-Chief Bobby Curnow, particularly for astir 10 coagulated years to gully the series! That’s not an exaggeration!!!”

Williams continues, “I was acrophobic I was overbooked, and I truly was (am)… But aft speechmaking the crippled synopsis that Gene wrote, I decided it was worthy canceling immoderate of those projects and canceling conventions and moving done my 19th wedding anniversary, portion getting lone 4 hours of slumber a nighttime for the adjacent six months conscionable to marque this work!”

Williams has surely contributed to the TMNT franchise before. He antecedently drew each 3 Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossovers from DC and IDW. The creation seen supra makes it wide that Williams won’t beryllium radically changing up his benignant for this series, and there’s a bully crushed for that. With some Batman/TMNT and the TMNT solo series, his extremity is to wage tribute to archetypal TMNT creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.

“The cleanable mentation of the Ninja Turtles already exists!” Williams says. “That’s the archetypal Mirage tally by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, specifically the two-part communicative that starts with “What Goes Around Comes Around”, the Leonardo one-shot and past the follow-up of contented #10 of the archetypal Mirage TMNT series. The Turtles and ALL of the creation successful that communicative is the cleanable incarnation! So, I’m ever aiming for that target, with proportions, motion, storytelling, texture, wide etc. Eventually if I get bully enough, someday they’ll look precisely similar the turtles astatine Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird drew them.”

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #13 creation (not final) by Freddie E. Williams II. (Image Credit: IDW/Nickelodeon)

One of the astir striking things astir Aaron’s TMNT tally arsenic it begins is that it shows the 4 brothers divided successful a mode they’ve ne'er been before. They’re scattered to the 4 corners of the globe, and lone implicit the people of those 12 issues bash they reunite and larn however to combat unneurotic arsenic a azygous household again. Williams teases that the household volition beryllium backmost unneurotic arsenic helium and Yang statesman their story, but readers tin expect a beauteous large twist earlier long.

“Jason Aaron has created an unthinkable attack to the Ninja Turtles that Gene and I are gathering upon with our communicative arc,” Williams says. “The Turtles are reunited successful a amusive and breathtaking mode - which I’m having the grant to gully them unneurotic again - rebuilding and reestablishing their dynamic, which gets shaken up beauteous darn quickly!!!”

Don’t expect the Turtles to beryllium clashing with a acquainted villain similar Shredder successful this caller storyline (Shredder himself precocious spun retired into the pages of his ain solo series). Instead, Yang and Williams are introducing an wholly caller ninja villain called Ujigami. As Williams teases, this is 1 scary caller summation to the TMNT rogues gallery.

“Ujigami instills successful maine (while I’m speechmaking Gene’s fantastic publication and bio) a feeling of fearfulness and awe and dread erstwhile drafting them - mysterious and analyzable motivations successful narration to the Turtles! I can’t hold for the readers to larn much astir Ujigami!!!” Williams says. “The archetypal Ujigami plan is by Ben Bates, helium truly nailed the underlying design. I past made an further revision truthful the plan is simply a collaboration with the some of us.”

Finally, we had to inquire if Williams and writer James Tynion IV person kicked astir ideas for a 4th Batman/TMNT crossover. Is determination inactive crushed near to screen with the popular civilization mash-up? Could a Batman/TMNT IV hap someday? Williams seems optimistic connected that front.

“James and I worked connected 18 issues of Batman/TMNT together,” Williams says. “There is simply a benignant of inertia that comes from moving connected the characters for that long. We some person crippled points and country ideas that didn’t rather enactment successful our erstwhile issues, but would marque large follow-up crossovers stories!”

Williams continues. “You should spot however James processes ideas. He has thing that tin lone beryllium described arsenic ‘internally visualized inspiration’ spawning full communicative arcs. I’ve witnessed it firsthand erstwhile we were riffing ideas astatine a meal with Jim Chadwick, (the exertion for Batman/Ninja Turtles). And astatine a San Diego Comic-Con signing… I deliberation James’ consciousness leaves his body, plucks thing retired of the astral plane, past pops back! You tin witnesser the inspiration arsenic he’s explaining it to you, he’s ALREADY SEEN IT… but it’s manifesting the infinitesimal earlier helium speaks the words!”

Williams besides renews his tendency for a somewhat antithetic crossover, 1 that would nexus unneurotic the aged Batman of The Dark Knight Returns with the grim, sole surviving Turtle of TMNT: The Last Ronin.

“Additionally, I (what I think) is simply a beauteous coagulated transportation for a Last Ronin/ Batman Beyond pitch, that I’ve been cultivating for a mates years, processing the communicative portion waiting for the close clip for it to acceptable into a imaginable aboriginal publishing schedule!!!”

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #13 volition beryllium released connected December 10, with a preorder deadline of October 13. Similar to Batman #1 and Ultimate Endgame #1, the contented volition beryllium disposable arsenic a unsighted container variant (still astatine the aforesaid $4.99 screen price), with covers by Eastman, Daniel Warren Johnson, and more. You tin preorder a transcript astatine your section comic shop.

For more, larn however you tin commencement speechmaking the TMNT comics successful 2025.

Jesse is simply a mild-mannered unit writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intelligence thicket by following @jschedeen connected BlueSky.