Writer Jason Aaron and an array of artists have reinvented Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for a new era with the currently running series from IDW. As of TMNT #13, they’re going to do it again, as writer Gene Luen Yang and artist Freddie E. Williams II are picking up the baton (nunchucks?) from the previous team, and launching their own Turtle-tastic era of teen ninja action. And thanks to an advance look at the series provided to Comic Book Club by IDW, it’s likely to be a more comforting era for Turtles fans… At least at first.
In the current run, the Turtle brothers are about to bring the final battle to the Mayor of New York, who has been mutated into a giant, hideous monster by the leader of the Foot Clan, in TMNT #12. It’s not too much of a spoiler to say, based on the New York Comic Con preview we got a look at, that the Turtles get out alive. Not only that, but they’re back together and better than ever, likely thanks to their victory against the mayor.
While Aaron’s run was thrilling for its tension, I’ve certainly heard from Turtles fans who were uneasy with the infighting between the brothers, as well as darker elements like a decayed rat that was talking to them in the voice of Splinter, and New York City having been taken over by the Foot Clan. That was the point, of course — and for what it’s worth, I personally liked the darkness of the book, which called back to some of Eastman and Laird’s earliest work on the title.
But it’s also really delightful to see the team working together at the top of their powers. Yang, in the pages shared, shows a firm grasp of the different personalities. And Williams II knows his way around drawing the Turtles — he’s drawn them in a Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover, the Turtles of Grayskull crossover, multiple covers, and other assorted issues. What’s particularly lovely in the New York Comic Con sampler, and I don’t know if this will be true in the final issue, is that the pages from TMNT #13 are shown in black and white inks, other than throughout Shawn Lee’s lettering, and assorted highlights on various characters including the Turtles’ masks. Again, that’s likely not what the final issue will look like, but makes the NYCC sampler more than worth picking up if you’re going to be at the con.
There’s also a new, major bad guy you’ll meet named Ujigami, and this is likely where the darkness will come in… Luen Yang has never shied away from either fun or hard times in his writing, so it will be interesting to see how his run on Turtles — which IDW is looking at as essentially a new number one, without the renumbering — pans out. You won’t find out much in the preview, but it is clear that Ujigami is a massive threat, both literally and figuratively.
Look, given the prominence of the issue, IDW is going all out with this sampler (which also includes interviews and design sketches), as well as a Blind Bag program for TMNT #13 and your requisite multiple covers. But the proof is in the story itself. Six pages is just a simple appetizer for the main course, but based on this early look, the Turtles are in good hands.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #13 hits stores on December 10, 2025. You can pick up the New York Comic Con Sampler at — where else — New York Comic Con, this October.
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