Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW Publishing)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an ongoing American comic book series published by IDW Publishing. Debuting in August 2011, it was the first new comic incarnation of the Turtles to debut after the franchise's sale to Nickelodeon in October 2009. It is the fifth comic book series in the franchise's publication history and serves as a reboot of the franchise's story and characters.

The IDW Turtles series reimagines the franchise's titular characters—brothers Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo—as sons of Hamato Yoshi, a member of the Foot Clan led by Oroku Saki in feudal Japan. When Yoshi leaves the Clan, Saki (who will later be known as Shredder) murders Yoshi and his four sons. In modern times, the spirits of Yoshi and his sons are reincarnated as a rat and four turtles, respectively, in a research laboratory owned by Baxter Stockman, a scientist who has secretly allied himself with the extraterrestrial Krang. After coming in contact with the alien mutagen, Yoshi and the turtles are transformed into intelligent, humanoid beings. Living in the sewers, Yoshi (now called Splinter), remembers his past life and begins to train the turtles in the art of ninjutsu. Allying themselves with April O'Neil and Casey Jones, they are threatened by various foes old and new.

The initial creative team on the IDW series consisted of Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman, who collaborated on the plot and the page layouts, writer Tom Waltz, and artist Dan Duncan. In 2017, it became the longest-running comic book series in the franchise's history, surpassing Archie Comics' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures, which ran from 1988 to 1995. Starting from issue #101, writer and artist Sophie Campbell took over as the sole lead writer before the series was relaunched in 2024 with Jason Aaron taking the mantle.

Publication history

2011–2024: original series In April 2011, IDW Publishing acquired the license to publish new collections of older Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics from Nickelodeon, as well as a new ongoing series. The first issue of the new series was released on August 24 that year. Turtles co-creators Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz wrote the book, with Eastman and Dan Duncan providing art.IDW Announces New Comic Series Based on the Original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IDW Publishing April 1, 2011, Accessed April 7, 2011 In 2017, issue #73 of the main ongoing series was published, making it the longest-running comic in the franchise's history, surpassing Archie Comics' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures. In 2019, issue #100 of the comic was published, concluding the eight-part "City at War" arc. Starting with issue #101, series writer and artist Sophie Campbell took over as the sole lead writer for the book.

2024: relaunch It was announced on January 12, 2024, that the current volume would end with issue #150 and a new volume would launch in July 2024; with Jason Aaron taking over as the head writer. The first five issues of the new series will each be drawn by a different artist (Joëlle Jones, Rafael Albuquerque, Cliff Chiang, Chris Burnham, and Darick Robertson respectively); with the first four issues spotlighting a different turtle (Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Donatello, respectively) before having them reunite in the fifth. Following these issues, Juan Ferreyra would then draw the second story arc beginning with issue 6.

Plot Volume I

Issues #1–100 Hamato Yoshi is a member of the Foot Clan led by Oroku Saki during Japan's feudal period. After seeing Saki act ruthlessly, Yoshi leaves the Clan and is marked by the clan as a traitor, and Saki orders Yoshi's entire family to be put to death. Yoshi's wife, Tang Shen, is attacked and severely wounded by the clan's ninjas, and with her last breath, she beseeches Yoshi to protect himself and the children. He flees with the boys and remains on the run for several years. Saki, who will later be known as Shredder, eventually finds Yoshi and his children and murders them all.

Centuries later, Yoshi and his sons' spirits are reincarnated in modern times as a gray rat and four green turtles, respectively, in a research laboratory called Stock Gen, owned by Baxter Stockman, a scientist who has secretly allied himself with the extraterrestrial Krang. An intern at Stock Gen, April O'Neil, names the turtles after Renaissance artists: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael. Members of the Foot Clan break into the facility to steal an alien mutagen. The animals are taken by mistake, and when they and the stolen mutagen get lost in the sewer, they are covered with the spilled mutagen and transformed into intelligent, humanoid beings.

Yoshi, now called Splinter, remembers his past life and begins to train the turtles in the art of ninjutsu. Unfortunately, the seemingly trivial event which led to the creation of the Turtles and Splinter is part of an escalating conflict between several powers trying to take control of the Earth:

The Foot Clan, with their leader Shredder, who has survived into the modern age due to the machinations of the shape-shifting witch Kitsune, and having new recruits such as Jennika, Alopex, Koya, and Bludgeon The Utrom warlord Krang, who plans to xenoform Earth into a new home for the last survivors of his race Old Hob, a mutant alley cat embittered by his experiences with humanity, initiates acts of terrorism to elevate mutantkind as the new masters of the Earth The zealous government agent John Bishop, leader of the Earth Protection Force, who seeks to eradicate mutantkind and aliens The mysterious Madam Null and her enterprise Null Group, a business conglomerate with its hands in many ventures and ties to other dimensions, deliberately create mutants as a slave workforce A mysterious Pantheon of immortal demigods, some of whom attempt to subvert humanity to their will as they once did in bygone times. Finding new allies as they go, the Turtles are forced to strive against enemies and save the world from destruction as this many-fold conflict begins to spin out of control. The conflict culminates when Kitsune, a member of the Pantheon, attempts to resurrect the Dragon to end humanity, which the Turtles and their allies attempt to thwart, leading to the death of Splinter and Shredder's redemption.

Issues #101–150: Rebirth With a mutagen bomb attack by Hob on the New York populace during Baxter Stockman's inauguration as the city's new mayor, the world's public is made aware of the existence of mutants. A ghetto called Mutant Town is erected in the heart of Manhattan to quarantine them, with Hob and his Mutanimals exercising loose political control over its inhabitants.TMNT #101 (IDW) (January 8, 2020) The Turtles and their friends unite to make Mutant Town both a better place to live in and a hub of tolerance and communication with the outside world, but new conflicts begin to emerge: Zom becomes pregnant and gives birth to a daughter, hailing a new era for the Triceratons, but also stirring hostility in the radical Utrom Ch'rell Lita, a mutant albino turtle child the Turtles take in, her future self is revealed to become a time traveler under time mistress Renet and has traveled to the present to stop the Turtles from splitting up in the future The Punk Frogs, a street gang of mutant frogs, attack the Turtles and burn the dojo, believing that they took away one of their members, Bonnie A mad mutant surgeon by the name of Jasper Barlow experiments on mutants to make them more human, kidnapping Bonnie as part of her experiments (who becomes Venus, a turtle with psychic powers) and eventually resorting to inhumane methods to become human again The Rat King, a member of the Pantheon, is eager to see his family's power game brought to a conclusion and attempts to unleash the Armageddon Game upon the world, a conflict that involves every major character up to that point

The outcome of the Armageddon Game is the downfall of both Krang and Ch'rell, the destruction of Mutant Town's borders, and the banishment of all the Pantheons from the world. During it, Donatello travels to the future and discovers Armaggon, a monster that can devour and erase timelines. He becomes obsessed with stopping the monster and inadvertently creates it while traveling through space and time. With Venus' help and sacrifice, Donatello is able to stop Armaggon and ensure that his family won't be erased from history.

Volume II After a falling out and parting ways, Raphael becomes a drifter and eventually ends up in San Quentin Prison, Michelangelo becomes an actor in Japan, Leonardo seeks enlightenment through yogic living, and Donatello gets captured and put in a safari with other mutants while reeling from the trauma he endured after fighting Armaggon. Framed for murdering the warden of the prison Raphael was incarcerated in, the Turtles are forced to come together as a family once again and are eventually exonerated by April, their allies, and supporters while also dealing with problems including:

Hieronymus Hale, a lawyer, is placed in charge of New York by Karai as the new District Attorney after his parents were killed by mutants, and he erects a dictatorial regime in the city until he is publicly exposed by the Turtles and mutated by Karai for drawing too much public attention to the Turtles instead of merely distracting them. Karai herself strives to learn more about magic and the supernatural to defeat those she perceives as challengers to her rulership of the Foot Clan, including the Turtles. To this purpose, she allows herself to be possessed by an enigmatic being she calls The Wanderer, which results in a constant struggle for her mind. The Shredder returns from an extradimensional sojourn, only to learn that a former protegee and the Dog Star Clan attempt to usurp control over the New York Foot Clan, forcing him to join forces with former enemies to reunite the Foot Clan to meet threats from beyond the Earth. Jennika dons a mechanical suit and becomes the vigilante Nightwatcher, unraveling a crime ring taking advantage of the disadvantaged civilians of Mutant Town, until the suit—actually a golem—develops a mind of its own. Hob is trying to establish a new mutant colony on North Brother Island. After Splinter helps his sons from the beyond in their time of need, the Turtles try to contact him, thereby accidentally drawing him back to the world of the living. Driven by his love for his sons and visions of their prospective future, Splinter assumes the identity of an ujigami and begins eliminating threats to his family's safety—including one of their oldest and best friends. Savanti Romero, a being from an alternate reality, takes over the Battle Nexus in order to eliminate the Turtles, as well as their alternate counterparts, using enemies from their past, present, and alternate realities, including Slash, Ninjara, Alopex, the Mirage incarnation of the Shredder, and the 2012 incarnation of Metalhead. Casey Jones encounters Jack Marlin, an unscrupulous industrialist and hobby hunter, who is harvesting a rejuvenation serum called Nostrum from the bodies of dead mutants, and must contend with Ludovic, Marlin's snow leopard mutant henchman, who desperately seeks acceptance with Marlin's family. The meddling by the Turtles, Karai, the Foot Clan witch Shinigami and Baxter Stockman with the barrier between life and death results, next to Tang Shen's return to the world of the living, in a breach through which the spirits of the dead threaten to invade Earth.

Comics

Ongoing