Gene Luen Yang, the Eisner-winning creator of acclaimed graphic novel American Born Chinese, is picking up the katana to take on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for IDW Publishing.
Yang, who also penned the Eisner and Harvey-winning story Superman Smashes the Klan, will be the new writer of the ongoing comic, ushering in a new run beginning with issue no. 13.
Freddie E. Williams II, who previously worked on Batman/TMNT, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Godzilla vs Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, will be the new artist on the title.
The two pick up from writer Jason Aaron and artist Juan Ferrerya, the current team whose back-to-basics approach relaunched the book to best-selling status last year. Their finale closes with issue no. 12 in September. Yang and Williams’s run launches in December.
Yang grew up watching the classic 1980s cartoon with his brother and then reenacted the Turtles’ adventures with their action figures. He read his first issue of TMNT at a friend’s house and \was “blown away by the melding of gritty martial arts action and wild, out-of-left-field ideas,” he said in a statement.
But he is also aware of the comics’ legacy as a pioneer in independent comics, knowing full well that their work cleared the path for other writers and artists to follow.
“All of us from that corner of comics owe a huge debt to (TMNT creators) Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird,” stated Yang, who also wrote a recent Shang-Chi mini-series for Marvel and created Monkey Prince for DC. “Their talent and creativity, both as comics creators and as businessmen, carved out a path for the rest of us to follow. In fact, the very first comic I ever self-published was funded by a grant from Peter Laird’s Xeric Foundation.”
Williams had previously drawn TMNT covers as well as cross-overs with Batman and He-Man, but this is his first crack at the interiors.
“I love the Ninja Turtles, the original Mirage comics were instrumental in making me fall in love with the comic book medium,” he enthused. “And, of course I am super inspired by the power and texture in that early Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird art!”
Much of the new story line is being kept under the manhole, but it will begin with the Turtles reunited and feeling hopeful about the future of the city. But, naturally, that doesn’t last as a dark and personal danger lurking in the shadows, the deadly new assassin Ujigami, makes their presence known.
For the launch of the new team, IDW will be offering a special blind bag variant for collectors, featuring variant covers from creators such as Daniel Warren Johnson, David Nakayama, Clayton Crain, and others. The main cover will be by Williams and a variant will be drawn by Dustin Nguyen.
The issue will hit Dec. 10, with the pre-order deadline being Oct. 20.
Check out the Williams and Nguyen covers below.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book
Courtesy of IDW
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book
Courtesy of IDW
