The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles creators make turtle power together for the first time in over 20 years
If there’s one thing I know from a lifetime spent humming that stupid theme song whether I want to or not, it’s that the world is suffering from a serious lack of turtle power (turtoleum?).
OK, it’s true that after three decades the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle franchise is as strong as ever, what with an ongoing comic published by IDW, a hit cartoon series on Nick and an upcoming cinematic reboot produced by Michael Bay. (Here’s hoping it’s the Pain & Gain Michael Bay and not the Transformers Michael Bay.) But not since the early 90s have the Turtles’ creators, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, teamed up on the series that made them famous and taught a generation of kids that pizza is acceptable sustenance for aquatic reptiles.
That changes this May, with the just-announced 30th anniversary special issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. For the issue, Eastman and Laird are collaborating on a cover that recalls the original, bare-bones black and white aesthetic. The issue will feature short stories inspired by various incarnations of the Ninja Turtles, written by Eastman, Dean Clarrain, Chris Allan, Gary Carlson, Frank Fosco, Tom Waltzand, Dan Duncan, and more.
It’s strange to think that a title originally created as a parody of the almost comical grittiness pioneered by the likes of Frank Miller would spawn an empire of its own that included a line of RPGs, three popular children’s cartoon and several movies, not to mention the best moment of Vanilla Ice’s career. Stranger still that we have TMNT to thank for the survival of Heavy Metal magazine, as the money Kevin Eastman made from TMNT allowed him to purchase it in 1992. Proof that creator-owned titles are indeed an objective good, and good for the comics industry as a whole. And so are the Ninja Turtles.
Here’s the full cover image. Enjoy.
Source: IDW
