IDW has revealed more details on another project that ties into the 40th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — the aptly titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 40th Anniversary Comics Celebration.
The 70-page special will include contributions from creators who have worked on the Turtles across their 40-year history, including Jim Lawson, Sophie Campbell, Freddie E. Williams II and more. Co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird drew the main cover, while Eastman will also have a story in the one-shot.
“Having a childhood dream – in my case, to write and draw comics for a living – is one thing. To then actually spending every minute of the next 40 years doing it is a whole other matter altogether – humbling is the first word that comes to mind,” Eastman said. “My co-creation of TMNT with the amazing Peter Laird has been the driving force of living that dream, and working with a number of really talented writers and artists along the way has made, and still makes, the journey the greatest shared experience I never imaged and could not be more grateful for.”
Here are more details from IDW on the project:
With several new stories and pinup art pieces inspired by different eras of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, this technodrome-sized issue with more than 70 pages will feature fan-favorite creatives returning to their respective eras for all-new tales. This special one-shot issue will feature new stories and pinup art from Jim Lawson, Ciro Nieli, Tristan Jones, Paul Harmon, Steve Lavigne, Andy Suriano, Ronda Pattison, Pablo Tunica, Freddie E. Williams II, Sophie Campbell, Tom Waltz, Lloyd Goldfine, Khary Randolph, Emilio Lopez, Dan Duncan, Erik Burnham, Sarah Myer, Luis Antonio Delgado, Chris Allan and more. Plus, the one and only Kevin Eastman will be contributing a story, too!
“From the raw beginnings of a 40-page self-published black and white ‘origin of’ comic, to the 200-page full color ‘final tale’ of the original TMNT’s graphic novel, The Last Ronin, I want to thank the people directly responsible – our fans. Without them, I would not have had the chance to live that childhood dream,” Eastman said.
The volume will come with several variant covers by Sophie Campbell, Isaac and Esau Escorza, Simon Bisley, Michael Dialynas, Vincenzo Federici, Khary Randolph, Emilio Lopez, Michael Cho, Dave Wachter and an IDW Exclusive cover by Ben Bishop. Check a few of them out below:
“What’s amazing about the TMNT comics is just looking back over the breadth of the stories, how many creators have tapped in, and all the energy and excitement that has gone into the last four decades,” said IDW Editor-in-Chief Jamie S. Rich. “It proves how great the original concept by Eastman and Laird was that it endures across media, across time, and the characters consistently find a new audience. This book tries to tap into as much of that as possible and bring back fan favorite creators to celebrate their contributions to the lore.”
Look for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 40th Anniversary Comics Celebration to land in stores on July 10.