SDCC | Gene Yang + Freddie Williams II take on ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’

Plus: TMNT X Godzilla, Battle Nexus and more Turtle-focused news from San Diego.

The 12th issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be the final issue by Jason Aaron and Juan Ferrerya, who kicked off the new series last year. But December will bring a new creative team as Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese) and Freddie Williams II (Batman/TMNT) take over the title.

The creative team change was one of several TMNT-related announcements IDW made this week at the San Diego Comic-Con.

According to publisher IDW, “this all-new story arc will provide fans with a fresh jumping on point as the Heroes in a Half-Shell are back together and hopeful about the future of the city, but there’s a dark and personal danger lurking in the shadows as a deadly new assassin makes their debut.” Yang and Williams will be joined by Jake Thomas, who take over editing the title.

“I’ve been a fan of the TMNT since I was young. I remember watching the ‘80s cartoon with my brother and then reenacting the Turtles’ adventures with our action figures,” Yang said. “I read my first issue of TMNT at a friend’s house, and I was blown away by the melding of gritty martial arts action and wild, out-of-left-field ideas. Many years later, I began my cartooning career in American independent comics. All of us from that corner of comics owe a huge debt to Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. 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. I’ve admired the Turtles for a long, long time. I’m absolutely thrilled to get to tell their stories at IDW.”

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IDW’s final G.I. Joe comic features more than 300 characters on one of its covers

Larry Hama wraps up 40 years of writing a ‘Real American Hero.’ as IDW potentially sets a new world record for ‘most comic book characters on a single issue cover.’

With G.I. Joe set to leave IDW for, um, somewhere else at the end of the year, IDW is pulling out all the stops on their big finale for the line. Their last comic, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #300, will arrive in stores in November, featuring a story by longtime G.I. Joe scribe Larry Hama, with art by SL Gallant, inks by Maria Keane, colors by J. Brown and letters by Neil Uyetake.

“I handed in the plot to G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #300, which is the final issue of the series for IDW, with a mix of sadness and amazement. Sad, that a storyline I began in 1982 is coming to an end, and amazement that it has lasted this long,” Hama said.

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