IDW's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 40th Anniversary Comics Celebration is a joyous and nostalgic tribute to every era of the TMNT, bursting with Turtle Power.
Lately, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics have taken a darker turn. This shift began with TMNT: The Last Ronin, a major hit for publisher IDW, which steered the series into a tougher, more mature direction. The sequel series, The Last Ronin II: Re-Evolution, continues this gritty tone, and the upcoming main series relaunch led by Jason Aaron also seems to embrace this edgier approach to Turtle Power.
However, IDW's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 40th Anniversary Comics Celebration, set to publish next week, takes a different path. This special is an anthology featuring 11 new strips from a variety of creators, celebrating the franchise's diverse tones. It pays homage to all the TMNT comic eras, from the earliest Mirage Studios days to the current IDW era. The issue fittingly begins with a piece from TMNT creator Kevin Eastman: a four-page retelling of the Turtles' early days, set against the poem "Alone" by Edgar Allen Poe. The Mirage era is further evoked with Jim Lawson and Steve Lavigne's "Monsters" and Tales of the TMNT: Gang Wars by Tristan Jones and Paul Harmon.
A standout moment is when journalist Lauren Stanton reflects, "All the stories... all the different versions of them... they start to make sense." This captures the special's essence, showcasing the Turtles' contradictory and strange adventures as part of their charm. From there, each distinct version of the Turtles gets its own story. "Downtime" by Gary Carlson and Frank Fosco takes place within TMNT: Urban Legends, IDW's reprints of the Image Comics series. Chris Allan's "The Man Behind the Mask" is set within the TMNT Adventures continuity. Erik Burnham, Sarah Myer, and Luis Antonio Delgado's "What About Tomorrow" is part of the Saturday Morning Adventures strand. Additionally, Lloyd Goldfine, Khary Randolph, and Emilio Lopez's "Splinter Forever," Ciro Nieli's "Kraang Among Us," and Andy Suriano's "Farewell" all transition from the comics into the cartoons.
Finally, Tom Waltz and Michael Dialynas's "Father's Day" and Ronda Pattison and Pablo Tunica's "Teen Spirit" bring us into the current IDW era. "Father's Day" is a melancholic piece about the boys visiting Splinter's grave, while "Teen Spirit" reflects on The Armageddon Game event that marked the end of IDW's first era. With so much good content, it's tough to pick highlights, but the moody '90s flavor of Paul Harmon's art in "Gang Wars," the sheer fun of "The Man Behind the Mask," and the outright weirdness of Ciro Nieli's tale stand out. Every fan will find their own favorites in this issue, which perfectly fulfills an anniversary comic's role: reminding us why we fell in love with these characters in the first place. Here's to another 40 years!













