Posted in: Comics, IDW | Tagged: idw, stan sakai, teenage mutant ninja turtles, usagi yojimbo

TMNT and Usagi Yojimbo Crossover Again in New Series from Stan Sakai

Published Thu, 15 Dec 2022 13:57:12 -0600

Last updated Fri, 16 Dec 2022 07:55:31 -0600

Jude Terror here, filling in on the breaking comic book news today. Bleeding Cool Rumourmonger-in-Chief Rich Johnston usually handles this stuff, but he got into a fistfight with a Beefeater while trying to break into the Tower of London to chase down a rumor that the King is buying 2000AD (you heard it here first — pip pip). Today, we have a press release from IDW announcing a crossover between two of the properties they haven't lost to another publisher yet: Usagi Yojimbo and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.* The new series, written and drawn by the legendary Stan Sakai with colors by Hi-Fi, will launch in March and is titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo: WhereWhen.

We just told you! At IDW, in March. Jeeze. Pay attention.

From the press release:

In 1984, the indie comics scene erupted with the creation of two enduring phenomena: Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. Given the two series' anthropomorphic heroes, reverence for Japanese culture, and mutual respect among their highly skilled creators, it was no wonder that the two properties would crossover in comics, multiple animated series, and toy lines over the next four decades.

It goes on to describe the comic:

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pursue the evil cyborg genius Dr. WhereWhen through a time portal…and emerge in feudal Japan! There, they encounter Miyamoto Usagi, 20 years into the samurai's future but decades after the arrival of Dr. WhereWhen—who has already carved himself a fiefdom using mechanized clockwork samurai robots, with the intention of conquering both the past and current timelines!

And let's not forget the most important part of any comic book: the covers.

Each and every issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo: WhereWhen will feature a glorious wraparound cover by Stan Sakai, plus alternate covers by TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman, Sarah Myer (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures), and David Petersen (Mouse Guard). Issue #1 will also include a blank cover variant, perfect for artists or even convention commissions.

Here's what Stan Sakai had to say about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo: WhereWhen:

I am so pleased with the story and art for WhereWhen. There is a lot of emotion and, of course, lots of action. I actually wrote this story about five years ago and had been anxious to get to it. In the past, the Turtles have met just a few of Usagi's friends. This time, everyone is thrown in—Gen, Tomoe, Jotaro, Yukichi, Kitsune, Chizu, and more! This one is epic!

Wow, high praise for the story and art from… the person who wrote and drew it. On an unrelated note, we couldn't be more pleased with the award-worthy journalism exhibited in this article. Kevin Eastman also had something to say about all this:

Usagi Yojimbo arrived in the world of comics the very same year as TMNT, and our lifelong personal and creative relationships with the characters and each other were built on mutual love and respect for the medium. Anytime Stan Sakai wants to bring them together for a tale, I'm one-hundred-percent front row center.

Look for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo: WhereWhen in stores in March 2023.

*Bleeding Cool's ungrateful commenters have informed us that IDW actually DID lose the Usagi Yojimbo license. Bleeding Cool's commenters are lucky we are not Elon Musk, or they would be banned immediately.