IDW Publishing’s flagship Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series is hotter than ever these days. Last year, IDW relaunched the long-running title with a superstar creative team and a drastically different tone and direction. Now the series is about to undergo another metamorphosis. After Jason Aaron and Juan Ferreyra wrap up their run with TMNT #12 this month, they’ll be replaced by writer Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese) and artist Freddie E. Williams II (Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).
IGN recently had the chance to speak with Williams via email to learn more about this next phase of the series. Check out the slideshow gallery below to see exclusive black and white art from issue #13 and the character design for the new villain, Ujigami. Then read on to learn more.
It’s safe to say that drawing TMNT remains one of the most coveted gigs in comics. Williams reveals that he had to bend over backwards to make the assignment fit his schedule, but there was ultimately no way he could turn down the opportunity.
“[I felt] ELATED excitement at first! Followed by a great deal of FEAR! I had several smaller projects queued up in my workload - so for several days, I thought I’d have to PASS, and miss the opportunity to draw this Ninja Turtles arc!” Williams tells IGN. “But, I love the Ninja Turtles and I’ve been hounding IDW, and Editor-in-Chief Bobby Curnow, especially for almost 10 solid years to draw the series! That’s not an exaggeration!!!”
Williams continues, “I was afraid I was overbooked, and I really was (am)… But after reading the plot synopsis that Gene wrote, I decided it was worth canceling some of those projects and canceling conventions and working through my 19th wedding anniversary, while getting only four hours of sleep a night for the next six months just to make this work!”
Williams has certainly contributed to the TMNT franchise before. He previously drew all three Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossovers from DC and IDW. The art seen above makes it clear that Williams won’t be radically changing up his style for this series, and there’s a good reason for that. With both Batman/TMNT and the TMNT solo series, his goal is to pay tribute to original TMNT creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.
“The perfect version of the Ninja Turtles already exists!” Williams says. “That’s the original Mirage run by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, specifically the two-part story that starts with “What Goes Around Comes Around”, the Leonardo one-shot and then the follow-up of issue #10 of the original Mirage TMNT series. The Turtles and ALL of the art in that story is the perfect incarnation! So, I’m always aiming for that target, with proportions, motion, storytelling, texture, mass etc. Eventually if I get good enough, someday they’ll look exactly like the turtles at Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird drew them.”
One of the most striking things about Aaron’s TMNT run as it begins is that it shows the four brothers divided in a way they’ve never been before. They’re scattered to the four corners of the globe, and only over the course of those 12 issues do they reunite and learn how to fight together as a single family again. Williams teases that the family will be back together as he and Yang begin their story, but readers can expect a pretty major twist before long.
“Jason Aaron has created an incredible approach to the Ninja Turtles that Gene and I are building upon with our story arc,” Williams says. “The Turtles are reunited in a fun and exciting way - which I’m having the honor to draw them together again - rebuilding and reestablishing their dynamic, which gets shaken up pretty darn quickly!!!”
Don’t expect the Turtles to be clashing with a familiar villain like Shredder in this new storyline (Shredder himself recently spun out into the pages of his own solo series). Instead, Yang and Williams are introducing an entirely new ninja villain called Ujigami. As Williams teases, this is one scary new addition to the TMNT rogues gallery.
“Ujigami instills in me (while I’m reading Gene’s fantastic script and bio) a feeling of fear and awe and dread when drawing them - mysterious and complicated motivations in relation to the Turtles! I can’t wait for the readers to learn more about Ujigami!!!” Williams says. “The original Ujigami design is by Ben Bates, he really nailed the underlying design. I then made an additional revision so the design is a collaboration with the both of us.”
Finally, we had to ask if Williams and writer James Tynion IV have kicked around ideas for a fourth Batman/TMNT crossover. Is there still ground left to cover with the pop culture mash-up? Could a Batman/TMNT IV happen someday? Williams seems optimistic on that front.
“James and I worked on 18 issues of Batman/TMNT together,” Williams says. “There is a kind of inertia that comes from working on the characters for that long. We both have plot points and scene ideas that didn’t quite work in our previous issues, but would make great follow-up crossovers stories!”
Williams continues. “You should see how James processes ideas. He has something that can only be described as ‘internally visualized inspiration’ spawning entire story arcs. I’ve witnessed it firsthand when we were riffing ideas at a breakfast with Jim Chadwick, (the editor for Batman/Ninja Turtles). And at a San Diego Comic-Con signing… I think James’ consciousness leaves his body, plucks something out of the astral plane, then pops back! You can witness the inspiration as he’s explaining it to you, he’s ALREADY SEEN IT… but it’s manifesting the moment before he speaks the words!”
Williams also renews his desire for a slightly different crossover, one that would link together the aged Batman of The Dark Knight Returns with the grim, sole surviving Turtle of TMNT: The Last Ronin.
“Additionally, I (what I think) is a pretty solid pitch for a Last Ronin/ Batman Beyond pitch, that I’ve been cultivating for a couple years, developing the story while waiting for the right time for it to fit into a potential future publishing schedule!!!”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #13 will be released on December 10, with a preorder deadline of October 13. Similar to Batman #1 and Ultimate Endgame #1, the issue will be available as a blind bag variant (still at the same $4.99 cover price), with covers by Eastman, Daniel Warren Johnson, and more. You can preorder a copy at your local comic shop.
For more, learn how you can start reading the TMNT comics in 2025.
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