Via Polygon, IDW Publishing and Dark Horse Comics have unveiled “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Stranger Things,” a four-issue series teaming up Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s beloved superheroes with the kids from Netflix’s hit sci-fi series. Written by Cameron Chittock (Random House Graphic’s “Mapmakers Trilogy”) with art by Fero Pe (IDW’s main TMNT series), the comic will see the kids from Hawkins, Indiana, head to New York City to face “a threat both bizarre and familiar,” and meeting Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, and Raphael along the way.
Chittock, a former BOOM! Studios editor, says “It’s a big cast, but the mystery at the center of the story sees the group split in two which gives us a little more room to really dig into the character dynamics. Some of those combinations I knew I wanted to explore from the beginning, like Raphael and Eleven. Others surprised me while writing, like Donatello and Max. With the Turtles hosting the Hawkins kids in New York City, the series examines how these two groups of teenagers have been shaped by where they come from, for better or worse. It’s hard to imagine someone more suited for those themes than Will Byers, and his perspective comes to the forefront and has fascinating ripple effects on the other characters. Perhaps none more so than Leonardo, and their scenes together later in the series will probably end up being my favorite.”
Fero tells Polygon the comic’s look is very much rooted in when Eastman and Laird created the Turtles at Mirage Studios in 1984. “I see the Mirage era very much as an indie comic style,” he says, “grim and gritty but with a special energy and attention to detail. There’s a certain influence of Frank Miller from the ‘300’ and ‘Ronin’ era, too. I would like to balance the use of shadows with that classic touch of the halftone shadows. I have been using them a lot in the ongoing ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ series as a tribute to the early comics, and I think that now with this story they will fit perfectly!”
The comic has its roots in a 2022 Playmates toy line, which paired up Leonardo & Eleven, Raphael & Jim Hopper, Michelangelo & Dustin, and Donnatello & Lucas; the toys were modeled on the Turtles’ original comics designs, and the Stranger Things characters’ most ’80s-fied appearances in season three. It marks the second Stranger Things crossover comic, after IDW and Dark Horse’s 2020 release “Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons,” and the latest of several for the Turtles, who have another crossover based on a Playmates line, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vs. Street Fighter,” starting in May. Other Stranger Things crossovers include the games Fortnite, The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross, and Far Cry 6.
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Stranger Things” #1 will be released on July 12.
