Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

This week DC launches Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the unlikely crossover series that brings IDW Publishing's current iteration of Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird's TMNT characters together with DC's Dark Knight; one of the biggest success stories in creator-owned comics meeting one of the most famous corporate comics brands. Batman and the Turtles have relatively little in common, but the Turtles have been teaming up with comic book characters far beyond their home milieu pretty much since their first appearance. In fact, the characters are so weird at their core that there's really no setting, genre, or comic book character that they can't fit in with. When discordance is in your DNA, you can't clash with anything. So on the week of their team up with the Caped Crusader, what better time to revisit some of the Turtles' greatest comic book crossovers?

Looks like Mondo was saving the best two turtles for last when it came to its new sixth-scale figure line. We'd already seen Leonardo and Donatello, so it was just a matter of time until Michelangelo and Raphael joined up. Of course, leaving Raph for last just proves how awesome he is because you don't close out the show if you're not a true headliner. That said, being runner-up to the main man isn't so bad, Mikey. It's not like his feeling will be hurt. He is a fictional character. And just a toy. So, you know, he doesn't have feelings. Anyway, Mondo's Mirage-inspired Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle line has been impressive thus far, mixing some nice-looking sculpts with a bunch of interesting accessories. Michelangelo will continue that trend quite nicely, as he'll not only come with the same grip hands, climbing claw hands and shurikens as the others, but also his signature nunchaku. Of course, it's all about that additional "Splayed Fingers of Positive Vibes" hand Mondo's including. It's also got us hoping Raph comes with a "Upright Finger of Righteous Indignation."

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles do a lot of things I like. I mean, they fight evil ninjas, they learn karate, they beat up robots with nunchuks, and if I were to start listing off my major interests, those three things would be pretty close to the top of the list. But there's one thing that they do surprisingly often that I like more than all of those put together: They hang out with dinosaurs. Truly, they are living their best lives. And now, they're getting ready to do it again in "Half-Shell Heroes: Blast to the Past," an hour-long animated special that's set to air on Nickelodeon on November 22, in which our heroes head back in time and immediately start making friends with a triceratops. Check out a clip below!

Last season’s Walking Dead finale treated viewers to the surprising reveal that not only was Morgan hot on the trail of Rick Grimes, but also that he’d picked up some sweet moves with a bo-staff. Last night’s premiere saw Morgan alluding to his trainer, but the real world has a far more surprising revelation: Lennie James was trained by a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

For over four years, IDW's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has been one of the best comics on the stands, hands down. It's a blend of everything that TMNT has ever been, a synthesis that combines action, sci-fi and ninja mysticism into one sprawling, epic story that has spilled out from an ongoing series into a string of miniseries and one-shots that have built something genuinely incredible. Now, the series is closing in on its biggest story yet with the release of #50 and the ultimate battle between the Ninja Turtles and Shredder's Foot Clan. To mark the occasion, ComicsAlliance spoke to co-writer Tom Waltz, TMNT co-creator and series co-writer Kevin Eastman, and series editor Bobby Curnow about the history of the series, covering the process of rebuilding TMNT for comics from the ground up, the happy accidents that led to some of their favorite new characters, and the surprising, heartbreaking challenge of coming up with something horrible to do to a party dude like Michelangelo.

When it comes to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it seems almost everyone is either on team Raphael or team Michelangelo. Leonardo gets a little bit of love, but almost no one will admit to being a fan of Donatello. Perhaps it falls back to the playground, where we'd all pretend to be the Turtles, and the last guy you wanted to be was the smartest guy in the room. Now as an adult, I can see the err of my ways. I mean, I'm still totally on team Raphael, but I ​get ​Donatello now. Last month, Mondo kicked off its Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sixth-scale figure line with the leader of the pack, Leonardo. Though there have been a lot of TMNT figures and vinyls making waves over the past few months, Mondo's presents the first time this iteration of the characters will be available at this scale and with this many accessories. Tomorrow, Donatello finally get his chance to shine, and he's bringing a bunch of cool stuff with him.

With October just around the bend, that means it's time for cooler weather, cooler costumes and the biggest comic book convention on the east coast. Yes, New York Comic Con is bearing down on us faster than we're prepared to deal with it, but that's okay. We'll make do. In addition to incredible amount of stuff happening at the show, there will be a lot of great stuff up for grabs. As busy as Funko was at San Diego Comic-Con, its plate looks to be equally as filled at NYCC this coming year. This week, Funko is unveiling all of its planned exclusive items, with a new batch coming every single day. While the availability of each is likely to be a bit more open than it was at SDCC, these things will still be limited. If you're hoping to get any, definitely plan ahead and around any and all panels you hope to make it to this year.

Everyone loves comic book trivia, but with 75 years of superhero comics behind us right now, there’s always some new obscure fact to learn. That’s why ComicsAlliance is going deep into the minutiae of your favorite characters in our continuing video series. You think you know comics? Well, here’s a few things you might not know! This week we're taking a look at one of the biggest multi-media juggernauts in comics history, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Find out how a night of goofing around turned into a multi-million dollar enterprise, discover the byzantine publication history of the heroes in a half-shell, and gawk in amazement at the bevy of parodies, blatant imitators, and wannabes that arose in the Turtles' wake.

If you've been eagerly awaiting the day when Mondo's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sixth-scale figures would go on sale, the stars have almost aligned. Revealed in full for the first time at San Diego Comic-Con this past July, Mondo's TMNT figures were the talk of the convention, and rightfully so. Though we've seen numerous incarnations of the fab four over the years, even in their retro comic book form, Mondo's versions presented the classic three-fingered ninjas in a size we hadn't seen before. Coupled with the incredible accessories that hit all the right nostalgia notes, Mondo's first real foray into this format had fans hyped and crowded around their display all four days of the show. The line will officially kick off this week with Leonardo, the selfless leader of the pack. Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael will follow, with each coming about a month after the previous release. Leo will come with his signature dual katanas, as well as scabbards for both on his back. Mondo's including heads with red bandannas for all the Turtles to emulate the appearances of the Turtles way back when during the Mirage days, but will also include heads with more familiar colored bandannas, too. And the Turtles wouldn't be who they are without first having been babies, so Leo will come with a little non-mutated turtle version of himself.

You know things are pretty bad for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when Shredder, an evil ninja who is literally dressed in knives, is the least of their worries. That's the situation in the first issue of IDW's TMNT: Amazing Adventures, in which Cluckingsworth, a super-intelligent mutant chicken from their time at April O'Neil's family farm, has returned to New York City and is apparently bringing a whole lot of trouble with her. But while that is certainly a pressing concern, Landry Q. Walker, Chad Thomas and Heather Breckel's lead story isn't the only thing worth noting, because this is also the issue where we finally get to see the Ninja Turtles in a story by James Kochalka.