IDW’s ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ #1 Leaps Right Into Action [Preview]

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are back and as surly as ever as original TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman, along with co-writer Tom Waltz and artist Dan Duncan unleash 32 pages of all-new turtley action today in the pages of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 from IDW and Nickelodeon. Rather than wasting precious pages retelling their origin story, the new TMNT book cuts to the quick by pitting the established green machines against a fresh threat in the form of Old Hob, a dangerous anthropomorphic cat harboring a serious grudge against the Turtles' mentor Splinter. Join the fray with an eight-page preview of the new TMNT, plus variant covers by Eastman and Sam Keith after the jump.Just as the new TMNT comic aims to capture the vibe of Eastman and Peter Laird's original series while telling new stories in a more contemporary setting, so does Duncan's artwork. Drawn in conjunction with Eastman's layouts ("Not that Dan needs any," according to Eastman), Duncan manages to depict the Turtles in a style that feels perfectly familiar yet completely fresh. The uniformly masked TMNT may only be principally distinguishable by the weapons they hold in their three-fingered hands, but Duncan takes care to differentiate their facial expressions and body language in ways consistent with each turtle as if he were drawing a black and white book -- an approach in keeping with the classic stories.

We were impressed with Duncan's DeviantArt portfolio, but seeing his take on the Turtles come to full fruition verifies the praise Eastman had for him during our interview:

Much like working with another writer like I did with Peter Laird and several others over the early TMNT years, working with other artists; Simon Bisley, Richard Corben, Mark Bode, and many of the awesome original Mirage Studios crew--THAT was the fun stuff! I ALWAYS loved the energy these guys brought to the table, and Dan is right there--bringing his A game and having fun with it--and all of that shines through in a big way. TMNT fans, old and new, will love his work!

Check out Eastman and Keith's variant covers, plus the first eight pages of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 below: