It's safe to say IDW's upcoming relaunch of their monthly Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series is one of 2024's most hotly anticipated comics. In fact, the first issue has received over 300,000 preorders, which would make it the best-selling comic of 2024 by a wide margin. With the release of TMNT #1 drawing closer, IGN can exclusively debut a gorgeous new variant cover of the second issue.
Check out the connecting covers for issues #1 and 2 below, which form one half of a larger montage by artist Danny Earls and colorist Jão Canola:
As you can see, these two covers are packed to the brim with TMNT franchise Easter eggs, including nods to creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, the years 1984 (the original debut of the Turtles) and 1990 (the year the first live-action movie hit theaters) and even the iconic TMNT Party Wagon.
Collectors can look forward to two further variant covers from Earls and Canola, with Leonardo featuring on issue #3 and Donatello on issue #4. A fifth standalone cover will also be released for TMNT #5, this time featuring all four Turtles. That approach mirrors the content of each issue. The new series will focus on each Turtle individually across the first four issues before bringing the family back together in issue #5.
Check out the slideshow gallery below to see the black and white version of these two covers, along with the final versions including the trade dress:
In case you missed the news, IDW's original TMNT series recently concluded with issue #150, paving the way for a relaunched series written by The Mighty Thor and Wolverine's Jason Aaron. The first five issues feature a superstar lineup of artists that includes Joëlle Jones, Rafael Albuquerque, Cliff Chiang, Chris Burnham and Darick Robertson.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 will be released on July 24. Issue #2 will follow on September 11, with the final preorder cutoff happening on July 29. The Danny Earls covers will be sold as 1:25 variants, so make sure you let your local comic shop know if you're interested in ordering a copy.
Also hitting comic shops in September are the final issues of Marvel's Star Wars and Darth Vader comics. Those finales will pave the way for new Star Wars comics that ""will take readers to a different era of the galaxy, far, far away."
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
