"It's Not a Reboot": TMNT Clarifies the Origins Of the Team's New Era

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have entered an exciting new era, and they've pulled it off without undergoing a full continuity reset. Comics are a fickle industry where long-running series often get rebooted in order to start over from scratch as a means of drawing in a bigger audience that may have been intimidated beforehand. However, IDW Publishing has done something different - and, arguably, more effective - with TMNT.

Jason Aaron and Juan Ferreyra's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is already on track to be one of the best comics of 2025, and its widespread appeal can be attributed at least in part to the editorial approach taken by Andy Khouri, the series' editor. In an interview with ComicBook.com, Khouri sheds light on the comic's status in IDW Publishing's TMNT continuity:

In the case of the Turtles, our book is not a reboot, it’s a relaunch of a series that continues a canon that has been running for about 13 years.

Despite the series resetting its numbering, the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles picks up where the last run left off rather than wiping the slate clean. In Khouri's words, it's a "relaunch" rather than a "reboot", and that distinction has cemented its success.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' New Era Isn't a Full Continuity Reset

Rather Than Erasing IDW's Existing Stories, TMNT Builds Upon Them

IDW Publishing kicked off its prolific 150-issue Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series in 2011, and it spanned thirteen years before coming to an end in 2024 to make way for the relaunch. Aaron and Ferreyra's take on the ninja turtles is not intended to erase the stories told in those years under IDW's umbrella, and it instead takes the core groundwork of its predecessor in a unique direction. For instance, elements such as Mutant Town and fellow turtle Jennika are still present within the overarching TMNT universe, even though they aren't the focus of the main comic.

Not only do many aspects of the previous series carry over into the new TMNT series, but they also influence the story to emphasize the sense of continuity. Khouri elaborates on this idea:

When you work with these sorts of really big legacy characters that have decades of stories behind them, the real trick is how do you surface the things about those characters that feel the most relevant right now and present it in a thoroughly modern way, almost as if they were created now, while still honoring and acknowledging and building on what came before.

One key example of TMNT's relaunch expanding upon what came earlier is the lasting impact of Splinter's death. The brothers' master is still deceased, and Aaron has integrated this into his narrative via Donatello mistaking a rat for his dead father. Moreover, Donnie has yet to shake off the emotional impact of the Armageddon Game and the discovery of his tormented future self. Nowadays, TMNT is looking to the future while drawing upon the past.

TMNT's New Relaunch Is Perfect For New and Old Readers Alike

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 Can Function as a Jumping-On Point

Comic book art: three TMNT brothers prepare to fight with their weapons. — TMNT coolest weapon revealed.

Over time, IDW's original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles became more challenging for newcomers to dive into. After all, when a book runs for as many years as TMNT did, it's inevitable for its extensive lore to confuse incoming readers. The current run solves that dilemma, and Khouri explains how:

Everything that’s happened before still counts, and still matters, and this is a natural evolution of that. That’s the kind of thing I did all the time at DC when you work with older characters that you’re trying to refresh and make hospitable for new readers while still giving the longtime readers things that are surprising and entertaining. It’s really the same job.

The new TMNT comic manages to be beginner-friendly by distancing itself from the former status quo, while simultaneously incorporating the old comics to avoid neglecting years of character development and worldbuilding. Jason Aaron's relaunch truly is the best of both worlds for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, striking the ideal balance to reach all audiences.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #6 is available now from IDW Publishing!

Source: ComicBook.com