Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Celebrates 35 Years With This Must-Own Collectible

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The longevity of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise is nothing to be taken lightly. In fact, 2025 marks a very important milestone for the wicked reptiles, which is being honored in a fun and exciting way.

IDW Publishing has released a special edition of the graphic novelization of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. The comic book is part of the 35th anniversary celebration of the totally tubular team's first live-action, feature-length adventure.

The 138-page book is written and illustrated by the Turtles' original creators, Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman, who adapted the story from Todd W. Langen and Bobby Herbeck's screenplay for 1990's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The new edition features re-colored artwork, as well as the rough layouts of Eastman's illustrations, placement notes for the novel's original publication under Archie Comics and scrapped material that was later added for Mirage Studios' version of the comic.

Much like director Steve Barron's film, the comic follows Manhattan reporter April O'Neil (played by Judith Hoag in the movie), who crosses paths with a group of young, anthropomorphic reptiles with radical martial arts skills and a weakness for pizza. Along with hockey player-turned-masked vigilante Casey Jones (Elias Koteas in the film), she joins them on a mission to save their master, a human-sized rat named Splinter, from their archenemy, Master Shredder, and his Foot Clan.

The film was the first live-action adaptation of Laird and Eastman's comic book series, which originally debuted in 1984 under their self-founded Mirage Studios before becoming an animated TV series in 1987. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles went on to gross more than $202 million worldwide on a budget of a little more than $13 million and spawned two sequels. The movie was released back into theaters in honor of the 35th anniversary in August 2025.

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The turtles from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II The Secret of the Ooze

In 2014, producer Michael Bay revived the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for live-action cinema with a reboot that ditched practical effects in favor of versions of Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael and Leonardo brought to life with performance capture and CGI. Megan Fox starred as April O'Neill, who would also reprise the role in 2016's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, which would not be the last of the team's live-action adventures, so it seems.

A new live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie has been greenlit by Paramount and is confirmed to hit theaters on Nov. 17, 2028. In fact, it is one of three upcoming cinematic adventures starring the Turtles, including another planned live-action flick and an animated film set for a Sept. 2027 release.

The animated project will serve as a follow-up to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, which was released in 2023 to a great critical and commercial reception. One element that admirers especially gravitated to was the casting of actual teenagers to voice Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.), Donatello (Micah Abbey), Raphael (Brady Noon) and Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu). The original voice cast, which also includes the likes of Ayo Edebiri and producer Seth Rogen, are expected to reprise their roles.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Original Motion Picture Special Edition: 35th Anniversary is now on sale.