Cartoon Network revivals are big business for the cable network these days, with the likes of Regular Show, Adventure Time, and Gumball all receiving stellar comebacks in recent years. The likes of Regular Show: The Lost Tapes, The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball, and Adventure Time: Side Quests are expanding on their respective universes. While all these revivals have been animated, not every Cartoon Network comeback is destined for the screen. In fact, one of the biggest of 2026 has recently been released as a comic book and, in doing so, has created a far more mature take on its subject matter.
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After a slight delay, Dynamite Comics’ Ben 10 series released the second issue of its recent reboot onto the shelves earlier this week. Following the first issue, Ben Tennyson has discovered the Omnitrix, and his transformations are unlike anything viewers have ever witnessed in any of the animated series. Taking a page from Marvel’s Immortal Hulk, Ben’s forms swap between one another in a horrific display, as you can see below. On top of the sickening transformations, a re-imagining of the classic villain, Kraab, shows just how mature the new comic book series can get when it wants to. With the villain carving his way through army soldiers, this comic isn’t holding anything back.
Ben 10’s Dark Turn
In conjunction with the second issue’s release, a Ben 10 co-creator, and longtime comic book writer Joe Casey, talked about the darker side of this new revival, “It’s tough to pick favorites when it comes to Ben’s aliens, but needless to say, we’re absolutely psyched to bring Cannonbolt to life on the comics page. And this issue ends with a Cannonbolt cliffhanger that you never would’ve seen in the animated series.” While the first issue presented new takes on classic characters, previews for the comic book series tease that some characters are returning with drastically darker looks.
Specifically, a future Ben 10 comic book cover showed how this new universe is remaking the villainous Zombozo to look far more terrifying than any of his interpretations in the Cartoon Network series. While the creepy clown could certainly cause Ben Tennyson and his friends some headaches throughout their battles, the comic book series is remaking the antagonist as something far more terrifying than we have ever seen before.
As it stands, the Ben 10 comic has been listed as an ongoing series, meaning we could potentially be in for years of this new take on the Cartoon Network classic. Unfortunately, there has yet to be word on Ben and his friends returning to the small screen, though many of the creators have expressed an interest in bringing back the character. In 2024, Ben 10 co-creator Duncan Rouleau expressed an interest in focusing on a more mature take on the character. Whether Ben Tennyson returns to the animation medium is anyone’s guess, though the comic series is further exploring this new universe.
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