Coming this summer, two decades after their last encounter, comic book icons the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will step into the world of Usagi Yojimbo in a special one-shot comic.
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Legendary creator of Usagi Yojimbo, Stan Sakai, will write and illustrate a new adventure which sees ronin rabbit, Miyamoto Usagi, cross paths with Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo. Miyamoto Usagi has embarked on a quest to save Japan, and combining forces with the Heroes in a Half-Shell to take on the maniacal Jei may be the only path to coming out of this alive.
“I had wanted to reunite Usagi and the TMNT for awhile, but these are not the Turtles that he knew,” said Stan Sakai. “Relationships have to be reestablished, suspicions overcome, and trust earned. The survival of all Japan literally rests on them working as a team.”
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Usagi Yojimbo franchises have a long history, previously appearing together in their respective comics, animated television series, and the popular TMNT line of toys.
“Stan and I both started out the same year, 1984, and here we are still living the dream telling stories with characters we created over three decades ago,” said Kevin Eastman, co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. “I love the fact that our two creations were intertwined from the beginning and could not be more thrilled that Stan is coming back to tell a new story in the IDW TMNT comics universe.”
While Eastman has moved heavily into other media in the intervening thirty-plus years, Sakai has drawn Usagi Yojimbo pretty much nonstop since the ’80s. The award-winning series
This crossover event will be available this July in standard comic book format as well as in a deluxe hardcover collector’s edition, not unlike what DC has been doing with Dark Knight III: The Master Race. Both editions feature exclusive extras including layouts, pin-ups, character studies, and more. The publisher will also offer a special variant cover by David Petersen of Mouse Guard fame.
