TMNT Original Cartoon Cast Reunites August 24

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A live recording of Rob Paulsen's Talkin' Toons podcast on August 24 will see the reunion of almost all of the lead voice actors from the original TMNT cartoon series. Currently scheduled to appear are Rob Paulsen (Raphael - duh), Barry Gordon (Donatello), Townsend Coleman (Michaelangelo), Cam Clarke (Leonardo), Peter Renaday (Splinter), and Renae Jacobs (April O'Neil).

The show will be at the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club in Los Angeles at 8pm, August 24. Buy tickets now!

TMNT Color Classics: Raphael #1 - Variant Cover Guide

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The color reprint of the original Raphael Micro-Series book is in shops today!

Cover A

Cover B

Cover A: Kevin Eastman (color).
Regular cover.

Cover B: Kevin Eastman (mono-tone).
Retailer exclusive cover for Jetpack Comics.
This cover is available from Jetpack Comics.

Mirage Studios Artists to Appear at Shellback Artworks August 11

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Steve Lavigne's Shellback Artworks shop will be hosting an appearance and signing with many of the old Mirage Studios crew on August 11. Scheduled to appear are TMNT co-creator Peter Laird, Jim Lawson, and Dan Berger. Michael Dooney may also be present, although he is not currently confirmed.

The event is scheduled from 11am-4pm.

Shellback Artworks
1509 Post Rd.
Wells, ME 04090
(207) 251-4340

Most of these artists have not been making convention appearances recently, so this is an excellent opportunity to visit and maybe pick up some art!

Eastman & Sim Art Print Revealed

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Back in June, there was a Kickstarter campaign to support the creation of a digital edition of the Cerebus comic book series by Dave Sim. One of the rewards that was available was an art print of a jam piece between Kevin Eastman and Sim. Sim started the piece, portraying Cerebus as "Matisse, the Unknown Turtle." He then sent it off to Eastman to finish it. Just yesterday, the final piece was revealed as the one pictured above, and as you can see it's AMAZING!

Exclusive! Interview with the 2012 TMNT Voice Cast

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One of my highlights not just of this year's Comic-Con, but of all the 14 years I've attended Comic-Con, occurred this July 13, the day Nickelodeon was most heavily promoting the new TMNT CGI cartoon series. After spending a day full of talking to the press, including the TMNT panel in the morning and a lunchtime autograph signing, that Friday afternoon the brotherhood of Sean Astin, Greg Cipes, Jason Biggs, and Rob Paulsen were on the other side of a table talking to little ol' me.

It had been meant to be a shared roundtable experience, with other interviewers, but the way circumstances worked out I found myself going solo with them. I wasn't quite prepared for that! But luckily they bounced thoughts off of each other quite naturally, which brought out some fun conversation and interesting information.

I had to miss the IDW panel in order to make this appointment, but it was obviously well worth that sacrifice. I took the audio I recorded and produced it into the video below. Enjoy!


A huge hand of thanks to everyone at Nickelodeon, especially the entire voice cast!

IDW TMNT Micro-Series #6 Casey Jones - Variant Cover Guide

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Today's a two-fer New Comic Book Day! So grab Casey Jones when you pick up issue #12.

Check out the preview!

Cover A

Cover C

Cover A: David Petersen (color).
Regular cover; distributed in a 4:1 ratio with cover B.

Cover C: David Petersen (black & white).
Retailer incentive cover; 1 copy sent to retailers for every 10 copies ordered.

Cover B

Cover B: Mike Henderson.
Regular cover; distributed in a 1:4 ratio with cover A.

IDW TMNT #12 - Variant Cover Guide

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TMNT #12 is out today! And as it turns out, this is Dan Duncan's last issue on art duties. Many thanks to Dan for all his hard work this past year, which has delivered the Turtles' incredible return to comic book shelves! And good luck on your next adventure!

Check out the issue #12 preview!

Cover A

Cover B

Cover A: Dan Duncan.
Regular cover; distributed in a 4:1 ratio with cover B.

Cover B: Kevin Eastman.
Regular cover; distributed in a 1:4 ratio with cover A.

Cover C

Cover C: Ryan Ottley.
Retailer incentive cover; 1 copy sent to retailers for every 10 copies ordered.

TMNT Panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2012

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At this year's San Diego Comic-Con, Nickelodeon hosted a panel that gave fans a sneak preview of the new series, as well as a chance to see and hear the new voice actors. After all the panelists were brought out, Executive Producer Ciro Nieli showed us "The Pitch" he had presented to Nickelodeon, which ended up getting him the job. We were also shown an early test clip of animation.

After Ciro's time was up, the new voice cast for the show answered questions from moderator Rich Magallanes, Senior Vice President of Nickelodeon Animation. As we've known, the cast includes Jason Biggs (Leonardo), Sean Astin (Raphael), Greg Cipes (Michelangelo), Rob Paulsen (Donatello), Hoon Lee (Master Splinter), Mae Whitman (April O'Neil), and Kevin Michael Richardson (Shredder).

Below is a collection of all the video clips I personally recorded during this panel. I've also inserted some of the animation clips we were shown during the panel. Convention rules didn't allow the recording of these clips during the panel, but Nickelodeon released them online later that day.


Nickelodeon also released online their own recording of the panel, although it's in the wrong aspect ratio and doesn't feature the same awesome handheld qualities as the above video. ;)

IDW Announces Two New TMNT Titles

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Last Friday at Comic-Con in San Diego, IDW announced two new TMNT titles that will be out later this year. First up, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Annual 2012" by Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz.

Releasing in October this year, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Annual 2012 follows the adventure of Raphael and Casey as they find themselves in the middle of a criminal escapade gone wrong. Rival clans jockey for power in the NYC criminal underworld, and the Ninja Turtles are drawn into the chaos. Expect the unexpected in this exciting, all-new tale that sets up a crucial future TMNT storyline.

The Annual will be 48 pages and in full color, with a retail price of $7.99.

Up next is "Secret History of the Foot Clan," a four issue mini-series due to start in December. The series is written and drawn by Mateus Santolouco, with Erik Bunham co-scripting.

And an unofficial announcement: I was able to confirm with Tom Waltz that IDW will be publishing a TMNT series to tie-in with the new Nickelodeon cartoon, although there is no projected time table for when we can expect to see that.

Turtles Defeat Foot in Comic-Con Battle

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At Comic-Con last weekend, Nickelodeon hosted a "Turtles vs. Foot" battle that challenged Convention goers to choose a side in the battle of good against evil. To participate, you had to find and visit a truck parked in a parking lot next to Petco Park in downtown San Diego. At the truck, you chose your side and claimed a trucker hat that displayed your allegiance. To earn the hat you had to visit http://www.turtlesvsfoot.com and accomplish a series a tasks, the key one being sharing the promotion on Twitter and/or Facebook. (If you didn't have a smartphone to do this on, the staff at the truck was very accommodating and accepted generic sharing of the link to Twitter or Facebook, or a "promise" to do so.)

People who were spotted by the prize crew wearing their trucker hat could win a bag of TMNT goodies. Where the prize crew lurked was a bit of a mystery, but I finally spotted them running through the line to get into the TMNT panel on Friday morning, which was when I got my prize bag. I spotted them again circling the Nickelodeon booth on Saturday morning, where there was a constantly long line for the merchandise booth.

The prize bags were really neat tote bags (first seen at Toy Fair this past February) that were for sale at the merchandise booth for $20. Inside the bag the contents varied, but generally included a couple of posters (one a recreation of the first TMNT comic book cover with the new Nickelodeon CGI Turtles, one a Turtle dressed as the Mona Lisa), a T-shirt or two (the TMNT shell shirts or designer shirts available from the merchandise booth), and an autographed toy from the personal collection of Kevin Eastman.

One of the tasks on the Turtles Vs. Foot website allowed you to receive a call from either Splinter or Shredder (depending on the side you had chosen). You can hear these two pre-recorded messages below.

Splinter Incoming Message: (download)


Shredder Incoming Message: (download)


If you called back the number you received these two calls from, you heard another message inviting you to leave a message.

Splinter Outgoing Message: (download)


Shredder Outgoing Message: (download)


In the end, to no surprise, the Turtles won the battle against the Foot! Turtle Power!

IDW TMNT #12 to be Dan Duncan's Last

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IDW editor Bobby Curnow has announced on the IDW message boards that TMNT #12 will be Dan Duncan's final issue as artist.

Unfortunately, during the production of TMNT #11, Dan let me know he wouldn't be able to continue after #12. So what was going to be a 2-issue hiatus has turned permanent. He got a new gig in the world of TV animation. Dan let me know with ample time, and with LOTS of gratitude, both for the opportunity, and for the fans. He's grown to be iconic with IDW Turtles and will be missed a lot. He knows he's welcome back, and we've discussed some exciting possibilities for the future, though they will be shorter in nature. At least for the foreseeable future.

The hiatus Curnow mentions was meant to be a 2-issue break for Duncan, who has been working almost non-stop of the TMNT book for the past year. Andy Kuhn (TMNT Micro-Series #2, Michelangelo) was scheduled to fill-in for issues #13 & #14, and will now also be on issues #15 & #16. No permanent replacement has been named yet.

Shellraising Showdown Contest

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Target and Nickelodeon have launched the "Shellraising Showdown Contest" to celebrate the new TMNT toys from Playmates. The contest requires you to create a stop-motion ending to a comic book with your new Turtles toys.

You can read the comic book, written by Tom Waltz from IDW, on the official contest website, or download it directly. Physical copies of this comic were given away in mass quantities at San Diego Comic-Con this past weekend. I have a stack of them that I will be distributing to Ninja Pizza readers in the near future!

The website also features a sample stop motion video ending to the comic. (Of course, this video features figures with much better paint than the ones being sold in stores. :p)

Rules and prize information are also available on the contest website. Good luck to all who enter!

IDW TMNT Color Classics #3 - Variant Cover Guide

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Happy Wednesday! For some of you, you're at or near San Diego, ready for that crazy annual event known as Comic-Con. If that's you, you don't care that today is New Comic Book Day. But for the rest of you, you can go commiserate with with your fellow geeks at the comic shop who are also not in San Diego. And for you lot, you get TMNT Color Classics #3!

Cover A

Cover B

Cover A: Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird (color).
Regular cover.

Cover B: Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird (mono-tone).
Retailer exclusive cover for Jetpack Comics.
This cover is available from Jetpack Comics.

2012 TMNT Guide to San Diego Comic-Con

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Comic-Con starts tomorrow! If you're lucky enough to be attending, there's a lot of exciting points of interest for TMNT fans. I've pulled out the biggest highlights and listed them below. It sounds like Nickelodeon has one or two other surprises in store, so be sure to keep following Ninja Pizza on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest news!

EXCLUSIVES

Night Shadow Leonardo
Details on the availability of this figure haven't been released, but pictures of it appeared on Playmates' website last week. The current guess is that it will be available for sale at the Nickelodeon booth (#4113) for around $20.

IDW Comics, TMNT #11 Exclusive Cover
As previously reported, IDW will have a special Convention-exclusive variant of TMNT #11 at their booth (#2643) for $5. The 40 people who pre-ordered the special Convention bundle of the Ultimate Collection hardcovers will be able to pick up their purchases at the booth, as well. This item is not available for walk-up purchase.

PANELS

FRIDAY, JULY 13
10:15-11:15, Room 6BCF - Go Green! With the Lean, Mean, Ninja Team: Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Experience Nickelodeon's very first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Comic-Con panel, as executive producer Ciro Nieli sets up the new series and unveils never-before-seen footage. Meet the incredible Ninja cast: Jason Biggs (Leonardo), Sean Astin (Raphael), Greg Cipes (Michelangelo), Rob Paulsen (Donatello), Kevin Michael Richardson (Shredder), Hoon Lee (Splinter), and Mae Whitman (April O'Neil). Hear and see the radical undertaking of this 25-year-old property and some of the creative insights that have taken it to new and reinvigorating heights. Prepare to be shell-shocked! Moderated by Rich Magallanes, senior VP of current series for Nickelodeon.

FRIDAY, JULY 13
4:00-5:00, Room 4 - The IDW Show (55 min, TV-MA): Hosts Chris Ryall and Dirk Wood welcome guests Duane Swierczynski, Brea and Zane Grant, John Layman, Zach Howard, Conor McCreary, and Anthony Del Col. Plus special announcements by Bobby Curnow, Stupid Audience Tricks, and musical guest Alan Robert and The Grants. NEW (CC)

AUTOGRAPHS

THURSDAY, JULY 12
6:00–7:00pm, IDW Booth (#2643)
TMNT Comic Crew – Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Dan Duncan

FRIDAY, JULY 13
12:30pm, Nickelodeon Booth (#4113)
Nickelodeon Voice Cast & Crew - Ciro Nieli (Executive Producer), Jason Biggs (Leonardo), Sean Astin (Raphael), Greg Cipes (Michelangelo), Rob Paulsen (Donatello), and more. (I think this signing may also include Kevin Michael Richardson, Hoon Lee, and Mae Whitman, but I don't have confirmation that they'll be there.)

SATURDAY, JULY 14
11:00am–12:00pm, IDW Booth (#2643)
TMNT Comic Crew – Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Dan Duncan

PEOPLE TO SEE

Kevin Eastman - Expect to find TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman throughout the weekend at the Heavy Metal booth, #1529.

Ernie Reyes Jr. - Ernie, known to TMNT fans as Donatello's stunt double in the first TMNT movie and Keno the Pizza Delivery Boy in TMNT 2, will be at booth #5112-5118 with his new comic book, Sonny's Dragons. This comic book is of particular interest to TMNT fans, as it was drawn by the one and only Jim Lawson!

Michael Dooney - This TMNT artist extrodinare will be at Artists' Alley booth #DD-22 throughout the weekend.

Dave Garcia - Mr. Garcia did work on the old TMNT Adventures comic book series. He and his wife Monica also created the character Panda Khan, who TMNT fans should know as an old Playmates action figure. He will be at Artists' Alley booth #FF-11.

Erik Larsen - Find Erik Larsen of Image Comics fame, who was also a key player in the publishing of TMNT VOl. 3, at Artists' Alley booth #II-16.

David Petersen - David Petersen is well-known for his Mouse Guard comic books, and has recently become a recognizable name to TMNT fans for his recent cover art work on the TMNT Micro-Series books from IDW. He will be at Artists' Alley booth #GG-09

James Silvani - James Silvani has done some TMNT licensing art in recent years. You can find him at Artists' Alley booth #DD-11.

New TMNT Series to Premiere Sept. 29

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Nickelodeon has announced that the new TMNT CGI series will debut on September 29, 2012 at 11am. The one hour premiere event will launch the 26-episode season. Nickelodeon also officially announced for the first time three additional members of the voice cast: Mae Whitman as April O’Neil, Hoon Lee as Master Splinter, and Kevin Michael Richardson as Shredder. All three, together with the voices of the Turtles (Jason Biggs, Sean Astin, Greg Cipes, and Rob Paulsen) will be appearing at Comic-Con in San Diego on Friday.

Stay tuned to Ninja Pizza all week for full Comic-Con coverage!!

New TMNT Nickelodeon Toys Appearing in Stores

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Despite original reports that the new TMNT action figures would begin appearing in stores in August, some stores have already received their shipments and are selling the new line.

Early reports had the toys appearing in some Toys R Us stores. These sightings have included the action figures, vehicles, and role play toys.

Target stores have also begun receiving their shipments, although these haven't yet been placed in the aisles. A savvy member on the Technodrome forums was able to provide the DPCI number, which can be used to check stock of an item online and in stores.

The DPCI number of the basic action figures is 087-06-0494. Click here to check stock at your local Target store. If your store has the figures in stock, you will have to go there and find an employee to help you get the figures from the back room. Provide them with the DPCI number to help them find them as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Target stores are holding the figures in the back rooms for an aisle reset that is scheduled for July 29. Some employees/stores may give you trouble and refuse to sell the figures to you because of this date. People who have run into this problem have had luck by requesting to talk to a manager. Whatever they try to tell you, let them know that this date is not a hard sell date. If they try to tell you that the registers won't let them sell the figures to you, this is a lie. If you still have no luck, try another Target and/or a different employee.

I personally had to try two Targets, as the first wouldn't sell to me. The second did, and I purchased the four Turtles pictured above. Good luck to everyone on the hunt!

Eastman & Sim Art Print With Cerebus Kickstarter Support

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About a month ago, Dave Sim (with a little help) launched a Kickstarter campaign to support efforts to digitize his Cerebus comic book. The original plan was to just raise enough to do the "High Society" story, but as support for the project has grown, Sim is now dedicated to releasing all 300 issues in an ultra-high quality digital format.

As is the case with all Kickstarter campaign, there are rewards offered for different support levels. For one of these rewards, Sim is teaming up with Kevin Eastman to create an exclusive art print featuring the TMNT and Cerebus as "Matisse, the Unknown Turtle."

Matisse is shown above; Kevin is still working on finishing the rest of the piece. This print will be sent to all backers who pledge $50 or more. There is a specific $50 level that specifies this print, but anyone who commits to any reward priced at $50 or higher will also get the print.

There is just over 1 day left to support this campaign! Don't delay and don't miss this chance to own a print of what is sure to be an amazing and unique piece of art!

Visit the Kickstarter page and pledge now!

IDW TMNT #11 - Variant Cover Guide

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Search your couch cushions for some extra change; it's yet another New Comic Book Day! Today you can grab TMNT #11 from your local comic shop, or digitally from comiXology.

Check out a preview!

Cover A

Cover B

Cover A: Dan Duncan.
Regular cover; distributed in a 4:1 ratio with cover B.

Cover B: Kevin Eastman.
Regular cover; distributed in a 1:4 ratio with cover A.

Cover C

Cover D

Cover C: Zach Howard.
Retailer incentive cover; 1 copy sent to retailers for every 10 copies ordered.

Cover D: Kevin Eastman.
Convention exclusive cover for San Diego Comic-Con.
This cover will be sold at the IDW booth at San Diego Comic-Con for $5.

New TMNT Nickelodeon Books Available For Pre-Order

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As the debut of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series from Nickelodeon draws near, expect to start to see a new wave of merchandising hit stores. Early signs of the new merchandise have started to hit the Internet, in this case in the form of book pre-orders available on sites like Amazon.com. You can check out some of the cover art below, and hit any of the title links to reserve them now. And many, if not all of the titles, are eligible for a buy 3 get the 4th free promotion on Amazon!

Turtle Power!

Turtles to the Rescue!

Ultimate Turtles Fan Book

Available August 7, 2012:

Turtles to the Rescue!
Turtle Power!
Ultimate Turtles Fan Book
Mutant Origin: Leonardo/Donatello
Mutant Origin: Michelangelo/Raphael
Saved by the Shell

Mutant Origin: Leonardo/Donatello

Mutant Origin: Michelangelo/Raphael

Saved by the Shell!

Enter the Lair

How to Draw TMNT

Additional titles available in January 2013:

Enter the Lair
How to Draw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Robot Rampage!
Sewer Squad!
Half-Shell Heroes!

Robot Rampage!

Sewer Squad!

IDW San Diego Comic-Con Exclusives

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A very exclusive TMNT item to be sold only at San Diego Comic-Con has become available for pre-order on IDW's website. Pictured above is a special full-color slip cover that comes packages with IDW's TMNT Ultimate Editions Vol. 1-3. The three volumes included will be the variant black and white cover versions. The outside slip cover features some of the same cover art by Kevin Eastman, which has also been colored by Kevin. This package is selling for $200 and is reportedly limited to 40 copies. You can pre-order the set here, but the only shipping option is picking up the set at the convention.

Also available at the convention is an exclusive cover variant of TMNT #11, the regular covers of which will be in stores this Wednesday. This variant is limited to 500 copies and will sell for $5 at the IDW booth.

First Trailer For New TMNT TV Series Now Online

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The first trailer for the new TMNT series is online! Check it out above, over on EW.com, or share it with your friends over on Facebook.

In the trailer we can hear the voices of the four Turtles and can get a better feel for what the animation style is going to be. You can also hear a hint at what might be the theme song, which sounds like a remix of the infamous theme song from the original TMNT cartoon. At the end, the URL www.nick.com/turtles is shown on screen, although that site doesn't seem to be live at the moment.

This is likely the beginning of a publicity force that will be launched in full at Comic-Con in a couple weeks. There should be a lot more goodies in the upcoming months!

TMNT Panel Planned for Comic-Con

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It's been assumed that Nickelodeon would have a strong TMNT presence at San Diego Comic-Con to advertise the upcoming new TV series, and now we've seen a first glimpse at exactly what it is they have planned.

As reported by Variety, a panel for the show will be held on Friday of the convention. Panelists will include the four Turtles voice actors from the show - Jason Biggs (Leonardo), Sean Astin (Raphael), Rob Paulsen (Donatello), and Greg Cipes (Michelangelo) - as well as executive producer Ciro Nieli.

Additionally, the Nickelodeon booth in the exhibitor hall will have visits from TMNT costumed characters, and possibly autograph signings.

Be sure to stay tuned to Ninja Pizza for more Comic-Con details as the show draws near! And, if you can't make it to the Con, Ninja Pizza will have full coverage of everything TMNT throughout Comic-Con weekend, July 11-15.

IDW Micro-Series #5 Splinter - Variant Cover Guide

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This week, IDW's TMNT Micro-Series books expand beyond the four Turtles to bring us a Splinter tale.

Check out the preview!

Cover A

Cover C

Cover A: David Petersen (color).
Regular cover; distributed in a 4:1 ratio with cover B.

Cover C: David Petersen (black & white).
Retailer incentive cover; 1 copy sent to retailers for every 10 copies ordered.

Cover B

Cover B: Charles Paul Wilson III.
Regular cover; distributed in a 1:4 ratio with cover A.

Free TMNT Comic For Halloween ComicFest 2012

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Consider it Free Comic Book Day Part 2. This year on Halloween, Diamond and select comics publishers will be distributing free, specially designed comic books. For the past few years, a small selection of mini comics have been distributed on Halloween, but this is the first year that a larger selection of regular-sized comics will be made available.

For this year's inaugural event, IDW is making available a special Halloween variant of last year's TMNT #1 issue. It seems that the only difference this book has is an orangish-colored cover.

Make sure to ask your local comic shop to get it for you!