Two great tastes that taste great together are mashing up again as cartoonist and storyteller Stan Sakai is set to create Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo: WhereWhen, a five-issue limited series that reunites the TMNT with Sakai's own cult favorite hero Usagi Yojimbo.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Usagi Yojimbo both originated in the independent comic scene of the early '80s and quickly began crossing over in comics thanks to the similarity of their Japanese-inspired animal characters. Since then, the relationship between the TMNT and Usagi Yojimbo has stayed strong, with continued crossovers in comics, and even in cartoons and toys with Usagi often showing up as a character in different TMNT series and their related toy lines.
Now, starting in March 2023, IDW Publishing will team up with Stan Sakai's own Dogu Publishing and Paramount Consumer Products (owner of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles license) for a new adventure in which the TMNT enter a portal created by a villain known as Dr. WhereWhen which sends them back in time to crossover with Usagi, the rabbit Yojimbo, in his own time period of feudal Japan.
Here's a gallery of some interior pages along with the cover of TMNT/Usagi Yojimbo: WhereWhen #1:
"I am so pleased with the story and art for WhereWhen," states Sakai in the announcement. "There is a lot of emotion and, of course, lots of action. I actually wrote this story about five years ago and had been anxious to get to it. In the past, the Turtles have met just a few of Usagi's friends. This time, everyone is thrown in—Gen, Tomoe, Jotaro, Yukichi, Kitsune, Chizu, and more! This one is epic!"
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are one of the best teen superhero teams ever.
