First look - TMNT creator Kevin Eastman's Elektra tale

Okay, so it isn't a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover, but it's still Kevin Eatman drawing a Marvel adventure.

The TMNT co-creator is writing and drawing a story along with Freddie E. Williams in May 18's Elektra: Black, White & Blood #4, the final issue of the anthology series.

In his story, Eastman will be turning "Hell's Kitchen into his playground," referring to Daredevil and Elektra's (now co-Daredevils) New York City neighborhood.

"And the results are as radical as you'd expect! Cowabunga! Let's get pizza!" reads Marvel's description, which kind of seemed like it was hinting at a crossover initially, but it turns out it was just being cheeky.

Here's a look at a couple of pages from the story:

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Elektra: Black, White &amp; Blood #4 cover — Elektra: Black, White & Blood #4 cover (Image credit: Peach Momoko (Marvel Comics))

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans know the original '80s' comic book was created as a tongue-in-cheek parody of superhero comics of the era such as Marvel's Daredevil.

Eastman and co-creator Peter Laird originally conceived the Pizza-loving turtles as existing in the same universe as Elektra and Daredevil - that's right, the Marvel Universe. In the seminal 1984 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1, the 'ooze' that mutated the turtles into their TMNT selves was revealed to have been the same chemical that stuck a young Matt Murdock in his eyes, blinding him and giving him his superhuman powers.

The name of the Turtles' mentor, Splinter, is even connected to Daredevil - it's meant as a take-off of Daredevil's mentor, Stick. And whereas Daredevil commonly fought ninjas known as the Hand, the Turtles' ninja adversaries were the Foot.

And of course, Elektra's signature weapons her twin sai is also the signature weapon of the TMNT Raphael.

Eastman's Elektra short will be Eastman's second Marvel story ever, following his Marvel Comics interior debut in February 2021's King-Size Conan #1 anthology.

Here are all the best Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stories - ranked!

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I'm not just the Newsarama founder and editor-in-chief, I'm also a reader. And that reference is just a little bit older than the beginning of my Newsarama journey. I founded what would become the comic book news site in 1996, and except for a brief sojourn at Marvel Comics as its marketing and communications manager in 2003, I've been writing about new comic book titles, creative changes, and occasionally offering my perspective on important industry events and developments for the 25 years since. Despite many changes to Newsarama, my passion for the medium of comic books and the characters makes the last quarter-century (it's crazy to see that in writing) time spent doing what I love most.

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