TMNT’s New Story Is About To Give The Turtles The Worst Night Of Their Lives (Exclusive)

Dan Panosian / IDW Joining for issue #25, Matthew Rosenberg is putting the Turtles through hell without ever having them leave New York City for this new run. Published Nov 13, 2026, 1:00 PM EST An experienced Editor representing Canada via ScreenRant's Team Anime, J.R. has been reading manga since the first printing of Shonen Jump in North America. This passion drove him to write about anime, manga, and manhwa, having recently served as Lead Anime Editor for ComicBook.com. Patrolling and brawling across the sewers, alleyways, and general streets of New York City has always been a tough job for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but not often one that felt like too much. Whether it's youthful vigor or Master Splinter's exceptional training, they've risen to the task against the forces of the Foot Clan, Krang, Baxter Stockman, and many more. But with Matthew Rosenberg set to take over the mainline IDW Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles story starting with issue #25, kicking off "War All the Time." It is, in fact, depicting one particularly harrowing night in the Turtles' lives. Taking over from Gene Luen Yang's "The City That Never Dies" storyline featuring Fero Peniche on illustrations and Luis Antonio Delgado on colors, Rosenberg's run on TMNT promises a positively brutal night the gang will never forget. While Delgado remains contributing colors for this run, Juann Cabal (Guardians of the Galaxy, Super Creepshow) will feature as the new illustrator as a new, intense era is kicked off. ScreenRant got to speak with Rosenberg at San Diego Comic-Con, where he laid out his plans to throw Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, and Leonardo through the gauntlet, all part of his grand design. New TMNT Writer Pitched The Worst Night Of The Turtles' Lives Considering the storyline directly preceding "War All the Time" was "The City That Never Dies" featuring the veil between the living and the dead being torn open, it's clear a more grounded switch-up was needed this time around. But this hardly means any less chaos, as New York City is about to be terrorized all night, as Rosenberg wants to set up a multi-front conflict throughout the Big Apple. This might particularly appeal to fans of the video games featuring stages and iconic villains across sewers, streets, and other locales in New York City, as well as fans of non-stop action thrillers like Kill Bill and cult classics like The Warriors, with Rosenberg laying out his plans to ScreenRant. “The easiest way to say it is that it’s a fight comic. The first arc of my run is one night in the Turtles’ lives. I pitched it as the worst night of the Turtles’ lives. They’re fighting their way across New York City, trying to save someone, and everyone is in play. You don’t know who to trust. Everyone could show up. We’re just throwing every bad guy we can get at them. It’s an old-fashioned, classic brawler.” Given the solicits for TMNT #25 hinting at an old enemy ranking among these threats, it's hard to imagine this comic not being a total crowd-pleaser. It's also incredibly difficult to imagine staging the worst night of the Hamato Clan's lives, particularly for those who have read The Last Ronin, although at least that can be argued as a separate continuity. Rosenberg wants to carefully lay out a devastating, single-night plotline through issue #33 with a special one-shot as well. For what it's worth, it's a welcome challenge, creating an intricately-detailed, psychologically taxing arc spanning such a short time frame, and could end up raising the bar for what the Turtles can handle. War All The Time Is The Worst Night In The Ninja Turtles' Lives (So Far) Juann Cabal / Jão Canola / IDW Rosenberg is as much of a fan as anyone of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, and as such, he knows what they can handle, and what he as a writer can bring to the table. For anyone familiar with Rosenberg's work on Hawkeye: Freefall, the street-level villain extravaganza might even feel familiar, but this particular story feels about as tailor-made for the Ninja Turtles as possible. In fact, Rosenberg expands to say the story could be downright cruel to the stars, and that's exactly on purpose. “You’re mean to the characters because you love them so much. You know what makes them special is that they can survive it, they can take it, they persevere, they rise above. I want to put them through hell because they can make it.” The TMNT franchise has certainly gone through its fair share of shakeups, especially as it's exchanged publisher hands in the past. One particular run put a body horror twist on the Ninja Turtles, and even their crossovers such as with the characters and unique terrors of Stranger Things were something they could still handle. "War All the Time" is a thrilling prospect because it's something plenty of fans may have imagined in the corner of their minds, but with Rosenberg and Cabal, it's about to be put to the page for what could be the most unforgettable Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles run in recent memory. So stay tuned when issue #25 launches on January 13, 2027. TV Show(s) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012), Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Video Game(s) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem - The Game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Radical Rescue, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger Of The Ooze, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: The Manhattan Project First Film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) First TV Show Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cast Cam Clarke, Rob Paulsen, Barry Gordon, Townsend Coleman, Seth Green, Sean Astin, Nicolas Cantu, Brady Noon Created by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird