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The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) have gone through multiple iterations over four decades, having been created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird back in 1984. Eastman and Laird created a comic based on four mutant turtles that possess keen martial arts abilities, which was meant to be a one-shot, but ended up becoming a phenomenon.
Following the sheer popularity of the comics, the TMNT became a global hit, spawning multiple cartoon shows, live-action movies, video games, and more in the 1990s.
Fast forward to 2025, the comics continuity has been relaunched with Paramount and IDW. The new monthly “TMNT” series is written by Jason Aaron, of “Thor” and “The Avengers” popularity, and harkens back to the brutal nature of the original comic created by Eastman and Laird.
The new relaunch has been a hit, producing an already heavily anticipated spinoff revolved around the infamous Shredder. But Oroku Sakai isn’t the only character that is getting a highlight, as IDW is announcing another spinoff revolving around Casey Jones.
Casey Jones is a character that many TMNT fans should know well, as he is the smooth-talking and brash vigilante teammate who often teams up with the turtles, and often draws the ire of the group as well.
IDW
The new “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle: Casey Jones” is written by Alex Paknadel and drawn by Amancay Nahuelpan. The mini-series will follow the vigilante, giving fans a chance to truly learn what makes this hockey stick-wielding crime fighter tick.
Newsweek Comics got a chance to sit down with an exclusive interview with the writer of “Casey Jones,” Alex Paknadel, to talk all about the upcoming “TMNT” spinoff series.
IDW
What can fans expect to see in “Casey Jones?”
“This is very much Casey ‘off the leash,’ I guess you could say. I mean, it isn’t that we haven’t seen that before, but I think, you know, there was very much, there was some sort of pretty high-level discussions about integrating the various kind of iterations of the character that we’ve seen to sort of kind of cohesive whole, you know, obviously, you know, throughout the kind of IDW continuity, there’s been a lot of work, a lot of character work done.
“There’s been a lot of attempts to kind of rationalize this kind of backstory and to make it as kind of, you know, quite sort of dark and sort of emotionally resonant … But I think there has been a desire to sort of hark back to the sort of more reckless kind of Mirage days. So I guess what we’re doing with this series is trying to, almost, as I said, like rationalize that, and kind of bring it together and give people that kind of
sort of devil may care Casey.”
It’s been 30 years since Casey Jones was in a comic all his own, so what led to the cultivation of this story and miniseries?
“This creative team has existed before, and Dave [Wielgosz] kindly reached out to me and asked if I had any interest. And, you know, of course, I did. So we all kind of jumped on it from there. And it involved just a lot of kinds of homework, you know, some very heavy kind of deep dives that were, I mean, it’s, it’s comics, it’s fun, you know, the homework is fun. The first time ever, the homework is fun.”
Casey Jones has appeared in the current “TMNT” run, but he has been hunted down like the turtles have, by none other than the Foot Clan. However, the clan is now working in tandem with Heironymous Hale.
After Hale captures Casey Jones, he shoots him, leaving the vigilante clinging to life in the hospital, where the new mini-series comic will kick off.
What can you talk about in terms of how the “Casey Jones” series will kick off?
“I don’t think I’m giving too much away, but he was shot by Hieronymus Hale. He was in a coma. April’s basically been kind of, you know, by his bedside the whole time, and for the first time in a long time, you know, and it’s not that he hasn’t had this before, but it’s a level that he hasn’t kind of experienced before … One of the conclusions that you come to is that Casey is someone who hates being vulnerable in any way, right?
“You know, he’s a tough kid. He’s also, you know, he’s got a real soft center, but he hates it when that’s exposed. And something like this absolutely, kind of cuts him to his core, because it makes him, you know, he realizes kind of how fragile he is.”
The exciting aspect about this new “Casey Jones” series is that, along with the normal Rogues Gallery for the TMNT that has been shown in the new continuity, there is also a new villain that will be introduced.
Is there a villain specific to Casey Jones that is going to be introduced?
“The short answer to that is maybe … We’re introducing a new villain who has been almost like precision engineered to be kind of Casey’s opposite, right? And, I mean, in sort of various discussions, you know, we alighted upon this idea of like a mutant character who’s almost like a combination of like Bane and Kraven the Hunter, you know, and this is someone who’s sort of preying on sort of vulnerable mutants who are sort of straying outside the bounds of mutant town.”
Casey Jones is a well-known character to fans of the TMNT comics, shows, movies, and video games, but he may not be well-known to everyone. That said, the new mini-series will be an excellent entry point for any reader.
How is the new “Casey Jones” series an entry point for the character and for readers?
“We’re not going to hold readers’ hands. You know, that’s a given. We’re not going to kind of throw readers in the deep end. We’ll absolutely be providing a primer for who this character is, but, you know, for anyone who’s new to the character who’s involved … this is a young guy called Casey Arnold Jones. You know, he’s a New Yorker. He was raised in an abusive household by a father who was a gang leader, and has become a vigilante. His best friend in the world is Raphael, from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
Interestingly, Casey Jones’ character linked up with Raphael when the first iteration of the character came out, and there could be an instance where we might see some crossover between the mainline series and the spinoff.
Either way, the new “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Casey Jones” series is set for debut on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, and will run for six issues. Preorders for the comic will begin on Aug. 4.
Multiple creators have also aided in variant covers, such as the black and white variant by Danny Earls.
IDW
The colored version of the variant by Earls and Jão Canola.
IDW
The main cover above by Amancay Nahuelpan, who is also the main illustrator on the series, and created the character design for Casey Jones.
IDW
The incredible jockey stick logo was also designed by IDW’s Art Director Darran Robinson.
To listen to the entire interview with Paknadel, watch the video above. He dives more into the p
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