Gene Luen Yang’s ongoing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles run is getting supernatural as the Hungry Ghost Festival brings the living and the dead dangerously close together.
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| IDW Publishing |
The dead rise in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #22.
Gene Luen Yang’s run is barreling toward its conclusion, and things are getting increasingly supernatural as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #22 arrives Wednesday, September 16.
The hunt for the Ujigami door knocker continues during the Hungry Ghost Festival, when the barrier separating the living and dead is at its weakest. That means familiar faces, both friendly and considerably less friendly, have an opportunity to return and cause chaos.
Making matters worse, Karai and Baxter Stockman are attempting to raise an army of undead ninja. If the Turtles can’t close the door between worlds, the dead may be sticking around permanently.
The issue, art of TMNT's The City That Never Dies story arc, is written by Yang with art by Fero Peniche and colors by Luis Antonio Delgado, and to celebrate the issue's upcoming release, AIPT has unveiled a first look at the unlettered pages, which you can check out below!
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| IDW Publishing |
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| IDW Publishing |
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| IDW Publishing |
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| IDW Publishing |
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| IDW Publishing |
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| Courtesy of IDW |
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| Courtesy of IDW |
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| Courtesy of IDW |
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| Courtesy of IDW |
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| Courtesy of IDW |
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| Courtesy of IDW |
Update (9/9) - Via AIPT:
Gene Luen Yang answers fan questions, digs into Splinter’s final arc, and teases what’s ahead as AIPT exclusively reveals the first seven pages of ‘TMNT’ #23.
Gene Luen Yang’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles run is rapidly approaching its end, but before we get there, things are about to get a whole lot deadlier in New York City.
For this week’s TMNT Tuesday, AIPT has an exclusive first look at the first seven pages of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #22 (out September 16), with pages appearing throughout our latest fan Q&A with Yang. As “The City That Never Dies” barrels toward its conclusion, the barrier between the living and the dead is breaking down, unleashing undead Foot Clan, Purple Dragons, and familiar faces from TMNT history.
The supernatural chaos may be getting bigger, but Yang says the heart of the story remains the relationship between Splinter and his sons. The writer opened his run with Splinter’s fear of losing his family driving him to increasingly desperate choices, and that fear has now manifested on a mythological scale. As Yang puts it, “Death is one of our deepest fears,” with the collapsing Veil serving as a physical expression of that anxiety.
That also means Yang gets to dig deep into IDW’s TMNT mythology.
There are plenty of teases for what comes next, too. Yang reveals that his first and final issues are both told from Donatello’s perspective, hints at a Chinese mythological figure appearing in #24, and…well you can read it all below!
Check out AIPT’s exclusive seven-page preview of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #22 throughout the Q&A below, as Yang answers fan questions and looks ahead to the final chapters of his run.
Abbey asks: What was your favorite issue you have written for TMNT?
Gene Luen Yang: This is going to sound like a cop-out answer, but I don’t know if I have a favorite. Writing the Ninja Turtles has been incredibly fun. I’ve really enjoyed exploring both TMNT lore and Japanese mythology.
There is one two-page spread I’m especially proud of, though. It’s in issue #24!
Tiffany asks: Which turtle’s point of view did you like writing the most?
GLY: I’m most sympathetic to Donatello, probably because I’m a big nerd. That’s why the first and last issues of my run are told from his perspective.
I have to say, though, all the Turtles were relatively easy to write, and that’s because the writers who came before me defined their voices so well. They’re each such distinct personalities. Getting into each of their points of view was a lot of fun.
Ninji asks: What non-Japanese Asian mythological or religious figure would you like to have in a TMNT story (my vote’s always on Sun Wukong)?
GLY: I love Sun Wukong! I’m a massive Monkey King fanboy. If there had been an organic way to bring him into my Turtles run, I would’ve jumped at the chance!
That said, I did bring a Chinese mythological figure into #24, albeit briefly. You’ll have to read it to find out who! (Yes, this answer and the answer to Abbey’s question are both attempts to get you to buy #24!)
Craig asks: Will Shredder’s time in Hell have any relevance to dealing with the upcoming conflict with the undead and the afterlife coming undone?
GLY: Matheus Santolouco’s Shredder in Hell miniseries was a hugely important reference for us, especially when it came to “The City That Never Dies” storyline. Yomi-no-kuni, the Land of the Dead from which Splinter and other familiar faces emerge, is the same afterlife that Matheus created for his miniseries.
Shredder in Hell is great. If you’ve never read it, go read it now!
Alvaro Ruiz asks: Which is the character you are most happy with the arc progression you gave him in your TMNT period, and why? Thank you. Best regards.
GLY: I’m pretty happy with the way the Splinter arc turned out. Like Splinter, I’m a father of four. Even though I’ve never battled mutants and I don’t know any martial arts, I’ve gone through all the emotions that Splinter went through during our 12 issues
AIPT: When we spoke at the beginning of your run, you told me the ending was the part you were most nervous about because you wanted to “stick the landing.” Now that you’ve written that ending, how close is it to what you originally envisioned, and do you feel like you stuck that landing?
GLY: Whether I stuck the landing is up for the readers to decide. All I can say is, I tried to write from an authentic place. I wrote about emotions that I’ve personally experienced, and I hope that comes through the page.
AIPT: You also said you hoped this story would ultimately contain both heartbreak and redemption. Without spoiling the final issues, has your idea of what redemption means for Splinter changed at all as you’ve written his full journey as Ujigami?
GLY: I think Splinter has a deeper understanding of what it means to be a father now. He has to accept the good with the bad, the safe with the dangerous. He has to trust that his sons will be able to take what he taught them and move boldly through the world.
AIPT: Your run started with Splinter’s fear of losing his sons pushing him toward increasingly extreme choices, and now the veil between life and death is literally collapsing. How much did you want the supernatural escalation of “The City That Never Dies” to grow directly out of that very human fear you started with?
GLY: Death is one of our deepest fears, right? The Veil between the Living and the Dead breaking down is a mythological manifestation of that fear. That’s how we’re addressing the story’s theme, but then the fun part is we get to bring back some characters, both friends and foes, that we haven’t seen in the IDW TMNT universe in a very long time.
AIPT: By issue #23, New York is being overrun by undead Foot Clan, Purple Dragons, and others, while the Turtles have to split up to deal with it. When you’re approaching the climax of your run on that scale, how do you keep the family story at the center instead of letting the spectacle take over?
GLY: We do want to highlight the spectacle! Fighting the undead is never easy, especially when they’re warriors from different eras, but it does make for some amazing action!
Ultimately, the Turtles are still the Turtles. They’ll need to lean on each other to get through the crisis. They’ll need to remember that they’re brothers.
AIPT: Baxter Stockman, Karai, Shinigami, Splinter, and the Turtles all have very different relationships with death, power, and the supernatural in this story. Was there a character who surprised you once all those pieces started colliding in the final arc, or whose role became larger than you initially expected?
GLY: Baxter Stockman, Karai, Shinigami, and the rest all played their roles, but the one who surprised me was Tang Shen. In my discussions with my editor Jake Thomas and the folks at Paramount, she became more and more of a focus. She’s always been there, of course, but mostly as a voice in the background.
Our hope is that in “The City that Never Dies,” Tang Shen has finally found her place in the IDW TMNT Universe.
AIPT: Now for something fun: You’ve put the Turtles through family trauma, ghosts, the underworld, undead ninjas, and the possible collapse of the barrier between life and death. If you owed them one completely stress-free day after your run ends, where are you sending the four brothers and what are they doing?
GLY: In #22, Mikey wants to take his brothers to an ice cream shop in New York City. We don’t name it, but it’s The Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. Unfortunately, they’re interrupted by both Ghost Boys and ghosts.
For the Turtles’ day off, I’d send them there and order them each a double scoop of Ube ice cream.
That’s a wrap on TMNT Tuesday this week. Catch you next week, Shell-heads!
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Originally published: August 26, 2026.
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