The best Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie of the century is getting a different kind of sequel

4 hours ago 5

Published Jul 16, 2026, 10:00 AM EDT

A Polygon exclusive first look

On August 13, 2027, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans will finally get another trip back into the sewers for the sequel to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, the critically-acclaimed 2023 animated film produced by Seth Rogen. But until then, IDW is keeping that iteration of the Turtles busy with various comic books. First there was the six-issue series Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And coming this fall they’ll be releasing Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Coastal Chaos, and Polygon has an exclusive look, including new images of the deep-cut villain from 1990s comic books.

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Coastal Chaos sees the Ninja Turtles heading down to the Jersey Shore for a vacation, but things are interrupted by a giant creature in the ocean. The limited series includes the return of writer Andrew Joustra and artist Louis Joyce, both of whom worked on the six-issue Tales series.

Speaking about Coastal Chaos, Joyce tells Polygon, “One of the cool things about these Turtles being public knowledge is the different story settings it opens up, and we get to fully embrace that here. They're down the beach getting some sun, playing some volleyball and catching some waves!”

Joustra adds, "We thought it would be fun to see the Turtles and Splinter enjoying their first real trip to the beach since emerging from the sewer. Mondo Gecko and Ray Fillet tag along; I love the dynamic between Mondo and Mikey, so I had to let them catch some waves together. Unfortunately for the Turtles, when it comes to the ocean, sharks reign supreme."

That shark is a new take on Armaggon, who was most prominently featured as a villain in Archie’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comics back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. More recently, Armaggon was featured in the 2012 Nickelodeon animated series and in the ongoing IDW comic book series. He’s been depicted as both a mutant shark and an alien, depending on the iteration, and this version is most likely a mutant, in keeping with the Mutant Mayhem storytelling style.

While some details around the series have yet to be revealed, we do know that this will be a limited series and that it will be a standalone adventure, just like how the recently-concluded run of Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles featured two different three-issue stories.

As an old-school TMNT fan who loves Mutant Mayhem and the Tales comics tied to it, all of this is very cool. But as excited as I am for Armaggon’s return, one tiny detail in these pages eclipsed everything else for me. In the two-page surfing spread, Michelangelo is wearing a pink and blue swimsuit identical to one of the very first TMNT action figures — “Mike, the Sewer Surfer” from 1990. It was the first in a long line of Michelangelo variants wearing all kinds of different outfits, but it remained especially memorable due to the crazy color choices and because it came out at the peak of Turtle-Mania.

This further confirms what I’ve already known about the Tales series: that it comes from people who grew up on the TMNT and know it so well that Easter eggs like this pop up everywhere.

Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Coastal Chaos is available until August 3 for pre-order and the first issue arrives on September 9.

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