IDW Publishing is reportedly readying to release a new Naruto and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover comic miniseries. The miniseries is expected to be released in October 2024 in both physical and digital formats.
While nothing official has been announced yet, the project was leaked on social media (thanks Keifer Martin). The leaked cover, which is not the final art, shows the young ninja, Naruto Uzumaki, lunging alongside the Heroes in the Half-Shell.
The source actually stems from the Russian Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles forum "Turtle Power." The original post mentions an October 2024 release window and mentions comic book artist Jorge Jimenez as the cover artist.
Shortly after the series leaked, Jimenez, a well-known artist who has worked on multiple Batman and Superman series, took to Instagram to share a sneak peek at an early draft outlining Naruto. "One moment," he teased. "Who is this guy?"
Naruto is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja with dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. The series follows the various challenges and obstacles he overcomes to earn the respect of others.
It was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from September 1999 to November 2014. The story is told in two parts: the first (volumes 1-27) covering Naruto's pre-teen years, and the second (volumes 28-72) his teens. With over 250 million copies in circulation, Naruto is one of the best-selling manga series of all time.
An anime television series adaptation of Part 1 ran for 220 episodes from October 2002 to February 2007. A second anime series, Naruto: Shippuden, adapted material from Part 2 of the manga, and ran for 500 episodes from February 2007 to March 2017.
In addition to the manga and anime, there have also been 11 animated films and 12 original video animations. The franchise has also expanded into light novels, video games, and trading cards.
In 2023, it was announced that four new episodes were expected to be released as part of Naruto's 20th anniversary celebration. Unfortunately, the series has been delayed multiple times in order to "increase the quality." We still don't have an official premiere date, although it's expected to be released anytime before March 2025.