In a way, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #5 will be a full-circle moment for Darick Robertson.
The Heroes in a Half Shell’s early success led Robertson to try his hand at writing and drawing comics, beginning with the little-known indie title Space Beaver. From there, he moved onto comics like the highly underrated Justice League: A Midsummer’s Nightmare (co-written by Mark Waid) and a Wolverine run written by Greg Rucka as well as most famously co-creating The Boys with Garth Ennis. While TMNT #5 continues Robertson’s trend of working with legendary writers, pairing him with the equally celebrated Jason Aaron, he still never expected to be doing this particular comic.
Variant cover by Darick Robertson. Courtesy of IDW.
“I liked the comic a bit, I wasn’t a super huge fan. I didn’t like the cartoon at all,” Robertson laughed during out recent interview. “But I was happy to see this independent book blow up so huge because it was very promising for young creators like me. And [Turtles creator] Kevin Eastman’s a wonderful guy and I wish the best for him. It kind of took me a long time to warm up to it.”
Robertson also said that he was hoping “to catch lightning in a bottle” with Space Beaver following the TMNT‘s success, and that he saw them as a competition of sorts until Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem came out — and he finally fell in love with the Turtles.
Robertson also talked about his work on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #5, which will shed more light on District Attorney Hale, a figure who appeared in the first issue of Aaron’s run, and who will be a new antagonist for the Turtles.
“This is kind of his backstory, and why the way he is,” added Robertson. The issue will also feature an appearance from the Turtles’ longtime ally Casey Jones, which led to me asking Robertson who his favorite Turtle is.
“I love Leo,” he said. “I’ve always been fond of him because my favorite color is blue and I love the swords.”
Darick Robertson’s connecting covers. Courtesy of IDW.
Robertson also talked about how drawing the Turtles helped him to see their appeal; in addition to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #5, he’s drawn variant covers for the first four issues that connect into a single issue. (Said covers are above, and quite poster-worthy in this writer’s opinion.) After his TMNT issue, Robertson has two creator-owned projects in the works; he was scant on details, but did slip that he’d be working with two top-notch writers.
This led to a discussion of what it was like to work with Aaron, who Robertson called “terrific.”
Robertson added, “He’s very concise, and he knows what he wants but his scripts are up for interpretation. He’s not very demanding, he’s only been encouraging of what I’ve been turning in…I hope I get to do another project with Jason down the road that isn’t a licensed property.” Given Aaron’s lineup of recent comics, that potential project would certainly be worth reading.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #5 is available wherever comics are sold starting December 18, 2025. (And don’t forget, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #4 is available on November 27, with art by Chris Burnham.)
Below, check out some exclusive inked pages from Darick Robertson (courtesy of IDW).
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