IDW Publishing held a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics panel that featured TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman, writers Eric Burnam and Tom Waltz, and editor Bobby Curnow.

The panel kicked off with discussion about the current event, City Fall. Waltz said they wanted to focus on the family aspect and them being brothers and the tension inherent in that. Leonardo has always been the “Cyclops” -- the straight and narrow guy of the team -- but now they wanted to bring him to the “dark side,” which makes him a key target for the corrupting influence of Shredder. The story features two “families” at war with Leo in the middle.Eastman chimed in on their effort to combine all the elements from the TV, movies, and other comics and bring them back with the edge of the original black and white series. “City Fall is embracing that concept but on steroids,” he said.Curnow talked about the genesis of Kitsume, who started out as a character in the past, but they re-created her in the present and made her the corrupting influence for Leo.Issue #25 will debut Leo's new Foot Clan look. A preview image show him sporting a black eye-mask, Foot Clan colored garments, and an arm brace with two blades affixed to it.Issue #27 will debut Hun from the early 2000s cartoon. “We don't want to ignore the other stuff that came before us. You're going to see new classic elements turned on its head. There's new exciting stuff coming with Hun,” Curnow said.It was revealed that Bebop will be featured in the seventh villain micro series. “You'll be seeing a whole lot. [Bebop and his partner Rocksteady] are going to be huge threats. They're not the smartest guys, but they're not pushovers. They're not a joke.”The love for Bepop and Rockstready could be felt as the crowd laughed and cheered at every piece of art featuring the duo was shown on the screen, especially a shot of them drinking beer at a sushi bar with turtle on the menu.The arc after City Fall will be Northhampton, which the panelists were wary of giving too many details about so they didn't spoil the end of City Fall. In broad strokes, Curnow said that the Turtle brothers are in a bad place after City Fall, so this arc is them taking a timeout, and the art change-up reflects that. Waltz added, “This is violent, and they're fighting. Even if they won, they were in a fight. Splinter wants them to know that the best way to have a good life is to avoid the fight if you can. He wants them to escape to Northhampton to figure out how to do that. But while they leave to find peace, it's not easy to do that.” He also teased that they would be debuting a brand new, original mutant in the arc.Karai will also be getting a villain micro series. Curnow explained that “She's frustrated that the Foot Clan isn't going the way she wants it to go because of Leo.” He also added that Dark Leo will be the antagonist of her villain micro.The final villain micro will be Shredder.Talk switched to the New Animated Adventures TMNT book. Curnow said initially he didn't want to watch the TV show because he was doing the comic book, but it turns out that the show is really good. “It's a great time to be a Turtle fan,” he said, to much applause.To finish out the panel, the cutest little girl ever asked everyone's favorite Turtle.Brunam said Donatello. Waltz said Leo, but added that he was most like Michelangelo. Eastman said that Michelangelo was special because he was the first turtle he ever drew, but Raphael was his favorite because he was the most fun. An IDW intern named Erin said hers was Raph. Curnow said Leo.

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