IDW, who picked up the rights to all the classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics when the original publisher, Mirage (which was owned by TMNT creator Peter Laird) sold the property to Nickelodeon, has been somewhat secretive with their plans for the property.
Now, with the apparent success of their first book, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Collection Vol. 1, the publisher has finally announced their follow-up plans.
The next book in the series will be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Ultimate Collection Vol. 2, which collects issues 8-11, as well as the Michelangelo, Donatello, and Leonardo one-shots. This will finish off the first major story arc of the series.
After that arc finished, the original creators, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, started having guest artist/writers take over the series for one or more issues in between their own contributions. Some of these guest stories were more-or-less in canon, while other varied wildly from the source material.
The way IDW decided to handle this was by separating the Eastman/Laird issues from the sides stories. The original creator’s work will continue to be published in the same hardcover format as the first 11 issues. The Ultimate Collection Vol. 3 contains issues 12, 14, 15, 17, and 19-21, which is the ‘Return to New York’ story arc.
The skipped-over issues by the guest artists will be collected in paperback volumes under the title, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Classics. The first volume of which features issues 13, 16, and 18. As an added bonus, these issues will be presented in full-color, where as the Eastman/Laird are presented in their original black and white.
IDW has also announced plans to reprint the three-issue miniseries which preceded the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures series as published originally by Archie Comics. The first few issues of which adapted episodes from the animated series, before moving on to originals stories from issue five onwards.