The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’April O’Neil is about to go krakatoa, as a new variant cover from artist Sajad Shah has her donning the iconic striped yellow jumpsuit worn by Uma Thurman’s Bride in Kill Bill. Available exclusively at NYCC 2023, the variant is for a special reprint of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 from 2012, the IDW relaunch that has lasted over ten years and more than 100 issues.
Announced via Comic Book Invest, the variant cover is one of over 100 available for the TMNT reprint, produced in conjunction with SMZ Comics. Featuring a pitch perfect homage to the Kill Bill theatrical poster, the cover will be available in yellow and green versions.
According to Comic Book Invest, each variant is limited to 500 copies for the first printing, and another 250 if there is a second printing. The collection of covers includes a host of comics most talented artists, including an AEW pro-wrestling cover from artist Daniel Warren Johnson, so demand will be high for these exclusive variants.
April O’Neil Suits Up In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Variant Cover
Turtles and Tarantino is a mash-up that makes perfect sense. April’s yellow jumpsuit became iconic when the TMNT were adapted into the popular eighties cartoon, so it didn’t require much tweaking to resemble Beatrix Kiddo’s “House of Blue Leaves” outfit from Kill Bill Vol. 1. The connections run even deeper than that, as Quentin Tarantino took inspiration from Bruce Lee’s iconic yellow and black tracksuit from the master’s posthumous release Game of Death. Bruce Lee was and probably still is the most famous martial artist in the world, so his influence can be keenly felt on the Turtles to this day.
Sajad Shah’s cover also highlights April O’Neil’s increased role as a fighter in IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. While April initially started as an ordinary woman caught up in extraordinary circumstances, later reboots saw her getting in on the action just as much as the Turtles. The current IDW series saw April receive training from Casey Jones after a traumatic attack by the Foot ninja clan, with the character subsequently putting her skills to good use in various battles alongside Casey and the TMNT. April was also a competent warrior in the 2003 animated series and the 2007 TMNT animated feature, where she was shown to be particularly deadly with a katana.
April O’Neil Continues To Grow As A Formidable Warrior
Sajan Shah’s cover is a fun homage, but almost more than that, it begs for an April O’Neill-centric story in its own right. Perhaps a Kill Bill-inspired roaring rampage of revenge – something along the lines of The Last Ronin, where a lone April O’Neil must avenge her fallen friends by pursuing a ruthless quest for vengeance against the Foot. Turtles fans can only dream about such a story for now, but in the meantime they can also get their hands on this Kill Bill-inspired variant of 2012’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1, if they’re lucky enough to snag a copy at New York Comic-Con.
