Jennika the 5th Ninja Turtle gets her own comic series in 2020
By Alex Widen
IDW Publishing redefined the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise by adding Jennika. Yet can she handle her own series?
With all of the major comic book conventions now over, large comic book news outside of TV and films can be few and far between. Yet every now and then in between the big announcements by Marvel and DC Comics, a gem can come through. In this case, that gem is IDW Publishing announcing that Jennika, the newest Ninja Turtle, is going to get her own comic book series in February 2020!
As reported by Comic Book Resources, stalwart TMNT artist Brahm Revel will write and draw the three-issue mini-series which kicks off in winter 2020. Although he’s drawn three issues of IDW’s main Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book series, his first art for the franchise revolved around Jennika. Starting in 2017’s TMNT Universe No. 6 and running four issues, Revel wrote and drew a back-up strip named What Is Ninja? which explored the past behind Jennika.
Jennika debuted in TMNT No. 51 as a member of the Foot Clan’s elite class of ninja assassins. The Shredder had just been slain and she was getting used to Splinter running things. As time wore on, she became more used to the rat’s style and began to develop more as a person than a ninja.
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Jennika became a key ally to the Ninja Turtles in many battles, and even began a budding romance with Casey Jones. Revel’s strip revealed that she had been a runaway from a broken home and a petty criminal who served time before finding order in the Foot Clan — at least for a while.
Revel plans to explore Jennika’s still budding transition from human to teenage mutant ninja Turtle. This series will see Jennika go on a trip which brings both her past and present into focus. It may not be surprising to see some of the figures from the back-up strip reappear. Yet this decision by IDW to grant Jennika her own mini series has aims beyond character exploration. The fact of the matter is that she sells!
As recently as May 2019, IDW’s TMNT was still selling south of 11,000 copies a month in the direct market. The first print of issue 95 — the issue where Jennika is mutated — saw a near 50% sales spike, with the 96th issue sold the same month seeing sales spike above 22,000 copies. In August, the 97th issue sold over 38,000 copies and reached the top 45 best selling comics; a rarity for TMNT. After mostly holding steady in September, a double sized 99th issue sold roughly where the 96th did; which is still more than twice what the title was averaging last spring!
IDW’s TMNT enjoyed a year long sales spike of over 11% when they briefly killed off Donatello years ago.
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has always been one of IDW’s best selling licenses, rivaled only by Transformers, Sonic the Hedgehog, and their more recent Marvel/Star Wars Adventures line. Jennika has helped spotlight the “City At War” story which has seen the series reach sales heights it rarely has met before. But how well will Jennika sell on her own? Only time will tell!