The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ latest series is in full swing, bringing Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael back in peak form. While only two installments have been released so far, it’s already one of our favorite takes on the Turtles to date. Now, the series has gotten even better with the debut of a classic TMNT villain, who has received a totally radical new redesign.
September saw the launch of IDW Publishing’s Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Coastal Chaos #1, the first issue in writer Andrew Joustra and artist Louie Joyce’s new TMNT series. The title Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles may sound familiar to some fans, given the two-season animated series of the same name that premiered on Paramount+ in 2024.
Paramount+’s Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was originally intended to bridge the gap between the first Mutant Mayhem (2023) movie and its highly anticipated 2027 sequel. However, the series was ultimately canceled amid Paramount’s broader restructuring following its merger with Skydance. Meanwhile, IDW Publishing brought this iteration of the Turtles to comics in October 2025 with Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Now, this iteration of the Turtles has returned in Joustra and Joyce’s Coastal Chaos, and it’s nothing short of epic. While the series has plenty of strengths, it’s Joyce’s art that truly makes it stand out among TMNT’s ever-expanding bibliography. His art style is bright, cartoonish, and just downright fun, giving the four brothers some of their best redesigns in recent years.
With Coastal Chaos #2 out and available to read, we’ve just witnessed the legendary Armaggon, TMNT’s anthropomorphic shark villain, rendered in Joyce’s exceptional art style. And it’s totally Cowabunga awesome!
After 33 Years, TMNT’s Armaggon Debuts His Most Radical Redesign Yet
Comic Page Comes From Andrew Joustra’s Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Coastal Chaos #1 (2026) – Art by Louie Joyce
While Armaggon was teased in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Coastal Chaos #1, he didn’t make his full debut until issue #2, as we only caught brief glimpses of him in the first issue. Coastal Chaos #2 sees the Turtles confront Armaggon about his recent beach attacks, calling out the shark for attacking Mikey while he was surfing and targeting other beachgoers. It’s here that we get our first proper look at the villain’s redesign, and while the character is instantly recognizable, this is also one of Armaggon’s most distinctive looks to date.
Armaggon originally debuted in the Archie comics in the early 1990s as a shark mutant from the future. However, many fans will likely know him from the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, where he appears as a cybernetic alien shark bounty hunter.
Armaggon is typically depicted as a hulking, anthropomorphic shark. However, Joyce flips the character’s traditional design on its head by giving the villain a relatively scrawny appearance that toes the line of sickly. With twig-like arms, a slender build, and skin ravaged by scars, this is Armaggon as we’ve never seen him before. This interpretation is wholly unique while still retaining classic elements of the character, such as his cybernetic weaponry.
The sheer amount of detail Joyce puts into Armaggon’s appearance makes this one of the coolest interpretations of the villain to date. Armaggon’s role in the narrative is also exceptionally fun, as the story somewhat feels like a collision of JAWS and TMNT. We’re confident this is the direction Joustra is taking the story, given that the synopsis for Coastal Chaos #3 teases a very JAWS-esque situation:
The Turtle gang find themselves STRANDED AT SEA on a SINKING SHIP with a HUNGRY MUTATED SHARK hiding just out of sight, ready to make TURTLE SOUP, which he can do because he has BIG MUTATED ARMS. How are they going to get out of this one?! No, really — if you know, please tell them!
If you haven’t dived into Coastal Chaos yet, bump it up on your TBR list. This is a true Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles story that delivers pure fun and good vibes, and Joyce’s art alone makes it more than worth the read.
Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Coastal Chaos #2 is now available to read from IDW Publishing!
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – The Game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Radical Rescue, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger Of The Ooze, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: The Manhattan Project
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
