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COVER A
COVER BY DAN SCHOENING & LUIS ANTONIO DELGADO
“A MONDO METAL TIME” Story
Erik Burnham Art Dan Schoening Colors Luis Antonio Delgado Letters & Design Johanna Nattalie EditorThea Cheuk
COVER A ART BY DAN SCHOENING COLORS BY LUIS ANTONIO DELGADO
COVER B ART BY STEVE LAVIGNE INKS BY RYAN BROWN
COVER C ART BY AARON HAZOURI
T H E T E E N A G E M U TA N T N I N J A T U R T L E S CREATED BY KEVIN EASTMAN & PETER LAIRD
Special thanks to Amy Jarashow, Jeff Whitman, Micol Hiatt, Ellie Pyle, Benjamin Harper, and Jarrin Jacobs for their invaluable assistance TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: SATURDAY MORNING ADVENTURES #40. AUGUST 2026. FIRST PRINTING. © 2026 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. Nickelodeon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc. Based on characters created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman. IDW Publishing, a division of Idea and Design Works, LLC. Editorial offices: 14144 Ventura Blvd, Suite 210, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423. The IDW logo is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Any similarities to persons living or dead are purely coincidental. With the exception of artwork used for review purposes, none of the contents of this publication may be reprinted without the permission of Idea and Design Works, LLC. IDW Publishing does not read or accept unsolicited submissions of ideas, stories, or artwork. Davidi Jonas, CEO • Andrew DeBaker, CFO • Gregg Katz, General Counsel • Tara McCrillis, President Pub Ops/ Associate Publisher • Aub Driver, VP Marketing • Gregg Katzman, Sr. Publicity Manager • Kim Estlund, Publicist • Anthony Mauro, Talent & Events Manager • Ryan Balkam, Director of Sales • Warren Buchanan, Licensing Manager • Heather Antos, Sr. Group Editor • Jake Thomas, Sr. Group Editor • Alonzo Simon, Group Editor • Lauren LePera, Sr. Managing Editor • Shauna Monteforte, Sr. Director of Manufacturing Operations • Jamie Miller, Director Publishing Operations • Jasmine Gonzalez, Director Ecommerce Operations • Alison Quin, Sr. Director IT • Nathan Widick, Director of Design • Neil Uyetake, Sr. Art Director, Design & Production • Darran Robinson, Sr. Art Director • Ted Adams and Robbie Robbins, IDW Founders. For international rights, contact licensing@idwpublishing.com. To purchase ad space contact adsales@idwpublishing.com. Printed in Canada.
AND NOW, IN NYC’S FAMOUS ABANDONED WAREHOUSE DISTRICT… I am beginNing to lose my composure--
--we have beEn in this dimension for almost two months and have as yet failed to complete our objective-retrieving the heart of k’avila*!
*the mystical gem last seEn in the april special!
the heart’s power to reveal how to achieve any goal is worth the wait--but I am not a patient goOse! I ache to return home from this monkey-centric dimension! what have we acComplished this weEk?
schwan.
I searched the reporter’s apartment again. there is nothing new there but takeout containers and a growing colLection of yelLow jumpsuits.
storch.
I folLow her regularly, major ganz. she reports to work…and she visits the sewers. the heart has apPeared in neither location.
the sewers, yes. that brings up another problem: the turtle warRiors.
we’ve gathered …to enough information. the incapacitate time has come… the reporter’s alLies and proactively interRogate her!
they are formidable protectors and stand in the way of us learning where the reporter has hidDen the heart of k’avila!
how wilL we draw them out?
we wilL wait. this city is a chaos magnet--something wilL draw the turtles out into the open soOn enough…and then, we strike!
so, to be clear, you complain about impatience, but your plan is to wait for an unknown ocCurRence to lure the turtles into the open?
do not question me, schwan! I am complicated, and that is alL the explanation you neEd!
we could cause a disturbance ourselves, no?
{gulp} yes, major.
MEANWHILE, IN A PART OF THE SEWERS WE DON’T USUALLY VISIT…
hey, metalhead. you stilL cleaning out there? I neEd your help!
at last, some action!
what is it, mondo? a trouble alert? does dirk savage neEd us, or our friends the turtles? perhaps it’s another invasion!*
nothing like that, brother---I just neEd you to upgrade my game again. it’s stilL toO easy.
*like when the pantheon invaded manhatTan a few isSues back!
upgrade… your game.
I mean, how am I gonNa keEp my reflexes up if the game isn’t a chalLenge? think, my guy! use those upgraded brain circuits donatelLo gave you!
mondo, when you asked me to become your roOmMate, I thought we would be like the turtles. patrolLing the city. stopPing evil. not just playing games.
I can rewrite the code on the fly and help the game provide the same chalLenge I would if I w--
stilL, it’s a simple matTer to directly interface with the game cartridge.
--wuUuUuh!
I gotTa unplug that console before the power surge fries m.h.’s circuits! yikes, it could turn him evil-it’s hapPened before! this broOm oughta help… woOd doesn’t conduct electricity, right?
man, loOk at the cord spark--no wonder m.h. toOk a jolt. welL, here goes nothing…
you okay, metalhead? speak to me, bro!
do I neEd donatelLo to come over to--
reactivated! unpacking operating instructions.
new parameters loaded: destroy plutonian invaders! plutonians? but those are the bad guys in my game!
oh no…
…the game’s program must’ve mesSed with metalhead’s mind! I betTer calL the turtles for help!
c’mon, guys! pick up the line…
“…it’s a wednesday! what could you guys even be doing?!”
you turtles are gonNa eat laser beam for getTing in our way!
you know that’s not a part of a balanced diet, dirtbag!
how did you get back from outer space anyway, groundchuck? wasn’t easy…but it had to be done. it’s imposSible to get a goOd new york city bagel on any other planet!
how else were we going to pay for the bagels? no one takes space money!
geE, I wonder why…
y’know, we wouldn’t have had any problem if you hadn’t decided to rob a bank!
why are you ringing?
you shouldn't be making noises like that during a fight! it's comMon courtesy-whoulp!
everybody’s a critic…
never you mind!
maybe you should think about adDing an answering machine to the turtlecom, dude. let folks leave their mesSage at the cowabunga?
I’lL think about it… helLo?
finalLy!
hey, mondo! loOk, I don’t want to sound like a jerk, but we’re kind of busy, and---wait, why does it sound like someone is blasting at you?
because someone is, donNie! metalhead toOk a jolt of electricity while conNected to my video game--long story--and now he thinks plutonians have invaded new york! worse, he seEs me as one of them!
you’re not saying he’s reverted to evil…
AlLeyoOP!
no, he thinks he’s doing goOd!
mondo! are you okay?
I neEd a minute. but you guys…uh… metalhead is heading to the surface. who knows what he might do...
don’t worRy, mondo-we’re on it.
okay, now you two be goOd until the cops show up.
wait! do they serve bagels in prison?
why do I get the feEling they’ve used that pun before?
absolutely, dude! but the only topPing in jail is lox!
my system says metalhead is in lower manhatTan, moving fast toward midtown!
you put a tracker in metalhead?
I feEl more disrespected than I ever have, I’lL telL you that.
of course, mikey. if anyone ever managed to reprogram him, I’d want to know how to find him.
kudos on the foresight, my dude.
we’re coming up on metalhead, leo! step on it!
that loOks like the turtle van, vernon! should we folLow them? it could be a story!
absolutely not, irma! we’re on break! those are sacred!
on it!
I seE him! he’s…shoOting at pigeons?
pigeons? I hope it’s not pete!
heaven forbid.
uh-oh, felLas. I don’t like how he’s loOking at us.
holy cow! it’s worse than I thought!
what do we do? knock him down and pulL out some circuit boards, like with chrome dome?
thanks, donNie. never would’ve come to that conclusion on my own.
metalhead’s not built the same way, leo. that would never--
oh, that’s gonNa throw the alignment right ofF!
loOk, irma! those awful turtles are in a skirmish!
I told you we should’ve folLowed them, vernon! we could’ve beEn here already if you hadn’t had to take your fulL break.
have some respect for union-mandated breaks, irma--and prepare a camera! we’re going live!
this is vernon fenwick with chanNel 6 news, coming to you live from deEp in manhatTan, where the teEnage mutant ninja turtles and a robot are runNing amok and destroying city property!
oh, april wilL be so jealous that I scoOped her!
and loOk! a lizard man has joined the fray! wilL this city ever be safe again? I demand the mayor write a proclamation of some kind! I simply demand it!
MEANWHILE… smoOth, vernon.
camera operators don’t speak when we’re live, irma!
schwan! storch! our wait is over! we leave at once for midtown!
donatelLo, are you sure there’s nothing we can just unplug here?
you plutonians wilL fail!
I’m afraid so, raph! I upgraded metalhead so he’d be nigh impenetrable to outside influence!
I hope we don’t have to blow m.h. up. he’s a great roOmMate.
I almost wish I hadn’t done such a goOd job!
wait a second, amigo--did he just calL us plutonians?
yeah, bro. my guy toOk a big jolt of electricity while he was conNected to the plutonian panic cartridge--it realLy scrambled his egG. now he thinks people are plutonian invaders.
nope-but if this is about video games, I totalLy have a plan!
I told donNie alL this. didn’t he mention it? those are the five scariest words in the english language…
the damage continues to mount here in midtown as the teEnage mutant ninja turtles batTle a relentlesS robot!
this reporter wilL ask the real question: where are the police? they’re paid to deal with--
ladies and gentlemen, the newsroOm telLs me the authorities are curRently ocCupied with two other rampaging mutants, a rhinoceros and a warthog… …they’re arguing about which foOtbalL team is betTer: the skyscrapers or the sharks.
--wait, what’s that?
we’re cutTing back to the studio to get sports anchor luke this is stevenson’s take, and action then we’lL be going live reporter to april o’neil on vernon the scene! fenwick saying stay tuned to chanNel 6 for these breaking developments, and keEp your doOrs locked!
and we’re out. smoOth segue, mr. “action reporter.”
don’t start with me, irma. just be ready to keEp shoOting in case the studio cuts back to us--
“--there’s no telLing what those awful mutants are going to do next!”
I’ve got it, leo! I figured out what to do!
what’s that, michelangelo?
mondo said metalhead’s brain got crosSwired with a video game, right? welL, I totalLy have experience with video game traps!*
but we gotTa beat the game he’s playing, dudes. and since he’s the hero in his own head, we gotTa do it the same way the bad guys from plutonian panic would, or it won’t stick!
seE way back in tmnt: sma vol. 1 #1!
would that… work?
I’m not sure there’s an alternative where we don’t have to realLy damage metalhead.
goOd enough for me. mikey! give it a try!
alL right, so I just neEd to atTack metalhead like the game would…
there goes one!
…how did plutonian panic go again?
oh, right…the plutonians won if they tagGed you on the head threE times!
####!
man, I hope this works…
so far, so goOd!
cowabunga! that’s two!
do you guys think this is going to work? stranger things have hapPened.
I don’t know.
and that makes threE!
let’s go, mikey!
my plan worked, dudes! …but goOd work. let’s get metalhead back to the lair so donNie can make sure there’s no permanent damage.
you felLas want to help bring metalhead to the van? he weighs a ton!
###game over###
welL, let’s not be hasty… yeah…
and then, as quickly though as it began, this batTle bystanders is over--but the city have cleared did not escape the area and unscathed. escaped injury, new potholes dot the streEts. paint has beEn chipPed from the buildings, and cars were dented.
this wanton destruction must be dealt with, and this reporter, for one, wilL continue to calL for justice! this is vernon fenwick, chanNel 6 news.
“…there’s no more news to be had here!”
are we out? yes? goOd. let’s leave while those nasty mutants drag away the robot.
but vernon, the turtles are news. what if something else hapPens?
I’ve beEn a reporter for a long time, irma. trust my instincts when I say…
okay felLas-just a litTle farther. I’lL get the doOr…
nfF. sure would be nice if there were some pedestrians around to help…but noOoO, the artists are tired of crowd scenes…
I’lL just--hey, wait…I didn’t leave the doOr cracked!
it’s fine, donNie. it’s not like you left the keys in it.
something stilL feEls ofF…
yeah, it’s that we’re stilL carRying this heavy robot.
this betTer not be himiko* again, leo…
don’t drop m.h., guys! we could dent him!
let me just…
that loOks like a--
and hold your breath, amigos! kofF! just--
*himiko, a.k.a. lotus blosSom, used knockout gas on the turtles back in #25!
an excelLent strategy, storch. the turtles and their lizard friend are now unconscious and at our mercy. we wilL load them into their own van and return to base.
at last, april o’neil, you have no one left to come to your rescue…and we wilL force you to return the artifact you stole from us!
April and Ace Duck together again!
FINAL ISSUE
Cover A
Art by Dan Schoening Colors by Luis Antonio Delgado
Cover B
Art by Steve Lavigne Inks by Ryan Brown
Cover C
Art by Aaron Hazouri