Sign in to your Polygon.com account This week, one of the most divisive iterations of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is making a a comeback when a new book by IDW Publishing, The Art of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, hits Amazon and store shelves.

Written by series superfan turned author Colin Stein, the over 300-page book showcases the artwork and development of the series that lasted from 2018 to 2020, as well as the 2022 Netflix movie that concluded it.

Perhaps most excitingly, parts of the book are dedicated to abandoned concepts for the short-lived cartoon, including lost episode summaries and plans for two extra mutant turtles which were only ever hinted at in the original run.

Created by animation veterans Andy Suriano and Ant Ward, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles premiered on Nickelodeon in July 2018.

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After Nickelodeon concluded the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, the company, which acquired the Turtles in 2009, aimed to do something different with their second series.

While Nickelodeon’s 2012 series was widely praised for reimagining much of the Turtle lore from previous iterations, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made some bold changes to the characters.

The result was a split in the fandom.

Many old-school fans disliked the series, while those who did enjoy Rise became deeply dedicated to it.

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Image: Paramount/IDW Publishing Among the show’s most fundamental changes was that Leonardo was no longer the leader.

Instead, a somewhat more dim-witted Raphael took charge simply because he was the biggest.

(In Rise, Raph is a snapping turtle while his brothers are various other, smaller species.) Leonardo, meanwhile, became a snarky, comedic character.

The plan was for Leonardo to grow into his traditional leadership role, but the series’ short run prevented this from happening, though Leo’s transformation did occur in the more widely accepted Netflix movie ## Editor's Note We'll have to wait and see how this plays out in the coming weeks. Source: [Polygon](https://www.polygon.com/the-art-of-rise-of-the-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/)