Team Spotlight: Earth Protection Force

I haven't had a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles post in a while, and the reason for that is that my main source for them, TMNT Entity, is no longer active. So while I used to be able to count on it to regularly update about the new issues and all the intricate continuity and connections to other Ninja Turtles media, I don't have that anymore.

I was able to find this one on my own, but most canon immigrants aren't major enough to make it into story synopses. If you ever see one in the IDW TMNT series that I haven't featured yet, be sure to let me know!

Anyway, the Earth Protection Force originated in the 2003 animated series. They were a black ops unit created by President Ulysses S. Grant and led by Agent John Bishop, with the goal of protecting Earth from alien invaders. I can't find a specific first appearance for them, but Bishop first appears in "Space Invaders, part 2" (October 2004), so I'm going to assume the organization does as well.

They later appeared in the 2012 animated series in "The Invasion, Part 2" (September 2014), almost exactly ten years later. Bishop is still a member, and presumably they have the same role in this continuity, although on this show they fight a Kraang invasion, while in the 2003 show, they fight a Triceraton invasion.

Bishop has been appearing in the comics for a while now, so it makes sense the Earth Protection Force would come along at some point too. In fact, it didn't take that long: he first appeared in January 2016, and their first appearance was in August 2016 in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe #1, an anthology series.