“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” turns 30 this month, making it officially older than many of our Multiversity staff. To celebrate, this week we are featuring a lot of Turtles content, including interviews from many of the creators who have made the Turtles what they are over the past 30 years of comics, all of whom are featured in the brand new “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 30th Anniversary Special,” on sale on Wednesday from IDW. Today, we chat with IDW series editor Bobby Curnow, who has not only edited the series since it came over to IDW, but has also written or co-written a fair share of stories as well. In this piece, we are also including a variety of covers from the 30th anniversary special, including this exclusive sneak peak at the 2014 Convention exclusive cover by our pal Nick Pitarra!
Interview questions by Matthew Meylikhov, Brian Salvatore, Mike Romeo, Chad Bowers and Brandon Burpee
The Turtles have had a number of shepherding publishers over the years, all of which have managed to keep the property thriving, while also bringing their own flavor to the franchise. What do you feel like IDW has added to the turtle soup (sorry), and what sets IDW apart from other TMNT publishers throughout the years?
Bobby Curnow: I think the main thing we have that other publishers didn’t is hindsight. Since we now have thirty years of Turtles stories to look at, we can see what works and what doesn’t, and pick and choose which elements fit best for the story we’re telling. That’s a tremendous advantage we’re lucky to have.
That being said, I think we’ve introduced a good deal of new concepts and characters. The reincarnation angle, and characters like Old Hob and Kitsune come to mind. Beyond that, thematically, we’re examining what it means to be a family, and how a family can shape an individual’s future. Other series have done that too, wonderfully, but I think the focus with which we’ve explored that concept adds something.
Personally, what are you most proud of about your time on the Turtles?
BC: Speaking personally, as an editor, I’m probably most proud of City Fall, and juggling all of the villain micros that went with it. That was a tough order, and I think the end result paid off. Less selfishly, I’m just so damn proud of the artists. They always bring their A game, relentlessly.
Turtles have a long history of meeting other characters and visiting different universes. Under IDW’s stewardship we’ve seen a couple of event-related crossovers (X-Files, Infestation), but will we be seeing any sort of characters making cameos in non-event books?
BC: Look out in the coming months for the announcement of our next mini-series. It’s a crossover with an individual or group the Turtles have never met before, in any incarnation.
Do you feel pressure to conform the books to either that “classic” TMNT style that people know and love or to adapt to whatever the prevalent media adaptation is at the moment? I’ve heard the argument made that you don’t want a kid to see a movie, run to the comic shop and not be able to find a similar story to what they just saw, but you guys obviously have your own ideas and plans for the series. How do you reconcile that?
BC: It helps that we have TMNT New Animated Adventures. So if there’s fans of the cartoon, they have a comic that’s made just for them.
Other than that, I think our “all Turtles eras welcome” approach to the IDW ongoing works well. There’s something that fans of any era of Turtles can recognize and enjoy in our book. And hopefully the other elements, be it new or from other Turtles media, will pique their curiosity and prompt them to look at material they are unfamiliar with. It’s always really satisfying to hear folks who read our book and are inspired to read older Turtles comics. We’re very much in debt to Mirage, Archie, and Image TMNT, along with the creators who worked on those books, so it’s rewarding to me to expose new folks to their work.
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The recent micro-series have been really fun peeks into the supporting cast of the Turtles – are there plans in the works for another batch of one-shots and, if so, can you give us a hint as to who they would focus on?
BC: No plans at this time, though I’m sure we’ll return to that format in one shape or another eventually. I do regret we didn’t get to do a micro for Slash or Kitsune!
We’re pretty excited about the new “Turtles in Time” mini-series launching next month. What inspired IDW to revisit an idea that, some might say, hasn’t always sat well with a portion of the core fandom? And obviously, time travel stories in general, have their pros and cons, but what’s the core appeal of the Turtles in different eras, and why is it an idea that keeps coming back up?
BC: I personally love history, and time travel stories, so it was mostly just something I wanted to see happen! Time travel stories are usually fish-out-of-water AND underdog stories at the same time, so you’ve got a lot of opportunity to have exciting action and humor that also explores character really well, which is always the ideal balance. It’s also a great opportunity to tell fun stories that don’t have to be weighed down by continuity quite as much. Plus, TMNT is such a bonkers concept, it’s only more fun when you make it more bonkers by throwing in some different time periods. The creative teams really knocked it out of the park, I’m excited to hear what people think of the series.
Kevin Eastman has been pretty involved with the Turtle line since it came back, so how has the working relationship with him evolved over time? What’s the give and take between Eastman, Tom Waltz and you?
BC: Kevin is a hero of mine, and I think about as close to a (really likable, down-to-earth) rock star as the comic book industry has. So it’s always a blast to get new art from him. That thrill hasn’t died down at all. At the start, in terms of writing, Kevin would review our proposals, and give us any feedback he may have had. But he recently moved to San Diego, where IDW is based, so Tom and I have been able to meet with him face-to-face more often, and have more brainstorming sessions. That’s been great, and some of my favorite ideas come from Kevin. A fun twist in TMTN #34 came purely from Kevin.
So far the Turtles books have been noteworthy for the bevy of talented artists that have been on the series, and Mateus Santolouco and Ross Campbell right now are great picks for the books — particularly since their names sell the books to the same extent the stories do. How did you line-up the talent for these books and others, and (especially given that Mateus wrote/illustrated his own Turtles mini) how do you find these artists influence the story being told?
BC: All of the artists who have worked on the book have been a pretty healthy mix of me searching them out, and them coming to me. So some work on my part, and a lot of luck.
It becomes pretty apparent pretty quickly who has a real passion for TMNT, and those are the folks who bring their best work to the book. At the end of the day, that’s what I’m looking for. Passion that translates onto the page. I could care less if the Turtles are “on model”, as long as that passion is there. You have to have that when working on a monthly ongoing title, which is really draining, and we’ve been truly lucky to have such a talented roster. Once you find an artists strengths it becomes easier to tailor a story to those strengths. Take Ross Campbell for example. It’s obvious he has an amazing knack for emotion and expression. So he was an obvious choice for “Northampton”, which was a more introspective arc that relied on small things like facial expressions. When you play to an artists strengths, they will in turn do great work that will surprise you, as Ross did over and over again in that story.
Continued belowMateus, who I think obviously has an incredible knack for kinetic action AND detail, is surprising me right now with his ability to handle humor in TMNT #35. So I wouldn’t be surprised if we pitch more comedy to him.
And who knew Ben Bates could make Bebop and Rocksteady both hilarious and terrifying? Or that Andy Kuhn would be able to give a bunch of squishy brain-things distinct character designs and personality? I could go on and on! I’m leaving out lots of other great artists, I know.
I also have to give a shout out to colorist Ronda Pattison, who has been able to unite these different styles with her work, which is no small feat. This could be a seriously jarring book, arc to arc, because of the different styles used, but Ronda really softens the transitions. She’s our glue!
(Oof, you got me talking artists, which I love to do!)
Paul Allor has had his hand in quite a few Turtle books now, and he’s probably the most consistent writer in the franchise outside of Waltz on the main title. Considering “Fugitoid” was his first major outing in comics, how has working with Allor been like, and what has it been like to help steward his writing and career in comics?
BC: I think both Paul and Erik Burnham have done about the same amount of work on the title, so I do want to include Erik there. But Erik already had Ghostbusters under his belt, so indeed, Paul was much more of an unknown when he started on Turtles. While i’ve given him some work, I don’t know if “steward” is the right word. If I didn’t give Paul that first gig, someone else would have. Paul’s really smart, really cares about stories, is easy to get along with, and has a lot of drive. That’s a winning combo, speaking as an editor. It’s obvious how much work and thought he puts in. You can observe him from afar and just see he’s going to be here in comics for the long haul. I think both he, and Erik, are on the cusp of breaking big, and they don’t even know it yet! I’m happy to work with them as long as I can!
