Fans of IDW’s licensed properties certainly know the name Paul Allor by now. Whether it be his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle micro one-shots or his current run on the “G.I. Joe” comic, Allor is certainly a rising star in comics. And now, Allor and Andy Kuhn are telling the second ever TMNT side-mini, this time focusing on Krang, Fugitoid and Baxter Stockman in “Utrom Empire.” It’s a pretty damn great action thriller of a comic, something that shows Allor is clearly pushing himself within the landscape of the series while shoving the Turtleverse forward (while the main series takes a breather post-‘City Fall.’)
Read on as we chat with Paul Allor about why “Utrom Empire” is a sort of historical epic, why Krang is a hero and more.
So, last time we talked about Turtles — a while ago — you had admitted to not really being familiar with the original comics. Has that changed at all? Have you gone back and read any of the early stories?
Well, I wasn’t as familiar with them before I started working on the TMNT stuff – pretty much just by virtue of the fact that I didn’t read comics until I was 28. But yeah, before even my Fugitoid issue, I went back and re-read a lot of that early stuff, and have continued to catch up since then.
It’s such awesome stuff – like seeing the source code of all that followed. Since then I’ve been reading some of the other comics iterations – I’m on to the Archie stuff right now.
Having done two jaunts into IDW’s new Turtleverse, how do you (as someone who grew up with the Turtles yourself) feel about how this endeavor has come together?
… good? When I think about the work I’ve done on the TMNT universe, I do feel a certain stirring in my chest that I believe some people refer to as “pride.” I think I’ve done a couple of really nice character pieces, and I’ve worked with some truly astounding artists – Paul McCaffrey and colorist John-Paul Bove on Fugitoid, Dan Duncan and colorist Ian Herring on Shredder, and now Andy Kuhn and colorist Bill Crabtree, who are absolutely rocking it on Utrom Empire.
I think my goal with my Turtles books is to tell dynamic, interesting, fun stories that fit seamlessly into this amazing larger universe that IDW has put together. And I’d like to think we’ve done that.
There’s only been on other Turtles mini (not including all the micros) so far, and it occurred in the periphery alongside the main book. Is it a similar style of execution for Utrom?
Yeah, there have been a lot of one-shot micros, but The Secret History of the Foot Clan was the only other IDW TMNT mini. And it was amazing. Just a stunningly good book, so it’s pretty intimidating to know that that’s where the bar has been set.
It is a similar style, I think, in that it switches back and forth between a tightly-focused present-day storyline, and a sprawling historical epic. It makes for a really big, exciting, awesome story. And Krang is the hero! That’s probably my favorite part of working on this. That, and seeing Andy’s art and Bill’s colors come in on a regular basis.
Having touched on Utrom and working on the “Fugitoid” one-shot, do you feel like Dimension X is sort of “your” playground in the IDW Turtleverse now?
With work-for-hire comics, I don’t know that you can ever stake your claim in that way. I serve at the pleasure of the publisher and licensor, you know? But man, I will say that I love the Dimension X stuff, and I will keep writing it for as long as they’ll have me.
How do you find the challenge of balancing the history aspect of the book against the modern day narrative?
Not gonna lie to you, Matt. It was pretty tough. The first issue of Utrom Empire was the toughest thing I had ever written, and each subsequent issue was tougher. Just from a craft standpoint, I had to balance these huge, sweeping, epic flashback sequences against a modern-day story involving three characters – Krang, Fugitoid and Baxter Stockman – who each have their own motives, agendas and character arcs. And we also check in with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles every issue. So to do all that, and make it interesting, and make it compelling, and make it thematically cohesive, and also give each of the characters a distinctive arc, and give the plot beats and character moments room to breathe… yup. Tough.
Continued belowBut also fun. I’m a big craft guy, and I enjoyed the challenge. It took a lot of different approaches to get it done; a lot of working to find the heart of the story, a lot of paring scenes down to their absolute essentials, a lot of work on crafting smooth transitions and on finding parallels between these seemingly disparate stories in vastly different eras. Like I said: fun.
So what is it about Krang that you find endearing? You refer to him as the hero, but then we also have Fugitoid and appearances from the Turtles. What makes Krang a hero compared to them?
I mean… the dude’s a squishy, pink, anthropomorphized brain in a lumbering artificial body, who also happens to be a ruthless inter-dimensional warlord. And he’s been kicking around pop culture for 30 years. This truly is a lovely world.
When I say Krang is the hero, I’m definitely speaking situationally. We see him acting in very heroic ways, and doing things that, stripped of some context, would definitely make him a very traditional heroic protagonist. Krang is one of the last members of his race; and the rest are in stasis, and are relying on Krang to save their people. That’s an enormous responsibility, and frankly, it’s a noble responsibility. He is trying – desperately – to save his people from extinction. It’s also worth noting, as we see in this mini, that they’re not bad people! The few Utroms we’ve seen in IDW’s Turtleverse have been truly terrible folks, but most of the race are decent, hard-working, peace-loving little squishy pink brains.
And beyond that, in this mini we’ll see Krang being brave, and resourceful, and self-sacrificing, all things we generally associate with the hero. But what separates Krang from the Turtles is that he is a hero for his people. He does what’s best for the Utrom race. The Turtles (and Fugitoid!), by contrast, simply do what’s best.
But, you know… if you think of the people we consider to be heroes, most of them fit into that first category. They’re doing what’s best for their country or their people or their religion or their tribe.
I always find it fascinating when villains become “heroes” in stories, because they’re assumedly the heroes in their own stories, right? Is that a tricky line to walk at all, to have him be the protagonist while making sure readers know who he really is?
I’d say it’s true that many villains consider themselves to be the heroes of their own stories. But not all. I think some people know they’re the villain, and revel in it. Baxter Stockman, one of the Turtles’ other main foes (and a central character in Utrom Empire) fits into that category, I think.
In terms of walking the tricky line – I think it’s just a matter of being true to the character. It’s about not shying away from either the more heroic aspects of his character or the more villainous. If you do that, then a well-rounded portrait will emerge naturally. It’s also worth noting that 99 percent of the people reading this mini will already be familiar with Krang. They’ll know what he’s about, and what he’s capable of. Not many folks will see him acting heroically and go, “hey, that Krang is a pretty good egg after all!”
In terms of the good egg thought — given that Krang is often portrayed very specifically as a one-dimensional maniacal conqueror, did you find it difficult to try and flesh him out, to make him a bit more dimensional, something perhaps even lightly sympathetic?
Nah. I didn’t find it difficult; instead I found it really, really fun. But yeah, I’ve had a couple of people seem surprised that he’s not more one-dimensional, or that he’s not just portrayed as being angry all the time. I know one person thought it was odd that the first time we see him in flashback, he’s smiling and singing and drunkenly celebrating a military victory.
And what I would say is, it’s all about context. Every time we’ve seen Krang before, we’ve seen him surrounded by subordinates, in tense, often life-or-death situations. And there’s plenty of that here as well. But since he’s a much more central figure in this story, we also see him in other moments; we see him around people he considers his peers, and even his friends. We see him in more casual, unguarded moments. We see him in moments of much greater personal strife and desperation than we have before. And all of those things give us a chance to round out his character and, as you said, make him more sympathetic. I want people reading this comic to catch themselves rooting for Krang. That’s one of my major goals with it, and I hope we succeeded.
Continued belowShredder and Krang are sort of the Big Bads of the Turtleverse, all things considered. Having done spotlights for them both, what do you think it is about the characters that sets them apart — both from each other, and other villains (and associated tropes)?
The fact that they are awesome.
When you mention that the book is a historical epic, how does that fit into the narrative? Because, I mean, this isn’t “Three,” for example. Are you mixing in any real world history in with the fiction?
Oh, no, no real-world history at all. When I call it a historical epic, I mean “the history of this fictional universe.” But I did try to ground it in some familiar patterns that we see in our own history. This is, in part, the story of how the Utrom Empire collapsed in on itself. I’m a big fan of social scientist Jared Diamond, and while plotting out this mini, I re-read his books Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse, which deal with how empires spread, how they falter, and what determines the fate of a civilization.
Which all sounds pretty heavy, so I would just point out that issue #1 also features a squishy pink brain locked in hand-to-hand combat with a Triceraton.
What was it like collaborating with Andy Kuhn on this series? I know this is a work-for-hire project, but are there any major differences for you between how you two work together on this than, say, you and Juan on Strange Nation?
Andy is preeeetty much phenomenal, man. A fantastic, dynamic artist, a great storyteller, and just really awesome, wonderful character designs. So working with him has been fantastic.
In terms of how it’s different than working with Juan… hmm. Honestly, I don’t really tend to art-direct the folks I work with on creator-owned projects, so the main difference is just that Andy and I are both working for IDW, instead of working for each other. But in both cases, when I get the art in I pretty much just smile and shout “alright!” and do a little dance and high-five myself and think about how lucky I am to be working with these folks. You know: typical writer stuff.
I really liked Kuhn’s art when he worked on the main Turtle book, and it seems like he’s really pushing himself on this series. What do you think it is that Kuhn in particular brings to the table to help bring this battle to life?
Oh, he brings so much to the table. Honestly, I feel like this book’s success is much more due to Andy and colorist Bill Crabtree than to me. One thing Andy definitely brings is a really fantastic ability to really draw out both the humor and the pathos in these really absurd situations and bizarre characters. I mean, as we said, the Utroms are basically squishy brains, and he’s managed to give each squishy brain its own look and feel and personality. It’s pretty incredible.
And Bill Crabtree’s coloring work has just been phenomenal, just perfectly complementing Andy’s work while further drawing out the emotional content of each scene.
With a couple work-for-hire books now under your belt at IDW on licensed properties, are there any particular lessons you’ve taken away from the experience of work on these books?
Yeah, that’s a question I’ve gotten a few times in some form or another, and it’s kind of tough to answer. Because honestly, I don’t tend to approach work for hire any differently than creator-owned work. I don’t know if that would be considered a good or a bad thing; it probably depends on the editor.
I mean, with work for hire, there are obvious constraints; you need to match an existing tone and existing character voices, you need to fit it in with a greater continuity, et cetera. But all fiction has certain rules and certain restrictions, so it’s just a different set of rules, but other than that… boy, this is an unsatisfying answer. LOOK OVER THERE BEHIND YOU! A DISTRACTION!
Are there any other areas of the Turtleverse you’re keeping your fingers crossed to playing in?
Continued belowOther than what I’ve done so far? Oh, really whatever they see fit to let me run with. I’d love to do a Bebop and Rocksteady crime story – just a straightforward urban crime story with those characters – but IDW obviously has a specific plan for them, and if it doesn’t fit with that plan, then it doesn’t fit, you know? And besides, Ben Bates and Dustin Weaver did such a phenomenal job on the Bebop and Rocksteady micro, and Tom has written them so well in the main book, those dudes are clearly in good hands.
I’d imagine you’re done with writing Utrom by now, so what’s next on the horizon for Paul Allor?
Hopefully a bit more turtles work, but time will tell. My GI Joe run wraps up in April. If you dig my stuff, you should definitely be reading that, even if you don’t consider yourself a GI Joe person. It’s been some of my best work, I think.
After that… Strange Nation is plugging away at Monkeybrain. I have a Th3rd World book, called Past the Last Mountain, that has a preview on Free Comic Book Day. And a few other pitches and projects are in the works.
You know, I’m at the point in my career where the work-for-hire stuff could dry up very quickly. Right now, I’m just starting on a small work-for-hire gig, but there’s nothing else on the radar. It’s very possible that at the end of 2014, I’ll look back and go, “wow, that year sure did start great. Too bad about everything after April.” So it’s very, very important that I hit the creator-owned stuff hard, to make sure that I have a steady stream of work coming out. I can’t assume that anyone’s going to hand me anything, so instead I need to hustle up and make it happen on my own.
Are you ever going to get to the point where you come out and say that your books are the best books ever?
Ha ha! Man, I hope not. People have different approaches to marketing, and I mean this with all due respect, but it seems like there are a lot of people in comics who work as their own one-person hype machines. “This’ll blow your mind!” “This’ll change your life!” “This is your new favorite book!” If that works for you, awesome, but it’s not for me. For me it’s more like, “I think this is an entertaining and well-crafted story! I’d be honored if you took the time to check it out!”
Then I drop the mic.
Then I feel bad, so I pick the mic back up, and make sure it isn’t damaged, and set it down carefully. Because that’s how we roll in Allor Town!
“TMNT: Utrom Emipre” #1 is in stores now, and you can find Paul’s Monkeybrain book “Strange Nation” on Comixology.
