Ash
12-07-2009, 02:13 PM
Last year I managed to score an interview with Peter Laird. But it's not one that many people will have seen since it was for a UK magazine. So I've decided to paste it here for you guys to read.
I'm sure that most of the information will be old news to most of you but there's still some nice insight in there - particularly the signs that Laird was beginning to tire of the franchise. Re-reading the interview, the Viacom buyout doesn't seem all that surprising.
Here are a couple of photos of the original feature, with the unedited, original interview text copied and pasted below. If you'd prefer to read the article as it was published then you should be able to do it on my Flickr page.
Oh and, just so you know, the interview was conducted in September 2008 and printed January 2009.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2660/4166428705_5a10f07e2a.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2769/4166430177_1347372600.jpg
The interview:
<<Going back 25 years, pre-TMNT issue 1, how would you describe your life situation/professional career at that point?>>
Well, I had just gotten married (and still am, twenty-five years later, to the same wonderful woman), so my personal life was going very well. On the professional side, I was struggling to make a living as an illustrator, taking jobs doing everything from drawings for advertisements in local papers to designing logos for local businesses, as well as the occasional fun (but low-paying) job doing illustrations for science fiction or fantasy fanzines. But it was truly a "hand to mouth" existence.
<<For the benefit of those not fully aware, where did the original TMNT idea come from and how did you go about turning it into a tangible comic book?>>
The original idea was sparked during a late night drawing session by Kevin Eastman drawing a turtle standing upright on its hind legs, wearing a mask, with nunchakus strapped to its forearms. He showed it to me, I cracked up, and drew my own version, changing a few things. Kevin then did a drawing of four Turtles, all with different weapons, and called them "ninja turtles". I suggested adding the "teenage mutant" part. We both laughed about it, and a few days later started talking about how it might be fun to think of a way to explain that crazy name and turn that into a comic book story which would recount the Turtles' origin. We figured out the plot over a few days, and then it took us two or three months to draw the whole first issue, which we decided to self-publish. The first issue premiered at a small comic book convention in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on May 5, 1984.
<<And at what point did you realise that you had a real success with a stable future on your hands?>>
Well, the first inkling came when I had moved to Connecticut with my wife, Kevin had moved back to Maine, and he and I were collaborating through the mail on the second issue of the comic. I was handling the business end of things, finding the printer, talking to distributors, and so forth. When I got the initial orders in for the second issue., I crunched the numbers and realized that with that first printing of #2, Kevin and I would each make about $2000. That represented about a third of my yearly income at the time, so it was pretty exciting -- to make that much money doing something that we both loved doing! But it was probably about another year later, when the comics were selling better with each issue, that I started to think that this might be something that could last a while.
<<If you’d had any idea how popular the Shredder would later become, would you still have killed him off in that first issue?>>
Quite possibly we would not have killed him off. But the fact that we did is good evidence that we approached that first issue as a true one-shot... we really never expected it to go beyond that.
<<The TMNT obviously became a multi-million dollar success within years, were there any offers of buyouts during this boom period? How difficult has it been to keep Mirage independent?>>
We did have a few offers, including one which was somewhat tempting, but for a variety of reasons, a third party buyout never came together. Eventually, in 2000, I bought out Kevin's ownership interest in the TMNT and became sole owner. It was never too difficult to keep Mirage Studios independent, given that even before the big mass-merchandising started to happen, Kevin and I were making very good money self-publishing the comics, and didn't really feel the need to sell out.
<<For many people, especially here in the UK, the enduring image of the Turtles comes from the old cartoon show and live action films. Does it bother you that some people will always dismiss the comics as “just for kids” as a consequence?>>
A little bit, but not that much. When I started doing a TMNT comic again in 2001, I just approached it in the same way that Kevin and I had always done it -- I created a comic book that I wanted to read, with my adult sensibility.
<<The mid to late Nineties were probably the lowest point to date for the TMNT’s popularity. Looking back, do you see The Next Mutation and Image’s ‘Volume 3’ as mistakes? And what was Mirage up to, if it wasn’t making Turtles comics, during this time?>>
"The Next Mutation" was a mistake, but it COULD have been something good. The Image TMNT comic was fine for what it was, and it kept the Turtles alive in the minds of comics fans. Mirage at that time was operating at a low ebb, with only a few licensing deals still happening. I think it was really my buyout of Kevin in 2000 that got Mirage going again, as I then had the freedom to make the business decisions I wanted to make, without having to compromise with an equal partner.
<<When Mirage revived the core TMNT comic in 2001, one of your most famous decisions was to allow Splinter to pass on. What was the reasoning behind this decision and how hard was it to bring such a well-loved character’s time to an end?>>
At the time I wrote that issue, I felt it was the appropriate thing to do with the character, and I also wanted the Turtles to grow up in a way that they had not yet done. That's also the reason that I split the Turtles up in Volume 4, allowing them to go in their own directions. It wasn't hard to let Splinter go -- it seemed pretty natural.
<<Earlier this year you decided to move TMNT Vol 4 to a self-distribution model but to keep Tales Of The TMNT on the newsstands. What influenced the respective decision for each title and has the plan proved successful so far?>
The main reason for changing the publication scheme for Volume 4 was that I could no longer keep on the bi-monthly schedule, and I was getting stressed out trying to do so, and keep up with what was necessary for Diamond Comics promotional schedule. The team working on TALES, however, has no such problem, so the Diamond thing works great for them. I also liked the idea of fans of Volume 4, wherever they were, being able to immediately access the new issues via the wowio.com website, as I had heard quite often from people who were disappointed that their local comic shops would only order a few copies of each issue of TMNT, sell them, and then not reorder any. So far it has worked about as I hoped -- we've sold almost all the copies of issue #29 (the first issue I tried this new scheme with) at $10 apiece, and for the first time in a long while the sales of the books have covered the production costs. And people seem to like being able to get the book for free online. Hopefully, this will continue... of course, that means I have to get off my butt and finish the next issue!
<<The cover for issue 29 of Vol 4 explicitly depicted characters drinking and smoking in a bar. This seems like something you couldn’t have gotten away with on newsstands. What other freedoms has the move to self-distribution offered you?>>
I am not entirely sure that a TMNT comic book with newsstand distribution could not have such a cover. Regardless, I don't see this move to self-distribution as really changing things that much, except that it allows me to work at the pace I choose.
<What are the plans for the TMNT’s 25th anniversary? Can we expect a new film? How will you be celebrating, personally?>>
There are a number of things planned for the 25th anniversary, but I'm a little embarrassed to say that I am not really up on all of them. There is probably a lot of information about this stuff on the official Mirage TMNT website, www.ninjaturtles.com. We are talking with some people about doing another film, and I hope that we will have an announcement to make within the next few months. I'll probably be celebrating very quietly.
<<Finally, where do you see the Turtles going in another 25 years? Do you expect them to endure as long as the classics from Marvel and DC? Do you think you’ll still be writing the comic when you’re in your 70s/80s?>>
I think that from the moment Kevin and I let these little green guys loose on the world back in 1984, they have taken on a life of their own. I will be eternally grateful to all the many people who have taken them to heart, either through the comics, the toys, the animation, or the movies. There is something about these characters which seems "evergreen" (that is not an attempt at a pun!). I suspect that it is very possible that they will be around in some form for a very long time. I doubt that I will be writing the comic for very much longer, and at some point, if the right offer is made, I could see my selling the TMNT property to a third party and walking away. Twenty-five years is a long time.
I'm sure that most of the information will be old news to most of you but there's still some nice insight in there - particularly the signs that Laird was beginning to tire of the franchise. Re-reading the interview, the Viacom buyout doesn't seem all that surprising.
Here are a couple of photos of the original feature, with the unedited, original interview text copied and pasted below. If you'd prefer to read the article as it was published then you should be able to do it on my Flickr page.
Oh and, just so you know, the interview was conducted in September 2008 and printed January 2009.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2660/4166428705_5a10f07e2a.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2769/4166430177_1347372600.jpg
The interview:
<<Going back 25 years, pre-TMNT issue 1, how would you describe your life situation/professional career at that point?>>
Well, I had just gotten married (and still am, twenty-five years later, to the same wonderful woman), so my personal life was going very well. On the professional side, I was struggling to make a living as an illustrator, taking jobs doing everything from drawings for advertisements in local papers to designing logos for local businesses, as well as the occasional fun (but low-paying) job doing illustrations for science fiction or fantasy fanzines. But it was truly a "hand to mouth" existence.
<<For the benefit of those not fully aware, where did the original TMNT idea come from and how did you go about turning it into a tangible comic book?>>
The original idea was sparked during a late night drawing session by Kevin Eastman drawing a turtle standing upright on its hind legs, wearing a mask, with nunchakus strapped to its forearms. He showed it to me, I cracked up, and drew my own version, changing a few things. Kevin then did a drawing of four Turtles, all with different weapons, and called them "ninja turtles". I suggested adding the "teenage mutant" part. We both laughed about it, and a few days later started talking about how it might be fun to think of a way to explain that crazy name and turn that into a comic book story which would recount the Turtles' origin. We figured out the plot over a few days, and then it took us two or three months to draw the whole first issue, which we decided to self-publish. The first issue premiered at a small comic book convention in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on May 5, 1984.
<<And at what point did you realise that you had a real success with a stable future on your hands?>>
Well, the first inkling came when I had moved to Connecticut with my wife, Kevin had moved back to Maine, and he and I were collaborating through the mail on the second issue of the comic. I was handling the business end of things, finding the printer, talking to distributors, and so forth. When I got the initial orders in for the second issue., I crunched the numbers and realized that with that first printing of #2, Kevin and I would each make about $2000. That represented about a third of my yearly income at the time, so it was pretty exciting -- to make that much money doing something that we both loved doing! But it was probably about another year later, when the comics were selling better with each issue, that I started to think that this might be something that could last a while.
<<If you’d had any idea how popular the Shredder would later become, would you still have killed him off in that first issue?>>
Quite possibly we would not have killed him off. But the fact that we did is good evidence that we approached that first issue as a true one-shot... we really never expected it to go beyond that.
<<The TMNT obviously became a multi-million dollar success within years, were there any offers of buyouts during this boom period? How difficult has it been to keep Mirage independent?>>
We did have a few offers, including one which was somewhat tempting, but for a variety of reasons, a third party buyout never came together. Eventually, in 2000, I bought out Kevin's ownership interest in the TMNT and became sole owner. It was never too difficult to keep Mirage Studios independent, given that even before the big mass-merchandising started to happen, Kevin and I were making very good money self-publishing the comics, and didn't really feel the need to sell out.
<<For many people, especially here in the UK, the enduring image of the Turtles comes from the old cartoon show and live action films. Does it bother you that some people will always dismiss the comics as “just for kids” as a consequence?>>
A little bit, but not that much. When I started doing a TMNT comic again in 2001, I just approached it in the same way that Kevin and I had always done it -- I created a comic book that I wanted to read, with my adult sensibility.
<<The mid to late Nineties were probably the lowest point to date for the TMNT’s popularity. Looking back, do you see The Next Mutation and Image’s ‘Volume 3’ as mistakes? And what was Mirage up to, if it wasn’t making Turtles comics, during this time?>>
"The Next Mutation" was a mistake, but it COULD have been something good. The Image TMNT comic was fine for what it was, and it kept the Turtles alive in the minds of comics fans. Mirage at that time was operating at a low ebb, with only a few licensing deals still happening. I think it was really my buyout of Kevin in 2000 that got Mirage going again, as I then had the freedom to make the business decisions I wanted to make, without having to compromise with an equal partner.
<<When Mirage revived the core TMNT comic in 2001, one of your most famous decisions was to allow Splinter to pass on. What was the reasoning behind this decision and how hard was it to bring such a well-loved character’s time to an end?>>
At the time I wrote that issue, I felt it was the appropriate thing to do with the character, and I also wanted the Turtles to grow up in a way that they had not yet done. That's also the reason that I split the Turtles up in Volume 4, allowing them to go in their own directions. It wasn't hard to let Splinter go -- it seemed pretty natural.
<<Earlier this year you decided to move TMNT Vol 4 to a self-distribution model but to keep Tales Of The TMNT on the newsstands. What influenced the respective decision for each title and has the plan proved successful so far?>
The main reason for changing the publication scheme for Volume 4 was that I could no longer keep on the bi-monthly schedule, and I was getting stressed out trying to do so, and keep up with what was necessary for Diamond Comics promotional schedule. The team working on TALES, however, has no such problem, so the Diamond thing works great for them. I also liked the idea of fans of Volume 4, wherever they were, being able to immediately access the new issues via the wowio.com website, as I had heard quite often from people who were disappointed that their local comic shops would only order a few copies of each issue of TMNT, sell them, and then not reorder any. So far it has worked about as I hoped -- we've sold almost all the copies of issue #29 (the first issue I tried this new scheme with) at $10 apiece, and for the first time in a long while the sales of the books have covered the production costs. And people seem to like being able to get the book for free online. Hopefully, this will continue... of course, that means I have to get off my butt and finish the next issue!
<<The cover for issue 29 of Vol 4 explicitly depicted characters drinking and smoking in a bar. This seems like something you couldn’t have gotten away with on newsstands. What other freedoms has the move to self-distribution offered you?>>
I am not entirely sure that a TMNT comic book with newsstand distribution could not have such a cover. Regardless, I don't see this move to self-distribution as really changing things that much, except that it allows me to work at the pace I choose.
<What are the plans for the TMNT’s 25th anniversary? Can we expect a new film? How will you be celebrating, personally?>>
There are a number of things planned for the 25th anniversary, but I'm a little embarrassed to say that I am not really up on all of them. There is probably a lot of information about this stuff on the official Mirage TMNT website, www.ninjaturtles.com. We are talking with some people about doing another film, and I hope that we will have an announcement to make within the next few months. I'll probably be celebrating very quietly.
<<Finally, where do you see the Turtles going in another 25 years? Do you expect them to endure as long as the classics from Marvel and DC? Do you think you’ll still be writing the comic when you’re in your 70s/80s?>>
I think that from the moment Kevin and I let these little green guys loose on the world back in 1984, they have taken on a life of their own. I will be eternally grateful to all the many people who have taken them to heart, either through the comics, the toys, the animation, or the movies. There is something about these characters which seems "evergreen" (that is not an attempt at a pun!). I suspect that it is very possible that they will be around in some form for a very long time. I doubt that I will be writing the comic for very much longer, and at some point, if the right offer is made, I could see my selling the TMNT property to a third party and walking away. Twenty-five years is a long time.