Peter Laird reacts to IDW TMNT preview/press release

[Roseangelo]

If you actually read what I wrote in full, you'd see that for the most part I actually agreed with what Peter had written. I just found (and continue to find) his way of expressing it to be ridiculous. There's a lot that can be critiqued about the art that IDW released, and he's meandering about the real life practicality of wearing knee and elbow pads.

[Powder]

I agree with Rose & Tothenines. Nothing unfair about what they said. If they're being unfair, so's Pete. It's opinions.

[Sinister Shogun]

I really don't give a crap about Pete anymore really. I understand it had been his property and creation, but the dude says and does stuff sometimes that doesn't make sense to me at all. I still don't get why he sold the turtles. Yeah he made a crapton of money off of it, but....he was already rich. Dude has been rolling in the cash for a long while. Why not just step back and let the people of mirage handle the business if you didn't want to be part of it anymore. And him criticizing the idw stuff does sound like sour grapes mainly because...vol 1 had a TON of strangely drawn turtles. Some of them didn't look like the costume design at all! What about the turtles who wore bandanas that covered their whole head? Maybe he didn't like that either but I've never seen him say anything negative about it.

[Jester]

Originally Posted by Sinister Shogun

What about the turtles who wore bandanas that covered their whole head? Maybe he didn't like that either but I've never seen him say anything negative about it.

Didn't Laird (and Eastman) come up with the full skull cap for an early issue? The Pre-Teen Turtle issue...9...issue 9.

[Donnie]

Originally Posted by Roseangelo

If you actually read what I wrote in full, you'd see that for the most part I actually agreed with what Peter had written. I just found (and continue to find) his way of expressing it to be ridiculous. There's a lot that can be critiqued about the art that IDW released, and he's meandering about the real life practicality of wearing knee and elbow pads.

Thanks for implying that I didn't read your whole post, but I did. I was dissecting a part of it; a part that clearly painted Laird negatively. Can you say that what you said of him was completely positive? Absolutely not. What is wrong with meandering about the practicality of the pads? It's no more than people do on here every single day (that is talking about a specific element of the TMNT universe, whether meandering about it or scrutinizing it) but instead of one blog post, we have tons of pages of posts about it. Why get on Pete for meandering about a question that isn't any different than what one would say or ask on here?

[Sinister Shogun]

Yep had to look through my books for a second. Number nine. But he'll what about all the stuff that Michael zulli did with the turtles. They barely even resemble the turtles. And IMO, the turtles being drawn by different people and putting them through tons of different situations is what draws me to the old books. I like the new art. I like it way better than the dream wave stuff(which is the style I assumed they'd go with if they relaunched the book.)

Originally Posted by Jester

Didn't Laird (and Eastman) come up with the full skull cap for an early issue? The Pre-Teen Turtle issue...9...issue 9.

[Candy Kappa]

Originally Posted by Sinister Shogun

Yep had to look through my books for a second. Number nine. But he'll what about all the stuff that Michael zulli did with the turtles.

Soul's Winter isn't a part of the regular continuity, it's a different story.

Peter's main complaints with the new art is some anatomy issues and that the plastron looks like it's soft like cloth

[FearlessLeader]

Originally Posted by Sinister Shogun

I really don't give a crap about Pete anymore really. I understand it had been his property and creation, but the dude says and does stuff sometimes that doesn't make sense to me at all. I still don't get why he sold the turtles. Yeah he made a crapton of money off of it, but....he was already rich. Dude has been rolling in the cash for a long while. Why not just step back and let the people of mirage handle the business if you didn't want to be part of it anymore. And him criticizing the idw stuff does sound like sour grapes mainly because...vol 1 had a TON of strangely drawn turtles. Some of them didn't look like the costume design at all! What about the turtles who wore bandanas that covered their whole head? Maybe he didn't like that either but I've never seen him say anything negative about it.

Someone asked Pete's opinion about the new comic and he gave it. He didn't clamor to do an interview or something so he could complain about the new title, he simple answered someone's question.

I am not saying anyone has to agree with him, but complaining about the fact he answered the question a fan asked him in the "Ask Peter Laird" thread on his blog, is kind of nonsensical.

As for selling the franchise. Maybe we will never allow you to retire and we can see how you feel about that He was doing what he thought was best for the franchise as a whole. Seeing so far the new comics, the new show, the new movie and the vastly larger amount of merchandise I see out now even before "Turtle-mania" really hits again and I really get why Pete did what he did.

[Sinister Shogun]

I'm not trying to start a debate or anything. But laird didn't HAVE to run mirage. He could definitely have had the rest of the crew ran it how they saw fit and stepped down. It just sucks that people like Lawson will probably never do a turtle comic again just because laird wanted to make a quick 60 mil. Idk. to me, the mirage turtles have been DIY forever and is the main reason I started reading the comics when I was 17. I will always love the turtles...i just don't ever see it being the same again....I guess we'll see in the next few years.

[BoggleKng]

I haven't been too thrilled with the new design. Granted I don't mind it and it is a first draft but I have seen better from other artists. The proportions are a little funky but the energy. I think the Turtles all look like that they have the same cheesy grin on their faces.. Mike and Don are almost mirror images in that respects. The background doesn't blend in well with the action either. I don't mind the pads/wraps but they need to have something there for consistency. My thoughts aside, Pete is a nice guy and I respect his work and legacy but being picky is his style so be it.. everyone has their own thoughts.. only time and sales will tell how much this new TMNT will take off..

[PAAATE]

Originally Posted by Sinister Shogun

It just sucks that people like Lawson will probably never do a turtle comic again just because laird wanted to make a quick 60 mil.

Something smells like delusion!

[Adam]

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader

Someone asked Pete's opinion about the new comic and he gave it. He didn't clamor to do an interview or something so he could complain about the new title, he simple answered someone's question.

I am not saying anyone has to agree with him, but complaining about the fact he answered the question a fan asked him in the "Ask Peter Laird" thread on his blog, is kind of nonsensical.

As for selling the franchise. Maybe we will never allow you to retire and we can see how you feel about that He was doing what he thought was best for the franchise as a whole. Seeing so far the new comics, the new show, the new movie and the vastly larger amount of merchandise I see out now even before "Turtle-mania" really hits again and I really get why Pete did what he did.

Exactly.

Plus -- do we really want more comics from the guy who's tired of doing them?

This isn't a "Laird Vs IDW" thing. I guess I don't see what the big deal is -- or what the big mystery is. Let him move on with his life. As FL said above, it'd be silly of us not to expect him to weigh in when his opinion is asked on his blog (he's going to be asked Turtle questions for the rest of his days even if he never participates in another Turtle comic, after all), but it's not unreasonable of him to want to concentrate his focus somewhere else after living with the TMNT 24/7 for nearly 30 years.

We're all weighing in on what we like and don't like about the new artwork that we've seen so far. Once the new series starts, we're going to discuss and argue its merits and faults to death. How is one of the creators of the TMNT not qualified to have an opinion simply because they're not his life's focus anymore?

[FearlessLeader]

Originally Posted by Sinister Shogun

I'm not trying to start a debate or anything. But laird didn't HAVE to run mirage. He could definitely have had the rest of the crew ran it how they saw fit and stepped down. It just sucks that people like Lawson will probably never do a turtle comic again just because laird wanted to make a quick 60 mil. Idk. to me, the mirage turtles have been DIY forever and is the main reason I started reading the comics when I was 17. I will always love the turtles...i just don't ever see it being the same again....I guess we'll see in the next few years.

How do you even know the guys at Mirage would want to run the franchise. There is a huge difference from drawing and writing a comic book to taking over something like Turtles and running it day to day to make it a viable and profitable commodity.

Also I love Jim and his work and I have the feeling if he wanted to do more Turtles that IDW wouldn't be completely against it. Heck in one of the other threads it states how they have already contacted Stan Sakai and are trying to work out a project with him.

[gobo]

Noobs... -_-

[Donnie]

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader

Someone asked Pete's opinion about the new comic and he gave it. He didn't clamor to do an interview or something so he could complain about the new title, he simple answered someone's question.

I am not saying anyone has to agree with him, but complaining about the fact he answered the question a fan asked him in the "Ask Peter Laird" thread on his blog, is kind of nonsensical.

Originally Posted by Adam

We're all weighing in on what we like and don't like about the new artwork that we've seen so far. Once the new series starts, we're going to discuss and argue its merits and faults to death. How is one of the creators of the TMNT not qualified to have an opinion simply because they're not his life's focus anymore?

Well stated, and exactly.

[CyberCubed]

Peter Laird by far did what was best for the franchise. The 4kids cartoon was ending, Tales of the TMNT would have ended no matter what, and the toyline was winding down.

The purchase by Nick was a great movie in every way. We're getting brand new comics from IDW with Eastman involved, hardcover trades of the old Mirage material, a new cartoon series that's bound to be successful, and hopefully a new movie in theaters.

If PL didn't sell the Turtles, we'd have literally nothing new to look forward to right now. TMNT would be dead completely.

[Redeemer]

I wonder if they will have ask Eastman and Laird to do a special issue together????That would be sweet!!!!!!!

[marcelangelo]

well, I have read the relevant blog entry of peter laird, too and I seemed to see something in his decision that I haven't come accross here I think:
the man decided to retire from his co-creation(which had him working on it about the half of his lifetime) in regard of TWO thingsne)being tired of the material he thaught somebody else handling the stories would result in maybe more exciting work done with the tmnt...I don't see how someone can argue with that point...even though I also love his turtles, but hey the man doesn't wanna do this any more(for now at least) so we all should quit bugging him...

TWO)he knows he couldn't be sitting in the corner and NOT interfere when he sees something done with his characters that he'd find inapropriate...
so, quite in the spirit of his liberation from old bad habbits he chose to give the property away and free himself of a burdon....

I also don't like this talk of 'oh he just wanted to make a quick 60 mio dollars'...off course it isn't bad to get financial sercurity for yourself and the rest of your family guaranted for life(I bet)by one single transaction, yet there would be plenty of more cash in it when he stayed on board this merchandizing monster...think about it....
that's just jelousy speaking out of the authors of such comments in my oppinion...
so, that's been my two cents for today, I hope you enjoyed them...
peace
marcel

[PizzaPower]

not only is he pretty much set, family does come first before anything and he can still publish tmnt comics.

[marcelangelo]

there you go...you said it best...