New Peter Laird Interview with Cartoonist Kayfabe

[staypuftweepel]

I haven’t had a chance to listen to the whole thing yet, but it’s nice to see Peter Laird back with a new interview.

[AquaParade]

Truly exciting to hear from Peter again. Feels like it has been so long.

[Anarchistguy]

Man I love cartoonist Kayfabe. Their passion for the craftsmanship of comic books is truly amazing.

[IndigoErth]

Thanks for sharing, nice interview, will keep it playing in the background to listen to it. Pushing 70, so it's nice to see him do this while he has it in him to give an interview like this.

[Andrew NDB]

He talks about doing more comics.

[IndigoErth]

Ones he has done or still wants to?

Only caught about 23 min before the video crapped out and refused to resume playing.

[Andrew NDB]

Start around the 49 minute mark.

On vol. 4, "I would like to do it." And "I would like to one day get together with Kevin and just do a Turtle comic." Also "it would be a great enjoyment."

[staypuftweepel]

A new collaboration between him and Kevin Eastman would be really neat. It would be cool for him to do it on his own without it having to go through IDW. I still wish he’d finish volume 4, but I don’t think that’ll ever happen. I could see a new Eastman/Laird collaboration happening before he’d finish volume 4 just because he seemed more excited to talk about that kind of project. It’s nice to know the two of them are on friendly terms. The whole TMNT explosion would have been tough for any two friends.

It’s pretty interesting to hear him talk about how he sometimes wonders where the TMNT comic could have gone if the licensing never took off and it was just him and Eastman making comics without all of the distractions. I kind of think the licensing had to take place for them to continue the comics.

[Andrew NDB]

I think the important distinction is that him saying stuff like "it would be a great enjoyment" and "I would like to do it" is very different than him saying in years past he had no idea if he could ever be in a headspace again where he could even imagine doing more Turtles.

It'd be neat to see a Vol.4 completion and some kind of vol.5. Like Kevin and Peter putting out like a special every year. Barring that, them creating a new TMNT comic reboot.

[AquaParade]

Totally wild that Peter himself floated the idea of working with Kevin again or completing volume 4. Really nice to hear this in the wake of the movie storyboards leaking. More good comics to possibly look forward to.

Makes me wonder about The Last Ronin. Seemed like a good chance to work with Kevin already presented itself, so I’m thinking that he either got a boost of inspiration from seeing how positively received the “original” version of TMNT was getting or he didn’t want to participate in TLR because it essentially treads over everything he did with Jim Lawson.

Either way, can you imagine what it may look like if they do a new book together? Pretty crazy to think.

[Monty Mole]

This is wild! Never thought I'd see Peter Laird involved in anything again. Let alone mention interest in doing more Turtles.

[IndigoErth]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Start around the 49 minute mark.

On vol. 4, "I would like to do it." And "I would like to one day get together with Kevin and just do a Turtle comic." Also "it would be a great enjoyment."

Wow, that's awesome if he wants to and it happens. I really had just believed and accepted that he'd retired from any interest in TMNT and moved on, esp now that he's getting up there in age.

[CyberCubed]

His voice is sounding really weak there, I know he's old now but I hope he's in good health. Honestly sounded like he was struggling to get some words out.

[Galactus]

That's certainly sounds more encouraging than any statement he's made about making more TMNT comics since the sale. Steve Lavigne was recently on a podcast and said when he told Peter that The Last Ronin topped the New York Times Best Seller List he didn't believe it. Maybe that made him think there is an audience for an Eastman and Laird TMNT book. At least some of the success of TLR was due to it's marketing making it seem like a reunion of the turtle's creators.

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

It'd be neat to see a Vol.4 completion and some kind of vol.5. Like Kevin and Peter putting out like a special every year. Barring that, them creating a new TMNT comic reboot.

If it was published by Peter himself it would have to be black and white and set in the Mirage universe. I believe that was two stipulations of the contract that allows him to publish TMNT comics. I'm not sure whether they'd view a reboot as being part of the Mirage universe or whether they would even pay too much attention to care. As Peter said letting him publish eighteen comics a year was a small price to pay to own the franchise so I doubt they'd quibble over minor details. Of course it was published by IDW they could pretty much do what they want. While their work would have to go through an approvals process I doubt Nickelodeon would veto anything the two of them would come up with.

[Sharman]

It's obviously really exciting that he's interested in doing some more TMNT but I also find it interesting that it was he who reached out to Kayfabe for the interview. Seems to reinforce the idea that he wants to keep his toe in the biz, as it were.

[Cowabung-Gal]

I heard from a fellow nerd that Peter Laird is not that “friendly” toward fans. Is that true?

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Galactus

If it was published by Peter himself it would have to be black and white and set in the Mirage universe. I believe that was two stipulations of the contract that allows him to publish TMNT comics. I'm not sure whether they'd view a reboot as being part of the Mirage universe or whether they would even pay too much attention to care. As Peter said letting him publish eighteen comics a year was a small price to pay to own the franchise so I doubt they'd quibble over minor details. Of course it was published by IDW they could pretty much do what they want. While their work would have to go through an approvals process I doubt Nickelodeon would veto anything the two of them would come up with.

I don't remember if there was a B&W clause but I don't recall ever hearing about one. The biggest thing with his 18 comics a year clause is that he himself has to be heavily involved in the comics that come out under it. He couldn't just publish a new Tales of the TMNT with different writers and artists or anything. I also asked him if there would be anything stopping him from, say, having a 3rd party character cross-over with the TMNT under his clause and he said he didn't see any reason why not.

[frank_one]

I don't know. He doesn't look and sound like someone who is ready to jump on a new creative adventure. More like an old man remembering the good days and daydreaming about the great stuff he COULD still do but never will. Finger crossed I'm wrong.

[AquaParade]

I think a new comic from Peter and Kevin might just be strange as hell, but there is way too much curiosity at play.

And there is a chance that they will still compliment each other like peanut butter & jelly. If the comic is great, that's a bonus. I want to see what this thing looks like.

For science!

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by frank_one

I don't know. He doesn't look and sound like someone who is ready to jump on a new creative adventure. More like an old man remembering the good days and daydreaming about the great stuff he COULD still do but never will. Finger crossed I'm wrong.

I mean he is 68, it's easy to forget how old he is since he's pushing 70 now.

In our minds we still think he's in his 50's...but he's much older now.