IDW Publishing’s new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ongoing series has been firing on all cylinders and is a must read for any Turtles fan. Tom Waltz and Kevin Eastman are doing a great job of drawing from every Turtles universe to develop a rich, new timeline. One of the tools that IDW has used rather nicely is the Micro-Series (guest one-shots). Instead of telling a unique story that has nothing to do with the ongoing, they have used their guest one-shots to build on, and expand, the current Turtles universe. I recently had the opportunity to ask Erik Burnham (Twitter @erikburnham), who wrote the Baxter Stockman Micro-Series issue, some questions about his experience.
@xovercomics: Welcome back to Crossover Comics, Erik. Thank you for taking the time away from writing IDW’s New Ghostbusters ongoing to answer a few questions.
@ErikBurnham: Happy to, sir!
@xovercomics: Last time we spoke, you were just getting started on the Secret History of the Foot Clan mini-series. What was your roll like working with Mateus Santolouco and have you ever had similar roles before?
@ErikBurnham: Well, my role shifted a little bit as the artwork started to take up more of Mateus’ focus - and while I have co-written before, I’ve never collaborated with a co-writer who was also drawing the story! How it worked was, Mateus worked up the general four-issue plot. When I was brought on board, I was allowed to kick in some ideas (some made it in, some didn’t, and I appreciate Mateus being open to my suggestions!)
He wrote the most complete draft with issue #1; after that, he trusted more of the writing to me (sometimes just putting in what he wanted a conversation to be about, or the instruction to “put something funny here.”) Most of the dialogue is me, though he had some great stuff in there (I particularly liked his explanation of reincarnation in issue #4) and most of the plot was Mateus (though I got some ideas in there.) It was a great collaboration for me, and I hope Mateus feels that I did justice to his ideas.
@xovercomics: I just finished reading Secret History of the Foot Clan and loved it. Did you ever feel like there wasn't enough of yourself in the book and did you ever have to fight for something that you really felt needed to be included?
@ErikBurnham: Well, I wrote most of the specific dialogue, so there couldn’t have BEEN more of me in the issue without a heavy overhaul of Mateus’ story! There was only one thing I had to justify to Bobby and Mateus for inclusion (it’s coming up in issue #4.) Everything else -- if they didn’t like something, I changed it without much grousing. My job was to help serve the story Mateus wanted to tell. I had some leeway in the way I went about it, but that’s still like dressing someone else’s baby in clothes I picked out.
@xovercomics: There has been a nice progression with the involvement of the Utrom in SHotFC, the Krang War story arc, and now with the Krang micro-series issue. Was that aspect of the mini-series already mapped out for you and how much were you able to affect the ongoing series with your collaboration in SHotFC?
@ErikBurnham: That specific idea, like so many of the other cool visuals, came from Mateus’ brain. It was a GREAT cliffhanger to issue one, and I was jonesing to see the reaction from the fans from the second I saw the character designs! As far as the dialogue went, I only made sure not to specifically say “Krang” in the dialogue. If Tom & Kevin want it to be Krang later, or they don’t, they have that option.
@xovercomics: You're now working on Baxter Stockman's micro-series issue. Like Splinter, Baxter is a pretty important secondary character who has been in practically every TMNT incarnation. Are you approaching this one any differently?
@ErikBurnham: This one was a lot harder than Splinter! I needed to come up with something action-oriented. My first idea was to have Baxter chased through the Technodrome by (some experiments gone awry), you know, kind of like a little horror movie. It would have been cool, but - as editor Supreme Bobby Curnow pointed out - it didn’t have as much story heft. So, we bounced ideas back and forth until, finally, the story had action AND it supported the main book as well as Splinter’s micro did. As a bonus, Andy Kuhn is drawing this. I’ve just seen the layouts. I’m giddy.
@xovercomics: How was it like working with Andy Kuhn? You've mentioned before how finished his rough layouts look; did the book turn out the way you expected?
@ErikBurnham: I’ve admired Andy’s work for a while - so I was nervous. The only thing I expected was that he’d likely take whatever I wrote and make it much, much better. He did not disappoint me in that regard. There’s a two page spread in there; I just asked him to pace it how he saw fit. It’s one of my favorite scenes in the book, now!
@xovercomics: Baxter Stockman is such an interesting character in the IDW Turtles and has already been involved with Old Hob, Krang, and even Harold Lillja in the Donatello micro-series issue. What more can we expect from Baxter and was there a concerted effort on your part to leave the story open-ended so that you could revisit it or build from it in the future?
@ErikBurnham: I was laying a little groundwork in this for the ongoing to take advantage of, in whatever way they saw fit. Could a “Baxter” sequel happen based on what I wrote here? I suppose so... but it doesn’t need one. It accomplished its purpose, and I look forward to what use Tom may make of it in the future!
@xovercomics: I heard you wrote the TMNT New Animated Adventures book that will be coming out on Free Comic Book Day. How was it writing for those Turtles and how did it differ from your previous Turtles work?
@ErikBurnham: I got to be a little sillier with the jokes! Also, I wrote Baxter Stockman in the FCBD issue as well -- and the Animated Baxter could not be more different, voice-wise, than IDW Baxter. That was probably more of a difference than even the turtles. Mostly, I was looking forward to writing the animated version of Splinter. He’s cracked me up in every episode of the cartoon I’ve been able to see: he’s more devilish! The lines I wrote for him aren’t over the top, or particularly jokey, but I hear Hoon Lee’s inflections in my head and they make me chuckle more than anything else.
@xovercomics: With Kenny Byerly writing #1, are there any plans for you to continue writing for the TMNT New Animated Adventures?
@ErikBurnham: I was going to say I don’t know, but Bobby has since publicly posted he plans to keep me in the mix - and I couldn’t be happier about that. I had a blast writing this version of the TMNT.
@xovercomics: To many fans’ delight, you have been working on more and more Turtles titles. It’s getting to the point where you are no longer just guesting, but a regular in a revolving set of go-to creators. You’re mainly a Ghostbusters writer, but do you now consider yourself a proper Turtles writer?
@ErikBurnham: I consider myself extremely fortunate to be allowed the opportunity to play in the sandbox, and that the fans enjoy what I’ve been doing with turtles... if you all consider me a proper Turtles writer, I’ll accept the label with pride.
@xovercomics: Thank you Erik for your time. Is there anything else you'd like to plug?
@ErikBurnham: Ghostbusters, Baxter, FCBD... I think we’ve covered everything!
Be sure to pick up the exciting conclusion to the Secret History of the Foot Clan issue #4 which came out in March 2013. Don't miss the Baxter Stockman micro-series issue written by Erik Burnham will be shipping in May 2013. Also in May, Erik's Free Comic Book Day issue of IDW's TMNT New Animated Adventures. And stay tuned for my review of IDW’s Mini-Series Secret History of the Foot Clan TPB collecting the 4 Mini-Series issues. The TPB will be released in June 2013. For more Erik Burnham goodness, check out the last interview we conducted with him.