Kevin Eastman at his IDW Publishing studio with the static clay TMNT model, 2015
Being a child of the ‘80s, I grew up watching what was arguably the best animated television shows: Transformers, G.I. Joe, and, of course, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It wasn’t until years later that I learned the names Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, or saw a copy of the comics they created that spawned the TMNT empire, but they certainly had a huge impact on my childhood. Heck, given the various incarnations that have appeared over the last thirty years, they are probably a fond part of anyone under 40’s formative recollections. While everyone can debate which version of the TMNT characters are the best ones, Eastman himself steps forward with his personal selection: a rendition that has never been seen before outside of the artist’s personal sketchbooks. Welcome to the next mutation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle team, as brought to life by high-end to-scale production house Threezero. What attracted you to work together? What did you think of the other’s work? Were you fans of each other’s work before this project? Kim Fung Wong: When I was working on the license for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ 2014 movie, I thought the re-design of characters was beautiful, especially the four Turtles, however it brought back my memories of the classic designs by Kevin… Kevin Eastman: I have been a HUGE
fan of Threezero’s work for many years, and my personal collection includes quite a few pieces, especially the Ashley Wood editions. I think their work, skill, attention to detail, and overall approach in this marketplace is more like a work of art, a true sculpture, than a collectible figurine. I was very keen to work with them, and reached out through my agents, JEA, to see if we could do something together.
KE: I could not be more pumped to have had this opportunity come together, and the results are even better than I hoped for — and my expectations were VERY high.
KFW: So I asked, “Why don’t we make some classic TMNT by Kevin?”
KE: In many ways, to me, the TMNTs always seem to be evolving. Even
Why did you decide to do completely new versions of the Turtles as opposed to one of the more readily recognizable versions from either the comics or the cartoons?
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