AIPT sat down with artist Sarah Myer and writer Erik Burnham for an interview in the IDW booth at New York Comic Con. The pair are collaborating on the ongoing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures series, currently on issue 29. They both spoke to AIPT last March on TMNT Tuesday, but with issue #30 coming to comic book shops on October 22nd, there’s plenty more to dig into.
That’s not all, they are also collaborating on one-page backups in the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Battle Nexus, and Burnham is writing the fifth and final issue of the bi-weekly series. Issue one drops December 24th.
From mini-series to ongoing
AIPT: So the first volume of Saturday Morning Adventures came out back in 2023. Did either of you think it would take off the way it did and last for 30+ issues?
Erik Burnham: I had hoped to do another mini-series at most. And maybe I can talk them into doing a couple more mini-series along the way. I didn’t expect it to be an ongoing thing, and I didn’t expect it to be going as long as it has. I was hopeful, but, you know, you just can’t count on anything.
Sarah Myer: I like to say I joined sort of at the 11th hour. The very first four issues as a variant cover artist first and then a colorist. I never guessed that I would be involved with the series going forward, much less that I would get to come back and draw, plus that it would go for so many issues, so it’s been such a joy.
AIPT: The Turtles have been around for 40 years and are as popular as ever. Why do you think they’ve managed to stay so firmly in the pop culture spotlight for so long?
EB: It’s relatability. They’re siblings, and if you have siblings or friends as close as siblings, there are universal personality types, and it’s just that everybody can find something to connect to. It’s like, “Oh no, I’m such a Raph, I’m such a Leo, I’m such a Mike, I’m such a splinter!”
It can cross genres. It can be comedy, it could be horror, it can be adventure, and none of that feels weird or wrong. So when it’s that versatile a property, the characters can do whatever you need them to do, and it feels right. That lends itself to longevity.
SM: I wholeheartedly agree with what Eric just said. I would also like to add that I think there is a quirkiness to both the themes and what the turtles are that makes it so fun. But also, I think that it’s open to interpretation. Definitely, they could be seen as others, and I think that people find that relatable in their own way. Really, it’s about family, found family especially, and just kind of finding your way in the world with all your quirks intact. And I appreciate that.
AIPT: You know, it’s funny, I actually have three older brothers, and I’m the Donatello of the group. My oldest brother is Leo. And then, the two middle brothers are the party guy, Michelangelo, and the stubborn, sarcastic one. So we each kind of have a personality that matches one of the turtles.
SM: Oh yeah, I’m probably the Raph to my older sister’s Leo.
A panel from TMNT: Saturday Morning Adventures #24.
Courtesy IDW
Capturing the cartoon style
AIPT: Sarah, the Saturday Morning Adventure art style is really rooted in the look of the 1987 cartoon, which had such a clean, expressive animation style. What do you think is the biggest artistic challenge in translating that energy into the comic form, especially when it comes to movement and action on the page?
SM: I love that question! So, 100% it’s difficult, because when people remember the 1987 cartoon, I think many people forget that there were multiple animation studios and multiple styles that were really used. So there are a lot of little differences between season one, which was Toei Animation and looked fantastic, versus Donatello’s Degree from season four or Convicts from Dimension X, way later on in season six, and the styles are very different.
I tend to go with more of what I think of as the sitcom-style episodes. Dan Schoening beautifully translates the Toei animation style perfectly. So I will admit that I think that my style when I’m drawing it is a little bit of a twist of my own, but it’s meant to kind of reference those Donatello Degree type episodes. And the challenge is, obviously, when you’re drawing comics, you don’t have the ability to capture animation and footage, so I do try to make their facial expressions a bit more rubbery than they may appear if you just went through and took freeze frames. I like to incorporate a little bit of that squash and stretch to make it look as though we’re seeing a moment in time when they’re mid-sentence or mid-reaction.
AIPT: There have been some great one-shots and specials along the way. The Halloween issue, April special, and Yusagi Yojimbo crossover. Do you have a favorite among these? And what made them stick out for you?
EB: I love them all! I love the Halloween special, just because we got to have some fun with spooky stuff, which I’ve always enjoyed, writing horror comedy.
I loved getting to bring Ace Duck and a little Indiana Jones vibe into the April special. And Usagi, I was amazed that I got to do it. And then after I turned it in, I found out that it was the first comic crossover between the two that Stan [Sakai] didn’t write! So that freaked me out, but I love playing in the sandbox, and I love getting to do something a little bit different and unexpected. I can’t pick one, I love them all for different reasons
SM: I really enjoyed the April special, featuring Ace Duck. I really relish the chance to draw an April adventure, and then the fact that Ace Duck appears in the ’87 cartoon for like one second in footage while they’re flipping the channels, and just sounds like Donald Duck for a second as a joke, I thought that Eric just infused Ace Duck in the 1987 cartoon world with such a warmth and a coolness. I really did feel like Ace Duck embodied Indiana Jones. And I really liked the rapport between Ace Duck and April. I thought that was such a great connection that they had. Because April’s constantly got the channel six people who are a little bit immature in their own ways, and then she deals with the turtles. And in a way, I felt like April and Ace were very much peers. And I just really like that. I’d like to see April encounter Ace Duck again.
AIPT: Are there any more specials in the works that you can tease or hint at?
EB: Not one shots, not yet. There’s some we’ve talked about. There’s some that we’ve batted around ideas for, but nothing for sure. But Ace Duck is coming back…
The cover to the Halloween Special.
Courtesy IDW
Introducing the Pantheon
AIPT: The recent issues have featured the Pantheon. What about those characters made them fun or worthwhile to bring into the Saturday morning adventures as a concept?
EB: As a concept, the Pantheon came from Mirage, and then it was used pretty heavily in the IDW main line. I really liked the idea of bringing that concept into this because it kind of skipped the ’87. We were asked to keep it a little bit close to what IDW did and use the same characters, so using that, and then trying to make it fit ’87, making them a bunch of criminals. It made them good foils. But we still had the room to play in the 87 and it was always completely different. Familiar but different is a recurring thing that we like to play with. And so that’s why I wanted to get them in.
AIPT: Is there one member of the Pantheon you like drawing more than the others?
SM: Absolutely! I can’t take credit for the design because designing those characters through the 87 lens is solely Dan Schoening, but it was such a privilege to be able to draw his Rat Queen design. I will never forget getting that script where Rat King tries to talk to Rat Queen, and she just punches him, and he says, “Hello? Who might you be?” I thought it was amazing! So my answer is Rat Queen. But getting to draw Rat King saying, “M’ilady” was priceless.
AIPT: The Mr. Ogg storyline in issues 12 through 14, with all the different versions of the Turtles, was a real multiversal playground. Was that part of the inspiration for Battle Nexus, which you’re both contributing to?
EB: When we did this, it wasn’t 100% sure whether they were going to do something like battle Nexus, so we hedged our bets and left an off ramp in that they’re not the actual characters, in case we did do something like this in the future.
Obviously, they had it on their mind to do a big crossover; they just weren’t sure when it would come together. Now it’s starting to come together. So it was on everybody’s mind about doing something like that. Battle Nexus is not as big as it could be. I think hopefully, if it goes over well, they can do something and expand it even more and really go nuts with the concept. The iterations of the turtles are all very similar. They’re the same characters, but they’re also very different, and it’s fun to play the quirks and the difference off each other.
SM: I just think it’s hilarious that Mr. Ogg, the tiny, strange little man, has gotten a second chance at life in this comic. I just have such a blast drawing him, and you haven’t seen the last of him…
TMNT: Battle Nexus #1 will be released on November 12, 2025.
Wrapping up Battle Nexus
AIPT: So, Eric, you’re writing issue five of Battle Nexus. What’s it been like working alongside the other writers in the series? Was there much collaboration, or did everybody pretty much get free rein on their own issue?
EB: We collaborated on the overall big beats, and we talked that out. Editor Andrew Khouri organized them and made them make sense, and built them together, and then we all went off on our own, and I was absolutely terrified, because I’m on issue five, and I have to wrap it all up!
It’s coming together really well, and everything I’ve seen from everybody else has been great. Ben Bates is drawing issue five, and oh my god, the pages are incredible! So I’m excited for everybody to see what we’re doing. There are a couple of fun little easter eggs in this. There are a couple of things that go into the future of some other books that I’m not going to spoil, and then, of course, there are the backups that Sarah and I got to do. That was some of the most fun I’ve had on the franchise.
AIPT: Sarah, anything to add on those backups?
SM: Issue number 13 of Saturday Morning Adventures, where I got to draw some of the other versions of the turtles, that was a dream on top of a dream. I never thought I would get the chance to do that. So the Battle Nexus single-page strips were beyond that; it was unbelievable. So I don’t want to risk spoiling too much, but it’s more of issue 13, but turned up, it’s really fun.
Dream characters still to come
AIPT: So far, you’ve explored a lot of different corners of the Turtle universe. Are there any other characters, eras, or story ideas you’re still hoping to tackle down the road?
EB: Ray Filet. We want to get him in there. I like to do some more stuff with the future, with Renet, and there are things, original concepts we peppered in, I’d really like to sneak back in. There’s just so much, there’s too much! We get 20 pages a month, and there’s always more to do. And then I think to myself, “Why haven’t I worked on this or worked this character in for a year and a half? I’d love to get back to him!” There’s no space!
SM: I just like to let it be known that I would really like to draw more of Jack Kirby and Donatello, regardless of whether it’s 87, Mirage, or 2003, going on an adventure, because 1987 Donatello didn’t get to meet Jack Kirby, and I think that is a travesty. That’s my dream one shot.
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