TMNT Tuesday #8: Erik Burnham & Sarah Myer unpack ‘TMNT Saturday Morning Adventures’

For this week’s TMNT Tuesday, we’re diving into the radical world of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures! Fans of the classic 1987 animated series have been loving this nostalgic yet fresh take on the Turtles’ adventures, expertly crafted by writer Erik Burnham and artist Sarah Myer, with stunning colors by Luis Antonio Delgado and art also by Dan Schoening.

With issue #13 delivering a mind-blowing multiversal crossover, the series has proven time and again that it can balance deep-cut references with all-new storytelling, capturing the spirit of the original cartoon while introducing fun surprises for longtime fans and newcomers alike.

We caught up with Erik and Sarah to talk about the creative process, their favorite characters and moments, and what’s next for Saturday Morning Adventures! Plus, we got some great fan questions—so grab a slice of pizza and enjoy the Q&A!

Along with their insights, check out exclusive art for TMNT Saturday Morning Adventures #23 and #24. Dan Schoening draws issue #23, while Myer draws #24 (both colored by Luis Antonio Delgado).

AIPT: Erik, Sarah, thanks for joining in on the TMNT Tuesday fun! I wanted to get the first question in before fans take over. In TMNT: Saturday Morning Adventures, you’ve successfully captured the essence of the original 1987 cartoon while introducing fresh narratives.

Could you share specific challenges or memorable experiences you encountered in balancing the nostalgic elements with new storytelling and how you ensured that both longtime fans and new readers would find the series engaging?

Erik: The biggest challenge (and also a big part of the fun) is in getting to do done-in-ones that still play with ongoing subplots. With a cast this big, juggling panel time can always be a little tricky, but it helps the old-school vibe of the book, I think. Longtime fans, for the most part, enjoy when the book matches their memory of the show (which is often but not always the same as the actual show!) New readers, if they have any familiarity with the Turtles, it’ll come from more modern versions (comics, TV, movies) so we have the opportunity to match up the original cartoon to things that weren’t hard and fast canon like they are today. (Something as simple as their nicknames, which are par for the course now, and familiar to everyone, but were almost absent from the original show.) I’m in danger of babbling.

The real answer is I’m having fun, and hopefully I’m making it easy for Sarah, Dan Schoening, and Luis Antonio Delgado to have fun with drawing and coloring the pages. When everyone is having a good time, it comes out in the book and I like to think folks can feel it. As far as what’s memorable? I’m getting to go berserk in a longtime favorite iteration of the TMNT. It’s all been memorable… but getting to just demolish the fourth wall with Mister Ogg in issue 8? Ah, such fun. Those kinds of characters are a joy to use in comics.

Sarah: This whole experience getting to draw the 1987 Turtles has been and remains a dream job, which I’m so grateful to have. And it’s been great working with Erik, Luis, and Dan as well as our editor Thea Cheuk and with Jeff Whitman from Nickelodeon. Any challenges that come up are fun, I think because pretty much everyone who works on this project enjoys the characters so much– sometimes drawing characters on model from different angles proves slightly challenging, but being starstruck from getting to draw April’s hair just right, or the Turtle Van or Turtle Blimp makes it fun every time. As for memorable experiences, every time I read a script to draw my rough layouts, I laugh out loud at least a few times!

Having said that, #13 and the opportunity to draw Mirage Leo, 2003 Don, Jennika, 2012 Mikey, and a sprinkling of Rise Raph within the pages of the comic was probably my favorite memorable experience so far as well as my favorite challenge. That was a dream on top of a dream because I’m a nerd for animation and design style differences, and it gave me a chance to play with those different art elements for a little while. And speaking of the script again, I never thought I’d laugh so much at Mister Ogg or Rat King…I get giddy when I can draw a particularly humorous bit of dialogue because it’s so much fun to stretch the characters’ acting and facial expressions to fit the script in those instances! Oh, and I also loved drawing in little elements that called back the OG Mirage comic settings and getting to cook up some visual references to the Archie comics in the 40th Anniversary story “What about Tomorrow?”

Now for some fan questions, and there were a lot of them!

John asks: Will Raphael continue forward breaking the 4th wall in the upcoming issues!? It’s a funny gag that is just hilarious.

Sarah: That’s mainly up to Erik, but I hope so! Whenever possible, though, if Raphael doesn’t have any lines and the situation calls for it, I do try to draw him giving the reader a “Can you believe this?” stare. One of my 4th-wall-breaking favorite-to-draw moments in the script was in #13 when Michelangelo breaks all the way through different comic panel frames and Raphael reacts to the violence of Mirage Leo off-panel. And of course, Mister Ogg.

Erik: Absolutely, though I’ll try to be careful since when someone binges issues or trades it can seem more nonstop than when you have weeks or months in between moments. Still, this is the only book where we can get away with this very specific kind of meta-humor, which I do love, so it’s never going all the way away.

AIPT: I feel like 4th wall breaking is so comics. A follow-up from John: Last question, do you guys plan on adding more characters from the IDW series comics like Old Hob and the Pantheon into Saturday Morning Adventures? Maybe some suggestions could be Venus, Jennika, Sally Pride and Kitsune!?

Erik: As they’re appropriate, for sure. Kitsune almost made the cut when we were working on the Pantheon, in fact. Bringing in stuff that’s par in most other versions of the Turtles makes sense to me. (Again, when it’s appropriate!) That said, there’s a ridiculously deep bench original to the animated series (87 and beyond), as well as the toyline. We’ll always have more characters than we can ever spotlight. An embarrassment of riches is not something I can complain about, though.

AIPT: Okay, Mike is wondering: Who’s idea was it to set Saturday Morning Adventures between seasons 7 and 8? Is that set in stone? Could it one day branch out into its own continuity?

Erik: That was me. Just a way to have a wide open space before the Red Sky changes came about, since this is supposed to be in the same continuity for as long as we can keep it there, and it gives us access to the widest amount of the show’s characters.

AIPT: Blake has a gamer question: Have you seen or played TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge? If so, what did you think of that game’s take on the 80s world compared to your own?

Erik: I haven’t. Honestly, I’m still trying to beat the original NES game. (I am legendarily bad at games, which is probably good, since they’re bad for deadlines.) Still, I’ve seen bunches FROM the game, and I like its vibe. But I can’t make a direct comparison. SARAH, HELP ME HERE!

Sarah: I’ll try!! I have seen Shredder’s Revenge in all its glory– I have not played it myself, being a bit of a [Hank Hill Voice] vidya game dinosaur who hasn’t owned a console since N64. A friend got it and I watched them play through it, and to illustrate what a vidya game dinosaur I am, I asked them “What size is the cartridge?” to their amusement. Anyway, I thought SR was absolutely beautiful, loved the slightly chibi-fied stylization for the main cast in their sprites, and was very happy to hear Rob, Cam, Townie, and Barry back as the Turtles. I also love that the VA’s recorded new TAUNTS! I also liked that it includes the Channel 6 crew more. I played the SNES and arcade Turtles in Time game a lot as a kid and loved that game so much (I played as Raph most of the time because I liked how fast he was), so it was very cool to see a new game in a similar vein bringing back the side scrolling elements.

The promotional art caught my eye, too– it seems like the aesthetic for the game overall takes the 80s world through a nostalgia lens, with the pops of bright neon and kind of a synthwave color palette. I love it. I’d be curious to know if most of the players of the game are primarily older TMNT fans who remembered playing the Arcade, NES, and SNES games or if they’re a newer audience. It wouldn’t surprise me if it’s a little of both.   

AIPT: Blake has a techie question: In your opinion, what’s the best machine Donatello ever did?

Erik: This is tough. He built his own dimensional portal. The Turtle Van. A blimp. A device that can STOP TIME. He’s got hit after hit. (And boy, he could be so rich from the TurtleCom tech alone, right?) All in all, though, I think it all stems from the over-the-top espresso machine we see in the opening credits. Whatever’s in his coffee made it possible to create everything else. You gotta bow to the source of inspiration.

Sarah: The parmesan cheese grater which proceeds to explode. The spherical sub/diving bell type THING he slaps together in “Leonardo Vs Tempestra,” but only because he didn’t install a steering mechanism and then points out there is none like he’s surprised. But I say those’re the best just because they’re IMHO the most amusing bits to watch from the show. But seriously, I’d say the Turtle Blimp or the Portable Portal. And he still doesn’t get enough credit for modding and weaponizing the Turtle Van in such short order during the first season. He also managed to invent an antidote to anti-mutagen cookies without poisoning Michelangelo. That deserves some mention, too, I think!

AIPT: Now for an arti question.

Al also asks: Hi Sarah. My special thanks to you for the April Special. Your Ms. O’Neil art is amazing! Who are the characters you haven’t drawn yet that you would like to draw the most?

Sarah: Thank you! April has been a challenging character to draw but I really enjoy drawing her. I’d love to draw Donatello as the Dark Turtle, Algernon/Algie, Usagi (1987), and I wouldn’t say no to drawing more of Z, the Pandimensional Spacecraft Computer and Baxter. I’ve really enjoyed drawing characters designed by Dan Schoening for the Pantheon– in particular, Rat Queen and Dan’s ‘87 design for Old Hob and Drako. Oh, and SUPER IRMA. Another major wishlist “character” I’d like to design/draw for the ‘87 continuity is (Jack) Kirby! 

 

AIPT: Cameos is a big part of this series.

Nikola asks: Can we expect some characters from other 80s-90s cartoons to have a cameo in TMNT Saturday Morning Adventures comic?

Erik: The short answer is I can’t say yes. I won’t say no. The longer answer? I hope so. There are one or two characters that may pop up if everyone says yes, and more crossovers are always a possibility. A meeting with Usagi wasn’t a foregone conclusion… As far as publishing time goes, that came together very quickly, and there’s nothing to say that kind of thing couldn’t happen again.

Sarah: I’d never say no to drawing Usagi again or something that combines Sonic the Hedgehog and Turtles!

AIPT: A repeat question asker of this column, Spicey-Turtle, asks: Are there any plans to have characters from the playmates figure line appear? I liked that you adapted the scratch character into this series and I would love to see scale tail in the future

Erik: No concrete plans yet. (By that I mean there are some stories I’m working on where some of the Playmates related characters could fit, but it’s not a done deal til the bosses say yes!)

AIPT: Do not deny Spicey-Turtle’s follow up: Do you have any plans for Dirk Savage’s development?

Erik: See issue #23… on sale SOON anywhere you get your comics!

AIPT: Get your back issues out, readers!

John Powell asks: A while back, Erik hinted that SMA may put their own spin on stories for the mainline book. Any chance we will see a mutagen bomb or Mutant Town in the pages of SMA?

Erik: With those specific examples, it’s less likely unless we decouple from the continuity of the show. (Unless we make them very temporary, reversible additions to the universe.) Anything else I can’t speak to!

AIIPT: John Powell also asks: Glad to see Dirk Savage will be in issue #23. Any plans to use any other later-season characters, specifically Titanus?

Erik: I really wanted to use Titanus and HAVOC, but right now they’re in the Red Sky portion of the Turtles’ future! (Which is not to say it’s a hard no, but we’re sticking to their timeline at the moment. The rules might change in the future, we’ll see!)

AIPT: And one more from John Powell: Any plans for any new human-born mutant characters?

Erik: Yes! As always, it all comes down to approval, but we have a few ideas tucked away…

AIPT: And one last question!

Blake is back with one more question: You’ve already created new versions of Old Hob and the pantheon to fit into the classic show’s continuity, are there any other characters you’re looking to retrofit? Karai? Baron Draxum? FISHFACE???

Erik: I don’t want to spoil any long term surprises, but the answer is yes. (And the sooner as I can get one of my favorites – Karai – into the book, the better!) Knock wood for me!

That’s a wrap on TMNT Tuesday, Turtle fans. Be sure to bookmark this page as we’ll continue to roll out incredible columns with exclusive art, insider information from the creators, and more!