The life of a comics and popular journalist is tough. It’s especially true when it comes to nonstop coverage and announcements during conventions such as New York Comic Con just last month. This year in particular, I probably overextended myself more than I should have but there were just so many exciting opportunities I couldn’t allow myself to decline. Among perhaps my most notable press obligations was an invitation to participate with a select number of other journalist from different outlets in a pizza dinner roundtable to sit down comic creator Matthew Rosenberg to discuss his upcoming run on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesongoing flagship title and chow down on some tasty ‘za in the process.
It was a novel and unique idea conceived by IDW Publishing Senior Publicist Gregg Katzman in lieu of the traditional press junket. Thankfully Capizzi, the restaurant he chose to host us all that Thursday evening, wasn’t a reasonable walking distance from the Javitz Center. But much more than a delicious (and free) dinner, I left with a most delightful and insightful conversation about not just TMNT and pop culture in general but the art of storytelling and so much more.
To break the ice, we all went around the table saying our favorite Turtle. Readers may recall that Rosenberg had previously stated that he’s hesitant to reveal his favorite Ninja Turtle (at least at this point) in order to keep fans and the internet speculating. Though not an outright answer, he always assumed Michelangelo was the best Turtle and noted his observation that people seem to initially lean towards Mikey, the self-proclaimed party dude, when they’re younger before potentially gravitating towards one of the other brothers.
This led to Rosenberg divulging how foundational TMNT was to his childhood. Being of a certain generation, I just assumed he was introduced to the franchise through the cartoon like me and countless others. So I was quite surprised to discover his first foray into the world of TMNT was through reading reprints of the original Eastman/Laird Mirage comics before eventually watching the cartoon. Apparently, it was thanks to the “two older guys” who worked at his local comic store and “bullied” a young Rosenberg to expand his comic reading repertoire beyond just his regular Marvel books. “They would not give me my pull list unless I read other stuff like Love and Rocketsor Eightball, which you shouldn’t give to a twelve-year old.”
Regardless of the somewhat age-inappropriate material, those Mirage TMNT comics had a tremendous impact on Rosenberg who found them much “grittier” and “nastier” than the usual superhero fare he was reading. He called those original comics his “bible” going so far as to say he would include Eastman and Laird on “the Mount Rushmore of comics” alongside Lee and Kirby. His only major criticism was the decision to kill off the Turtles’ iconic foe the Shredder in the very first issue. It’s not dissimilar to Boba Fett from Star Wars according to Rosenberg in that the creators underestimated just how fantastic a villain they introduced just to unceremoniously shuffle him off this mortal coil. But this being comics, Shredder eventually found a way back much like the Mandalorian bounty hunter.
However, Rosenberg credits his girlfriend knowing it would only be a matter of time before the right opportunity lured him back. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Todd McFarlane came a knocking to inquire about Rosenberg’s interest in taking over the ongoing Spawn title which was too good to pass up. The gig to take over IDW’s ongoing TMNT title came about during a visit to Los Angeles and an impromptu lunch meeting with editor Jake Thomas. Having been his editor for numerous projects at Marvel, most notably The Punisher, Thomas kept in touch with Rosenberg even after both had left the House of Ideas. When Thomas pitched him on the TMNT title, Rosenberg said it was only one of two dream book projects since childhood that he couldn’t refuse. The other one, for those curious, is G.I. Joe. So, on the miniscule chance Joshua Williamson abruptly decides he’s had enough fun playing in the Energon Universe, Skybound doesn’t have to look far.
Despite his immense enthusiasm for the terrapin warriors, Rosenberg admitted he did have reservations. For one, he was hesitant to follow Jason Aaron, the inaugural writer of the relaunched TMNT flagship title. Moreover, Rosenberg feels he and Aaron share similar storytelling sensibilities, so coming onto the TMNT title directly after Aaron could invite unfair comparisons. However, after learning that writer Gene Luen Yang would take over the book with a year-long run before him, Rosenberg was more comfortable as it gave some breathing room between him and Aaron. Rosenberg described his take on the TMNT as a middle point between both creators, mixing “Jason Aaron’s brutality and Gene Luen Yang’s heart.”
When it came to the pitch itself, Rosenberg conceded he struggled for some time until some much-needed advice from Jake Thomas to keep it simple and stick to his strengths relieved much of the stress. In the upcoming storyline that begins with issue #25, Rosenberg simply called it, “the worst night of Turtles’ lives” that sees the Heroes in a Half-Shell face off against a gauntlet of villains. At this time, details are still being kept close to the vest by the publisher, but Rosenberg did tease that readers can expect some new and even surprising villains he hopes to elevate. He added that rather than being on the “offense” the Turtles are on the “defense” in that the goal for them isn’t victory but survival. Films such as TheWarriors and Escape from New York were cited as influences. The latter is especially appropriate considering that the works of John Carpenter have served as inspiration for numerous TMNT related media. Look no further than Jack Burton from Big Trouble in Little China serving as a model for Casey Jones or the alien creatures from They Live sharing visual aesthetics with the Utrom robotic bodies in the 2012 Nickelodeon animated series.
Some comic writers relish working on team books. Unfortunately, Rosenberg isn’t one of them and vowed never to write another team book after leaving DC. As it turned out, he didn’t encounter the past frustrations of writing superhero team books when it came to the Turtles. “What I found with TMNT is it’s not a traditional team book because it’s a family. You don’t write it like a team. You write it like four brothers, so it feels different and flows organically from that. When you write the X-Men or Justice League, sometimes it’s hard to figure out why these people talk to each other at all or what the relationships are. With Turtles, that’s the strength of it. They’re brothers, [so] of course they have to talk to each other. That’s where the tension comes in.”
As the first lifelong New Yorker to be writing the flagship TMNT book under the current IDW era, readers can bet that Rosenberg is bringing his love of proverbial The City that Never Sleeps into the book. “New York has a great mixture of being inherently dangerous but also immune to caring about the weirdness,” he explained. The writer teased various iconic neighborhoods to be spotlighted during his run including Harlem, Central Park, and Hell’s Kitchen. Sadly, no love for Queens and Staten Island, but it’s nothing personal according to Rosenberg.
If you’ve read enough of his work, you’re likely aware that Rosenberg has a penchant for having characters use public transportation perhaps best exemplified by an infamous moment in Astonishing X-Men #15 where Marvel’s Merry Mutants ride the bus. After receiving a note from the artist requesting to never write scenes with buses again, Rosenberg realized that people prefer subways over buses (at least when it comes to comics) which befuddles him because from his perspective “subways are just buses strapped together underground.”
Incidentally, his tenure on X-Men also provided Rosenberg the invaluable experience of dealing with potentially divisive fan reception. Per sage advice from Brian Michael Bendis, Rosenberg came to the epiphany that fans aren’t nice to even the objectively best creators with seminal scribes like Chris Claremont or Grant Morrison being called “the worst person to ever write X-Men” by someone at some point on an internet forum. To those fans who still possibly angry about his X-Men run, he offered the following, “I understand you have a sense of ownership and sense of what you want. This isn’t the final chapter. It never will be. They’ll be making X-Men comics after I’m dead.”
I’m reminded of a hilariously astute comment voice actor Troy Baker made when discussing taking over the voice of Batman that if George Clooney couldn’t kill the Dark Knight, nothing can. It’s a similar sentiment conveyed by Rosenberg who is under no misguided delusion that he’ll become the all-time definitive writer of the TMNT. Though it would be certainly be nice, for Rosenberg the creative process is much more meaningful. When all is said and done, he’s pouring his heart into this storyline that checks a lot of boxes for him as a fan and he believes it will also resonate for fellow TMNT readers.
As of now, Rosenberg is set to write up until issue #33 plus a special one-shot issue to be announced at a later date. Whether or not he stays on longer depends on various factors, in particular sales and reception. Whatever happens, it’s no exaggeration to say that TMNT comics are the best they’ve ever been. The same can be said for IDW’s comics publishing line as a whole. As both a fan and comics journalist, I’m truly excited to see what’s to come from IDW in 2027.
