UNDER THE SHELL: INTERVIEW WITH TMNT ARTIST VINCENZO FEDERICI

We are now DAYS away from the big #150 and now’s a perfect time to check in with the excellent artist that has accompanied Sophie Campbell for the last arc of her run. Every single time I think there’s no way the art could get better, IDW manages to find someone that blows me away. Vincenzo Federici is a superstar in waiting and I look at what he’s doing in this book and I can’t help but see a Spider-Man book in his future. Has to be, right? Look at how much emotion he conveys in the faces of the turtles. He would draw the heck out of a Spidey book and I hope we get to see that one day!

Read on for insights into his approach to team books and be sure to pick up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #150 on April 17th!! Can you believe it’s so close?

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GateCrashers: Here at GateCrashers, we fancy ourselves to be hard hitting journalists and we start every interview with the heaviest of questions. What is your favorite sandwich?

Vincenzo Federici: My favorite sandwich is pizza! What? Isn’t that a sandwich???

GateCrashers: How did you first come to work on TMNT?

Vincenzo Federici: It was in a very lucky way. I’ve been a huge fan of TMNT since I was a kid, and I was in contact with Tom Waltz for a long time, more or less ten years, and I often updated my portfolio with him, periodically sending him my most recent works. He responded to one of these update emails telling me that they were looking for an artist for a big event in the world of the TMNT (The Armageddon Game) and, following a test, Nickelodeon approved my candidacy as an artist for the series.

GateCrashers: It’s the 40th anniversary of TMNT, what is your history with the franchise as a fan? Do you have a favorite character?

Vincenzo Federici: As I said, I’ve been a TMNT fan since I was a kid, thanks to the ‘80s cartoon. When I was seven, I wanted to be a ninja turtle, but being impossible, I decided to be the artist that would draw their comics. So, yes, the franchise is one of the main reasons why I do this job! Of course, my favorite character is the best one, Donnie!

GateCrashers: Between the current arc of the TMNT ongoing and your work on The Armageddon Game, you seem to gravitate towards big group stories. What appeals to you about ensemble casts?

Vincenzo Federici: Ah! Yes!! That’s my joy and curse! I really love this kind of story, my favorite artists are “group stories” artists (Alan Davis, Carlos Pacheco, Pepe Larraz), but they need a lot of time to be done in the right way. It is very difficult to handle many characters in the scene, squeeze all of them in a panel and decide how to show them based on their importance on the scene or on the dialogues. This is the funny part but also the most scary due to the deadline.

GateCrashers: Armageddon Game and the ongoing book are quite different, one being a large event story and the other being focused more on the emotionality of the characters. Does your approach to your art change between books?

Vincenzo Federici: It changed, yes, but the main reason is my awareness and confidence with the characters, the setting, and the lore. Of course in the ongoing series there are a lot of dialog moments, and I had to modify my storytelling a bit and my layout approach, giving space to the acting, the emotions, and the relationship between the characters.

GateCrashers: With four decades and various interpretations of the characters and world, what do you think makes TMNT so lasting and adaptable?

Vincenzo Federici: Many reasons. The TMNT‘s universe is capable of adapting to every kind of story, environment, and stuff; sci-fi, horror, punk, superheroes. Also, and maybe the most important thing, they can always be updated to the modern models, because they are urban, pop, and always connected with the real world. Mutant Mayhem is a perfect example of this; the turtles are CONTEMPORARY teenagers, they use social media, they love modern pop music, they are geeks. And, last but not least, they are a perfect model of inclusiveness!

GateCrashers: If TMNT was a close friend turning 40 and they were asking for some life advice, what would you tell them?

Vincenzo Federici: To keep being as they are, but always adapt themselves to the modern times. The IDW series is a masterpiece on this side.

GateCrashers: In the current arc of TMNT, there are a lot of big ideas in play and at the time of this writing #148 has come out and there are 2 issues left, how has it been working on this monumental arc?

Vincenzo Federici: Emotional. I was literally terrified and full of excitement at the same time. The kid that lives in me was screaming for happiness!! It marks a milestone in the TMNT history, and I’ll be forever a part of it.

GateCrashers: Do you have a favorite future version that you’ve helped create for this story? I loved the idea of Raphael eroded by time, chatting with Casey’s mask. It’s painfully sad but also just such a cool comic idea.

Vincenzo Federici: I helped to create the visuals of them, but I always had Sophie’s sketch for them. The only one I designed totally alone was Future Mike, that you will see in #149. But my favorite to draw was surely Future Jenny.

GateCrashers: One of my favorite things that you have done in this arc are the panels that feature the characters in silhouette. It adds so much movement to the page and it just looks so cool! The amount of character acting you do with the unexpressive faces of the turtles is stunning. So much so that it feels wrong to say they are unexpressive. When are you going to be drawing Spider-Man?

Vincenzo Federici: Many thanks! Dunno! I have chats with Marvel sometimes, but I never focused on this for the moment.

GateCrashers: TMNT #150 is nearly upon us, can you tease anything? And can you talk about what’s next for you after TMNT #150?

Vincenzo Federici: I can just say that it will be monumental and full of feelings (I’m literally crying every page I draw!). There’s something in the works for the future, stay tuned to see!