Welcome back to Under the Shell! We’re kicking off volume 2 with a big interview with one of the most prolific and exciting artists in the world of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fero Pe!!! Seriously, have you read the Stranger Things crossover?
I want to thank Fero for being generous with his time, and going above and beyond with his answers. This is a long one so get a slice of pizza and settle in.
GateCrashers: What is your history with TMNT both as a fan and as a creator?
Fero Pe: My story with the Ninja Turtles begins with the first movie in the 90s and from there I became a super fan, then came the cartoons and the toys and everything related to turtle mania. Since I have always liked to draw, it was logical that I drew them a lot, at school, at home, whenever I could, I drew the Ninja Turtles.
When the comics arrived in Mexico they were the Archie comics version, which were the ones that were inspired by TV show and weren’t the original Mirage comics.
but in one of those issues there was an article about the real Ninja Turtles and who the creators were, that’s when I met Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, and I remember a drawing that Kevin had made for the Mexican cartoonists where he welcomed them to the Turtle family and drew a Rafael with a futuristic weapon and Casey Jones the same with some rifles and weapons. I remember that image impacted me so much that I just wanted to draw the turtles that way, showing their teeth, more square, muscular. and with an evil face haha.
Over the years I continued drawing the Ninja Turtles, along with the X-Men and Spawn. Once, I entered a contest on the website, I think it was Mirage or the official Turtles website. Where you had to send your fanart by email and they select the best ones every month and mine was selected, they sent me a comic signed by the creators and the team artists of that time. It was something very special to me.
When I started working professionally as a comic book artist, I was looking for companies that had characters or projects that caught my attention and among them were the Ninja Turtles and I sent him an email to Mirage Comics that still existed, but at that time they didn’t need any artist. Then I found out that IDW had licensed Ninja Turtles and that’s when I started emailing them. A little time passed and since there wasn’t much response I started looking for everyone who was related to Ninja Turtle comics and that’s how I met Tom Waltz, then I had contact with Sophie Campbell and even Kevin Eastman himself. I sent everyone my portfolio and asked for the opportunity to work with the turtles. In the end, Tom was the one who called me, asked if I wanted to draw the Armageddon Game opening moves comic, which was a prelude to the Armageddon Game event. But he told me that it was a comic where the turtles hardly appeared hahaha, but with the mere fact that the comic was about Ninja Turtles and have their name on the cover, I was very happy, so I accepted without a doubt. From there I began to have more and more comic projects with the turtles and I couldn’t be more happy hahaha.
GateCrashers: Your work in TMNT has been really interesting and fun to watch over the past few years. I believe your run on the main book with Sophie Campbell (issues 133-139, collected as Vol 7 Isolation) was done all digitally. Then you moved to fan favorite crossover TMNT x Stranger Things which was a mix of traditional and digital. Now with TMNT Nightwatcher you’re working completely traditional. Can you walk us through the thought process there? Is it dependent on the vision of the book or a personal decision?
Fero Pe: Well, I think it’s been more about me gaining confidence, trying to do different things and challenging myself.
When I started on TMNT I wanted to do everything traditionally but because of the deadlines and because of how nervous I was, I decided to do it digitally trying to take advantage of the computer tools as much as I could using the screen tones and i think that was what which made them give me the TMNT x Stranger Things project, because they wanted me to add a bit of that screen tones so that it looked like the original Mirage comics. And since I immersed myself fully in the style, I decided to try to do everything traditionally except the screentones because the material no longer exists. That gave me a lot of confidence and I felt that I could start doing everything traditionally, so when they offered me the Nightwatcher comic I felt that I could do it with the most elaborate style with gray inks.
I am very grateful to my editors who have always given me that freedom to be able to do these types of things and that people continue to like my work.
GateCrashers: From my perspective, I think Nightwatcher is the most underestimated and most exciting of the current slate of TMNT books. The team-up of you and Juni is enough of a selling point for me and then seeing what you’re doing in the book is incredible. How did this project come to be?
Fero Pe: Yes, it has been very great to be able to collaborate with Juni. After I finished the Stranger Things crossover and later issue 150 with the end of the main title.
I was wondering what’s next for me? and that was when they offered me the Nightwatcher comic, they told me that Juni Ba was going to write it. I was a little afraid that we wouldn’t be able to get along to work together. Since he is also an artist and his style is very different from mine, but everything has turned out very well, he is very open about my drawings and how it captures the ideas that he puts in his scripts.
GateCrashers: I loved the process stuff you’ve shared, especially with the page where Nightwatcher is punching through a windshield. I don’t think I would have thought about how you did that if you hadn’t shared the videos. It may be the shift in your approach to the art for this book but it feels a lot more free than your other work. Since this is a side title, is there more freedom for you?
Fero Pe: Oh thank you very much. I don’t know, I’ve always felt quite free on what I can do, I think that’s what I was saying about gaining more confidence to try new things in my art and I feel like I want to do more elaborate things every time, although many times it means more work for me hahaha
GateCrashers: Is there a difference in scripts from established cartoonists like Sophie and Juni versus folks who are strictly writers?
Fero Pe: Yes, each writer is different. For example, Tom (Waltz) describes the scene where they are very well, adding references with images, which helps a lot to understand what he is looking for in certain scenes, but in the action scenes he is freer.
Sophie sends you her drawings with the designs of the characters or the clothes they will have and they are great, and in the action scenes she even has the hand movements so you know how to draw them.
With Juni, he has very clear ideas for the structure of the page, the type of panels, he is very creative designing the pages, even when they are pages with many panels.
And there is always a period time of getting to know each other, how they want things, how you draw them, so that they also know when to explain things or where to give you more freedom, for example with Cameron (Chittock) we worked a lot with the double pages and I think that was one of the best things because they turned out very very well
GateCrashers: I know that the big plot device for Nightwatcher is their identity but after reading the first issue, that’s the least interesting thing about it. I love how the reveal is handled. How it’s less of a reveal and more of a complicated character moment. It made me love the book even more. How has Mutant Town changed since the last time you were drawing the book?
Fero Pe: Or it has changed a lot when I drew it in the ongoing series, because they were still enclosed in the walls inside Mutant Town so they were more isolated from the world but I had to draw when the walls fell and it was also the attack of the Utrom ships on Mutant Town. So when I started drawing this title, I tried to make it a little more destroyed as if more of a war had happened and they were being replenished with destroyed buildings, about to collapse or under repair.
GateCrashers: What is it like drawing characters like the kids from Stranger Things when people come with an expectation based on their actor counterparts?
Fero Pe: Oh, yes, that was my first concern when they asked me if I wanted to draw the comic, I was hesitant to accept because it is difficult to draw actors and make them look alike all the time in the comic. But they told me that I could make my own adaptation of the characters, they didn’t have to be photorealistic all the time, so I accepted.
I began to make the sketches and try to draw out the general features of the actors and search a little with their key elements such as certain types of clothing, hairstyles, heights or some accessory that they have that would make me quickly identify them without them having to be drawn the same as their real counterpart.
GateCrashers: What can you tease about the future of Nightwatcher?
Fero Pe: We can expect a lot of action but also a little context to real world situations. I love how Juni is carrying the story combining it with the universal themes. Not only is it like the classic vigilante who saves those who are being assaulted in an dark alley although This is how the first story begins hehehe But it does have a little more about the part that the mutants are experiencing and how they are being oppressed and exploited in many aspects and that can resonate with many, making the comic more identifiable with one.
GateCrashers: Thank you so much for your time, is there anything else you wish to share before we end?
Fero Pe: Thank you very much for the interview. I am very happy working on this comic and much happier with the response that people who liked both the story and my art have. I hope you continue enjoying it. You can be sure that we will continue giving our best effort to have the best comic and keep reading comics.
Another huge thank you to Fero and of course to the legendary Gregg Katzmann over at IDW! Under the Shell would not be possible without his help.
Nightwatcher #2 is in shops now! Make sure your shop knows you want it every month so Fero and Juni get to continue making this excellent book.
