During New York Comic Con, we had the pleasuring to sit down and to chat with the creative team of IDW’s current Shredder ongoing series Dan Watters and artist Michele Bandini as well as Amancay Nahuelpa, the artist of the current Casey Jones miniseries, to talk all things TMNT!
Over the course of our conversation, the creators discussed their prior fandom with the franchise as well as teasing major status quo developments for the two iconic characters in the TMNT Universe.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Taimur Dar: It’s pretty much guaranteed that any comic creator involved in a TMNT project grew up a fan. I assume that’s the case for all of you, so what was your introduction to TMNT or your prior familiarity with the franchise?
Dan Watters: I remember watching the ‘80s cartoon with my grandfather. Caspar Wijngaard, an artist I’ve worked with, turned me onto the IDW from the beginning so I’ve kept up with that as much as I could.
Michele Bandini: My first connection to the Turtles was the cartoon. I grew up in the ‘90s and discovered the show when I was a kid. I’m still a huge fan of the franchise. As I said in a previous interview, my favorite is Mikey. I think the show from 2012 really captured the character as good as the first one. I kept reading the comics from IDW and keep up with everything including the last movie. Unfortunately, in Italy I have to wait because everything is going to arrive six months later.
Amancay Nahuelpa: I think we’re all from the same generation so we all grew up with the ‘90s Turtles. I think the one that clicked for me was the [original] movie. It’s funny because one of my favorite characters was Casey Jones and now that I’m drawing him is pretty cool. He was my favorite character along with Raphael. I was lucky that my parents would buy me all the toys. It’s very similar to what we’ve all been saying.
Taimur Dar: What I appreciate about IDW’s approach to TMNT comics is that they allow creators to creators express their own unique voice but still be part of a shared universe. It’s not dissimilar to what James Gunn is doing with DC Studios where both Superman and Peacemaker have their own distinct styles and tones. How are you putting your own personal stamps on these Shredder and Casey Jones projects?
Dan Watters: When we talked about the book at the beginning it was definitely about wanting to do [something] more stripped back and grounded. You find the thing that interests you the most and pursue it doggedly.
Michele Bandini: Even in the character, you’re going to see Shredder refusing everything that is technological or sci-fi. You have a really grounded atmosphere in the book. Of course, even the main character is going to be like that. When we first talked about major influences on the book, I came up with The Raid movies for the fighting. We wanted a more realistic and dark book right from the beginning. That was our approach .
Amancay Nahuelpa: For Casey Jones, we definitely wanted to keep the traditional look from the ‘90s cartoon with obviously a more updated version with his clothing. From a story point of view, similar to what they wanted to do with Shredder and keep it grounded, we wanted to keep it grounded but gritty. A lot of our references were ‘70s movies in New York like Taxi Driver. We wanted to insert Casey into this world that was darker and grittier. We introduce some new characters and a villain and bring back other characters that have been in previous iterations [of the franchise]. The story is not just fighting and action. It has deeper feelings to it.
Dan Watters: I suspect you’ll see some throughline between the two books because Alex Paknadel who writes Casey Jones is also in my writers’ studio. We break story a lot and tend to be on the same page about things.
Taimur Dar: The last time we saw Shredder, he was in Dimension Z. Will fans learn what brought Shredder back to Earth?
Dan Watters: It’s a major part of what will unravel over the first arc. By the end of the first arc, you’ll know exactly what happened in Dimension Z, how he came back, and why he’s so mad about it.
Taimur Dar: The first issue of Casey Jones introduced a mutant snow leopard named Ludovic. How did you go about designing the character?
Amancay Nahuelpa: Ludovic is this snow leopard looming figure who is a very tough guy but also emotional. He’s always struggling between transforming into a human and keeping this mutant shape. He’s not just a villain and we dive deeper into it. We wanted to have him be big and tough but also [convey emotion] when he’s not in his villain form.
Taimur Dar: The second issue of Shredder will introduce a new villain named King Cobra, a character I didn’t realize who first appeared in the Mirage Studios continuity. Michele, can you discuss what went into his design?
Michele Bandini: For King Cobra, I wanted to do a tribute to The Raid. When I designed the villain, I wanted something that would resemble a younger version of Shredder but in a different way. I wanted a story behind the character when I created him. It was a Japanese [man] who grew up in Indonesia, so like Shredder but [if he] took a different path. I wanted a foe who was also grounded with no big powers but [had] really good training. So it’s a fair fight but not that fair because Shredder is on another level.
Taimur Dar: Finally, what can you tease where the characters will end up at the end of this first arc of the Shredder series and the end of this Casey Jones miniseries?
Amancay Nahuelpa: I’m pretty sure fans are going to get what they want from Casey Jones. Alex is doing an amazing job writing it. The biggest thing that was a concern for the team was paying tribute to all the history Casey Jones has had through comics, movies, and TV shows. You’ll see he’s not just a guy in a hockey mask kicking asses.
Dan Watters: With the second arc, his whole motivation has changed. He has come back from Dimension Z a changed man. That’s going to lead to a new status quo that is nothing readers have ever seen from Shredder before. I hope they’ll agree it makes a lot of sense. It’s going to have big repercussions line-wide.
Michele Bandini: I want to thank all the fans who showed the love here and in Toronto. I saw a lot of people interested and stopped by my table saying that they loved the book. I’m really happy. I will always fight to deliver the best stories possible and earn the love of the fans because I think they deserve the best.
Stay tuned to The Beat for more coverage from NYCC ’25.
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