TMNT Power: Kevin Eastman
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TMNT Power: Kevin Eastman

Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello. Chances are if you were born post-1984 the first thing that springs to mind isn’t Italian Renaissance artists. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles turned 30 this year and in celebration one of the co-creators, Kevin Eastman, has been attending Comic Conventions all around the world, which will include a first-time visit to Australia for the Melbourne Armageddon.
“It’s always been a dream to come, it’s been great this year. With our 30th anniversary show we’ve got to meet fans from all over the United States and I am now looking forward to meeting fans outside of United States,” he says excitedly.
Kevin had a love of comic books from a young age and he is very humble and grateful for his time in the industry and I tell straight away I’m going to enjoy our chat.
“When I was a child, I lived in a very, very, very small town outside of Maine and there wasn’t really anything to do and I discovered comic books and it was a really great way to get a bit of escapism I guess, living vicariously through other character’s adventures. I enjoyed dynamic storytelling; in fact, one of my biggest influences was an artist named Jack Kirby,” he boasts. “Jack Kirby was one of the guys that created most of the Marvel classics , you know X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and Captain America and so many other iconic characters.
“I wanted to be an artist like him – a writer and a storyteller, create my own adventures and my own characters,” he added.
Kevin Eastman 2
In what began as a comical doodle between two comic-mad friends, Kevin and co-creator Peter Laird, quickly evolved to what has become the empire that is TMNT. The comic experienced very early success and was being picked up as fast as it was being laid out almost from the get-go.
“It was pretty surprising, I think not only to Peter Laird and myself but also our parents who were afraid that we would be living in the basement for the rest of our lives,” he laughs. “We created the Turtles. It came from such a childhood fantasy, a fantastic, good place. We wanted to create characters we thought were fun, had a lot of energy and adventure!
“The fact that the first printing sold out, then the second printing, and suddenly we were lucky enough to find ourselves writing our own comic books for a living and they just kept selling more and more copies every time!” he explains. “We’d put out another issue and that attracted lots of people from Hollywood, agents and different people who could make cartoons and toys and things … again, we couldn’t really believe it. We were still surprised that the comic book actually sold,” he added.
For Eastman and Laird, the rise to popularity for the Turtles was indeed a quick one, not entirely expected at all. The Turtles were created at a time pre-internet, a time where comics were bought in stores and production and distribution were lengthy processes. Yet this didn’t not stop the onslaught of fans from all over.
“We worked on it and the cartoon show came out we couldn’t actually believe that people watched it and liked it, then the toys came out and people were buying them and wanted more, very quickly. Early on we held on for dear life because it was kinda out of our control,” he laughed. “I mean, we had full control of the characters’ life, we worked on every TV show, every movie and all of that kind of stuff, but it was just surprising to us that it was reaching that level of success that quickly. My goodness, the fact that I’m still talking about Turtles 30 years later is mind-blowing to me,” he says.
For decades now TMNT has been pleasing boys and girls young and old from all corners of the globe and remains to be a successful franchise. Comics are still being released, the shows are still played on television stations, there is even the latest blockbuster movie installment Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), starring Megan Fox as my childhood icon (jealous much?), the yellow-jacket-wearing April O’Neil.
“Sometimes it’s very hard to put your finger on what it was about the characters that resignated with so many fans in so many different places, but I guess we’ve tried to narrow it down over the years. We feel like maybe because they were animal characters, they were mutant animals, they were turtles,” admits Eastman.
“They weren’t an African American character or white or Asian, they didn’t segregate anybody out, the fans liked them because they could identify with not only their personalities, but every child. I know I was sometimes feeling like an outcast, maybe feeling like a bit of a mutant maybe … There’s no single race that they are identified as so they were able to reach a lot more people than say traditional other costume superheroes.
“When you put a group of kids together … you know, even myself growing up as a child on the schoolyard we kind of always had a joker type, a leader type, the buddy that you would bring along in a fight. We had this mixed group of characters, whether you’re working in a coffee shop or a diner or you know playing in a playground, people are able to connect with them somehow. In that they were a lot like them I guess. I also feel like there’s a hero in all of us when things are tough and things get down, when someone needs their day to be saved and we all want to be that hero that jumps up and does the right thing. The turtles were teenagers first but were always heroes in the end.”
When&Where: Melbourne Armageddon @ Melbourne Showgrounds – October 18 & 19
By Abbey King


Also appearing at Armageddon…
Jenna Louise Coleman
Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who)
Jenna Coleman is establishing herself as one of the brightest young actors of her generation. Jenna is the current ‘Doctor Who’ companion and was last seen in the Christmas special of the show in which her original doctor Matt Smith regenerated into Peter Capaldi. Before that audiences saw her in the 50th Anniversary special of the show called ‘The Day of the Doctor’ which recently won the Audience Award at the BAFTA Television Awards. Jenna is currently filming the next series of ‘Doctor Who’ opposite Peter Capaldi and many more new faces to the franchise.
Jenna’s television credits are extensive. Last year Jenna starred alongside Matthew Goode and Matthew Rhys in the BBC Drama ‘Death Comes To Pemberley’ and also opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor in BBC Two drama ‘Dancing on the Edge’.
In 2012 Jenna was seen in BBC Four adaptation of John Braine’s novel about a young man in 1940s Yorkshire, ‘Room at the Top’, and as ‘Annie Desmond’ in the epic four part ITV series ‘Titanic’. Written by Julian Fellowes and released to coincide with the hundredth anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, the show was a great television event, and Jenna delivered a standout performance.
Jenna appeared in box office smash ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’, and on stage was most recently seen at The National Theatre in the role of ‘Sarah Kate’ in ‘The Actor’.
Giancarlo Esposito
Giancarlo Esposito (Gustavo Fring from Breaking Bad)
Appearing in Australia and New Zealand for the first time, join us with one of the stars of Breaking Bad, Once Upon a Time and Revolution!
Giancarlo Esposito was born in Denmark to an Italian father and African-American mother. He lived in Europe until he was six years old and his family settled in Manhattan. At age 8 he made his Broadway premier on the musical Maggie Flynn.
Since then, Giancarlo has been acting for the stage and screen. In 1979 he began acting in movies and has appeared in over 130 TV shows and films. He appeared in a handful of Sesame Street episodes and other TV shows until his first break in 1993, landing the role of Detective Paul Gigante on Bakersfield P.D. In 1998 he appeared in 22 episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street as Agent Mike Giardello. He continued to recurring and guest TV roles until 2009 when he was cast as Gustavo Fring in Breaking Bad.
Giancarlo has also appeared in dozens of notable films, including The Usual Suspects, Smoke, Bob Roberts, and Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. After Breaking Bad, Giancarlo was cast in the TV series Once Upon a Time and Revolution. He directed the 2008 film Gospel and is in pre-production of directing a film titled This is Your Death.
Don’t bring chicken, it might upset him and we don’t want that. Seriously, have you seen him on Breaking Bad, I mean wow, just wow, wait, you haven’t seen it, holy god, stop what your doing now and go see it, like right now, not later, trust me, you’ll thank me later, but do it now, and don’t stop at season one, it just gets better and better.
Go, now, watch…
Peter Hambleton
Peter Hambleton (Glóin the Dwarf from The Hobbit)
Peter Hambleton has acted and directed extensively for the stage, in the process winning a number of Chapman Tripp Theatre awards (Copenhagen, The Letter Writer). On screen he has played a sizable cadre of policeman and officials, alongside Prime Ministers (Peter Fraser in TV movie Spies and Lies), priests, and a dwarf: he plays Glóin in Peter Jackson’s three-part adaptation of The Hobbit as well as the voice and motion capture performance of the Ogre William.
Glóin son of Gróin was one of the Dwarves of Thorin II Oakenshield’s company who set out to reclaim Lonely Mountain (Erebor), and was the father of Gimli who was member of the Fellowship of the Ring.
Each guests attendance is based on work and health commitments. Fees apply for autographs and photos.