For those of you that follow Peter’s blog, you can pretty much stop reading now. 😛
For those of you that don’t, Peter has, once again, put up an “Ask Peter” Post where he answers the questions of the fans directly. These posts are ALWAYS good reads, as I have never seen him decline to answer a question, no matter how big a pitfall it might be. We strongly suggest clicking the pic to read the comments.
I (Stephan) had only one question for him this time around. The question I’ve always wanted to ask him:
Hopefully this doesn’t come across as a negative question, because that isn’t how I mean it…
The one thing I’ve always wanted to ask is…Do you ever feel resentment toward the turtles for limiting your career?
Much like many people feel that George Lucas resents Star Wars for making him “George Lucas: The guy that made Star Wars” rather than “George Lucas: The world famous director”
Do you feel that the Turtles have pigeon-holed you as “Peter Laird: The guy that made the Ninja Turtles” and prevented you from becoming known for your fantastic artistic ability rather than being known for a single property?
Again, this wasn’t meant to come across in a negative light. It is just the one question, above all others, that I have always wanted to ask you.
-Stephan”
As anyone who has closely followed the TMNT might know, one of my favorite lines from the late, great Jack Kirby was from the last issue of his “Mister Miracle” comic book series… the one where the evil Darkseid tried to ruin the wedding of Scott Free and Big Barda. The lord of Apokolips summed up his philosophy in this line: “Life at best is bittersweet.”
That kind of describes my relationship with the TMNT at this point in my life. On the one hand, co-creating these crazy characters has brought me success and opportunities I’d never really considered I might have.
On the other hand, I can say without any doubt in my mind that because of the Turtles, I am less of an artist than I thought I would be at this point in my life. I have not evolved in my skill set in the way I thought and hoped I would.
It’s a trade-off. You must take the good with the bad. As I have said elsewhere, in my opinion the good has generally outweighed the bad. — PL
It isn’t too late to ask a question yourself. Click the pic to head on over.
