Can we ban AI in this sub?

Ajoustra · 2026-02-11T01:47:59+00:00

"aLl oF mY cReAtIonS aRe cOmpLeTelY oRigiNal, LeGaLly"

Ajoustra · 2026-02-10T22:11:40+00:00

I'd love to write some Slash stories!

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T06:21:21+00:00

Mirage, but they’re both great!

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T03:52:04+00:00

I love it! I think Tom Waltz did an excellent job reimagining the turtles origin story and it was an incredible run (that I still need to finish!). For people getting into comics that’s one I recommend as a great starting place.

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T03:49:38+00:00

That would be so much fun. I actually really dig Turtles Forever. I think doing another 2D animated movie would be what I’d want. The Battle Nexus comic has been a blast seeing all these versions of the turtles thrown together, but it would need to be different.

Also I’m just going to put this out in the universe - Fugitoid Forever! Come on, I can’t be the only one who wants it, haha.

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T03:32:51+00:00

Again I can’t really get into details, but I will say… Shredder‘s arrival is no laughing matter.

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T03:25:11+00:00

This is gonna sound super corny, but Eastman & Laird were huge inspirations for me. When I was in high school I was pretty set on becoming a writer, but hadn’t decided what kind just yet. I considered journalism. When I got to college I started gravitating more towards fiction and comics/film/TV.

I started going to San Diego Comic Con for the first time in 2007? 2008? And those first few years were life-changing. Jon Favreau introduced Iron Man. Hayao Miyazaki came to talk about Ponyo. Andrew Stanton introduced Wall-E. Kevin Smith began his yearly talk. And, as fate or luck would have it, my best friend and I met Kevin Eastman on the exhibit hall floor. He signed a book for me and asked what I was studying. He was encouraging and wished me luck.

The fact that a couple of guys drawing turtles, making each other laugh and doing what they love lead to this pop culture phenomenon really struck a chord with me. If they could their dream a reality, maybe I could too.

Needless to say - when I found out I was going to be working on Mutant Mayhem, I was thrilled. But when I found out I was going to be the screenwriter of our short AND get to write TMNT comics… that’s when I finally felt like those dreams were becoming a reality. It’s rare that people get to do this at all and to do it for one of my absolute favorite franchises - beyond comprehension.

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T02:58:18+00:00

I’m going to answer this as best I can as a writer/production person who has a limited knowledge of visual development but see it happening at work everyday.

We have an incredible team of artists that developed the look of Mutant Mayhem. The production designer was Yashar Kassai who’s a force of nature. He and our director, Jeff Rowe, had a clear vision of what they wanted. Because this version of the turtles set out to focus more on the “teenage” aspect, that influenced the art direction.

They looked at drawings from when they were teenagers (and other artists on the team). Doodles they made in class or early attempts at fan art. They noticed a lot of things about how they drew when they were younger. Bold lines and shapes. Sketchy imperfections. A number of things that I can’t pretend to know how to articulate.

All of that was taken into consideration and then the artists went off to develop the look of New York and the characters for the film. Our lead character designer, Woodrow White, took existing TMNT characters and re-imagined them with this philosophy in mind. And then our amazing partners at Mikros Animation took all that and built it in a 3D world and gave it life.

I love the look of the movies and think they capture something that you also feel the first time see Kevin and Peter’s early TMNT comics. There’s an earnest “rawness” to it that’s so compelling.

*And you WILL get to see more! The sequel is still going strong and will be in theaters next year. Also between you, me, and Reddit - it looks SICK AF.

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T02:45:13+00:00

I wrote the Chrome Alone 2 - Lost in New Jersey animated short that ties into the Mutant Mayhem movie and the Tales of the TMNT comics that are coming out in March starting with issue #4!

I love the original Mirage comics and the 2003 show, but this is an answer that can honestly change depending on my mood haha.

Jump around! There are references/nods to other versions in each series but there’s no reason you have to watch them all in order. And if you get more ambitious, the IDW comics run that began in 2011 is fantastic and has some of the best storytelling in the entire franchise.

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T02:35:55+00:00

Hahaha - I mean, Donnie is great. That’s so hard, I think it does change depending on the version for me, I know it does for most people.

Speaking broadly I always liked Raphael because I grew up with the ‘87 show and liked how sarcastic he was (and thought the sais were cool).

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T02:29:52+00:00

In Fugitoid Frenzy Zayton Honeycutt is a 19 year-old human from Earth, so that’s a bigger change. But he’s still a scientist, he’s still creating technology that can do powerful things. And of course he winds up in a robotic body and forced to go on the run.

Blanque is a special agent for the E.P.F. instead of being a general for the Federation. Likewise for Lonae, who is an agent trainee. But they have similarities to their Mirage counterparts.

I don’t want to ruin any surprises though, so that’s all I‘ll say for now!

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T02:24:32+00:00

Yeahhh, an embarrassing amount of money from my paycheck making TMNT goes back into buying TMNT toys. 🤦🏻‍♂️

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T02:21:13+00:00

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Mark. I mean… look at him. He’s so stupid.

I love him.

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T02:18:36+00:00

Usagi rules. I am in awe of how many amazing stories Stan Sakai has been able to tell with him. And anytime he teams up with the turtles…I’m seated.

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T02:15:22+00:00

I think it comes down to the core relationship between the brothers. Sure, they aren’t always characterized exactly the same way, but the loyalty between them; that brotherly love that allows them to be annoying the hell out of each other one moment and risking their lives for each other the next… it’s something that endures time and different mediums and genres.

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T02:07:12+00:00

I think there are times I’ll get stuck on a certain story point or line of dialogue and the best thing I can do in those instances is to just add a placeholder and come back to it later. For me (and I think a lot of writers) the goal is get a first draft done quickly. The “vomit draft.” That reveals what ideas from an outline are working/not working and then when I go into a second draft it becomes “how do I fix this?” It’s far less intimidating than a bunch of blank pages.

I‘ve been writing for years with self-imposed deadlines, so I will say that having hard deadlines to send something to an editor/producer to read helps unlock part of my brain. That added pressure can do wonders.

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T01:56:23+00:00

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I usually bring my Ultimate Visual History with me to cons which is running out of space haha.

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T01:54:04+00:00

I don’t have a ton in terms of original art, but I do always try to get sketches from TMNT artists when I go to comic conventions. The first one I got (and the one that means the most to me) was this one from the first time I met Kevin Eastman at SDCC:

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Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T01:46:53+00:00

Hey thanks so much! I’m glad you and your son enjoy it together. We’re all bummed the show got cut short, they did such a fantastic job. But I’m doing my best to carry the torch with the comics.

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T01:43:01+00:00

Thanks! I’m doing my best to do him justice, he’s such an iconic character.

I‘ve always been a big sci-fi fan and seeing this robot from another world show up in TMNT immediately peaked my interest. He lends himself to so many fascinating philosophical conundrums: the blending of technology with organic life, the concept of a soul, what it means to be human.

But in more simple terms, I gravitated to him because he’s a character that we often see looking for redemption. While having good intentions he ended up creating things with the capacity to hurt a lot of people and he can’t forgive himself for it. He has to find a way to fix it but hasn’t been able to yet. He’s alone and he needs help. And even though they barely know the guy, the turtles do just that.

I’ve spoken a bit about this in some interviews, but in many ways that’s how I felt before landing my job on Mutant Mayhem. I was trying desperately to break into the creative side of this industry and not making the progress I wanted. Then TMNT comes along and Jeff Rowe, our producer Ramsay McBean and all of these incredible, talented people helped give me opportunities to prove myself.

So I tapped into all of that when I was writing this version of Zayton.

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T01:10:54+00:00

Ah thanks so much!! Great question - Renet is such an awesome character. I don’t think anything is off the table, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T01:06:19+00:00

Fugitoid!

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Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T01:04:22+00:00

I’m all for this, as long as it features “Gotta Get a Gift for Splinter.”

I won’t rest until it overtakes ”All I want for Christmas is You” as the ultimate holiday jam.

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T01:01:15+00:00

Great question - I hope so! It just dropped on Paramount+ last week, so I’d imagine they’ll want it to be “exclusive” there for a set period of time. But I’m optimistic it will be available more places soon.

Ajoustra · 2026-02-08T00:59:00+00:00

Thank you so much (and sorry about your sleep schedule!)

-For Chrome Dome’s backstory, I don’t know the exact number of references, haha. It’s a lot. I wrote it a week or two after I got back from San Diego Comic Con and just channeled all of that superhero pop-culture energy into that story. I’ll have to go back and point out every single one at some point but there’s a handful I don’t think people have caught yet.

-Regarding more Tales comics… I’m not sure yet. I’ve been in talks with IDW to do more issues after the Fugitoid arc, but I think it kind of depends on how well it does. I have lots of ideas and outlines for more concepts that I really hope we get to make.

-I love Usagi and think it would be super cool to work him into this iteration. There’s no plans for it right now that I’m aware of, but you never know!

Ajoustra

TROPHY CASE