TMNT Week continues at Capes and Tights and for this part of the week, illustrator Gavin Smith joins us for a conversation on his work with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Gavin Smith is a freelance artist who lives in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is the current artist for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on-going series from IDW Publishing. Some of his other most recent work includes Star Trek: The Mirror War for IDW Publishing, Heartpiercer for Dark Horse, and various TMNT covers for IDW including The Last Ronin, Armageddon Game, and the ongoing series.
His past work includes Dead Legends (A Wave Blue World), Ghost in the Shell (Penguin/Random House/Kodansha), Heavy Metal Magazine, The Accelerators (Blue Juice Comics), “Have You Any Fear” For Line Webtoon, Gregory Graves (Starburns Industries) Motion Comics for AT&T, The anthologies “ALL WE EVER WANTED” (A Wave Blue World) illustrating a story with Dead Legends collaborator James Maddox, and The Good Fight illustrating a story by Mark Waid.
He’s also done background art for various comic books and has had pin-ups in Strayed (Dark Horse Comics) and Deadly Class (Image Comics), and a cover for Vampblade (Action Lab Entertainment). He got his start after graduating from the Joe Kubert School in 2011 and self publishing an issue of a creator owned comic “Human City“.
Let’s get to know a little more about the TMNT artist, Gavin Smith!
JS: You are not only a TMNT artist, but a huge fan of the Turtles. What was your original memory of getting hooked on the heroes in a half shell?
GS: I remember watching the 1980s cartoon as a kid… and one of my first theatrical experiences was seeing the 1990 movie with my dad and brother.
When you got the chance to illustrate the Turtles professionally, what was that experience like?
Same as it is now. It still feels surreal. I always wanted to work on the Turtles, so when I first got offered the RI cover for issue 134 I was incredibly excited. I think I turned in like 6-7 different ideas the next day and they had all just poured out of me.
After a number of variants for TMNT, you got the call to help to be there on-going series artist for TMNT. How did this happen and what has the experience been so far?
It actually happened fairly quickly. I was offered 134 RI cover, then the issue 4 Armageddon Game cover, and then my Last Ronin Lost Years cover was actually part of a tryout for that series, but they asked me to be part of the main book instead which I was totally fine with.
The Turtles community part is a large and tightly knit community, what is your favorite thing about the TMNT fans and what makes it such a great community?
Everyone’s so passionate and brings their own experience to it. Everyone has a different favorite turtle for different reasons and came in to the series in their own unique way and I love talking to fans about it.
What are you most excited for as the turtles continue?
For me to continue working on them, haha. But.. I suppose the unexpected? This franchise can do anything and appeal to almost any age group, so the possibilities are endless.
Thank you Gavin Smith for chatting!
Thank you, Justin!
