Back a couple of years ago, I suggested to my good buddy, and Image Comics co-founder, Erik Larsen, that it would be great to have a Turtles/Dragon crossover adventure. Being a huge fan of the Turtles, Erik jumped at the chance to work with the green team. Well, when I told Erik Mirage was going to stop publishing a TMNT comic, he immediately asked whether he might step into Mirage's shoes and begin publishing a monthly TMNT book. When I passed Erik's offer on to Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, they loved the idea. So, in June, 1996, Erik Larsen's version of the TMNT will be debuting under the Image logo.

To give you loyal TMNT fans a sneak peek at what Erik has in store for the gang in green I decided to ring him up and ask a few important questions.

Mike Dooney: Okay Erik, let's hear it. What's going on with you and the Turtles?

Erik Larsen: They're mine! All mine - Ha Ha Ha Ha!

MD: No, really?

EL: Image Comics will start publishing the Turtles comic next summer and I'll be the supervising editor behind the scenes pulling all the strings and concocting new tortures for the guys!

MD: Will you be starting over from the beginning?

EL: No. That option was available but I thought it wouldn't be right to junk everything that's been done with the Turtles just because the book is going over to another company. We'll start off the book with a solid new beginning and get the gang back together, try to make it an accessible jumping on place for new readers but there's been too much good stuff in the Turtles book to make me want to lose any of it. There are a lot of people in this business that are pretty quick to start established books over from scratch and I think that it shows a tremendous ego to do such a thing. I think it's disrespectful to both the readers and the previous creators. I have too much respect for what Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird created to want to destroy it and rebuild it in my image.

MD: What can readers expect from the new book?

EL: It will be returning to its roots. We'll be going back to doing it as a black and white book and having some explosive action right off the bat. I'd like to refocus the book and give the Turtles more of a purpose. There's also some starting revelations about one of the characters that we'll be revealing and we might bump off one of the characters that's been with the book since the early days.

MD: It sounds like you're being given a lot of freedom. Did Kevin and Pete give you free rein?

EL: Pretty much. I couldn't believe that when I was pitching ideas around that nobody flinched. I've got some really wild plans for the Turtles.

MD: Such as?

EL: To begin with, one of the Turtles will be disfigured and I'll be taking them out of their teens.

MD: Will there be any crossover with other Image characters or will their book be in its own universe like Bone or Groo?

EL: They'll be part of the Image Universe and will cross paths with other Image characters. They've already met the Dragon in two crossovers so it's a natural for them to be on Image earth. They may even relocate to Chicago for a time so that their adventures can more closely tie in with the Savage Dragon and meet some of his villains. There will be plenty of new Turtle specific villains that will be introduced too.

MD: You sound pretty excited about this. Are you?

EL:You bet I am! Kevin and Pete blazed a path for self publishers years ago and showed the world the potential of independent comics. Image comics couldn't have existed without pioneers like Kevin and Pete showing us the way and it's a real pleasure to be able to give something back to those two. I'll be doing my best to make the Image version something to get excited about!

MD: Who will be working on the book?

EL: Gary Carlson will be writing it. He's worked with me on a number of projects including Vanguard and Deadly Duo, he's also the guy who got me into the business and the brainchild behind Big Bang Comics. Frank Fosco will be drawing it. He's a long-time Carlson collaborator plus he's worked on some Superman books for DC Comics. He does real dynamic work and is well suited to the project.

MD: Will there be any other Turtle related books?

EL: Kevin Eastman and Simon Bisley will be taking their Casey Jones and Raphael book over to Image to get us started. We've taken out the back up stories by another artist and taken what was a five issue mini-series and turned it into a tight four issue mini-series which will have anywhere from 25 to 30 pages of Eastman and Bisley art per issue. The book's been retitled "Body Count" and will ship monthly starting in March. I'm looking forward to this one particularly. It's beautiful stuff.

MD: Is there anything more you'd like to add?

EL: Just that I'd like to thank Kevin and Pete for letting me play with their toys. I'm glad they had the confidence in me to let me run with this book. I'm really excited to be doing this project and I won't let them or the fans down.