Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto Writer Talks Crossover Appeal and Ichiraku's Pizza in Exclusive Interview

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are ready to see what Naruto is all about!

By Megan Peters

There is only one thing that could make the Hidden Leaf Village better, and that is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Back in 1999, artist Masashi Kishimoto couldn't have seen how big Naruto would become, and he definitely did not imagine the hero's future team-up with our fave heroes in a half shell. It wasn't long ago that IDW Publishing and Viz Media revealed their special Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto comic run. And here at ComicBook, we were able to chat with writer Caleb Goellner all about the unexpected crossover.

As you can read below, Goellner dives deep into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto while dropping some big teases. From Ichiraku's pizza ramen to the ninja's favorite jutsu, nothing was off limits. So if you want to know more about the epic comic crossover, you can read our interview with Goellner below:testing testing

Exclusive Interview with Writer Caleb Goellner

It's official! Naruto and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are teaming up. Caleb, what was your first impression of this all-star crossover? How did you become involved as the writer on this project?

Goellner: I found out about the potential crossover after a few conversations with industry peers that pretty much came down to, "Hey, you've read all of Naruto, right?" I had no idea what I was getting into when I answered "Yeah, and Masashi Kishimoto's Samurai 8, and Boruto and all of the various spin-offs." Needless to say I was extremely stoked to be asked to pitch on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto and land the gig. It's a profoundly rad pairing.

Obviously, Naruto is an icon in the anime and manga industries. Series creator Masashi Kishimoto laid out a thorough profile for the ninja, of course. How did you approach writing for Naruto in this comic run?

Research is always key when you're writing for established characters, so I re-read a ton of the Naruto manga – not only the early Team 7 adventures, which loosely feed into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto miniseries, but also the Shippuden era. Early in the pitching stage, I wanted to figure out as many potential story scenarios as possible to give all of the project stakeholders flexibility, so I re-watched several Naruto movies and sat my OG 2003 Bandai Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi figures on my desk as faux totems of power.

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(Photo: IDW / Felipe Smith)

And of course, the TMNT are taking to the Hidden Leaf Village. What kind of challenges did you face (if any) while finding the team's fit in the Naruto Universe?

Team 7 will actually be headed to a new version of the TMNT's turf! We metaphorically (and I guess literally) added a TMNT section to the world of Naruto for this story so we could make it feel as lived-in and authentic as possible. Series artist Hendry Prasetya has done a ton of truly stunning design work to make this possible, of course. He's got powerful design jutsu.

Obviously, I have to ask. Are the TMNT bringing New York-style pizza to the Hidden Leaf? I feel like pizza ramen could be good! 

Stay tuned and stay hungry. All will be revealed by issue #4 🍕

Looking at this impressive crossover, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto has a lot of elements to juggle in bringing two IPs together. What has been your favorite part of the project's development and production?

Working with my IDW editor Thea Cheuk, who is also a huge Naruto fan and very knowledgeable and cool manga and anime person, has made this process extremely streamlined and fun. I already had a lot of experience writing different versions of the TMNT, but the guidance I had as we met with partners like VIZ, Shueisha, TV Tokyo, and others made this ninja collab as smooth as you can ask for from a writing standpoint. Of course, as a writer, my FAVORITE part of the process is always seeing art come in. Getting to work alongside Hendry is a huge privilege and seeing his designs makes me step back and feel Six Paths Sage Mode levels of gratitude to be on this book.

We know the TMNT crew have the skills to stand against some of the Hidden Leaf's top heroes. What can you tell me about the turtles and their new powers as they become enmeshed in the Naruto Universe?

Let's just say the TMNT and Team 7 are going to discover mutual respect for one another very quickly. Shinobi tend to let their attacks do the talking, and fans will have a lot of fun seeing these teenage ninja throw down.

It is amazing to see an IP as big as Naruto team with IDW for an official crossover. Why do you think this anime x comic collaboration works so well? And do you feel like Western comics need more crossovers like this?

The magic of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto is pretty self-evident, but the main reason it works in my opinion is that the TMNT as a concept already has so much innate shonen energy. I mean, I've always loved the two Japanese TMNT anime OVAs and the resulting toys. I could easily imagine a TMNT series created specifically for Shonen Jump.

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I'm not sure if western comics and manga "need" more IP-focused crossovers in general, but I know fans of both will always appreciate fun crossovers done at a high level and in good faith. We're already seeing stuff like Ultraman: Along Came a Spider-Man have an impact on the crossover conversation, and I suspect there will be more to come as Gen Z/Gen Alpha express their passion for anime and manga in the wider culture. Working in and around the industry for most of my career, I'd definitely be down to work on anything where I could help bring out the best in the characters as they come together for fans.

Will you be checking out Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto when it launches? Give me a shout at @meganwpeters with your take! You can also let us know what you think over on Twitter and Instagram.

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