With Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures continuing to channel the humor, heart, and high-energy action of the beloved ’87 cartoon, fans have even more reason to celebrate at Des Moines Con (May 29–31, 2026). The show will not only feature a special convention-exclusive edition of TMNT: SMA #37 spotlighting fan-favorite Panda Khan, but also appearances from the original voice actors behind the Heroes in a Half Shell–making it a full-circle moment for longtime fans of the franchise.
Talking to Nerd Street’s Director of Comics Lan Pitts, alongside writer Erik Burnham and artist Sarah Myer, the team dug into the creative energy behind Saturday Morning Adventures, the enduring appeal of deep-cut characters like Panda Khan, and what fans can expect when the team heads to Des Moines for a weekend packed with nostalgia, fandom, and shell-kicking fun.
Nerd Street: You’re both heading to Des Moines Con this May–what’s your favorite part about meeting fans in person, and how does that energy influence the way you approach your work on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures?
Erik Burnham: Oh, I’m always energized by meeting comics folk — fans, creators, collaborators–because I live so far away from comics (no shops are anywhere near me). Their enthusiasm just underlines that the fun we’re having making the book is infectious, it’s hitting kids and adults for different and complementary reasons, and makes me want to double down on the work.
Sarah Myer: I love that I get to geek out about TMNT with my fellow fans! If you’ve ever chatted with me at a con, I’ll happily talk with you about favorite episodes, or even observations about the characters through different iterations. I especially love it if there’s an opportunity to discuss the core personalities of the Turtles and ways in which they were fleshed out in not-so-obvious ways in the episodes, i.e. “Leonardo vs Tempestra” or “The Four Musketurtles” for ’87 Leo being a bit of an unexpected goofball, episodes where it was Donatello who actually lost his temper more so than ’87 Raph ever did, etc.
But when it comes to my work on TMNT: SMA, the script and scope of that particular story is king. I first focus on making sure I’m getting the right story beats Erik’s scripts are fleshing out (and the script’s always doing so in a fun and very true to the cartoon way) while making sure that I’m combining that with my toolbelt of comic book storytelling clarity visual cues…and then on top of it if there is room to do so, I’ll have some extra fun by putting in an easter egg (Ratcatcher with Parking Tickets) or having Raph look directly at the reader when appropriate for the character, etc. Erik’s scripts are very artist-friendly, in that he directs the story in a way that is easy for artists to know exactly what he’s envisioning, but he often does note that there is room for easter eggs here, or “your choice of panel layouts for this action sequence here,” etc. Between that skillful writing, fun and thoughtful suggestions from Nickelodeon re: possible easter eggs from time to time, and the enthusiasm that the entire creative team has for the show, it’s very easy to keep my energy and excitement as a longtime fan of the show intact while working on the series!
Nerd Street: This series really nails that classic cartoon vibe. What are the key ingredients for translating that nostalgic “Saturday morning” feel into a modern comic without it feeling dated?
Burnham: Fun is the key. We avoid feeling too dated by incorporating things that have become standards in TMNT lore in the decades since the cartoon ended so that it all feels of the same timeless piece; but good action is good action (which Sarah and our other mainline artist, Dan Schoening, and guest artists like Jack Lawrence excel at), and the humor we’re using doesn’t rely on anything of-the-moment to work. But again, fun is the key. We need to be having it, and making sure the audience is too. If it can be something they’ll look forward to it all lines up!
Myer: Thank you! I love that I can alternate drawing issues with Dan, and having Luis color our interior work ties our varying styles together. The cartoon had so many different looks to it between 1987-1996 that it can be said that the look of the show really isn’t any one style. I love that Dan nails the Toei Animation episodes style from the first season/mini series (1987). I enjoy some of the goofiness that also came from the later episodes (what I like to call it hitting its slice of life stride in a “sitcom” fashion, i.e. “Donatello’s Degree”) so my visual depiction is a little more inspired by that amalgamation of styles.
Having said that, I definitely like to approach my pages first and foremost as COMIC pages rather than a TV screen; we do not have the innate advantage of motion so it has to be implied. There are different “camera angles” which the comics medium can use that would probably have been a little jarring within a motion media like television, especially television of the era with hand drawn animation and celluoid on gouache backgrounds with production time and budget crunches. So I do employ things like dutch angles, or breaking the panel with a character’s body, taking advantage of panel shapes and sizes (in my pages you’ll see some manga style diagonal panel breaks from time to time or even anime/manga style speedline backgrounds that would not have occurred much the tv show after just a pinch of it in Season 1) or taking strong inspiration from Jack Kirby’s energetic and dynamic posing to keep the comic page feeling as if it is in motion.
And lastly, at the core of updating the Saturday Morning nostalgia is the writing. Erik writes all-new storylines that often grapple with issues that are relevant-for-modern-readers without it feeling forced or at all out of place within that TMNT ’87 universe, and I think that’s definitely one of the major keys to this comic striking a balance between nostalgic but fresh and modern. A prime example of this is Thrum’s storyline—if someone told you that script and the theme of Thrum deciding to just be who he wants to be without bending knee to Shredder’s whims was a long lost episode you just hadn’t seen or remembered, set to the backdrop of late 80’s rock music, I 100% think you’d believe it.
Nerd Street: How do you collaborate (directly or indirectly) to make sure the comedic timing lands just right?
Burnham: For my part, it’s easy; Sarah and Dan both have comedic sensibilities and run with whatever I throw their way. Do I sometimes call out an expression or bit of background physical comedy? Yes. Do I need to? Not usually; we’re all on the same page. I stick to the verbal setups and punchlines (and sometimes, the art will suggest new dialogue to boot.) I hope this feels collaborative and freeing, as well as fun, as opposed to just being a thing that makes more work. (Eep!)
Myer: Erik’s scripts are incredibly appealing, and it’s not difficult to draw comedy and more serious emotional beats from them, visually. I say this facetiously, but for some reason I was given a lot of Mr. Ogg comic stories to draw, and I can’t help but wonder if that’s because of the sequence of his facial expressions slowly changing from confused to enraged in issue #8, but that was really just me getting to play with what Erik had already written, and I was definitely cackling while reading the script, thumbnailing, and penciling and inking that sequence. Don’t worry, though, I had breaks in between. I definitely think the team (Editors Thea and Jeff, Erik, Dan, Luis, Jack Lawrence, and myself) are all on the same wavelength, so it is very easy to have fun with this series, and the comedy flows from that naturally.
On that note, I think that the moments of emotional sincerity and seriousness that the writing brings to the series makes the comedic moments stand out that much more. It’s not overly serious, but I love that we could tackle things like Michelangelo having doubts about his place on the team, or, as you’ll see soon, Panda Khan struggling with his own turmoil, etc. When you’re emotionally invested in the characters and their challenges, it’s that much more rewarding as a reader and as a creator to show some funny moments.
Nerd Street: Now, the new Des Moines Con exclusives feature Panda Khan–what makes him such a compelling character to revisit in this series?
Burnham: While PK appeared in the classic Playmates line, he hasn’t, to the best of my memory, had any story interaction with the Turtles. We got to have that blank slate–which is compelling in and of itself. I think the only thing I would’ve wished for is one more issue to play a little longer, but we got a lot in the 20 pages we worked out!
Myer: Panda Khan has a legendary status among fans, in that he’s mysterious and many fans fondly remember their experiences with PK action figures. I tried to include more of his arsenal of weapons on the cover like his metal claws! I really enjoyed the way that Erik wrote PK’s emotional arc; I don’t want to spoil anything, but I’ll just say that it is an engaging conundrum when you’ve got a capable and genuinely good person who has been deceived and manipulated into being ruled by fear and self-doubt and must find a way to continue. That’s a very heroic and universal struggle, and I think PK’s story in TMNT: SMA embodies this heroism very well.
Nerd Street: Do either of you have a personal soft spot for Panda Khan?
Burnham: He was the toy that got away when I was a kid, so getting a chance to play with the character in this context was great! And I have a soft spot for all the anthro animal warriors that comics have thrown my way anyway, so the shorter answer is yes. And the enthusiasm from the folks behind Panda Khan is incredibly infectious, so I walked away a fan that can’t wait to see where he pops up next!
Myer: The enthusiasm and passion that fans and the folks at Gaelstone Media have for PK is absolutely infectious. He’s a character I’d definitely want to see more of. To be honest, while I grew up watching the ’87 cartoon and lived through Turtle Mania in the late 80s and 90s, I was not an avid collector of the action figures as a child! I was aware of the figures and of him, but it was not until I was a little older and watched the 2003 TMNT cartoon that I connected with the Mirage Comics and other related comics of that era, so my familiarity with Panda Khan came about within this comic project.
Gaelstone Media were incredibly easy to work with, as is Nickelodeon, so I had an absolute blast drawing #37 and designing the Spider Witch Twins based on the descriptions provided by Gaelstone. They were a lot of fun, too.
Nerd Street: Saturday Morning Adventures often pulls from deep TMNT lore. How do you decide which characters or concepts deserve a return to the spotlight?
Burnham: Everyone has suggestions–the folks at Nickelodeon are fans first, and they’ve thrown out a lot of stuff they would love to see (with no edicts), Sarah and Dan both have suggested stuff, our editor Thea Cheuk has come in clutch with some suggestions… it was fun for me because I was allowed to bring in concepts from IDW (like Old Hob), wider TMNT lore (like the Pantheon), stuff the show did as a done-in-one (Mr. Ogg), and we were also allowed to create whole new characters. Cycle back to the fun I mentioned a couple of questions back; that’s how the decisions were ultimately made. What would be fun to do next?
Myer: Occasionally when there is room in the script for cameos, I’ll suggest someone in thumbnails…an example being–without spoiling it–a certain alien convict character in an upcoming issue from a later season episode which I particularly enjoyed. And I absolutely relished the chance (dream opportunity, really!) to draw other iterations of the TMNT in the Ogglympics arc (#12–14) and in Battle Nexus strips, but I can take zero story credit for that–the thanks squarely goes to Erik and our editors at IDW and Nickelodeon–I just thoroughly enjoyed that chance as a fan.
Nerd Street: The series appeals to longtime TMNT fans and newcomers alike. What’s your approach to making stories that reward deep knowledge but are still easy to jump into?
Burnham: There’s Joel Hodgson wisdom from MST3k that boils down to not every joke is for everyone, but the ones who get it appreciate it even more—so dropping in references and cameos is a thing we’ve all been doing forever, and in other books. That’s how we approach the book (for humor and for deep cuts), load it up! To make it easy to jump into, we make sure everything folks need for the story they’re reading is in the story they’re reading, but footnotes and meta jokes go a long way toward easing any possible confusion.
If the story is a drag, if it’s boring to look at (which it has never been) then it feels like work and they won’t want to stick around for the ride. But if, say, a new reader has the fun I keep harping about, and gets into the Turtles more deeply, they’ll see stuff later (a character in the background, a sly reference in the text) and it’ll hit them then they get to experience extra fun from an old book. I hope that made sense!
Nerd Street: Without giving too much away, what can fans picking up the Panda Khan exclusives at Des Moines Con expect from upcoming issues of Saturday Morning Adventures?
Burnham: Action, adventure, humor. Bad puns. Good art. And that’s as true of past issues as well as future!
Myer: Occasionally when there is room in the script for cameos, I’ll suggest someone in thumbnails…an example being (without spoiling it) a certain alien convict character in an upcoming issue from a later season episode which I particularly enjoyed. And I absolutely relished the chance (dream opportunity, really!) to draw other iterations of the TMNT in the Ogglympics arc (#12–14) and in Battle Nexus strips, but I can take zero story credit for that–the thanks squarely goes to Erik and our editors at IDW and Nickelodeon–I just thoroughly enjoyed that chance as a fan.
You can catch Sarah and Erik and a slew of other amazing guests at Des Moines Con, May 29-31 at the Iowa Events Center. Tickets are on sale now!
