Richard Corben (one of Kevin Eastman's all-time favorite artists) did an amazing fully-painted cover for the third printing of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 1, issue #2, and he worked up a few color sketches in preparation for it. This is one of them, and a cool piece it is -- we probably could have printed this as the cover! (Trivia alert: In the last episode of Tom Selleck’s “Magnum, P.I.” TV series, the Magnum character was shown reading this very issue of the comic!) -- PL
I'm pretty certain that's suppsoed to be April's left leg, but just how it's drawn, it almost looks like a Purple Radish shaped face. you've got the two slitted eyes, a mouth, and a tiny nose laughing evil-y :).
ReplyDeleteI like the drawing, though. :)
I'm pretty certain you mean Aprils RIGHT leg, since it's left from here...
ReplyDeleteNonetheless, this is one great picture.
That's some cool Trivia I sure didn't know that! Now I want to see a clip of that lol
ReplyDeleteand I'm with Kevin Corben is a great artist indeed!
Real nice... I've not seen that before, I don't have a third print of #2 (have first and second however). Guess I'll have to hunt it down...
ReplyDelete"Neil V said...
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty certain that's suppsoed to be April's left leg, but just how it's drawn, it almost looks like a Purple Radish shaped face. you've got the two slitted eyes, a mouth, and a tiny nose laughing evil-y :).
I like the drawing, though. :)"
Thanks a lot, Neil -- now I'll never be able to look at this piece again without seeing that evil radish face! -- PL
" ~ tOkKa said... Pete ( maybe Vaughn would know this too ), when i started painting the **alien ..i cut out a piece of packing tape ( all i had at the moment ) in the shape of the out line of your John Hancock to cover it. I'm hoping this will protect it from the painting process and the fixative i apply to set the paint once it's finished. I crimped the tape up a bit so i can peel it off once the fix is set. I'm a little paranoid tho'.. will the tape PEEL OFF, once i take it off .. take off an imprint or something and ruin the signature ?! ?! "
ReplyDeleteDave, I used a Sharpie to sign the Quazine, so I am pretty sure -- albeit not ENTIRELY so -- that it can survive the process you describe here. Good luck! -- PL
Man, Corben was one of my favorite artists when I was a kid. My dad had Eerie or Creepy magazines lying around with Richard Corben stuff in it. It was so weird! So much different than the "standard" comic book fare of the time!
ReplyDeleteThe TMNT #2 reprint cover was printed in one of the calendars. I cut it out with an Xacto, stuck it in a matte and frame, and hung it in my apartment while I was in college. Even friends who thought I was a dork had to admit that it was an awesome painting!
Is Corben still around? Does anyone know? I guess I could google it...
-Aaron H.
Thanks for showing us this gem! I really enjoy Corben's style and wish he had been able to do alot more work on the title.
ReplyDeleteI used to watch magnum PI.....I wonder why I never noticed that. Course, I was a kid. Well Youtube here I come.... LOL. Cool piece.
ReplyDelete"Sarah The Anime Librarian said...
ReplyDeleteI used to watch magnum PI.....I wonder why I never noticed that. Course, I was a kid. Well Youtube here I come.... LOL. Cool piece."
Sarah, I would likely have never known about it -- and it probably wouldn't have happened at all -- if not for the efforts of the late Cheryl Prindle, who ran the Mirage office for several years and was a huge fan of Tom Selleck and "Magnum, PI". She corresponded with the producers of the show and I believe that's how the issue ended up being used as a prop. -- PL
"TMNTerminator said...
ReplyDeleteThanks for showing us this gem! I really enjoy Corben's style and wish he had been able to do alot more work on the title."
Given that Kevin Eastman was a very big fan of Richard Corben's work in "Heavy Metal" and various underground comics, it was a "dream come true" for him to get Corben to do something TMNT-related. And while this cover was extremely cool, I think for Kevin it was even cooler to have Corben ink Kevin's pencils on a short TMNT comic story which first saw print, I believe, as a full-color insert in one of the Volume 1 comics -- issue #7, if I am not mistaken. -- PL
All TMNT completists must now get box sets of Magnum on dvd just to see the shot of that ish on TV.
ReplyDelete