TMNT comic news

Here's the cover to the recently completed (like, yesterday) TMNT #30:



I handed it over to Dan Berger yesterday and he has sent it off to the printer. We're now waiting to see the printer's proof. Hopefully, within a few weeks we will have printed copies and will be able to begin fulfilling mail orders. Shortly after that starts, we will put it up online for free. The pricing is the same as for issue #29 -- $10.00 per copy (I think there may also be shipping and handling -- check the ninjaturtles.com site to make sure). I will also be doing Turtle head sketches on the inside back covers of each of at least the first 150 copies that go out via mail order. -- PL

A nifty nugget of NECA news...

I got an email from Steve Murphy yesterday, with some information which was sent to him from Randy Falk at NECA. Here are the pertinent quotes from Randy, along with an image:

"I just wanted to send over an image of our SDCC exclusive for this summer.
It will be a brand new April O' Neil figure that comes with a Battle Damaged
Mouser and a Regular Mouser with a new head featuring an articulated jaw.



This is the first non Turtle figure in the NECA TMNT collection

This version of April will be available at San Diego Comic Con this July.

We are going to try to make arrangements to offer a small amount of figures online for those who can not attend SDCC."

Pretty cool! I look forward to putting these on my shelf next to the NECA Turtles. -- PL

Fugitoid, still on the run...

I've been having more fun taking photos of the vacuum-metalized Fugitoid figure in different locations. Yesterday, while bicycling with Rick and Rob, I stopped along the way, at a spot on the banks of the Connecticut River, to take this photo...



And today, I thought it would be fun to pose the 'Toid next to my favorite local roadside waterfall. Unfortunately, my shiny little friend slipped out of my grasp as I was positioning him on a mossy rock, and fell.

In falling, his left arm popped out of its socket (this has happened a couple of times before, and I have Super Glued it back in), and he fell into the rushing water in two pieces. I managed to grab his body before it was swept down the stream, but his arm vanished under the water. I was starting to freak out as I imagined the arm getting lost somewhere downstream.



Fortunately, the arm got trapped under a tiny waterfall, and -- because it's so shiny -- I was able to see it and retrieve it without too much trouble. Except for soaking my sleeve and watch, that is. -- PL

What it's all about...

So, about that meeting I mentioned a few days ago... here are the "two dudes" Gary and I met with...



That's Scott Mednick on the left and Galen Walker on the right. Galen, you may remember, produced the 2007 "TMNT" movie. Scott is also a movie producer with impressive credentials. Both of them will be -- well, why don't we let the official press release tell the story:

---------------------------------------------------------

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles™ Come Alive
In Major Motion Picture for 2011

New Theatrical Film to tell Origin Story of the Legendary Characters

Los Angeles, April 23, 2009— The Mirage Group has given the green light for development of a live-action major motion picture focusing on the origins of the iconic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, targeted for release in 2011.

Announcement of the latest (fifth) big screen version of the crime-fighting “heroes in a half-shell” comes on the day the Turtles kick off their 25th anniversary national “Shell-ebration” in New York City with multiple events that include the honor of lighting the Empire State Building in ‘turtle green’ and a unique outdoor presentation of their beloved first “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” film at the Tribeca Film Festival “Drive-In”.

Mirage is partnering with producers Scott Mednick (“300”, “Superman Returns”, “10,000 BC”, and the upcoming “Where the Wild Things Are”) and Galen Walker (who produced the most recent computer-animated “TMNT” theatrical release) to create this live action film. Peter Laird, Gary Richardson, Frederick Fierst, Eric Crown and Napoleon Smith III will serve as executive producers of the film, which is based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters created by Laird and Kevin Eastman. Mednick and Walker will serve as producers. The project is being funded through Lightbox Productions, LLC.

“It was critical to us to find people who both understood the Turtles franchise and were accomplished film makers who appreciated both the action and humor components of the Turtles’ identity ,” said Gary Richardson CEO, The Mirage Group. “With Galen and Scott we know we’ve found great talent with those essential attributes.”

“The original dozen comics created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman are some of the best source material one could hope for,” said Mednick. “We’re excited to bring this story to a whole new generation of moviegoers as well as the legions of fans that have made the Turtles - Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael as well as Splinter, April O’Neil, Casey Jones and, of course, the great villain Shredder - a part of their world for 25 years.”

Mednick has begun reaching out to writers and directors and is already in discussion with several high-profile actors interested in portraying Turtles characters they loved as kids.

4Kids Entertainment, master licensing agency for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles property, will be handling all of the movie merchandise licensing.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made their public premiere in May 1984 in a comic book published and distributed by Mirage Studios. A hugely successful TV series quickly followed, along with a record-setting licensing program and three successful live-action theatrical films. In 2003, the Turtles were re-introduced to a new generation through a fresh TV series, a computer- animated theatrical movie and new merchandising program. The 25th year of TMNT will provide fans of all ages with the opportunity to experience this evergreen property in a ten-city mobile tour highlighted by the TMNT Party Bus, a rolling museum of TMNT memorabilia.

Additional information is available on the http://www.tmnt25.com and http://www.4kids.tv websites.

About Mirage Studios
Mirage Studios, Inc. is part of The Mirage Group, a group of companies located in Northampton, Massachusetts that owns, manages, nurtures and protects the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles property."

--------------------------------------------------------------

Woo hoo! So here we go -- another live action film! As you may recall from some of my previous comments, our initial discussions regarding the next film had to do with what we were calling a "hybrid" -- live action with realistic Turtles rendered in CGI and blended in. This new idea -- which, frankly, I am VERY pumped about -- will have actors and stunt performers in full Turtle suits for filming in live action. As of right now, there is talk of using CGI to do "face replacement" for the suits so that we can get those great, expressive faces possible with CGI.

We are very early in the development process -- no writer or director has been chosen yet. And we've just started talking about the story. But I'm really looking forward to getting into it! -- PL

P.S. Here's a photo of Galen holding an artifact from the first live action movie (the head from the Donatello stunt costume) in my office at Mirage Studios a couple of days ago.

What's it all about?

I had an interesting meeting yesterday at Mirage. Gary and I met with a couple of dudes to discuss some intriguing TMNT-related stuff... stuff I can't talk about just yet. But I will be posting something about this meeting early in the morning this Thursday... which, as you may know, is the day of the special Turtle movie event at Tribeca in New York City, and -- I believe -- the lighting of the Empire State Building in green to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the TMNT. Stay tuned... -- PL

"Thanks!" (UPDATED 04-18-09)

Last month Mirage was visited by a group of students from the Center for Cartoon Studies, accompanied by the man who created that school, acclaimed artist/writer James Sturm. They had come down from the wilds of upper Vermont to see the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst, and after that, take a tour of Mirage in Northampton, and do a half-hour meet and greet with me, followed by another session with Kendall Clark, director of the Xeric Foundation.

They were a nice group, and I wish I'd scheduled more time to speak with them, as it seemed we just got going and it was time to stop. Before I left the room and Kendall took over, I gave them each a set of the NECA TMNT figures and a TMNT spiral-bound sketchbook.

Well, yesterday I got this cool "Thank you" card in the mail, from James and the students who came for that visit.



James mentioned in an email that he was the one who drew the color Turtle in the middle of the piece, using one of the NECA figures as a model. Nice!

Also included with the card were these books by a few of the CCS students -- I hope to get to read them this week. -- PL



For more information about CCS, check out their website at:

http://www.cartoonstudies.org/

P.S. I just realized I was remiss in not mentioning the following -- two young women who sat next to me during this event gave me copies of their work. Here's the cover to and first page of "Pair It" by Jen Vaughn...





It's an intriguing story which I think may be part of a larger work (I'm making that assumption based on the fact that Jen wrote "(a sample)" under the title on the cover.)

The other comic was "25¢ AND OTHER TALES" by Katherine Roy. Here's the front cover.



I especially like her drawing style. -- PL

Blast from the Past #175: Leonardo fighting the Shredder

I did this pinup drawing back in 1986, and probably sold it at a show. Fortunately, I made a copy of it before it disappeared.

It's not bad, but I think either the Shredder it a bit too small or Leo is a big too big. -- PL