tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2253027204006002932024-03-18T02:48:12.437-07:00Peter Laird's TMNT blog(TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc. © 2009 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
All other material ©2011 Peter Laird unless otherwise noted.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger897125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-71836560045776992832023-11-21T10:11:00.000-08:002023-11-21T10:11:49.905-08:00TMNT 40th anniversary commemorative event in Dover, NH<p>A few days ago,I found this cool video on YouTube -- I thinnk it's a little over half an hour long and contains much of the official speeches at the reveal of the TMNT commemorative sign and manhole cover. </P
<p></p>-- PL
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Rbq7bXn3A7w?si=moHU3x_x_N3g0txe" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>P/Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-5356110053718051532023-11-19T23:00:00.000-08:002023-11-19T23:00:57.908-08:00http://plairdblog.blogspot.com/2023/11/tmnt-new-street-sign-and-manhole-cover.htmlUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-66580933746283786252018-09-30T10:36:00.001-07:002018-10-09T09:44:08.806-07:00SUPERMEGAFEST!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Just wanted to let all of you TMNT fans know that I will be attending "<b>Super Megafest 2018</b>" on October 13 and 14 in Framingham, MA, at the invitation of and alongside my good pal and fellow Mirage Studios alumnus <b>Steve Lavigne</b>! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's a link to the show's website:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.newenglandsupermegafest.com/">http://www.newenglandsupermegafest.com/</a><br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It looks like a cool show with a lot of fun stuff happening! -- PL</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">SHERATON FRAMINGHAM HOTEL </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1657 Worcester Rd. <br />Framingham, MA 01701</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />SHOW HOURS:<br />Saturday, October 13th: 10:30 am - 6:00 pm
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sunday, October 14th: 10:30 am - 5:00 pm</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com132tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-65858595488203596262018-07-24T10:39:00.001-07:002018-07-24T10:39:38.971-07:00Lock CIty Comicon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xClTPfqIgMU/W1dkIuVAtJI/AAAAAAAAGow/XFLWpw2hgj4Brnw2edH_Rs5HUpxFQwxHQCLcBGAs/s1600/Lock%2BCity%2Bgraphic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="655" data-original-width="1170" height="179" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xClTPfqIgMU/W1dkIuVAtJI/AAAAAAAAGow/XFLWpw2hgj4Brnw2edH_Rs5HUpxFQwxHQCLcBGAs/s320/Lock%2BCity%2Bgraphic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Recently, my good friend and fellow TMNT alumnus Steve Lavigne invited me to join him at a comic convention in North Haven, CT… and I decided to take him up on his offer. It's called the "Lock City Comicon", and it's being held this Saturday, July 28, at the Best Western at 201 Washington Avenue in North Haven.<br /><br /> I've never been to this show, so I don't know quite what to expect, but from the description at the convention website (<a href="https://www.lockcitycomiccon.com/">https://www.lockcitycomiccon.com</a>), it looks like it should be fun. And with Steve there, how could it not be? -- PLUnknownnoreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-7681643703171279782017-04-05T09:09:00.002-07:002017-04-05T18:44:19.164-07:00Ask PL #16<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Got questions? I might have answers. -- PL</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com188tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-82613195761194941932016-05-26T06:35:00.000-07:002016-05-26T06:35:05.083-07:00A minor correction<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I was just looking at the <a href="http://www.tcj.com/">Comics Journal website</a>, and stumbled upon a neat article about the comics "scene" as it pertains to Northampton, MA, home of Mirage Studios. It's a pretty good piece, but I noticed this error:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"<i>Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird moved here and started Mirage Studios shortly after Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 was released.</i>"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">While it is true that we moved to Northampton "shortly" after TMNT #1 was released (I guess two years could conceivably qualify as "shortly"), it is not true that we "started Mirage Studios" upon moving to Northampton (in the summer of 1986, by the way). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Mirage Studios was actually started back in 1983, in Dover, NH, less than a year before we published TMNT #1 in May of 1984. Mirage then moved to Sharon, CT and stayed there for two years before ending up in Northampton. -- PL</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here's the link to the article:</span><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_774109604"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></a>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.tcj.com/northampton-ma-scene-report/">http://www.tcj.com/northampton-ma-scene-report/</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com39tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-20157062151275131402016-05-02T21:34:00.001-07:002016-05-02T21:34:42.304-07:00Turtles chosen as "family ambassadors" for New York City<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> My daughter Emily reminded me today that I'd been quoted in a New York Times article about the Turtles being chosen as this year's "family ambassadors" for New York City. Here's the link she sent me to the story:<br /><br /><a href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/04/30/nyregion/now-selling-new-york-four-heroes-in-a-half-shell.html?referer=">http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/04/30/nyregion/now-selling-new-york-four-heroes-in-a-half-shell.html?referer=</a><br /><br /> It's pretty cool that the TMNT are being employed in this fashion, I think. -- PL<br /><br /> P.S. There is a link in the fifth paragraph of the piece for "their origin story", which takes you to a page at <a href="http://mentalfloss.com/article/30862/complete-history-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles">http://mentalfloss.com/article/30862/complete-history-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles</a>, wherein one of the first things you read is "<i>Struggling artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird were living in Northampton, Massachusetts, when they came up with the Turtles in November 1983.</i>" That's a pretty blatant error with which to begin an otherwise decent article -- as true TMNT fans know, while Kevin and I met and became friends in Northampton in 1981, it wasn't until two years later -- when we were living in the same house in Dover, New Hampshire -- that we created the TMNT.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /> It's particularly distressing to me because the writer of the mentalfloss.com article states in the first paragraph that "To make sure I got the scoop on everyone’s favorite pizza-obsessed heroes in a half-shell, I went straight to the source—co-creator Peter Laird—who was kind enough to answer our burning questions about the franchise. "</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /> I can't really remember being interviewed for this article, and I can't find any email record of it, but I know for certain I would never have told anyone that the Turtles were created in Northampton. In fact, I have pointed out this same mistake a number of times when I have seen it online and in print. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /> Other than that, as I mentioned, it's a decent article. It's a long way from the "Complete History of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", but as the last line of its first paragraph states, it's "a pretty good place to start".<br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com63tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-4092942175631443852016-04-28T19:58:00.001-07:002016-04-28T19:58:53.029-07:00IMPORTANT UPDATE!!! Re: chance to bid on TMNT #1 first printing at Artrageous benefit gala<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Op636XuBbl8/VyLNFHBXXYI/AAAAAAAAGjk/-YcHNAHVu7EWIk8qLEYHHckAUdb7Mx8WACLcB/s1600/TMNT1%2BCGC%2Bgraded%2Bsm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Op636XuBbl8/VyLNFHBXXYI/AAAAAAAAGjk/-YcHNAHVu7EWIk8qLEYHHckAUdb7Mx8WACLcB/s320/TMNT1%2BCGC%2Bgraded%2Bsm.jpg" width="231" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hey! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I got an update from my daughter Emily today regarding bidding on the first printing of TMNT #1 which I donated to the Umbrella Community Arts Center for their fundraising gala event called "Artgaeous". Here's what Em had to say about how to bid on this item:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"<i>To have the first opportunity to bid on this piece of comic book history, you'll have to either actually be at Artrageous or buy a ticket to the event. (Tickets to the event can be purchased at <a href="http://theumbrellaarts.org/event/artrageous">http://theumbrellaarts.org/event/artrageous</a>.) If you are unable to be there in person but are interested in bidding, you can purchase a ticket and send Emily your cell phone number. You will get a unique bidder link to join the auction and can bid along with the other gala attendees. However, if the book doesn't sell on the night of the gala, it will be offered on eBay or another online auction website. If you have any questions about the auction, you can contact Emily at <a href="mailto:emily@theumbrellaarts.org">emily@theumbrellaarts.org</a><span id="goog_2016049430"></span>."</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So that's pretty cool! By the way, this copy of TMNT #1 first printing has been graded by <b>CGC</b> as a <b>9.6</b>. A photo of the "slabbed" book which Em just sent to me is at the top of this post. -- PL</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-13097937817417183842016-04-27T08:57:00.001-07:002016-04-27T08:58:59.256-07:00Peter Laird pottery at FCBD<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> As readers of my blogs and Facebook page may be aware, back in 2012 I reunited with a long lost love -- making pottery! I'd done it for one semester in college a little over forty years ago, and then for some reason or set of reasons never put my hands on the clay again until I started taking lessons and classes with Tiffany Hilton, a local "practical potter", as she refers to herself. (Don't let that somewhat modest description fool you -- she's incredibly skilled and a wonderful teacher.)<br /><br /> I haven't been drawing much in recent years, and the pottery has been a great creative outlet for me. I've enjoyed it immensely. Some friends and family members have dropped hints since I got back into doing ceramics that they wouldn't mind having a piece or two. That's flattering, and I have let one or two pots go, but I have to confess that I am kind of stingy with them -- I want to keep them all!<br /><br /> But I decided that for Free Comic Book Day this year at Steve Lavigne's "Shellback Artworks" store in Wells, Maine on Saturday, May 7, I would donate a couple of pots for a raffle. One of them is from that first year -- 2012 -- that I got back into pottery, and the other one is from my most recent class in 2016.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> The piece from 2012 is a kind of goblet, although one more suited to eating something like fruit salad or ice cream than having a drink from. The goblet form was one I had a lot of fun making in that long-ago class in college, and I had to try my hand at it again in TIffany's studio. On this particular piece, I also used some rolling-bead texturing tools I'd made to add some funky textures.<br /> This one measures about five inches tall and five and a quarter inches wide at the top.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><br /> The second pot I will be bringing to Shellback is this bowl from the most recent class I took in 2016. It measures about three inches high and six inches wide at the top. </span><br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-upVz8-9pwoU/VyDgFx0IGBI/AAAAAAAAGjE/h_DSG9PXFwwVZ9pWaigFZncBUt19sg73wCLcB/s1600/FCBD%2Bbowl%2Bside%2Bview%2Bsm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-upVz8-9pwoU/VyDgFx0IGBI/AAAAAAAAGjE/h_DSG9PXFwwVZ9pWaigFZncBUt19sg73wCLcB/s320/FCBD%2Bbowl%2Bside%2Bview%2Bsm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> This was one of a few bowls I used one of TIffany's newest glazes on, a yellow glaze which also has some cool light brown elements in it. This bowl would be well-suited to eating soup or a small salad from. (The quarter in the lower left of the photo is for scale.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Here's a top view of this bowl which shows the slash of olive green glaze I used to decorate the inside.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><br /> TMNT fans might be interested to know that in signing each piece before they were fired, I included with my signature a small Turtle head sketch, as seen in this example below.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /> I'm not sure how Steve is planning to run the raffle, but I expect the rules will be made clear on Free Comic Book Day. -- PL</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-48249522191181518472016-04-26T21:44:00.001-07:002016-04-28T20:06:46.457-07:00ARTRAGEOUS! A chance to bid on a first printing of TMNT #1 on May 7, 2016!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fNvW8Iixo3w/VyBBy12xidI/AAAAAAAAGiw/sUlieVqq4Pk2Cl2Bc_dPYA7Fc88szez2gCLcB/s1600/TMNT1%2Bfirst%2Bprint%2Bcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fNvW8Iixo3w/VyBBy12xidI/AAAAAAAAGiw/sUlieVqq4Pk2Cl2Bc_dPYA7Fc88szez2gCLcB/s320/TMNT1%2Bfirst%2Bprint%2Bcover.jpg" width="311" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> My daughter <b>Emily </b>works for a wonderful nonprofit arts organization in Concord, Massachusetts called <b>The Umbrella Community Arts Center </b> (<a href="http://theumbrellaarts.org/">theumbrellaarts.org</a>) and they are having their annual fundraising gala, <b>Artrageous</b>, on Saturday, May 7 at 40 Stow Street in Concord.<br /><br /> There will be a silent art auction at the gala, featuring all kinds of cool things, including a lot of original artwork… and a<b> mint condition</b> <b>first printing</b> of "<b>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</b>" #1 (the original Mirage Studios edition, published in 1984). This book has been graded by CGC at a <b>9.6</b>, and I am donating this copy to the art auction from my small personal collection of TMNT comic books. All proceeds will go to The Umbrella. <br /><br /> The starting bid on this rare comic book will be $5,000 (five thousand dollars), and I am also offering (if a buyer wants it) to personalize the book with my signature (and probably a small Turtle head sketch) inside the book or on its cover.<br /><br /> </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I got an update
from my daughter Emily today regarding bidding on the first printing of
TMNT #1 which I donated to the Umbrella Community Arts Center for their
fundraising gala event called "Artgaeous". Here's what Em had to say
about how to bid on this item:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"<i>To have the
first opportunity to bid on this piece of comic book history, you'll
have to either actually be at Artrageous or buy a ticket to the event.
(Tickets to the event can be purchased at <a href="http://theumbrellaarts.org/event/artrageous">http://theumbrellaarts.org/event/artrageous</a>.)
If you are unable to be there in person but are interested in bidding,
you can purchase a ticket and send Emily your cell phone number. You
will get a unique bidder link to join the auction and can bid along with
the other gala attendees. However, if the book doesn't sell on the
night of the gala, it will be offered on eBay or another online auction
website. If you have any questions about the auction, you can contact
Emily at <a href="mailto:emily@theumbrellaarts.org">emily@theumbrellaarts.org</a><span id="goog_2016049430"></span>."</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So that's pretty cool! By the way, this copy of TMNT #1 first printing has been graded by <b>CGC</b> as a <b>9.6</b>. A photo of the "slabbed" book which Em just sent to me is at the top of this post. -- PL</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-3530260863334564642016-04-21T08:59:00.003-07:002016-04-22T08:11:28.813-07:00Not awkward, not weird, but definitely a "family photo". At least they got ONE thing right!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Sometimes the Internet is just SO stupid. Or, to be more accurate and fair, it's the people who post certain things on the Internet…<br /><br /> I heard from a friend today that she'd seen the following online at this URL (http://www.fizzdot.com/the-most-awkward-and-weird-family-photos-of-all-time/28/):</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BwUKrFiQZJA/Vxj4lQhFkPI/AAAAAAAAGiM/HUZ1xKpkBDMwT65l2qhag6bxZXuN6gs1QCLcB/s1600/PJE%2Bwith%2BLeonardo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BwUKrFiQZJA/Vxj4lQhFkPI/AAAAAAAAGiM/HUZ1xKpkBDMwT65l2qhag6bxZXuN6gs1QCLcB/s320/PJE%2Bwith%2BLeonardo.jpg" width="320" /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><br /> … and she was wondering if she was mistaken in thinking that the guy in the photo was me. I replied and told her she was not wrong, and that this was in fact a photo taken back when the first live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie was being filmed in North Carolina. Fellow TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman and I had been asked to pose for some publicity photos on one of the movie sets with the actor who played Leonardo, garbed in one of the incredible Jim Henson Studio-created Turtle suits. <br /><br /> Following that session, I asked if it would be okay if I got a shot of me and my wife and infant daughter (who were also briefly visiting the movie set) posing with Leonardo, kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The actor inside the costume (who, if I am remembering correctly, was named Dave, and who told us that he too had recently become a father) was very gracious in agreeing to take the extra time to do this, a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">l</span>though he was sweating uncomfortably inside that heavy foam-rubber suit in the sweltering North Carolina summer heat.<br /><br /> I've always considered this photo to be a cool artifact of that time and experience. I'm glad we got the chance to pose for it, and I wish I knew the photographer's name so he or she could get the proper credit.<br /><br /> So, for the dumbass who posted this as supposedly one of "The Most Awkward and Weird Family Photos of All Time", here's a fact-check for you:<br /><br /> 1.) We (the people in the photo) love the "Teenage Mutant NINJA Turtles". We understand that they are sometimes called by the more generic "Teenage Mutant HERO Turtles" title in certain other locations, and there's nothing wrong with that, but we've always preferred to think of them by the original title -- "Teenage Mutant NINJA Turtles".<br /><br /> 2.) We didn't hire a Turtle for a day to pose with our infant. See above for the real story, not your invented nonsense.<br /><br /> 3.) The baby is not a boy, she's a girl -- my daughter, Emily, now 27 -- who loves this photo (even if she cannot, obviously, remember being there when it was taken!). She also did not grow up to hate the Turtles.<br /><br /> So there you go -- wrong, wrong, and wrong.<br /><br /> It's a useful object lesson, I think -- context IS important. -- PL</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-40788060945995057652016-04-20T21:47:00.004-07:002016-04-20T21:47:57.006-07:00Inks!!!<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xN0_egH8RTo/VxhbHVQj8aI/AAAAAAAAGhs/qdjZRp-tMZsRgUVuQRxWbTRKJWcKK8W6ACLcB/s1600/FCBD%2Bink2016%2B100dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Eric Talbot emailed me his scan of his inking of the TMNT group shot drawing I did for the print to be offered for the first time at Steve Lavigne's "Shellback Artworks" store on May 7 for Free Comic Book Day...<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xN0_egH8RTo/VxhbHVQj8aI/AAAAAAAAGhs/qdjZRp-tMZsRgUVuQRxWbTRKJWcKK8W6ACLcB/s1600/FCBD%2Bink2016%2B100dpi.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xN0_egH8RTo/VxhbHVQj8aI/AAAAAAAAGhs/qdjZRp-tMZsRgUVuQRxWbTRKJWcKK8W6ACLcB/s320/FCBD%2Bink2016%2B100dpi.jpg" width="239" /></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />... and as I suspected, I was not disappointed. Great job, Eric! Now we look forward to Steve working his color magic on this piece! -- PL<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-57290282863625306432016-04-12T22:30:00.002-07:002016-04-12T22:30:39.335-07:00Free Comic Book Day at Shellback Artworks, May 7, 2016!<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I had a nice lunch with <span style="font-size: small;"><b>Eric Talbot</b></span> today, and afterwards handed over to him two drawings I did recently, both of which he had agreed to apply his amazing inking talents to. One of them -- this group shot of the Turtles --</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">-- is intended to be used as the basis for an 11" by 17" color print (with <b>Steve Lavigne</b> colors!) which will be offered for sale at Steve's<b> Shellback Artworks</b> store in Wells, Maine on <b>Free Comic Book Day</b>, which is on May 7 this year (less than a month away!). Eric has also agreed to appear along with me and Steve at Shellback on that day. Yahoo!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If all goes well, and the ink flows readily, we might even have a second 11" by 17" color print available that day -- based on this drawing:</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0JiZxPJ0z5c/Vw3YbiGsR4I/AAAAAAAAGhA/nZVh-b28UkcnKo77s43iPFicRNOKNfI3QCLcB/s1600/Leonardo%2Band%2Btree%2Bmonster.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0JiZxPJ0z5c/Vw3YbiGsR4I/AAAAAAAAGhA/nZVh-b28UkcnKo77s43iPFicRNOKNfI3QCLcB/s320/Leonardo%2Band%2Btree%2Bmonster.JPG" width="236" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">... featuring Leonardo in a life-and death struggle with a malevolent tree spirit! I don't know who will be doing the colors for this piece, but I think it will likely be Eric. I can't wait to see what he does with the inks on these two drawings! -- PL</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-52261733077455946472016-04-07T06:55:00.001-07:002016-04-07T06:55:19.130-07:00Ask PL #15<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xUvRL8glVzI/VwZleQ4-fgI/AAAAAAAAGgo/3ueylkCDSIUEDg3eboYl7MAuOHhjLK9_Q/s1600/08-28-15%2BASK%2BPL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xUvRL8glVzI/VwZleQ4-fgI/AAAAAAAAGgo/3ueylkCDSIUEDg3eboYl7MAuOHhjLK9_Q/s320/08-28-15%2BASK%2BPL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If memory serves, it's been roughly a year since I did one of these. There has been a lot of TMNT stuff going on which I have had nothing to do with... so I very likely would not have much to say about that material. But I might have some answers/comments/opinions about what came before, if anyone cares to ask. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> As always, I can't guarantee that my answers will be completely -- or even partially! -- satisfactory, but I will give it my best shot. -- PL</span><br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com144tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-91899204767057964902016-04-05T07:20:00.002-07:002016-04-05T07:20:18.663-07:00Protective cases for early TMNT comic books<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I am currently trying to find appropriately-sized protective cases for early, oversized Mirage Studios-published TMNT comic books, which measure 7 and three-quarters inches wide and 11 inches tall. I'm envisioning those hard plastic "slab" covers used by comics grading services. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Can anyone point me in the right direction to find some of these? Thanks! -- PL</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-25820995195623387852015-05-22T08:08:00.001-07:002015-05-22T08:08:28.273-07:00TMNT #31 with Peter Laird head sketch!<br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I stopped down at Mirage Studios a couple of days ago to deliver a box full of one hundred copies of TMNT Volume 4 #31, copies which I'd autographed and also within which I had drawn a large Turtle head sketch on the inside back cover.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I decided to lay them all out, with the sketch pages exposed, on the Mirage conference room table, and take a photo. Why? Who the heck knows.</div>
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This photo only shows part of the group -- I couldn't get a good angle to show them all, and the photos I took to create a panoramic image (using the PanoramaMaker5 software) which <i>would</i> show them all didn't work with that program, for some reason unknown to me.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>While taking the photographs, I decided to count the copies to make sure there were actually one hundred… and was startled to find that there were only eighty-eight.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>D'oh! I thought I was done with this! I guess I have to get out another twelve copies and grab my Sharpie markers again. -- PL</div>
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<i>[Note -- these signed and sketched-in copies are for a special Mirage Licensing promotion seen here:</i></div>
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<i> </i><a href="http://www.miragelicensing.com/paypal/mirage04.html"><i>http://www.miragelicensing.com/paypal/mirage04.html</i></a></div>
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<i> Go towards the bottom of the page to find the details.]</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-82006884730365589952015-04-28T19:53:00.000-07:002015-04-28T19:53:00.854-07:00Free Comic Book Day: May 2, 2015 signing at Shellback Artworks<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I haven't actually counted, but I think I have done more signings at Steve Lavigne's "Shellback Artworks" comic and art supplies emporium than any other comic book store. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This Saturday, May 2, along with Steve, I will be doing another one at Shellback, located at </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1509 Post Road in Wells, Maine</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, for the annual "Free Comic Book Day" event. I believe there will be physical printed copies of issue #31 of TMNT Volume 4 for sale at Shellback (I've been told they exist, even though I have yet to actually see one!).</span><div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Should be fun! -- PL</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[The photo above -- one of my favorites -- is from June of 2012, just before Steve opened Shellback Artworks... which means the store has been open almost three years. Way to go, Steve! Congratulations!]</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-31231840461610273502015-04-18T06:13:00.000-07:002015-04-17T21:25:53.119-07:00Ask PL #14<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Got any questions? I might have some answers. Can't guarantee they'll be <i>good</i> ones, though. -- PLUnknownnoreply@blogger.com114tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-72187742859314882672015-04-14T07:39:00.002-07:002015-04-14T07:39:59.173-07:00Hmmm...I received the following link to an interesting opinion piece today:<br />
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<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/davegonzales/2015/04/13/paramount-and-marvel-should-let-daredevil-and-tmnt-team-up/">http://www.forbes.com/sites/davegonzales/2015/04/13/paramount-and-marvel-should-let-daredevil-and-tmnt-team-up/</a><br />
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I think it could be cool! -- PLUnknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-60734944802801751882015-02-20T08:01:00.001-08:002015-03-04T08:27:04.029-08:00"My Affection for Four Pizza-loving Turtles. Or: How My English Teacher Gave Me a Verbal Kick in the Teeth." by Niklas NowakNiklas Nowak, a TMNT fan from Germany, recently contacted me to let me know that he had translated his lengthy and interesting essay about TMNT, originally written in his native German, and posted it on his blog at this URL:<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px;"><a href="http://life-and-its-glut.tumblr.com/post/110245662475/my-affection-for-four-pizza-loving-turtles-or" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer; line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">http://life-and-its-glut.tumblr.com/post/110245662475/my-affection-for-four-pizza-loving-turtles-or</a></span><br />
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Check it out! -- PL<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">What, you are asking, does this have to do with TMNT? Read on...</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In May of 2012, after a roughly forty-year hiatus, I returned to an art form with which I'd had a brief but passionate encounter as an undergraduate: pottery.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I only took one semester of "Ceramics 1" at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst back in 1974, but I loved it -- especially working on the wheel, throwing bowls and mugs and goblets.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>So why did I wait forty years before taking it up again? Long story.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Two and a half years ago I began taking private lessons and then classes with local "practical potter" TIffany Hilton, who proved to be a wonderful teacher. I have continued to study with her and in fact will be taking another of her classes soon.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Last year, when I was finishing up a class with her, TIffany surprised me by asking if I would be interested in making some bowls for an upcoming charity event called "Empty Bowls" being put on by the Amherst Survival Center on March 9, 2015. The way it works (as I understand it) is that local potters make and donate ceramic bowls, and local restaurants donate food, and for the price of an admission ticket (proceeds going to the charity), patrons can choose one of the bowls and get it filled with food, taking the bowl home with them after the meal is over.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It sounded like a cool thing, and I was flattered that my teacher thought enough of my skills that she asked me to do this. So I wedged up a bunch of clay in her studio, and in a couple of hours had thrown a dozen bowls of varying shapes and sizes...</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>… then, a week or so later I trimmed their feet (and signed my name to the bottom of each bowl, complete with my traditional small TMNT head sketch)…</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>… and sometime after that, once TIffany had done the first (bisque) firing... </div>
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... I dipped them in one glaze, adding a few brushstrokes and spatters with a second glaze. </div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A few days ago, TIffany told me that she'd done the final firing, and I could come and view my bowls before they went off to their final fate.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I was happy to see that they'd come out just about as I had hoped they would. I'd used two of Tiffany's glazes, "cream" and "olive green", which, when combined, create a beautiful bluish-green color. Here's a group shot of the twelve finished bowls, ready to go:</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I don't know if there are any tickets left for the event -- I actually had an oddly difficult time finding information about it online -- but here's a link to the Amherst Survival Center Facebook page which might help if you are interested:</div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/amherstsurvival">https://www.facebook.com/amherstsurvival</a></div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I have no idea who will end up with the bowls I made, but it tickles me to think that maybe, just maybe, someone who is a TMNT fan might get a pleasant surprise when they turn their bowl over and see something like this:</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>-- PL</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-43795033977579936512015-01-20T06:48:00.001-08:002015-01-20T14:34:46.904-08:00Snippets #41: August 28, 1987<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1XMzbgH1mic/VL5qpQcIOgI/AAAAAAAAGXY/T5sFGFYeq2c/s1600/TMNTVolumeOneNumber12cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1XMzbgH1mic/VL5qpQcIOgI/AAAAAAAAGXY/T5sFGFYeq2c/s1600/TMNTVolumeOneNumber12cover.jpg" height="320" width="205" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This snippet is </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">from an August 28, 1987 letter to Mom and Pop:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Now we're back</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">[from the 1987 San Diego Comic-Con -- PL]</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> and back into the day-to-day grind. Right now, I'm working on completing the art for TMNT $12, which I am doing all by myself. I don't know if I told you about this, but Kevin and I have decided upon a new way of doing the turtle books. After three and a half years of intense collaborative effort, where each bit of story we would work on together and have to agree to, we need a change. So now, we will be alternating books -- I'll do #12, Kevin will do #13, and so on. It's kind of exciting, but at the same time scary, because we've each depended on the other for so long. I'm about a third of the way done with #12 right now, but I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to finish it in time for the scheduled September 30 ship date.</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">..............</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Another (hopefully) minor problem is with the animation company, Murakami/Wolf, which is doing the turtles cartoon. We just got the last set of storyboards last Monday, for episode five, in which the disembodied brain character, Krang, gets a robot body built for him by the Shredder. The problem is that the design of the robot body as shown in the storyboards was absolutely dorky -- it resembled a sick Pillsbury dough-boy. When we called Karl at Playmates about it, he said that it shouldn't be a problem -- that the actual animated robot body would look different, as it is common practice for the storyboard artists to do quick roughs for the purposes of the storyboards. Fine and good… until Karl called us again last Friday and told us that Murakami/Wolf said that they were too far into the production of the fifth episode to change the look of the character. This we found hard to believe, and it was pretty strange because the procedure through the last four sets of storyboards is that we would get concept sketches of any new characters along with the boards, and be able to change whatever needed changing. So we told Karl that we wouldn't approve it, and we called Mark Freedman, and he called Karl, and etc. etc…. the upshot being that I think today (Monday) we'l be talking with Karl again to see what we can do about solving the problem.</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> [I still remember where Kevin and I were when we had the discussion which resulted in our doing separate issues -- we were sitting in Pulaski Park in Northampton, near the Academy of Music, on a sunny, warm day.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It was unnerving doing a whole issue of the TMNT comic </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(except for the lettering) </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by myself, but ultimately it was fun, and liberating, in a way. Still, all things considered, I think I would have preferred that Kevin and I had kept working in our traditional collaborative style. I never did another full issue of a TMNT comic by myself. I have great respect for people who can do issue after issue of a comic book series -- it's a lot of hard work. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But we were under a lot of pressure, mostly related to the rapid expansion of Turtle business, and that way of working together just wasn't feasible anymore. We never really had that level of collaboration again, and I missed it. I still do. But I treasure the memories of working with Kevin on those early TMNT books -- it was a unique experience.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Contrary to what I said in the first paragraph above, Kevin did not do issue #13 after my issue #12 -- issue #13 ended up being a Mike Dooney book. I can't recall why, exactly, that shift occurred, but I suspect it must have had something to do with the press of business and personal life disrupting Kevin's ability to make the deadline for publication of that issue.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The "minor problem" with the animation studio doing the new Turtle cartoon was, in retrospect, a harbinger of problems to come. As anyone familiar with that first TMNT animated series is aware, the stupid design for Krang's robot body never got changed. If we had been more on top of things, and been more willing to risk doing stuff that might have delayed -- or even canceled -- the animated series, it might have turned out differently. But this was all new to us, and we really wanted this stuff to happen, and we let a lot of things slide, this included. We were also focused on the comic books Mirage was doing at the time, and didn't have a lot of energy to devote to the animated series... and, truth be told, as could be intuited by the fact that Kevin and I had decided to stop collaborating on the comics, we were not as in synch as we could have been, and did not present the united front which might have made dealing with other business people significantly easier.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> As my brother Bruce might say, "It is what it is." What happened, happened. I can't go back and change it now, as much as I wish I could.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I'm a bit sad to say that this is the last "Snippet" I will be posting, unless some other old correspondence with bits of Turtle history shows up. I doubt that will happen, but you never know. Thanks for reading these, and I hope you enjoyed them! -- PL]</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-35456062752265576682015-01-19T06:45:00.003-08:002015-01-19T07:59:04.387-08:00Snippets #40: June 28, 1987<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This one is from a June 28, 1987 to Stan Sakai:</div>
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"<b>Greetings from the East! Yesterday I picked up the new issue of </b><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Usagi Yojimbo</b></span><b>, but i didn't read it 'til today. I gotta tell you, Stan -- I was impressed! You already know I like your stuff a lot, but this book was great! You're really developing the character of Usagi in a fascinating manner… the gradual exposure of his history is tantalizing to say the least. And I love his tense friendship with the rhino ronin.</b></div>
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<b> Reading this book today got me so worked up that I had to do something… so I sat down at the drawing table and roughed out this eight-page story featuring Usagi and Leonardo. It's based around an incident lifted form the Robin Hood legend -- how Robin met (and befriended) Friar Tuck. I'm sending you copies of the roughs (and believe me, they are rough!); I hope you can follow the story. I'd really like to get your OK to finish this, maybe as a backup for your book or one of ours. Please let me know what you think… any suggestions would be appreciated.</b></div>
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<b> I can't remember the last time that a book inspired me to such immediate (drawing) action… thanks muchly for </b><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Usagi Yojimbo</b></span><b>!</b>"</div>
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[TMNT fans may recall the short comic book story which came out of the idea of mine mentioned here -- "The Crossing", which I believe appeared in "Usagi Yojimbo" #10. I wrote and drew that one by myself, on Duo-Shade board. Steve Lavigne lettered it.</div>
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I remember having a lot of fun with that piece. There is a post on my blog about it here:</div>
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<a href="http://peterlairdstmntblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/blast-from-past-90-repost-roughs-for.html"> http://peterlairdstmntblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/blast-from-past-90-repost-roughs-for.html</a></div>
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-- PL]</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-29792668177133416702015-01-18T05:45:00.001-08:002015-01-18T05:45:05.052-08:00Snippets #39: January 29, 1987<br />
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This is from a January 29, 1987 handwritten postcard to Mom and Pop:</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>"<b>Well, we (Kevin and I) just had our first meetings with Playmates Toy today. Yesterday, we drove up to L.A., along with the president and v.p. for marketing of Playmates, to meet with the president of Marvel Productions, the company that Playmates wants to do the TMNT animated series. It was an interesting meeting -- hearing talk of millions of dollars in production cost being casually bandied about. And it looks really positive.. I think they're going to do the animation. But Kev and I aren't counting on anything until it actually happens.</b></div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><b> </b></span><b>Tonight we might be going out to see some sights in Los Angeles with the two Playmates design people, John Handy and Karl Aaronian… and hopefully we'll be going back home. Can't wait!</b>"</div>
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[As it turned out, Marvel Productions never got the job to do the TMNT animated series... another one of those intriguing "forks in the road". What would have happened if they HAD produced the series? How would it have differed from the MWS version? Would we have been happier with it, or vice versa? Would the mass-market TMNT phenomenon have exploded as it did?</div>
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Impossible to say for certain, but interesting to speculate upon. -- PL]</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225302720400600293.post-44259293953409722062015-01-17T06:58:00.000-08:002015-01-17T19:57:49.798-08:00Snippets #38: January 17, 1987<br />
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This is from a January 17, 1987 letter to Mom and Pop:</div>
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"<b>Guess where I'm going to be on my birthday? Give up? California! Yes, the trip to meet with the Playmates people is now scheduled for the week after next. We'll be leaving on the 27th, meeting on the 28th and 29th, and coming back on the 30th. I'm not really looking forward to it -- I'd much rather be home on my birthday, and regardless of my birthday, I don't like to be away from Jen that long. I just have to look at it as an irritating necessity of my business life, I guess.</b></div>
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<b> I'm enclosing a couple of books that I don't think you have yet -- </b><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Leonardo</b></span><b> #1 and </b><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Gobbledygook</b></span><b> #1. Gotta keep your collection of Mirage Studios pubs up to date, right?</b>"</div>
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[I think this was the very first visit Kevin and I made to Playmates Toys at their headquarters in La Mirada. Mark Freedman of Surge Licensing joined us out there. We met two of the major players working on the TMNT toy line at that initial meeting -- John Handy and Karl Aaronian.<br />
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Given what was to follow, which of course I could not fully envision at that point, it's a little amusing to see me describing this trip as an "irritating necessity of my business life"... which, I suppose, at that point it was. Taking four days out of our schedules when we were going great guns with the comics and struggling to keep up with our self-imposed deadlines probably did seem annoying at that time. And I really didn't like being away from my wife for that long.<br />
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It's funny -- during the time between the date of my last entry in these "Snippets", which was from June 7, 1986, and this one roughly seven months later in January of 1987, a lot of really important stuff happened -- we moved from Connecticut to Massachusetts, set up actual office space for Mirage Studios, lost one secretary/office manager, then hired another... and probably most significant, we got contacted out of the blue by Mark Freedman, met with him in Northampton and signed a deal for him to be the licensing agent for the TMNT property. I can't say for certain, because the dates are a little fuzzy in my brain, but it's also possible that both Jim Lawson and Mike Dooney moved to the Northampton area from Connecticut and New Jersey, respectively, during this period.<br />
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I really wish I'd written more of this stuff down when it was happening.<br />
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If memory serves, for some reason I ended up coming back by myself from sunny, warm California, and found my car covered in more than a foot of snow... which I had to dig it out of, with no shovel, in the unplowed parking lot at the airport. Not a pleasant experience. At least by this time I had a reliable new Honda which I would not worry about so much in terms of starting when I needed it to and having an actual working heater for the cold months.<br />
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It's possible that I am conflating this with some other winter trip which ended the same way... regardless, not fun. -- PL]</div>
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