Blast from the past #327: Found sketchbook part 3

Here's the third and last bunch of stuff from that sketchbook.

First up is a "wolverine mutant", clearly intended as part of the TMNT toy line -- probably as a bad guy.

Next is a very rough "rough" for an ad for the "Leonardo One Issue Micro-Series". I can't remember if this was meant to be a "house" ad, one we'd put in various Mirage comics, or something we'd use in publications like the Comics Buyer's Guide. In fact, I can't remember if this design ever made it to a finished piece.



This next one may be that same mutant wolverine character, slightly tweaked. I like his goggles.



This next one isn't a sketch, per se, but it is kind of interesting (well, I find it so, anyway). It's my chart of the proposed contents of the Gobbledygook special.



I get a kick out of this one, done just for fun, of Donatello whistling nervously as he is stalked by a big, creepy monster.

This next one might have been a rough sketch for a proposed TMNT portfolio piece, but I can't remember for sure. I'm not certain it is obvious enough in the sketch, but the Turtles here are -- for some reason -- on top of some gigantic beast, maybe Godzilla-sized, and that thing next to them is one of the creature's dorsal fins… and the little bug-like things on the left side of the drawing are parasites living on the creature.

This one is interesting, and I've rotated it sideways for easier viewing, as it was drawn in the sketchbook in this orientation. I am pretty sure these are quick doodles by the great dino man himself, Steve Bissette. I think he may have been trying to give me some pointers on how to draw dinosaurs, from back when we were starting work on the never-completed "Commandosaurs" project.



And the last thing from the sketchbook is from that same project -- here I was trying to work out a design for the "Commandosaurs" logo. -- PL

Blast from the Past #326: Found sketchbook Part 2

Continuing with the drawings from the sketchbook I found recently..
I'm not sure exactly why I drew this "Savanti Romero Bull-Dog Guard" thing (seemingly a literal combination of bull and dog) -- it was never used in any of the comics MIrage published which featured Savanti Romero, and Playmates didn't do a Savanti Romero figure in the toy line back when this drawing was done… so maybe it was just a fun thing. But it seems too specific to be just a random drawing. Oh well -- that's memory for ya!



These "other storm drain/sewer mutants" are another mystery -- they don't REALLY seem to fit in with the somewhat goofy nature of most of the Playmates TMNT toys of that era, but I also can't recall having plans to use these ideas in any of the comics. I have to say that I do like the "telekinetic baby alligators", though.

This is kind of a curious one. As some of you may know, I was never that crazy about the initialed belt buckles that Playmates gave the Turtles in the original toy line. It always seemed superfluous to me. So why did I do this drawing of a Mirage comic book-style Leonardo with an "L" on his belt buckles, and then sketch in another version with his entire name written on his belt? I have no idea.

This is, I believe, a slight variation on a design that Kevin and I came up with for an alternate costume for Leonardo, with a little armor somewhat inspired by samurai gear. Not totally sure why I drew it in this sketchbook.

This is another oddity. The pose of this lightly-sketched Leonardo figure makes me think Kevin must have drawn it. But why was he drawing in my sketchbook? Again, no idea. I suppose it's possible that in this drawing I was trying to ape Kevin's style, but it really looks more to me like he drew it.

These doodles were clearly done with Playmates in mind. The "rising sun" bandanna was something Kevin and I had come up with as part of a possible alternative costume for Donatello. It's interesting to note the other ideas for elbow pads. And I like the "bamboo frame" idea -- this would have been used as a look for the sprue, or "tree", that would come with a Turtle figure and hold weapons that you would have to twist or cut off to use. I don't think that idea ever made it into the toy line, but I could be wrong.

Another page obviously devoted to musings about ideas for Playmates' TMNT toy line -- this time trying to come up with concepts for mutated bad guys, apparently intended to be henchmen (or would that be henchmutants?) of the Shredder. I think the crab with the pop-up machine guns would have been cool.

Here's another one of my ideas for Turtle sewer playsets -- I don't think this ever made it into the toy line back in the old days, but I think Playmates DID do something sort of like this in the 2K3 toy line. -- PL

Blast from the Past #325: Found sketchbook Part 1

In my continuing, somewhat slightly-faster-than-glacially-paced efforts to go through my STUFF and sort it into piles of things to keep, things to give away, and things to throw in the trash, I still occasionally come across some stuff I'd forgotten… such as this sketchbook, with things drawn in it probably from the mid-to-late 1980's. There are some concepts that I clearly sketched for Playmates Toys, with the hopes that they might find their way into the TMNT toy line. There are I think twenty-four pages in all, and I'll post them in three "Blast from the Past" installments, in the order in which they appeared in the sketchbook.

First up are these somewhat goofy concepts for Shredder vehicles.

Next is this basic pencil sketch of Donatello -- I have no specific idea WHY I drew this.

After that come these two wacky ideas -- wheeled vehicles for the Shredder and the Turtles, and some brief notes on  other ideas for the line. (I like the "Penthouse of Doom" name.)

Then, some ideas for the Turtles' "Secret Hideout" playset, including some disguise concepts for the Turtles themselves.

Next is this concept for a space suit for the Turtles. I think I have drawn several variations on this theme over the years.

Then we have the Shredder's jet-powered "Death Kite" (like that name too!).

And last in this group is an idea for a "Flying Foot Assault Car", as well as some variations on a Foot logo graphic. -- PL

TMNT Volume 4, #31

From the "Better Really Late Than Never" Department: Here's TMNT Volume 4, number 31. I don't know if I'll ever get around to concluding this story, but I realized it makes little sense to have this comic essentially completed, and not at least post it so fans of Volume 4 (and I know there are a few of them) can read it.


First, Michael Dooney's beautiful painted cover:



And then the "guts", layouts and pencils by Jim Lawson, inking by Eric Talbot, and tones, plot, lettering and script by Peter Laird. -- PL