Ask PL #13

If memory serves, it's been almost a year since I did on of these "Ask PL" posts... so I thought it might be time to do another one. If anyone has any questions, please ask! That is, unless they are questions about whether I have seen the new TMNT movie -- the answer is no, I haven't, and probably won't until it is released on DVD/BluRay. Also, I have not watched the new season of the TMNT TV show or read any of the IDW TMNT comics. -- PL

UMass Turtles

There is a nice short piece (on the TMNT sculpture group I donated to my alma mater) which was just posted on a UMass website. Here's the link:

http://www.umass.edu/gateway/feature/cowabunga

It's short, but sweet, and the photos are great! -- PL

Grab bag!

Gary RIchardson just told me today about a nifty special offer, related to the new TMNT video documentary, that Mirage Studios is making for a "TURTLE POWER DVD GRAB BAG", and I thought I should post it here. Rather than duplicate what is already online, I will just post the link to the offer at miragelicensing.com:

http://www.miragelicensing.com/paypal/grabbag.html

Looks pretty cool to me! -- PL

"The Marvel Method"

This post isn't about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but it is about comics, so I figured "Close enough!". Maybe I'll post it on my other blog, too.

I was in Barnes and Noble last week doing my weekly "check out the new magazines" thing, when my eye fell on the cover of a new issue of "Comic Heroes" magazine. 

Nothing about the contents, at least from the cover, immediately appealed to me, so I went to the table of contents, where I saw that inside was a story about the famous "Marvel Method" of creating comics.

I was skimming the article when I noticed a familiar illustration -- a self-portrait by Jack Kirby (inked, I think, by Vince Colletta), which I remember seeing print in one of the books DC published during Kirby's sadly brief tenure there when he was doing his amazing "Fourth World" comics. You can even see various references to his DC work in the illustration (note, for example, the little head shot of Orion from Kirby's "New Gods" comic book on the page he is depicted working on).

Of course, this immediately leads to an obvious question: Why in the world is an illustration from Kirby's time at DC Comics being used for an article about the "Marvel Method"? What was going through the editor's and/or art director's mind/s when putting this page together? Could one not find, in all the thousands of pages of art Kirby produced for Marvel, something which would have worked here?

Not only that, but as I understand it, the way Kirby worked on his books at DC during that time was not at all in the "Marvel Method"... so the choice of this illustration is even less coherent.

Weird. -- PL

CBC interview

Last week I did an interview to help promote the new documentary about the TMNT -- "Turtle Power: The Definitive History of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". It was an unusual set-up for the interview, because Kevin Eastman and I were appearing together (our first joint interview in well over a decade, I think) but from two locations more than three thousand miles apart. Kevin was at a radio studio in San Diego, while I was at the studios of local public radio station WFCR, in Amherst, Massachusetts (a station I listen to almost every day, so it was cool to be there).

The interview, conducted by Canadian Broadcasting Company reporter Peter Armstrong, was fun, although a bit too short to get into much of anything substantial. Still, it was an interesting experience, and made me realize once again how strange and wonderful it is that these wacky creations of ours have survived thirty years -- half my lifetime! -- and seem poised to thrive for another thirty, if not more. It also made me wish Kevin lived closer, so we could have more of these kinds of conversations… and maybe someday collaborate on another project.

The photo at top is a "selfie" I took while at the microphone in WFCR's studio.  -- PL

P.S. Here's a link to the interview:

http://www.cbc.ca/day6/blog/2014/08/15/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/

TMNT Volume 4, #30

(Recently, via a comment left on this blog, I was made aware that although I have posted digital version of TMNT Volume 4 #'s 31 and 32, I never posted one of #30. I will now correct that oversight.

In re-reading this issue before posting it, I noticed -- with some slight hint of melancholy -- the announcement in the letters pages of the fifth TMNT move project we had started working on just prior to the sale of the TMNT property to Viacom. Obviously, the sale -- which happened shortly after the initial publication of this issue -- put paid to that plan. While I am glad the sale happened, it does make me a little sad that we never got to see that project thorough to fruition. C'est la vie. -- PL}

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ThinkGeek.com celebrates Turtles

I just noticed tonight that one of my favorite nerdgear websites, ThinkGeek.com, is celebrating the TMNT with a special offer which will result in certain lucky folks getting free pizza (well, actually, vouchers for that hot and cheesy stuff).

Check it out at this page!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/blog/2014/08/cowabunga-dude-come-celebrate.html?cpg=64537672&msg_id=64537672&et_rid=963829751&linkid=64537672_headline_1f88#comment-form

Very cool, ThinkGeek dudes (and dudettes) -- thanks! -- PL