Via TMNT 25 Blog ::

Unfortunately, 4Kids Entertainment and Mirage Studios were unable to reach an agreement with Fathom Entertainment to present the “Turtles Forever” special event.

We will keep our Turtles fan base informed as we work on a new distribution plan for this exciting project.

As always, we thank you for your support.

-4Kids Entertainment & Mirage Studios

..stay tuned, Kids !! We’re not out of the woods yet !! !! Don’t give up hope !!

~ t

☻ ☺

Keith Conroy – Poster Design, Final Line art Clean up 80′s Turtles and Foot

Andy Bradshaw – Pencil art for 80′s Turtles and foot and Final Line art Clean up

Khary Randolph – Pencil art for 03 Turtles and foot

Adrian Barrios – Final Line art Clean up for 03 Turtles

Jimmy Tran – Color

Emilio Lopez – Color and Illustration of background shredder

“This piece was done for promotion of the Fathom event By all of the art staff. It was done in a crunch. we essentially finished this in 2 days. I wound up staying till 2am doing the composite you see here. Though this version was not what was finally used, I still thought you guys should see it.

enjoy” — E.L.

** PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING LOCAL SCREENINGS .. **

Drawn group shot of the Summit participants from Reinventing Comics.

“The Creator’s Bill of Rights was written in November 1988 for a two day “Summit” of comic book artists held in Northampton, Massachusetts. The meeting had been suggested by Cerebus creator Dave Sim and hosted by local heroes Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, creators of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Summit was a follow-up to a July meeting in Toronto which produced a “Creative Manifesto.” Some of us found the Manifesto a bit scattered, so I wrote a rough draft of a proposed replacement. That replacement, “A Bill of Rights for Comics Creators” was accepted quickly at Sim’s suggestion. The rest of that day was a non-stop argument about the document’s wording.

The Bill never generated much noise in the industry and I wouldn’t want to exaggerate its influence, but it provides an interesting snapshot of our attitudes at the time, and of the climate that was fueling self-publishers, progressive business people, and artists trying to reinvent the comics industry. A few years later, several top-selling Marvel artists would break from the pack and form a new company called Image, shifting the debate from rights and principles to clout and competition, but both developments would share a common premise, still relevant today: that comics creators already have the right to control their art if they want it; all they have to do is not sign it away.

I was invited in large part because I knew Laird and others through an APA I’d created called The Frying Pan. At my suggestion, Beanworld creator and “Nexus of all Comic Book Realities” Larry Marder was invited too. Larry flew out from Chicago to our place in Arlington, Massachusetts shortly before the meeting. I had the rough draft of the Bill ready but not typed yet. I vividly remember hammering it out on my old manual typewriter as Larry read my notes back to me, right before we rushed out the door to catch a succession of buses and trains to Northampton.

While waiting for the bus in Springfield, we found a copy shop and photocopied my hastily typed hand-out. It was also on that trip that I showed Larry my notes for a comic book about comics that I had been working on for a few years.

After the first day of debates, everyone stumbled out of the Hotel Northhampton into the cold New England air to walk the five or so blocks to dinner. I remember Larry and I lagged behind a little. I had argued with Dave Sim about every imaginable issue that day as if my life depended on it, but walking to dinner, it all seemed pretty distant already. Larry and I talked more about my notes for the comic book about comics. I asked him if he thought those ideas would mean a lot more in the long run than anything I could accomplish in Northampton. He said yeah, they probably would.

When those notes became **Understanding Comics it was Kevin Eastman’s money that paid me to finish it – money he and Peter had earned because they refused to give away their creation the way so many artists had before them.” — ***Scott McCloud

☻ ☺

This is an   important piece of  Mirage Studios/ TMNT history  and  may prove useful to any and all those thinking of entering into comics or are already stumbling / succeeding their  way through the sequential art fields. Kevin and Peter were high backers of this at the time.

–>> ** CLICK HERE **

Shell kick’n montage from West Coast, L.A. and San D’s leg of the TMNT 25 road trip from your pal Michelangelo at the **TMNT 25 blog !! **

–>> Welp, wouldn’t normally do this but it’s tOkKa’s Birthday   !!

I’m feelin’ lucky !!

Hey, let’s have a Surprise Pizza Party !! !!

And let’s meet the famous  culinary creator for this catered affair  !!

I bet you know can guess who it is, what’s on the menu and what’s toppin’ Tokka’s pizza !! !!

And thanks to the wonderful discoveries provided by Stephan’s crazy collection courtesy of the fine first family of fun at Turtle Milk Studios, The ol “Anaglyph” Folks, maybe a surprise guest will be poppin’ out of our collective heads !!

Or someone’s .. ummm.. noggin !!

Alternate viewing on ::

** Flickr

*** DA

” Gee whizz, that tOkKa he really MUST BE CRAZY .. he thinks he can recap the overwhelming glut of news, reviews without allot of snooze n’ booze for all the crazy TMNT 25 stuff that’s gone on down the past 5 weeks or so !? Boy i don’t think that kid’s got the guts.”

–>> Well, it’s true .. doing a round – up of the is never easy on me.. and recapping an entire span of four weeks is kind of a chore. Well no it really makes me want to run away.

But i can do this. i’ll just gather the most imperative news bites and links from the past month from the most crucial information hubs. That’s what a “Round – up ” is alla about.

We’ll do it one step at a time best we can !! So in case you’ve been in and out of the TMNT loop, or totally outta it lately, Mikey’s has gotcha covered even when there’s ALLOT to cover        !! !!

IMPORTANT UPDATES FROM **THE OFFICIAL TURTLE SITE & DAN B.  ( so in case you missed something , here ya go !! !! )  ::

-  You can now read TMNT volume one #17 by Eric Talbot on the site.

- You can now order the “TMNT Collected Book Vol. 1″ and “Future Tense” trade paperbacks directly from us via Paypal.

- Comic reviews for “Tales of the TMNT” #60 and #61 (both available now):

**Tales #60 review from Mechanistic Horses Blog

***Tales #60 review at GoGreenMachine.org

***Tales #61 review at ComiXtreme.com

Tales #61 review at ComicsNexus.com

- PanelToPanel.net still has a few copies of Kevin Eastman’s “TMNT 25th” book (with a signed bookplate by Kevin) available here!

- Pads&Panels.com has posted an article about the TMNT Galabunga that was held during the San Diego Comic Con International last month. Check it here!

- Examiner.com has posted an article about the Turtles’ 25th anniversay.

- Ubisoft sent us the following codes for use with their “Turtles in Time Re-Shelled” game available via Xbox Live:

H6YTV-QD62R-HTKH2-XFQM7-K6P8M
JXRJ9-MPJY4-K3WHD-MG4TX-FKPCD
KJ8YF-KMCCP-9PX28-79YVQ-M228T
TDTCF-3MDRR-R2QYW-BR9FD-TYVH3
PVRPJ-XK2WY-B2JXD-WB4BM-F4HH6

- Ryan Brown and Fernando Leon Gonzalez have created a special image for a limited edition TMNT T-Shirt that we’re doing to help raise money for TMNT scribe Jake Black’s medical expenses. If you’d like to contribute to a noble cause and get a cool item - **Click here  ** ! (( Hurry on this, guys you got a little over a week !! !!  ~ t ))

-  Our November and December releases are now posted!

Posted previews for the TMNT trades: Future Tense, TMNT Collected Book Vol. 1 and TMNT 25th. We’ll have links to purchase Future Tense and Collected Vol. 1 up next week (Kevin Eastman’s company Heavy Metal published “TMNT 25th” so we don’t have copies of that).

-The TMNT 4-film box sets are available now! If you’d like to order them from Amazon.com, Michael sent in these handy-dandy links:

TMNT Film Collection (regular DVD) via Amazon.com

TMNT Film Collection (Blu-Ray) via Amazon.com

- The just-released (via XBox Live) remastered “Turtles In Time Re-Shelled” arcade game came out of the starting gate very fast, grabbing the number one download title for its first week in distribution. Thanks for the support everyone – and cowabunga!

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased)
1. Turtles in Time Re-Shelled
2. Marvel vs. Capcom 2
3. Battlefield 1943
4. Splosion Man
5. Castle Crashers
6. Worms 2: Armageddon
7. Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers
8. The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
9. R-Type Dimensions
10. UNO

- TMNT scribe Tristan Jones sent in this kewl news:

“The Target stores here in Australia stock a free mag for kids called ‘Just Kidding’ that contains a one-page-per-issue reprinting of the rare Titan ‘TMNT Fast Forward’ comics (towards the end of the book). There are also some other neat tidbits in there for people to check out, and fortunately, there’s an online version.”

- GameSpot has posted a TMNT article to usher in the release of “TMNT: Smash-Up.”

- Peter Laird has posted corrections based on erroneous information that was printed in the TMNT Collected Book Volume One (out now – we’ll have a Paypal link to order the book posted next week if you can’t find any copies locally). Check out Peter’s blog to get the facts – and my sincere apologies to everyone, especially Kevin and Peter, for making the gigantic editing mistake.

- I’ve finally started posting the screenies for the “Ninja Tribunal” episodes – episode 104 now has screen shots.

- We’re getting plenty of questions about when the “TMNT Forever” film will be released on DVD, and right now the answer is  we don’t know. Mirage and 4Kids are seeking a distributor for the project – as soon as we find one, we’ll let ya know. It’s a phenomenal piece of animation that we can’t wait for everyone to see – so rest assured that everyone involved is doing their best to get the movie in stores ASAP.

- Teenage Wasteland has posted their podcast review of various things, including a great review of “Tales of the TMNT” #59 by Tristan Jones and Paul Harmon at the 17:38 point of the show – WARNING – profanity is used throughout the podcast – click here to check it out!

Now the news and notes from my awesome network of friends with Stephan and the GGM Network !! !! :

- Mike – Sama rocks with info on TMNT Back to the Sewers Region 4 DVD Info.

- Mirage At FAN EXPO 2009 / Toronto Con info from TMNT DOC’s Isaac!!

- Machia’s Tales of the TMNT Review #60!!

- New TMNT Smash-Up Features Trailer

- Jake Black Cancer Update (( Good News )) ~~

- Turtle Soup: Designs From The Classic TMNT Years (( YOU GOTTA CHECK THIS TMNT – Toy Design Book !! !! ))

- GGM’s “I Didn’t Get To Go To Comic Con-Test”: WINNERS! / Hilarious Fan Stories !! !!

- Stephan’s TMNT Treasures: Scat #1!! !! !!

- Review for the Blu-ray TMNT Movie Collection at Blu-ray.com.

- TMNT 80’s Complete Season 7 Box Art First Look by Mike Sama !!!

- GO GO GREEN MACHINE .. – – – Rangers..( some things ya may not have known about GGM’S Stephen )  ;]

-A “Tale” by 2 Newbies or A review of Tales 61 by Jester

- 4Kids Entertainment For Sale? , Rumor info

-  Ubisoft Turtles In Time Re-Shelled Trailer! ( in case ya missed it, doubtful ya did .. still ).

- Warner Bros Updates their DVD Site for the TMNT Movie Collection and Updates for 80s Cartoon Season 8 and Complete Season 7 Set News from Mike Sama !!

-Previews for the smokin hot Tales of the TMNT #60 and #61 from T.Jones himself !!

- And for any past events like the massive TMNT 25 presence and panels at SDCC last month you can check GGM’S excellent ** USTREAM and ***YOUTUBE sites !!

Now finally some FUN stuff and posts from fans, friends, and the big guys at Mirage  on Michelangelo’s blog on TMNT 25 !! !!

- ** The Creation of one of the Turtles most powerful villains, the Mighty HUN .. by T. Jones !! !!

- **Mike Dooney’s Mirage Group Recap !! !!

- ** Gary Richardson’s San Diego Finale !!

- **Michalngelo’s SDCC Craziness !!

- **”The Story of GGM’S Stephan’s Famous TMNT Tatoos.. !! ”

.. ok .. that was allot ..

can i breath now ?!?!

WHEEWWW ** ** ~~~

~t

☠ ☠

“Endangered Species” takes on a new meaning when the Lord of Death attacks the Brotherhood of P’an.

The Master of Nightmare plots the destruction of the Panda Clan living in the Caterpillar Mountains. Will his evil machinations rouse the Earthquake Beetle from his eternal burrowing ?

Rites of passage, story-tellers, animal warriors, wizards and more. Perhaps Panda Khan is what you’ve been searching for. Read his mini-series and find out.”

Li Yang, the Panda Khan is unique in his ties to TMNT lore and a special, though somewhat elusive ally and friend to the Turtles and Usagi Yojimbo dating back to the very early days of both comic series. Most kids in the early 1990s were familiar with the infamous Turtle action figure, but some just “BEARLY” the associated comic mini-series.

The reason for Li Yang’s inclusion into the TMNT Playmate’s toy fold aside from creator’s Garcia and Sharp’s friendship and association with Mirage was also that at some point P.K. was to appear in the original TMNT cartoon show !! This is very similar to the effect of the deal made with Stan Sakai and the now iconic cross-over history that Usagi Yojimbo and his friends have had with the TMNT.

It should also be noted that Dave has also shared his illustrative talents with the Turtles including appearances including 1991′s “Turtle Soup” anthology and some of the earliest “TMNT ADVENTURES” titles. Dave now is well known for his work on Ben Edlund’s insanely famous : “The TICK” !!

As far as i have discovered, the Big Bad boy warrior bear and all his spacey pals make some of their first appearances in Colleen Doran’s “A Distant Soil” in 1985. An early version of the “The Chronicles of Panda Khan” appear in Doran’s cult favorite book , edited by Richard Pini of ‘ Elfquest’.

The actual mini-series would span four issues and a hand full of fun crossovers between 1986 – 1990.

..comic cross-overs / pre- TMNT include an appearence in Usagi Yojimbo & the laugh out loud series EQUINE THE UNCIVILIZED #6. Here Li Yang shares cameos with the Turtles and Usagi as well as whole cavalcade of famous anthropomorphic comic critters !!

Some of his Pre-TMNT final appearances as far as i can tell are in 1989′s Varmit’s Cross – over entitled “X-Khan” & the “Panda Khan – Special #1″ from 1990.

What you see here in this posting is NOT a complete listing of all of P.K.’s comic appearances. This is what i have in possession.

I shall have to confirm with Dave and Monica on ALL of his appearances.

In 2008′s Comic-con i had the special honor of meeting Dave for the very first time after many years of searching. In 2009, following the TMNT and Usagi’s 25th anniversary roles of honot at the CON.. i managed to also catch up with Dave’s better Panda Half and Li’s Co-creator Monica Sharp !! !!

The fun loving duo informed me about a few things in our exciting exchange and how some seedy ‘ SUITS ‘ wanted control over PANDA KHAN and rights outside of Dave and Monica’s to do with P.K. as they saw fit. It just wasn’t right. I have a feeling this greased the wheel to nix the appearance of Li in the Turtles T.V. show. This is speculation on my part however.

“Li Yang is an honorable and mighty leader of the genetically altered Panda people of Wu-Kung. ”

This tales of this powerful warrior and his heroic allies from the far-out, far – flung , and freeky SCI – FI future is filled with monsters, bugs, space-pirates , and a very evil wizard.

I highly recommend seeking out Li’s classic adventures not just for the Dave’s graphical visuals and Monica’s narrative excitement but just for the absolute pure FUN of it all !!

P.K. is damn FUN READING and outright COOL !!

Seriously !! You don’t know what you you’ve been missing in all of this and so much of the awesome, and unique story telling lies beyond Li’s action figure !!

Li’s signature phrase is ” I AM NO ONE’S PET ! ” .

This is not some cute little wording typed up by Playmate’s Toys marketing and packaging guys. This comes directly from the aforementioned Panda Khan short – story “X-Khan” . When the evil Business Pirate and Crime Lord known as “The Cleaver” wishes to keep P.K. and his lovely pelt as an acquisition and ‘ Beat of Burden ‘. Thus disrupting a trade with Khan’s Tong Pirate allies.

Khan signifies furiously :

“I AM CALLED KHAN AND I AM NO ONE’S PET ! ”

The Cleaver and his associates then wish to de-claw P.K. But with the help of his powerful and ancient ‘ Dragon’s Claw ‘ sword , The Cleaver and his associates leave the business to Beaver and thus retire from criminal activity permanently !!

It’s been noted to me that the classic Panda Khan stories are set to return for reading by a whole new generation via the net. As well as Dave’s awesome, Cowboy Zombie – filled fun Shadow of the West, The Legend of the Night Ranger.

I’ll have further information on this as it develops !!

Original PANDA KHAN art is still in the possession of Dave and Monica and for now is not for sale. Interestingly enough, the only P.K. art used from the original comic stories owned by a third part is in the collection of a – 1 STAN SAKAI !! !!

That didn’t stop Dave from creating some awesome NEW LI YANG art just for me .. now i have the honor of sharing it with you !! !!

** There’s even more fun on my ‘PANDA KHAN’ set on FlickR – CLICK HERE !! **

~t

And for some rad photos, check out my flickr photostream (Tokka’s will be along shortly)…

Check out more photos after the jump!