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Showing posts with label misc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label misc. Show all posts

Saturday, July 16, 2011

"Panel to Panel: Exploring Words & Pictures" Available to Pre-order



Back when Mirage was still publishing, they had struck a special relationship with John Rovnak of PanelToPanel.net. Books ordered through John often included exclusive, signed bookplates, usually featuring brand new art. Well, times change. Mirage no longer publishes comic books, and John no longer sells them. However, John has been working on a very cool project that is just about ready to (finally!) be published.

Using the connections and relationships he's established through his years as a comics fan and retailer, John has compiled a book of comics, art, interviews, and articles that feature many creators whose names will be familiar to TMNT fans. You can read the full contents on the Panel To Panel website.

Here are the highlights that should be of particular interest for TMNT fans:
  • STEVE MURPHY: Comes Out of his Shell by John Rovnak.
  • MARK BODE: A 21st Century Renaissance Man by John Rovnak.
  • DAVE SIM: The General in His Labyrinth by Jon Mathewson.
  • BUDDY COPS in Full-Color by Mark Martin.
  • BEAT PANELS: OR; IS THERE MONEY IN POETRY COMICS? by Stephen R. Bissette featuring the graphic poetry of Peter Money and Rick Veitch.
  • An archive of past interviews, from paneltopanel.net, featuring DAVID MACK, LARRY MARDER, LARRY HAMA, JAIME HERNANDEZ, JAMES STURM and STAN SAKAI.
  • and more….

The book is scheduled to ship in August or September. Order yours now!!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Introducing the Fresh and New Ninja Pizza!



Hey everyone! I'm really excited today to show you the project I've been working on for awhile, and that's this brand new look to the website! (Something that has been long, long overdue.) Pretty much every part of the site has gotten way cooler. So please, poke around and check all of it out!

I also now have a new e-mail address: rosemary@ninjapizza.net. The old one will still work, but this is now my preferred address for matters concerning the site.

If you're not yet aware, Ninja Pizza has active accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and YouTube that you should check out and follow/like/subscribe to. I'll be making an effort to deliver regular, unique content to each of those channels. But of course, all the news you need to know will be delivered right here on the blog, as always.

That said, we're only two weeks away from San Diego Comic-Con! Details for the Con are still vague, but there should be some news to report from Nickelodeon and IDW about their upcoming projects. For anyone attending the show, I'll post a schedule of TMNT stuff in a week or so (or whenever stuff is made known).

Thank you to everyone for staying tuned to Ninja Pizza for your TMNT news - I really think we're going to be in store for some fun in the next couple of years!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Kevin Munroe to Direct Upcoming Lucasfilm Feature



This isn't TMNT news per se, but since real TMNT news is far and few between, I'm gonna run with it.

It was announced today that Kevin Munroe, writer-director of the 2007 "TMNT" CGI film, will direct a not-yet-named animated film to be produced by George Lucas's Lucasfilm of Star Wars fame. Plot details are scant, but the film is said to be a musical involving fairies.

This should be a very interesting project to see develop - Congrats and good luck to Kevin with it!

You can read the full story over at Yahoo! News.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

TMNT Run in Marathon



Here's a humorous picture of some folks in TMNT costume T-shirts running in the White Rock Marathon in Dallas, TX, Dec. 13.

Thanks to the Dallas Observer!

Friday, November 6, 2009

Norwayne High School Benefit T-Shirt



     

Ryan Brown's alma mater, Norwayne High School in Creston, Ohio, is selling an exclusive Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt to benefit their arts programs. The shirts are also available at the middle school in Creston, and two elementary schools, one in Sterling and one in Burbank. Their mascot is the Bobcat, hence the phrase "I love being a Bobcat!" on the shirt.

Unfortunately, the shirt isn't available online or to the general public, but it's still great to see an effort like this to support the creative arts. As an alumni of my school's band program, I know first-hand just how neglected all of the arts programs can become when schools aren't able to budget properly. Good luck to Norwayne High School and all affiliate schools!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Nerdy Show Episode 10, "TMNT RIP" Now Available



If you haven't checked it out yet, yesterday's TMNT episode of Nerdy Show is now available.

Thanks to the guys for being great hosts!!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Tonight's "Nerdy Show" Podcast to Talk Turtles





I will be a guest on tonight's episode of the "Nerdy Show" podcast. The show records live from 9pm-11pm EDT, with the first hour of the show likely to be Turtles talk. And perhaps obviously, the focus of the discussion will be last week's sale of the TMNT to Nickelodeon. You can check out the live recording at Justin.tv. They hope to have it available for download ASAP, possibly within an hour of completing the recording. At worst, the podcast will be available tomorrow from their Web site.

I'm a little nervous about this, but also excited! And I expect it'll be fun!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

TMNT on FAIL Blog



This picture has been circulating for over a week, but it hit FAIL Blog today, so I decided I'd post it. You can also Digg it.


Hopefully we can all use this as a lesson for why unnecessary text should be kept off of merchandise (all of the recent T-shirts suffer from this, too).

Monday, December 8, 2008

Hasbro CEO listens to fans, becomes CEO of the year



Web site MarketWatch, part of the Wall Street Journal Digital Network, has named Hasbro's Brian Goldner as their 2008 CEO of the year.

ToyFare magazine has also released an interview with Goldner, where he talks about his involvement in turning popular Hasbro properties Transformers and G.I. Joe into blockbuster movies.


Here are some choice quotes from the interview:

How much do you consider the opinions of hardcore fans of the franchise when making decisions for the films?
GOLDNER: The hardcore fans are an integral part of the thought process. From the very beginning as we thought about "Transformers," we thought about a lot of the characters fans would want to see and the story that we should tell. ...

Was there any particular fan feedback on the first "Transformers" that you took into account for the sequel?
GOLDNER: ... So what we did is, we focused in on some of those things that the fans told us from a very early stage that they wanted to see in the next movie—of course I won't tell you which ones they 
are.

But you guys are paying attention.
GOLDNER: Constantly. And I think what's great about our creative teams, our filmmaking teams is, they get it. They absolutely understand how to strike that balance, and they want to strike that balance and understand the core fan feedback. Because at the very heart, that's the thread that will hold the franchise together forever, if you'll honor that. And then of course, they also are great filmmakers and in their own right they also have the ability to reinvent the brand in a completely unexpected way.

Meanwhile, Gary Richardson, CEO of the Mirage Group, which oversees the whole of the TMNT franchise, continues to make business decisions based solely on increasing the size of his own wallet in lieu of listening to what it is that fans want or building the company/property into something that actually makes an effort to be profitable outside of letting people give them money to slap pictures of Ninja Turtles on boys' pajamas.

It is not believed that MarketWatch considered Mr. Richardson for its CEO of the Year title. It is actually a stretch to believe they know he exists.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

A New President? Or an Old School President?



Here's something random that I found by complete accident.

Visit Zazzle.com to pick up this creative celebration of the new President-Elect, Barack Obama, that plays off of the classic TMNT cartoon logo!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Mirage's Fan Reply Postcards




The previous post on Mirage's unique postage meter stamp brought up a conversation in the comments about the postcards Mirage would send in response to fan mail and/or fan art. Tonight I dug out the postcard I received in response to some fan art I apparently sent (I clearly recall receiving this postcard, but I can't for the life of me recall the art I sent).

The front of the card shows the line art from the cover of TMNT Adventures #18. If you look closely on the back you'll see that same Raphael postage meter stamp (all the blots are from the residue of poster putty I used to hang the postcard on my bedroom door for years). The postmark date is September 17, 1991. Man, that was forever ago!

Did you ever receive this or a similar postcard? Still have it? Send me a scan!

Ryan Brown adds: We gave Murph's girlfriend at the time the task of answering all the TMNTA fan mail. She did a phenomenal job!! We'd print up the postcards using different TMNTA cover art at a local printer and then give them to her to mail out. Murph and I wanted to send something special to the kids who took the time to write in. I'm not sure how many different covers we used for the postcards but I believe we utilized quite a few.

And:
Murph and I loved to read the fan mail. We personally signed and sent the first few but suddenly the amount of mail increased so much that we had to pass it along to someone full time and that dude was a newly arrived Dan Berger. As Dan's workload increased Murph's girl friend stepped in.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

The Mirage Studios Postage Meter




Doing a bit of Fall cleaning today and I came across this old scrap of paper. This is quite the testament to some of the random stuff I'll end up clipping and saving.

The scrap is simply a piece of brown packaging paper with postage affixed. The package, having come from Mirage Studios, also features a stamp with Raphael and the original TMNT comic book logo. I think most all of the mail they sent at this point in time featured the stamp. Mail from Mirage today features no such stamp, probably due to changes in postage machines.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Why the TMNT are Dying and Why I Don't Care



Hmm... lack of updates recently it would seem. Why? Well, the honest answer is that I've lost all enthusiasm for the TMNT in their current state and form. Unfortunately, that's no exaggeration. My lack of enthusiasm is at a solid 100%. I have totally and completely given up on Mirage Studios and all "partner" companies in their efforts to run the TMNT franchise.

And we now have solid proof that the TMNT are, indeed, in deep poodoo. Friend and fellow TMNT fan VaughnMichael, whom I hold complete trust with, has shared part of an email that states the following:

"Things are not good in turtle land, sorry to report. But Wal-Mart has decided to drop TMNT from ALL its stores beginning in the Spring!"


The implications of not being carried at Walmart go deeper than the simple lack of toys on Walmart shelves and pegs. Walmart is the nation's largest retailer and they have a HUGE influence in the market and trends across the board. Not being carried at Walmart means Playmates probably just lost half of their orders. Can Playmates sustain itself on half the quantity of what few products they're already producing? Not likely. And even if they can, it's not unreasonable to expect other retailers to follow suit with Walmart.

So that brings us into 2009, the big TMNT 25th anniversary "Shell-abration" year, with minimal product to support it. Sounds like an awesome party to me. This problem goes beyond just toys, though. Peter Laird has recently stated that there are no current plans for a TMNT cartoon beyond 2009 and at this point in time the future of TMNT comic books beyond 2009 also remains in question. That means we'll be having a Shell-abration for the past 25 years of TMNT with absolutely no certainty that there'll be another 25 years. Given the amount of money Mirage is supposedly spending to Shell-abrate, it may not be the best investment of money.

There is supposedly a movie company *this* close to inking a deal with Mirage for some sort of "hybrid" movie (I love how Mirage calls it a "hybrid" movie as if they came up with the concept of mixing live action with CGI). I wouldn't count on that happening if there isn't a connected toy deal. And if Playmates can't get TMNT product into Walmart, there isn't likely to be a toy deal. Honestly, no matter what the circumstances are with toys and other related products, that company should just take their money and run away. Run far, far away.

Mirage is a dying company, and it's time to just let it do so instead of putting off the inevitable that much longer. They are a company that is only interested in making the quick and easy buck by signing a deal with a licensor who wants to put TMNT images on their products. They are not interested in actually investing time, effort, or (god forbid) money in creating a foundation with which to support those products.

CEO Gary Richardson has a history of making shading licensing deals and making questionable business decisions. His earnings are apparently directly tied to the income generated by the Mirage Licensing division, so he goes for the quick buck and rejects anything that would involve the actual spending of money, be it printing costs for the books Mirage should be publishing next year but won't be or the cost of more employees so that people might actually be able to focus on delivering on what the fans want to see.

Oh, and speaking of the fans (that is presumably you, dear reader), I hope you have recognized that Mirage and all related companies have been doing nothing but giving you the proverbial finger more than a year now, if not several. It's time to let it die. It's ok. Really.

(There is actually one aspect of this that is not ok at all, but I'll get into that in another post.)

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

TMNT Display at the Indianapolis Children's Museum



Fan Goongasnootch recently shot these two videos from the Indianapolis Children's Museum's exhibit on comic books. Both videos showcase how the TMNT are featured in the exhibit - Very cool!

Part 1:


Part 2:

Thursday, July 10, 2008

TMNT Manhole Project



Check out this awesome, homemade TMNT manhole cover that Hans made!

Here's what Hans has to say about it:
My name is Hans and I've been an avid Turtle fan since the 80s. With the 25th Anniversary coming up I'm redecorating one of my bedrooms. I've come up with some great ideas and thought I'd just share one with you and anyone who would be interested if you decided to post it. If you look at the attached file, I made a custom mahole cover out of plywood, woodburning, paint, and plenty of free time. It took a couple days and the pics dont do justice. I'd recommend it as a fun craft project, plus it looks great on display. I only recommend patience and safety with the saw and woodburning!

You can take a look at the progress pictures of the manhole cover here. I think it's just fantastic!

UPDATE: Hans has provided pictures of the finished room!



Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Michaelangelo Balloon(s)



One of my best pals from High School, Erin, emailed this picture to me.

As I replied to her:
"That is awesome and yet equally disturbing!"

The more I look at it, the more I think that should be rephrased to, "That is awesomely disturbing!"

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Iowa Flooding



Brandon Stearns helps to remove flood-damaged items from his 83-year-old grandmother's home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Iowa's biggest cities were submerged Sunday after swollen rivers forced thousands of residents to flee their homes amid devastating floods in the Midwestern US state.

(AFP/Getty Images/Scott Olson)

Monday, June 9, 2008

NASA TMNT Patch



Let's face it, patches aren't just for Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. Grown-ups like patches, too. It's not uncommon for small groups and organizations to create custom patches. It's also, oddly, not uncommon for licensed characters to appear on these patches. I have some such patches from Boy Scouts and fire houses that feature Turtles, but this one for NASA is my favorite. It's also the only such patch I've seen that's used art from an official TMNT artist. Anything based on A.C. Farley's work is über-appealing to me!

UPDATE: Here's the official NASA page that explains the patch design: http://mplm.msfc.nasa.gov
The modules are named for significant engineers in Italian history, Rafaello, Leonardo and Donatello. This is the logo for the 3 Italian named modules developed by MPLM team members.  The logo, copyrighted by Mirage Studios, depicts a ninja turtle in an astronaut flight suit.   

A.C. Farley has also posted the artwork on his Facebook page, and had this to add:
They got in touch with Mirage and asked if we would do the patch. I got to do it because I am in love with the space program. They made enameled metal pins, embroidered patches and jackets and other stuff I never even seen.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Random Picture




Just because this is the view I'm constantly looking at while at my computer, and I had my camera handy, here's the top of my PC and the goodies that live there. From left to right there's a bootleg Saint Turtle figure, Yoda candy dish now a pencil (and sonic screwdriver) holder, small-scale unleashed Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mike figure, Mike lamp, small holographic Obi-Wans, and Jersey Devil.

I find the lamp to be a particularly curious item, as it's basically an old bubble bath soakie with a lamp stuck through it. As much as I never thought I needed such an item, my desk is too dark without the secondary light, so I really can't function on my computer without it.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Restored TMNT 1 Leonardo Movie Costume



This is REALLY neat! Over at the Technodrom forums, Bmaga123 posted a link to a movie prop restoration service where on a page featuring examples of their work is an original Leonardo costume from the very first TMNT film! If you hit the link, you can see the amazing before and after. Consider me extremely impressed, both by the restoration work and by the simple existence of the costume in the first place!!