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

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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!!

TMNT "Mutation in Progress" Event Set for Comic-Con

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If you've been watching Facebook or Twitter, you've heard by now that there will be a special "Mutation in Progress" event held during Comic-Con next week in San Diego. Here's some additional information on the event, as well as some ways in which you can get a ticket (if you don't yet have one).

On Friday, July 22, there will be a special fan preview event for a limited number of invited guests. TMNT fans will get a sneak peek of the “Mutation in Progress” of the new animated TV series, including a look at the new comics from IDW and toys from Playmates. There will be three one-hour previews, at 4, 5 and 6 PM at an off-site location close to the convention center.

Fans can come by the Nickelodeon booth at Comic-Con to learn more about how they might get a ticket. They can also be on the lookout at the convention for ticket giveaways via a ninja street team and a series of Foursquare check-ins. A select number of tickets are also being given out in advance of Comic-Con via a series of giveaways by @TMNTMaster on Twitter this week.

Capacity for the event is extremely limited and all guests must receive a confirmed ticket from Nickelodeon events in advance of the preview.

Introducing the Fresh and New Ninja Pizza!

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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!

TMNT Ultimate Collection Vol. 1 Cover Art

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IDW's first volume of their hardcover line of TMNT comic book collections has been available for pre-order on various sites for awhile now, including Amazon.com. What Amazon hasn't had is cover art. While other sites have shown what was thought to be the cover art, all seems official now as the same cover art has finally been added to Amazon.

TMNT The Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1 has cover price of $49.99, but can be pre-ordered through Amazon for the low price of $31.17. It is scheduled to be released September 6, 2011.

UPDATE! Word via Bobby Curnow (@thedisastrix) of IDW on Twitter is that this is NOT the final cover art for this collection, and instead we should expect to see a BRAND NEW piece of art by Kevin Eastman. Cool!

Turtles in Time Re-Shelled Going Away June 30

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Joystiq.com is reporting that TMNT Turtles in Time Re-Shelled will no longer be available after June 30, due apparently to Ubisoft's TMNT license expiring. Turtles in Time Re-Shelled is, of course, the X-Box Live Arcade and Playstation Network updated version of the classic arcade and SNES game. Obviously, if you have not yet purchased the game and you wish to, you should do so now without delay. However, it is also interesting to note the expiration of Ubisoft's license. Does this take them off the table for any upcoming games related to Nickelodeon's new CGI series, or the eventual movie from Paramount? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Thanks to Harris for the tip!

Kevin Eastman Reissuing His 25th Anniversary Collection

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"TMNT 25th: A Quarter Century Celebration," Mark Bode Cover

If IDW's expanding collection of variant covers has your head in a spin (keep up with the covers as they're released in this Ninja Pizza Facebook gallery), be prepared to stay dizzy. Kevin Eastman will be reissuing his popular collection, first published two years ago during the TMNT 25th anniversary celebration, titled "TMNT 25th: A Quarter Century Celebration," with four new covers and eight pages of new material.

"TMNT 25th: A Quarter Century Celebration," Richard Corben Cover

The four different covers available feature artwork by Mark Bode, Richard Corben, Simon Bisley, and Glenn Fabry. While the Heavy Metal website does not specify if these reissues will be in hardcover or paperback (the original book was offered as both), the suggested retail price of $19.95 suggests they will be paperback.

"TMNT 25th: A Quarter Century Celebration," Simon Bisley Cover

The details that are available about the books indicate that each book with have a limited printing of only 500 copies, with 150 of each cover being sold next month exclusively at Comic-Con International in San Diego. If you will not be at Comic-Con, you can pre-order each book through the Heavy Metal website, where orders will be fulfilled in the order in which they are received until supplies are exhausted. You can click the linked names of each cover artist above to be taken to the order page.

"TMNT 25th: A Quarter Century Celebration," Glenn Fabry Cover

Nickelodeon TMNT 2012 Voice Cast Revealed

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Sean Astin is Raphael; Greg Cipes is Michelangelo

   

Nickelodeon today revealed, via press release, EW.com, and Rob Paulsen, that Sean Astin and Greg Cipes are on board to play Raphael and Michelangelo, respectively, in the new CGI animated series set to debut next fall. Rob Paulsen, who will be the voice of Donatello in the series, further revealed Hoon Lee to be the voice of Splinter. Jason Biggs has been previously announced as the voice of Leonardo.

While Greg Cipes was present at the Nickelodeon Fan Preview Event a couple months ago, Sean Astin was not. Instead, voice actor Eric Bauza was present as Raphael. According to Rob Paulsen's post to Facebook this morning, Nickelodeon had been waiting to finalize the deal with Astin before making the final casting announcement. Hoon Lee was also present at the Fan Preview Event as Splinter.

Even though he won't be Raphael in the series, Bauza did make for a fantastic Raphael in the pilot animatic, and he was kind enough to also sign an autograph for me.

And although Sean was not at the Fan Preview Event, I absolutely adore Samwise Gamgee (among his other awesome roles), so I've had his autograph for quite a few years. ^_^