TMNT Guide to Comic-Con 2011

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San Diego Comic-Con 2011 cometh!! And with it, an exciting line-up of TMNT events and promotions. The three biggest items of note are the plans for IDW's convention floor booth, the "Mutation in Progress" private TMNT event on Friday, July 22, and Kevin Eastman's reissue of his TMNT 25th anniversary book.

AT THE IDW BOOTH (#2643)

• Visitors to Comic-Con can pick up a free ashcan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and get an early look at the upcoming August release for the new series.

• Members of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be signing at the IDW booth, #2643.

• TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES Ashcan (FREE) will be available at the IDW booth, #2643, during Comic-Con, while supplies last.

• TMNT "Launch Party" at the IDW booth on Saturday, from 1:00pm-2:00pm. Kevin Eastman, Dan Duncan, and Tom Waltz will be signing the ashcan comic.

KEVIN EASTMAN
Per usual, TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman will spend much of the Con at the Heavy Metal booth (#1529). As previously reported, Kevin will be selling the reissue of his TMNT 25th Anniversary book, with four different covers available. And if you ask him nicely, he'll probably draw a picture in it for you.

Kevin will also be signing at the Hero Initiative booth (#5003) on two occasions:
Friday, July 22 - 5:30pm-7:00pm
Saturday, July 23 - 11:30am-1:00pm

MICHAEL DOONEY
Look for Mirage Studios artist Michael Dooney to be selling and drawing art in Artists' Alley (#DD-22) throughout the weekend.

SIDESHOW COLLECTIBLES
Expect the upcoming Shredder comiquette statue to be on display, somewhere within their massive floor space (#1929 - This is almost right next to the Heavy Metal booth).

MUTATION IN PROGRESS EVENT
As previously reported, this event will be on Friday and a ticket is required. Fans will be treated to a one hour preview of Nickelodeon's up-coming TMNT CGI series, as well as the new toys from Playmates and the new comic book series from IDW. Sessions are at 4pm, 5pm, and 6pm. Pizza will be served!

PANELS
There are even more panels with TMNT-related guests participating; these are some of the highlights that I've picked out. The only panel that is likely to feature TMNT content is the IDW panel on Thursday.

"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