"Tales of the TMNT" #62 Preview

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Ryan Brown sent in this fantastic preview image from Tales of the TMNT #62, to be released later this month. I'm all overwhelmed by the adorableness of it all.

Pencils and colors: Fernando Leon Gonzalez, Inks: Ryan Brown

From NinjaTurtles.com:
"Adventures in Bunnysitting" - Michelangelo's Utrom friend, Klag, asks the good-natured ninja to take care of his pet bunny while he's away. Unfortunately for Raphael and Mikey, Klag was unaware that the rabbit was a test subject for mutagenetic studies - and once the little critter gets agitated, things go from bad to worse - much, much worse! Based on a true story... well, kinda...


You can read one side of the true story over here.

And now for a public service announcement, because this seems like a good opportunity to give a spiel on something rather important to me.

Rabbits make for the MOST awesome house pets!

Note the special emphasis on "house." Rabbits have a reputation for being animals that you keep in a hutch in the backyard where they stand all day on a floor of wire, but there really is no good reason for this and if you bring the rabbit into the house to live with the family you will discover a companion pet as fantastic as any dog or cat. Like cats, rabbits can be litter box trained, making the stereotypical wire floor cages completely unnecessary.

Like cats and dogs, it is essential that rabbits be spayed/neutered to not only help control the pet population, but also to increase the animal's overall quality of life. And it is also extremely important to adopt a rabbit from a shelter or rescue organization rather than buy one from a breeder or pet store or a farmers' market or flea market or any other questionable place. For a bargain adoption fee you'll get an already fixed animal and you'll save a life rather than support the unethical selling of animals for profit.

When I was looking for a companion pet last year and my living situation didn't allow for a dog and allergies keep me away from cats, I learned about house rabbits and ended up adopting a rabbit from a local rescue organization. Owen was overlooked for a long time because of his "plain" looks, but now everyone who meets him falls in love because he's one of the sweetest, friendliest bunnies you'll find. He is totally and completely the bestest thing I could have brought into my home.


For more information on house rabbits, you can visit the House Rabbit Society at rabbit.org.

There is also a good introduction to house rabbits video on YouTube:

"Scratch Attack" Jake Black Benefit T-Shirt!

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As you should know by now, occasional TMNT writer Jake Black is currently fighting Hodgkins disease (i.e. CANCER). And that means a lot of big ugly medical bills. To help Jake out, his pals at Mirage Studios have been selling some Turtles wares, the proceeds from which go to pay those bills!

The latest of these sales is a T-shirt featuring the cat burglar Scratch facing off against Leonardo, by Fernando Leon Gonzalez and Ryan Brown!! The shirt looks GREAT and everyone needs to go buy one!! That means you!

Hit up NinjaTurtles.com for all the details!

TMNT: Smash-Up Developers' Diary + More

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Here's something that got a little lost in the chaos surrounding Comic-Con. And since it's not exactly new anymore, anyone following the latest news on this game has probably already found all of this, but here's another video and screen shot collection provided by Ubisoft.

Arcade Mode:

   

   
   

Cutscenes:

   

(Um, can the comic books look like that again? Please?)

SDCC 2009 Recap: TMNT Art and Other Swag

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I had a few Twitter requests to see my acquired art and swag during the Con, so I've put together a slide show showcasing what all I came home with:

EXCLUSIVE: "Turtles Forever" Complete Audio!

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Last Friday, July 24, 2009, Mirage Studios hosted a TMNT 25th Anniversary "Galabunga" party as part of San Diego Comic-Con, where, after pizza, cake, and prizes, fans were treated to the premiere screening of "Turtles Forever," a special animated adventure that saw the Turtles of the 4Kids series crossing into the multiverse of the original TMNT cartoon.

Shortly before the show started I realized that I had my audio recorder still with me, after utilizing it earlier in the day at the Con. I decided to take a chance and flip it on to see if the audio from the show would come out. I finally got around to checking the audio tonight, and what do you know, it actually turned out really good!

Here are all the disclaimers I present with the offering of this audio:

1. This audio is my own personal recording.
2. At no point during the night were we told, either in spoken word or print, that recording was not allowed.
3. As of right now there is no distribution deal for the release of "Turtles Forever" on DVD. This is surely forthcoming, but it can't hurt to raise enthusiasm for the project for potential distributors to see (and hear, in the case of the crowd reaction).
4. If at any point it is requested by Mirage Studios and/or 4Kids Entertainment for the file to be removed from this site, it shall be.
   

Further notes about the audio:

• This was recorded among a very lively crowd, so there is a lot of crowd noise that sometimes blocks out the audio from the movie.
• The volume in the room was very loud and my recording device is very basic (and as it was, I hit record as a crap-shoot to see if the audio came out at all), so there is a bit of distortion during the louder parts.

With all that said, you can download the audio here. Downloads are limited, so please comment if it needs to be re-uploaded.

SDCC 2009 Recap: Sideshow Collectibles Announces TMNT Comiquettes

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While it was not an unexpected announcement due to Sideshow's participation in the button run that helped you win a ticket to Friday night's Galabunga party, it was an announcement that sort of fell under the radar during the busy Comic-Con weekend. But I managed to keep on top of it for you.

Here's the short announcement that happened during Sideshow Collectibles' panel Saturday evening. I've replaced my shaky handy-cam video with the video since released on Sideshow's Web site. And since the audio at the end is hard to hear, I've provided text balloons.

SDCC 2009 Recap: "Spotlight on Kevin Eastman" Panel

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I still haven't caught up on sleep and I'm working on getting over the unavoidable "Con Funk" illness, so these recaps haven't gone up quite as quickly as I would have liked them to. But here we go with the first!

This is the video I took of the "Spotlight on Kevin Eastman" panel. The video only covers the TMNT portions (the rest of the panel mostly focused on the upcoming Heavy Metal-produced movie "War of the Worlds: Goliath," which looks to be really quite neat), and the quality is pretty crap. I took it on my unimpressive digital camera and, of course, didn't have a tripod. But the presentation is mostly a slideshow from Kevin, so I scoured the Internet for digital versions of the pics he shared and was actually able to find most of them. When I did have the actual photo available I super-imposed it over the shaky video. I think you get a better look at the photo that way than you would even if I had an awesome camcorder with tripod.

Anywho, here you go, in two parts: