“Mirage Universe” { Cancelled } “Tales of the TMNT” v.2 #45 // ‘Quabbin Reservoir Creature’ & “Piscatorial Man-Creatures” by Fernando León González (( 2009 ))

“Characters from the 45th issue of  Tales of the TMNT for the canceled Mirage Universe book. Pencils by the phenomenally talented Fernando Leon Gonzalez.

What a terrific tome it would have been!”
– X

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SpiderBaby Archives: Lockjaw (Pre-Tokka Designs for a Low-Budget Monster Movie) – Lockjaw the Loggerhead (( 1990 )) [[ Art by & EXTRA Special thank you to S.R. Bissette ]]

–>> ..Steve Bissette is not only a legend, he’s just damn awesome !!

“Here’s a blast from my checkered past. Meet Lockjaw the Loggerhead!

This was drawn in May 1990 for a proposed low-budget monster movie — to be shot in Ohio, if memory serves, and my connection was via my friend Ryan Brown (of TMNT, Bog and Cowboys of Moo Mesa fame). It was, to my knowledge, never made, and nothing ever came of this. I’d forgotten completely about it until I turned up these drawings unpacking the archives this weekend!

I even sketched some ideas for how Lockjaw might be realized as a full-sized monster suit with animatronic puppet heads for closeups.

Lockjaw was drawn just one month after I had submitted a similar concept (at the time rejected, or so I thought) for a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toy concept, Terrorpin the Terrible…

Clearly, I was intent upon somebody, somewhere recognizing the overlooked monster potential in ‘casting’ a snapping turtle hybrid in some sort of villainous role!

For more on Terrorpin and his history, see this May 2009 Myrant post (scroll down past the CCS graduation portion of this post).

Of course, all these snapping-turtle monster dreams finally manifest at Mirage Studios as Tokka – and here’s his latest incarnation in the new animated TMNT movie.

After all this, I eventually ‘cast’ a prehistoric turtle in a key role in S.R. Bissette’s Tyrant® (see Tyrant #4). These obsessions always find an expression in a story at some point.  ” – S.R. Bissette

Like i’ve said ..  “Tokka is the Kevin Bacon of  TMNT”. It’s all connected to the Snapper, baby !!

Clearly .. as of this posting and revelation , you can see the love for classic Kaiju and Giant Monsters ( especially TURTLE-ey ones ) and that influence on so much of Bissette’s, Ryan Brown’s , Steve Murphy’s   and Mirage’s work !! !!

~t

Lockjaw the Loggerhead artwork ©1990, 2009 Stephen R. Bissette. Terror-Pin/Tokka © and TM 1990, 1991, 2009 Mirage Studios, Inc., per revised legal agreement with Mirage Studios, Inc.; Snappy Warhol (unless otherwise licensed) ©1990 Stephen Murphy.

** Sourced from S.R. Bissette’s posting regarding ‘Lockjaw’.

Día a Día’s { Argentia } Natalia Torres interview with Fernando León González of ‘Tales of the TMNT” & Ryan Brown’s ‘ The Selected ‘

** Please click here for Fernando’s interview on Mikey’s TMNT !! **

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Coloring Book” Coloralot Books Back Cover “Michealangelo ” Cut-out figure { small v. } // Art by Laird, Brown & Lavigne (( 2003 ))

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“In 2003 Coloralot Books produced a series of coloring books with paper doll turtles on the back cover.

The figures were penciled by Peter Laird, inked by Ryan Brown and colored by Steve Lavigne “

The ‘Panda Khan’ Power Couple !!

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“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

SDCC APRIL / Mousers reveal .. **

Thanks to Nacho and NECA ::

“TMNT April O’Neil with Mousers -

NECA proudly presents this special edition April O’Neil action figure, based on the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman. April is fully poseable and comes with two menacing Mouser villains with articulated jaws. Celebrate 25 years of TMNT with this exclusive set.”

**

..” ..I just wanted to tell you that april is on pre-order on amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Teenage-Mutant-Ninja-Turtles-Mousers/dp/B002HWRQB0/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1

And the price is cheaper than ebay! ” — NACH

YOU STAY CRASHY SAN DIEGO !!

REMINDER OF STEPH’s Prior POST !! !! ::

“Hey everyone! In an effort to bring you the best TMNT coverage we can from SDCC and into the future, I am pleased to announce 3 new accounts belonging to GoGreenMachine.Org

Twitter – Not only can you see our tweets through the twitter homepage, but you can also see them posted directly to the upper right hand corner of GoGreenMachine.Org!

UStream.tv – UStream is the service we will be using for streaming live video going forward. It integrates the live feed with a chat interface so you can talk to us while we stream you the latest content! This is going to be the service we use for the SDCC Panels, so stay tuned!

YouTube – If you can’t check out our streams, you will definitely be able to check out video content of ours via our new YouTube channel!

And not to worry, these links can be found in our Links Section as well, under “Other Places To Find GGM”

Thank you so much for your continued support! We love you all dearly, and are committed to bringing you the best that this fandom has to offer.  ..”

SEE YA THERE  , GANG ..PHYSICALLY OR DIGITALLY  AND REMEMBER TO  STAY CRASHY !!

~t

Repeating Stephan’s post.. to keep you TOONED into all the lates TMNT / Usagi San D goodiness :

” In an effort to bring you the best TMNT coverage we can from SDCC and into the future, I am pleased to announce 3 new accounts belonging to GoGreenMachine.Org

Twitter – Not only can you see our tweets through the twitter homepage, but you can also see them posted directly to the upper right hand corner of GoGreenMachine.Org!

UStream.tv – UStream is the service we will be using for streaming live video going forward. It integrates the live feed with a chat interface so you can talk to us while we stream you the latest content! This is going to be the service we use for the SDCC Panels, so stay tuned!

YouTube – If you can’t check out our streams, you will definitely be able to check out video content of ours via our new YouTube channel!

And not to worry, these links can be found in our Links Section as well, under “Other Places To Find GGM”

Thank you so much for your continued support! We love you all dearly, and are committed to bringing you the best that this fandom has to offer. .. “

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles { newspaper strip } Mike hang-10 ..art by BERGER – isolated :: 06071992″

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Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird and Steve Lavigne Reunite : “Jake Black S.D.C.C. Benefit Print” (( 2009 )) [[ Courtesy of PL ]]

The following courtesy of Peter Laird ::

“A few months ago, Steve Murphy had the cool idea of getting me and Kevin Eastman to work together on a drawing (something we had not done in many years) which would then be used as the basis for a print, the proceeds from sales of which would go towards helping our friend Jake Black out with his medical expenses. (Readers of this blog may recall the other Jake Black Benefit print that me and the other Mirage artists produced (http://plairdblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/jake-black-benefit-print-at-fcbd.html and sold at “Free Comic Book Day” in New Hampshire.) Murph managed to convince Kevin to pencil up this drawing…

… which I proceeded to ink…

… and then that version was zapped off to Steve Lavigne so that he could do his digital color magic on it, as you see here in the finished 11 by 17 print.

(Please note that this is a somewhat poor quality digital photo of one of the prints — the colors are much more vibrant in the actual copies.)

And here, direct from Murph, are a few more details about the print, which will be premiered at this years’s San Diego Comicon:

“There are only 100 of them, each is signed by Peter Laird. This group of 100 is SDCC exclusive and will cost $25 each. All proceeds to benefit Jake. In addition, since Kevin is attending the con, people will have the chance to get Kevin to sign it as well.

We will also be selling the “Mirage group jam” prints at SDCC, for $20/each, also benefiting Jake.”

(Note: Steve Lavigne will also be attending the SDCC, so buyers of this print can get Steve’s signature on it, too.)

** And here’s a fun little thing — while inking the piece, I would stop about every minute or so and take a digital photo of the art. When I was done, I put all of those photos together into this (somewhat shaky) “time-lase” movie of the inking process. (( Please Click here for Video. ~t )). **

— PL