Keep On Truckin' !

Don poses for this pic on the movie studio backlot. Wish we had this truck, it's a part of TMNT history. Wonder where it is now? We always thought it'd be cool to have this as a Matchbox or Hot Wheels type of toy truck with a tiny turtle figure in it.

On The Road Again

Back in the day we logged a lot of miles traveling to comic book stores and conventions for appearances to promote the TMNT books. Most of the time we packed into Pete's Honda Wagovan to make the drive or we would board a crowded, over-booked plane for the trip. But once, for a trip to the Mid-Ohio-Con, Mirage rented a tour bus with driver, used by the Rolling Stones no less, to make the haul in style. Everywhere we stopped people would ask us if we were in a band.

Pictured inside the bus are, among others, Steve Bissette, Kevin, Eric and Dan.

Trick Or Treat!

Okay, we're late with this but we just remembered we had this picture set aside for Halloween. Here's a pic of April and Donatello taken on the set of the first TMNT movie.

Billy the Kidder Strikes Again

Here are the fantastic first 3 pages of the Tristan Jones and Fernando Leon Gonzalez Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa project! Awesome! Now only 93 more pages to go!

Unruly Cowlick

While in the midst of our creative pow-wow about the direction and
plot points for the 3rd installment of the continuing TMNT/MooMesa
saga, Dean and I, oops...I mean Murph and I were pleasantly surprised when Pete, out of the
blue, suggested that Cudley the Inter-dimensional Cowlick show up on
Moo Mesa!





















We whole-heartedly agreed and quickly set about to make it
happen! Be sure to pick up a copy of Tales of the TMNT #52 this month.

Turtle Soup Misprint

With Halloween fast approaching we thought it relevant to mention this marvelous misprinting of Turtle Soup.
Imagine our surprise when we opened the box and found this fiasco, a Tales cover stapled to the interiors of the new Mirage title Turtle Soup.
Can't remember if any them shipped or not. This one has been kicking around the studio for over 20 years and has seen better days.

Take a look at that snazzy ad on the last page. Did any of you attend the show that year and purchase the limited edition tour shirt? Ah, those were the days!

The Dean Clarrain Exposé

Summer:1989. The archie book is in utter chaos and on serious brink of
breach of contract. I get the idea to take over the title and dump the
adaptions for new,original stories that meld the Mirage TMNTs with the
animated TMNT and combine the best of both worlds. But I can't do it alone
so before approaching Kev and Pete I go to new-found friend Steve Murphy and
discuss my plans with him and ask if he'd be interested in writing it. He's
reluctant. I explain what a great opportunity this is. He's mum. I force the
issue with him. He's totally emersed in THE PUMA BLUES and all of it's DAVE
SIM, DIAMOND controversy at the moment. Threats are made, arms are twisted
and I berate him until he caves! His only stipulation... that he write
under a pseudonym. We move forward with a story about a new character I've
just created in honor of, and based upon, him! Steve Murphy!! (more on that in a later post)
We pull it all together post haste and approach the Dynamic Duo. They are
ecstatic. We get their blessing, hoo-rah! With time fleeting and everything
due "yesterday" , we hit the ground running trying to catch up to a mess of
already missed deadlines and a totally insane schedule looming on the
horizon. We try to cover all the bases, the cowabungas, the pizzas, the
constant pressure from Playmates to make every damn panel on every
frickin' page a toy commercial. Dire jeopardy reins, but with sleepless
nights, hard work and lots of mountain dew we get The New Direction to the
creative team and history is made...the triumphant issue five of Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures!!