Catch the TMNT Turtles Forever this Saturday!

The world premier of the "Turtles Forever" movie took place on SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21 at 10 a.m. on The CW4Kids TV, and although it was being billed as airing on TV ONE TIME ONLY!, that is only partinaly true - it WILL air in its entirety only one time. But starting on Saturday November 28th, you can catch the first 22 minutes of the movie, with the other two parts scheduled for the following two Saturdays. So if you missed it the first time like I did, either get up early like I plan to, or set your DVR's, VCRs etc.

TMNT: Turtles Forever is a made-for-tv animated movie that was produced by 4Kids Entertainment. Produced in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, the movie teams up different incarnations of the titular heroes—chiefly the light-hearted, child-friendly characters from the 1987 animated series and the darker cast of the 4Kids' own 2003 animated series—in an adventure that spans multiple parallel universes.
A rough, nearly finished version of the film premiered at the San Diego Comic Con in July 2009. The movie was to be released in theaters for one night on October 29, 2009 but due to disputes between 4Kids Entertainment and Fathom the event was canceled according to National CineMedia. The movie aired on TV on The CW4Kids station on November 21, after the 25th anniversary Top 10 Countdown.[2] An encore showing will air from Nov 28 to Dec 12, split into three 22-minute episodes. A release date for the movie on DVD has yet to be announced. It has also been announced that the uncut version of film will appear on the CW4kids's website sometime in December that includes 12 minutes of footage cut from the version that aired on TV.

My First Two Comic Books

I recently read on another blog that the the writer of the blog was trying to acquire all of the comic books that they had as a young kid. That got me to thinking about how and when I got started collecting comic books. I could remember exactly what two comics were the first comics I bought, they were issue #2 of Rom Spaceknight and issue #2 of Fantasy Masterpieces staring The Silver Surfer, both from January 1980.
There used to be a drug store across the street from where I lived, and I mostly remember heading to the back of the store where they had the toys. I can remember spending a lot of time standing back their staring at all the toys hung on the pegs on the wall - I'm sure there was not that much there, but to a twelve year old in 1979 it seemed like Toys R Us to me! Then one day, for some reason I noticed some comic books on a bottom shelf near the front of the store. They were all packaged two to a bag for one price. I remember sifting though all the packages looking at the amazing covers. I settled on the one with the space robot comic and the space man comic.
Its pretty amazing to see that these two comics are still in amazing shape. I didn't start bagging my comics for about 10 years, so for the first 10 years, these two comics sat along with the rest of my comics in the top drawer of my desk. My favorites being kept in paper bags that I would receive when purchasing comics or magazines at the local drug store.
Shortly after I picked up these two comics, I began to swap comics with the kids in my neighborhood, and I ended up trading for a copy of Captain Canuck issue #6. I liked it so much that I subscribed to Captain Canuck and would run to the mailbox every day hoping for a new issue to arrive!
I also started spending a lot of time at a local book store called the Bookaneer that as well as selling used books, they sold all the new comic book titles. I can remember spending a lot of my free time hanging around that store talking about comics with the shop owner and other kids who would come in.
It was in 1988 that I visited my first real comic book shop. I was a big fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and when I found out they had action figures based on the TMNT, I had to have them. There were not many toy stores in my area, so I didn't have much luck finding them. Someone at one of the small toy shops I visited, told me that I should check out a comic book shop to get these figures. After checking out my phone book, I found a comic book shop in New Westminster called Talking Illustrations, and when I called them, they told me that they did in fact have them in stock, but that they were selling very fast. I jumped into the car and drove the 30 minutes to the store to get my turtle figures. My eyes must have doubled in size as I stared at racks and racks of comic books and all things comic related! I have been making the 30 minute drive on a regular basis to that same shop for the past 20 years!

The TMNT are resurfacing in '07

Remember the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? I am thrilled to hear that they are resurfacing on the big screen in an all new movie next year. I have been a turtle fan since the first comics came out in the late 80's. I collected all the comics, the toys, watched the cartoons. I loved it all... Except for the movies; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993). I found all three movies to be pretty lame, and geared for a very young audience. I don't think I ever bothered to see the third movie. But the upcoming movie looks very promising. Watch the teaser trailer for yourself.
The Turtles' fourth feature film, entitled simply TMNT, is currently in post-productions, with a theatrical release date scheduled for March 30th, 2007. Unlike the previous films which were 'guys in turtle suits', it will utilize 100% computer-generated imagery, produced by Imagi Animation Studios and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. According to the press release "the PG-rated movie will derive its tone from the original comic-book series and will be slightly grittier than the previous live-action pictures." I can't wait for this flick to hit my local megaplex!