TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

I've been kind of shocked by the reaction this poster has gotten on Melt bar and grilled's Facebook page. I guess there's just a furious groundswell of nostalgic affinity for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Also, people seriously love PIZZA ROLLS.

The TMNT Cowabunga Pizza Roll Melt:

Real Cheese Pizza Rolls deep fried till Extra Crispy and Atomic Hot
Rich Homemade Marinara
Green Ooze Basil Pesto Cream Cheese
Provolone and Romano Cheese
Add crisp pepperoni for $1.50

This sandwich will only be available Friday, August 19th and Saturday, August 20th, 2011. This is a cross-promo with Cleveland Cinemas midnight screening of the movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, at The Capitol Theatre on Saturday night. Elias Koteas, y'all. Elias Koteas!



My own personal love for the TMNT is pretty relegated to this completely bonkers comic series by Kevin Eastman and Simon Bisley called BODYCOUNT that Image Comics published in the mid 90s(?), starring Casey Jones and Raphael in a hyper violent romp that was mostly just about killing a shitload of evil gangsters. It was definitely not for kids. It was very very strange to draw these characters, and it felt... weird. Like, I really wanted to make them my own somehow, but the reality is that you kind of have to keep them pretty close to the way they've always been drawn. It feels like you're aping all of the artists that have done them in the past, simultaneously. Well... sometimes, them's the breaks.

At any rate, I've decided to list the original artwork for this poster in the Shiner Comics Store. This is a black ink drawing on 11" x 17" Bristol Board, here's a somewhat blurry iPhone pictograph:



I've posted some other Melt art in the Shiner Comics Store, so feel free to browse! As always, you can buy nice archival prints of any of my posters at all, and the details are listed on that site. Here's the final colors without the text:

Won't Bow, Don't Know How

Here's the thing: Last October I booked Hurray For The Riff Raff at Front Room, and it went off without a hitch. I did a crazy poster and turned the gallery into an enchanted forest and it was a pretty great evening down on E. 36th street.

Thursday, August 4th, 2011: My old homie Brandon Graham posted this thing about Starwatcher, a very great Moebius drawing- with his, and Moritat's shots taken at it. Great, great stuff. Also: A killer interview with Brandon, HERE.

Monday, August 8th, 2011: Hurray For The Riff Raff is coming back to Cleveland, and playing at The Beachland Tavern with Samuel Doores & The Tumbleweeds, and Crooked River Blues Band.

The stars pretty much aligned for this one. I really wanted to have this piece done sooner, but I feel like I've been scrambling for a while now. So on the other hand, I feel great that I got it done at all! Also, if I had done it sooner, it would not have had the influence of this Moebius jam, at the calling of challenge from Comics Trenche Warlord Brandon Graham. The title of this blog post is the name of the amazing HBO series Treme's first season. Treme is a show about Post-Katrina New Orleans, which featured a couple cameos by Hurray For The Riff Raff in an episode of season 2.

Here's the line art:



Oh, here's the Moebius art, Starwatcher: