This week marked the very end of what was once known as Geocities, the free webspace provider once popular in the 90’s. My very first website, more than 10 years ago, was on Geocities. It came at a very important time in my life, when I was still in high school and quite directionless. Creating and maintaining that website, as basic as it was, gave me a sense of accomplishment that really helped me out at that time. As years went on I outgrew the limitations of a free website and made a new one here, and eventually Geocities gained the reputation of having really amateur websites. Its loss today isn’t really a big deal, as there are better websites out there these days, and other ways for people to communicate through the net. But still, we’re at the point now where we can say that the Internet has it’s own history and culture, and now a big chunk of that is gone.

I used my old Geocities site to show of my then burgeoning artwork, and the first piece of art I had on there was a Ninja Turtle.

It came as a huge shock last week when it was announced that the rights to the Ninja Turtles were sold to Nickelodeon. It came out of the blue and I don’t think anyone was expecting that. AT least, not now. On one hand, it’s very sad. The TMNT was the little independent property that went big, but the original studio that started it all was still at the heart of it, with many of the same people working on it that were there from the very beginning. I feel bad for the other artists who have given so much of their lives to these characters, and I’m very surprised that Peter Larid would just be so willing to give it all up like that. However, at the same time, it’s been clear for awhile that Mirage Studios was not capable of giving the Turtles their due anymore. They missed out on so many opportunities to give fans some great stuff. It’s like they saw themselves as a small entity and didn’t feel like expanding beyond that. From my perspective as a fan, they got them selves into a rut and had little interest in getting out of it. I’m not a fan of these big corporate buy-outs of intellectual properties, but now that the entire property is in the hands of a bigger, smarter entity, there’s a lot to be excited about. A new movie and TV series will be on the way, and naturally there’s a risk that they might be ridiculous, but at least this company is willing to do something with these characters and perhaps give the entire franchise a new energy.

But even if everything we get from now on is pure gold, it’s still the end of an era and it’s a little melancholy.

However, this era, right here, continues. I’ve resubscribed my website for another 2 years, and hopefully I’ll see to updating things a little.

Sayonara.

With the impending release of the Astro Boy movie next Friday I’ve been quite busy with my other blog, AstroBoy World. So I haven’t much felt like blogging here. However, something related to Astro recently happened to me that was so crazy, I felt that I should share it here too.

Through my deviantArt account, someone alerted me to this interesting piece of merchandise found on eBay.

It’s a one-of-a-kind custom made Astro Boy bookmark, which was available for sale on eBay for about $4.

Isn’t that artwork something else? There is something familiar about it! Let’s take a closer look.

Hmmmmm!

Yeah, I drew that. My artwork got stolen and used without my permission by someone looking to profit from it. The fact that it was only $4 doesn’t matter. I wasn’t going to see a single penny of it, and I didn’t draw that just so someone else could use it to make money.

But, honestly, I was pretty flattered by it. I’ve had all these idiots, like that Stupid Samurai wanker, show up here to insult me and my artwork, and yet someone thought my work was good enough to steal and and try to sell. Granted, that person is also an idiot for breaking copyright laws and spitting in the face of common decency, but hey, I take what I can get. And not only is this stolen artwork mine, it’s artwork of Astro Boy, the original #1 anime superstar of all time. To me, this means that I have made it! This is the big time!

Anyway, despite being flattered, I still got my revenge. I put an end to the auction. With my fists.

Sayonara.