Art by Jim Lawson

It’s been known for a while now that Paramount is planning a new Ninja Turtles movie, and that Michael Bay’s company would be producing. Now things are gearing up and we’re getting closer to it becoming a reality, so little bits of news have dripped out recently. The whole Internet has gone bonkers over a brief speech that Michael Bay gave at a press even where he said that the Turtles would be “from an alien race”. People are spreading their nerd rage all over the place saying how Michael Bay is changing the origins, that he’s going to ruin Turtles like he did with Transformers, and other such nonsense.

It’s pretty clear, to me at least, that this is being blown way out of proportion and most of these complaints are totally unwarranted. But beyond that, I have to wonder how many of these complaining people have actually read the original TMNT comics? How many of them are actually, you know, fans? I’d wager to say that the majority of these people have not done so, and are, for the most part, only familiar with the original cartoon. You know, the one that changed the origins, changed the characters and added new ones, and changed the entire tone of the story. So it’s funny to me that these people are complaining when they really don’t know what they are talking about. These aren’t TMNT fans, they’re just people who watched a popular cartoon when they were kids.

At any rate, when I first heard the “alien” news, I was puzzled for a moment, but I figured that perhaps this is a roundabout way of explaining that the ooze which mutated the Turtles was created by aliens, because that’s how the story is supposed to go! That was the story from the original comics, and those aspects of the story have never been used in a movie yet. The director of this new film, Jonathan Liebesman (Michael Bay is not directing this film, another fact some idiots have missed), has basically come out and said that the canister of ooze originates from aliens. So, there it is! I’m sure there are other details that can’t be revealed yet and others that are still being worked out, but it all seems plain as day to me. And yet the alien talk continues.

Finally, as far as the comment that Transformers have been ruined and Turtles will be as well, give me a break. Transformers is more popular now than it ever has been. Those Micheal Bay movies might not be to everyone’s taste, but if they were so bad, and if everyone thinks that they are so bad, then why did they make so much money? Why did they keep making money? I understand that just because something is popular, that doesn’t make is any good, but box office numbers don’t lie, and the numbers we’re talking about are way too big to outright dismiss. And even if you don’t like those movies, we’ve still got an awesome cartoon on TV, we’ve got plenty of incredible toys on the shelves and more on the way, and there is still an active fandom that continues to grow. Plus, all of the old stuff you love is still there and hasn’t changed a bit, and nothing that happens in the future will ever change that. All of these points are going to apply to TMNT as well when the new Nickelodeon stuff is released by the end of the year.

But, hey, maybe I am wrong. Maybe this new movie will be all about racist exploding alien turtles. In that case, what would the outcome be? I suppose it would be so bad that it will offend everyone, make no money, and force the cartoon and toy line to be cancelled out of shame. Then, all of your childhood memories will be tainted, and everything that had previously made TMNT so great in the first place will be retroactively erased from history. Though, I suppose if you let all that bad stuff happen then you weren’t actually that big of a fan in the first place, so no big loss for you, right?

I’m hoping for a good movie as much as the next person, and I know that whatever happens will result in more visibility to the franchise, which is ultimately a good thing. But I’ll still be hanging on to all on my cool stuff and good memories, so even if there is a bad movie, it won’t change much for me.

Sayonara.

One year ago, Japan was struck with a series of natural disasters, but in the wake of these terrible events, a powerful spirit of perseverance and support has emerged. This artwork is my small tribute to that great inspirational spirit.

GANBARE!!! by *ninjatron on deviantART

I wanted to draw something that focused on the unbreakable will and positive outlook that has been exhibited in the months since the disasters. Two of the anime world’s most popular and positive characters, Goku and Astro Boy, give the thumbs up to show that inspirational, never give up, can-do attitude.

I have a few other art pieces on my deviantArt account that aren’t up here on SykoGrafix yet, but will be eventually. As I mentioned before, at the moment I’m working heavily on something else that I think will be very exciting.

Sayonara.

Hey, how about this? Two blog posts in 2 days! I haven’t had that much to talk about recently, though I am keeping myself busy with a very interesting project, plus some other developments that I’ll talk about when/if they firm up. But for now I’m taking time out to participate in a great event.

March 1st is Creator Owned day, where artists make new drawings of their created characters and post them on their blogs to share with everyone. This is to bring interest to brand new concepts outside of the the famous characters owned by large corporations.

So, with that in mind, here’s a new quick digital color sketch of the SykoGrafix.com mascot, Cyan.

It has been awhile since I’ve drawn Cyan or the other SykoGirls. I do have some new artwork of them, but I left it alone and haven’t finished it yet. I will get to that eventually, and post some of the other artwork of Cyan, Magenta, and Amber that used to be on the site before I redesigned it.

Now, I very well could have created a new character today, but the truth is, I’m actually already creating new characters almost every day! I’ve got a special plan in mind for all of them, so watch this space for more info when the time comes.

Be sure to draw your own characters, share it on the web, and post to Twitter with the hashtag #CreatorOwnedDay.

Sayonara.