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David Carter looks at DC's sales at the precipice of their Rebirth.

Carton Brew speaks to ILM vfx supe Pablo Helman about the variety of vfx techniques needed to create the scene-stealing performances of Bebop and Rocksteady.

The post The Tech Behind Bebop and Rocksteady’s Comic Turns in ‘Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles: Out of the Shadows’ appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

By Nicholas Eskey During the tail end of last year’s Wonder Con, it was announced that the convention which had spent the last three years in Anaheim would instead next be hosted by the city of Los Angeles. The change was for a simple reason; the Anaheim convention center already had another event booked for […]

Last night, Paramount Pictures released a second teaser trailer for the film.

'Star Wars' could generate over $2 billion of merchandise sales in the last four months of 2015.

By: Nick Eskey

Welcome back toy enthusiasts to the last installment of exclusive Funko toys for the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con. Well known for their POP! line of figurines, Funko strives to “cover as many beloved licenses and characters as possible to remind every Comic-Con attendee why they fell in love with these stories in the first place.”

Though there might be more Funko toys announced, these are the last of the exclusives for Comic-Con to be revealed. Remember, there will be no pre-buy option this year. If you see any merchandise that you want, then you need to buy them at the booth while supplies last.

Without further hullabaloo, here’s the last of the reveals:

Pop! Heroes: Batman v Superman – Batman v Superman 2-pack

What ever happened if the Man-of-Steel fought against the Dark Knight? With this Batman v Superman 2-pack, you can play-out this epic fight of fights for yourself. Maybe Batman’s batarang is made of kryptonite?

Pop! TV: Breaking Bad – Blue Crystal Heisenberg

Still reeling over the series end of Breaking Bad? Well this Blue Crystal Heisenberg (funny I know) will keep your withdrawals at bay. Just don’t upset the guy. He looks a little trigger happy.

Funko is excited to announce the debut of Pop! Tees at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con!

Steering away from the toy merchandise, Funko will also be selling the wearable variety. These shirts feature some of their best selling figures. Much like their POP! toys, these tees are displayed in fun colorful boxes.

Pop! Tees: SDCC Freddy Funko

Paying homage to the company’s mascot, this Freddy Funko tee has been made exclusively for San Diego Comic-Con. See Freddy in all of his splendor as he walks around the convention with collectibles, admittance badge, and light saber in hand.

Pop! Tees: Masters of the Universe – Disco Skeletor

All hail Disco Skeletor! This Masters of the Universe villain in his variant colors demands respect as he attempts to once and for all conquer Castle Grayskull.

Pop! Tees: Freddy Funko 8-Bit Pixelated

For you “old-school” types, this Freddy Funko 8-Bit Pixelated tee will be the perfect fit. Whether he’s on his way to rescue a princess, or jump on top of baddys’ heads, he’s sure to be super.

Pop! Tees: Ghostbusters – Burnt Stay Puft

Is there anything worse than burnt marshmallows? A gigantic Burnt Stay Puft marshmallow man, of course! Instead of having to clean this traveler off of every surface, best to stick to this shirt.

Pop! Tees: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Skyline Group

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Skyline Group tee shows the sewer-dwelling crime fighters on top of two buildings.

Pop! Tees: Marvel – Black Widow Shield (Women’s Sizes Only)

And last on our exclusives list, this Black Widow Shield tee flies onto the scene. Unfortunately for her male fans, this shirt is only available in women’s sizes. Though I’m sure this will not stop some fellas.

Thanks for faithfully tuning in everybody for these Funko updates everybody. I can’t wait to see all of you at Comic-Con ’15!

At this point, movie-wise, I imagine no one wants to talk anything but Age of Ultron, but there’s been a few fun developments worth noting over the past 12 hours or so:

– Umberto Gonzalez, having moved on from Latino-Review, is now running his big movie scoops on his Instagram, which I highly suggest you follow, provided Instagram is your thing. His latest post is a look at the design of the new Batwing from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice:

RT! #EXCLUSIVE! #AskElMayimbe Your first detailed look at the #BATWING from #BatmanvSuperman! That’s the logo from my new outlet watermaked on bottom right. For now we’re just a symbol. “People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy and I can’t do that as Bruce Wayne. As a man, I’m flesh and blood, I can be ignored, I can be destroyed; but as a symbol…as a symbol I can be incorruptible, I can be everlasting.” #Batman #HH #dccu #dccomics #dc #dcmovie

A photo posted by Umberto Gonzalez (@umbertogonzalez) on Apr 30, 2015 at 7:06pm PDT

I have to say, I’m a much bigger fan of this design than the one that appeared in The Dark Knight Rises.

– To be honest with you, I need a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie like I need a hole in my head, but I’m certain there are a great number of you that are excited about the sequel to last year’s offering. The one character in the franchise I’m still somewhat interested in is Casey Jones, who was always my favorite as a kid. Here’s a set photo of Arrow star Stephen Amell in his getup for the role:

The film has also cast Laura Linney in an undisclosed role.

– For those excited about this summer’s big return to Michael Crichton’s dinosaur paradise, here’s a new featurette for Jurassic World:

– And just in case you wanted a quick update on Spider-Man casting, here’s Devin Faraci from Badass Digest:   

The final two contenders for Spider-Man are Asa Butterfield and Tom Holland, I am hearing. It was down to 2 last week.

— Devin Faraci (@devincf) May 1, 2015

Something is surely a brewing very soon! We’ll have it here as our new Peter Parker is announced! Have a great weekend all!

Animation projects created for Internet television dominated the 42nd annual Daytime Emmy Awards.

The obesity epidemic takes its toll on cartoon characters in a new book and exhibition.

I was tempted to not write anything today, for fear that no one would actually believe it given the date on the calendar, but a few things of note did cross our attention on a slower than usual Wednesday:

– In Age of Ultron‘s worst kept secret, Andy Serkis has indeed confirmed that he will be playing long-time Black Panther nemesis Ulysses Klaw in the blockbuster sequel opening in 30 days…but don’t take it from me, you can hear the man himself say it at around the 4 minute mark in this video:

– In slightly more left of center news regarding that same film, Devin at Badass Digest has uncovered that Julie Delpy (Before Midnight) and Linda Cardellini (Freaks and Geeks, Mad Men) are on tap for roles in Marvel’s biggest film of the year. They discovered this via a tip-sheet from Marvel announcing the World Premiere on April 13th:

Given that they’re on the back end of the cast list, it’s pretty unlikely that either is playing anything major, but you never know. As a huge fan of both actresses, I would not turn down either doing anything of significance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But, I won’t get my hopes up for Cardellini as Carol Danvers either.

– For those folks that are excited about the sequel to the Michael Bay produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you’ll be excited to note that they’ve found their Casey Jones in Arrow‘s Stephen Amell. He marks only the second live action appearance for the character (originally played by Elias Koteas), though interestingly, TMNT‘s animated version was voiced by Chris Evans.

– In a super-fun JoBlo video, Ryan Reynolds has confirmed that Deadpool will be rated “R”, you gotta check this out:

– And one more quick video, Charlie Cox, who you’ll see prancing around rooftops in a week and a half on Netflix as Daredevil, stopped by The Late Show with David Letterman to talk about the new Netflix series (that’s getting early rave reviews by the way) and food poisoning:

Paramount's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" opened with an estimated $65 million in the United States.

If you thought the faces of the new hyper-real Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were disturbing, wait until you see their dongs. This "Onion" piece is an instant classic:.

The nominations for the 66th annual Primetime Emmy Awards were announced this morning, and the big animation news isn't who was nominated, but who wasn't: "The Simpsons"

by Arree Chung

published June 2014 by Henry Holt and Company, an imprint of Macmillan.

Friends, I’m so excited to have Arree Chung in this corner of the internet today. I met Arree last summer at SCBWI in Los Angeles, and am humbled every time I think about how we share an agent and a friendship. He’s an expert storyteller with a bright, animated style and a fresh perspective. Ninja! is his debut picture book, and it will be far from his last.

First, you should watch this short film. And here’s my confession. Arree sent this to me a number of weeks ago with the caveat that it was unreleased and not to share. Except: it was too awesome not to. So I showed it to my students, because single-digit-aged kids are pretty good at secrets and don’t have Twitter accounts anyway.

They loved it. And I mean L O V E D  I T. Each class, without fail, asked to watch it many, many times in a row. So we did.

Meet Maxwell, and then meet Arree.

What has been the most surprising thing about this whole debut picture book thing?

The most surprising thing about the publishing process is how long it takes to actually bring a book to market (1.5 – 2 years).  My background is in games, where companies can publish with the click of a button and make updates via the internet.  The process gives me appreciation for the care that goes into the publishing process.  It also helps to have a great team of people to work with.  Everyone from your agent, publisher, editor and art director in making the book and then there’s publicity, marketing and sales folks that help in getting the book out.An early cover design.revision notes.

I’m fortunate to have a supportive publisher in Macmillan.  They have a great team of experts.  Each one helps you with a specific aspect of the publishing process.  I’ve learned so much.  I’m so grateful I’ve been in good hands.  I’ve worked hard to hold up my end of the deal and make something special.  With Ninja it was easy, because I loved it so much.

Who are your creative and/or literary heroes?

Oh, so many!

Authors:
Roald Dahl
E.B. White
Jack Gantos
Judy Blume
Jeff Kinney

Illustrators:
Russell Patterson
Chris Ware
Yuko Shimitzo

Author/Illustrators:
Shel Silverstien
Wolf Erlbruch
William Steig
Mo Willems
Peter Brown
Leo Lionni
Maurice Sendak
Ian Falconer
Jon Klassen
David Shannon
Bill Peet
Calef Brown

Comics:
Jim Lee
Scott McFarlane
Jeffrey Brown
Bill Watterson
Jim Davis
Charles Schulz

Animation/Film:
Brad Bird
John Lassetter
Guillermo Del Toro
Chris Sanders
Danny Boyle
Tim Burton
Nick Park (Wallace & Gromit)
Steven Spielberg
Hayao Miyazaki

Can you talk about the similarities and differences in animation and the picture book form?

I love both mediums for different reasons.  Both mediums can transport the reader into new worlds.  I love it when a book or movie captures my imagination and I am completely immersed in a world that has been built.  The world is invented but it feels familiar and the story resonates with honesty.  I hate it when a story is force feeding me a message and it feels like an infomercial or when a story rambles without a focus.  Storytelling is magical when it has both the imagination and heart and speaks to you directly and honestly.  A great story is so exhilarating.  There’s nothing in the world that feels like it.  I love both animation and picture books because they have the ability to create magic.

How they are different?  Well, I think the main difference is that film tends to be a passive experience.  The viewer is in a dream like state that watches the story unfold.  It’s like being suspended in a time capsule and you watch everything that happens.  You take the story in a more subliminal kind of way.Books on the other hand I think are active experiences.  You as the reader actively interact with the words and pictures.  It’s like your brain is the film projector and is working to play the story.  Because of this, I think books are much more intimate experiences.  You go at your own pace.  You stop, question and wonder.  Sometimes you’re so engaged, you speed all the way through and sometimes you like to read slowly just because.  Readers engage books with their imaginations and a lot of the story is told in-between the words, the page turns and the illustrations whereas films are full experiences that use all the arts of composition, acting, music and visuals to put you in a state of suspension.

Both are magical and I love doing both so much.

Can you give us any behind-the-scenes information on how you created the short film? Did you get to know Maxwell differently in that format?

Yeah!  It was so thrilling to bring Maxwell to life.  I had a pretty good idea of who he is as a character after creating the book but actually seeing him move and casting Taylor Wong as Maxwell brought another whole dimension.

As for production, here’s a quick behind the scenes look of what it took to make the short film.  I plan on doing a much more in-depth look in a separate blog post.

We used 4 software tools: Photoshop, Flash, After Effects and Final Cut Pro.  The process was a highly collaborative effort between folks at MacMillan, myself and David Shovlin, the animator.  It was a ton of work to do but a ton of fun as well.

In all, it took about 5 weeks of work.  David and I worked really hard on it and I’m really proud of what we created in a relatively short period of time.Where did Ninja! come from?

It’s been my dream to make my own picture books for a long time.  The first conception of Ninja came when I was in art school.  I jotted down “A boy goes creeping around the house dressed as a Ninja and causes trouble.”  That was probably in 2007 or so.

        Early Ninja! thumbnails and character sketches.

In 2012, I decided to do the Illustrator Intensive at the SCBWI Summer Conference.  We were given an assignment to submit a story along with a manuscript, thumbnails, character sketches, and a finished illustration.  Up to that point, I had been writing stories for years but was stuck on many of them.  For the workshop we had to write down answers to the following questions:

WHO
WHAT is the dilemma?
WHERE does it take place?
HOW is the problem solved?

This really helped me a lot.  Previous to this, many of my stories didn’t have focus and wandered a lot.  Ninja was a big break through for me as a storyteller and I had lots of people who helped guide me through it.   I’m so thankful for Rubin, my agent, and Kate, my editor.  The more I worked on it, the more the world and character took shape and gained depth.  It was so much fun to make.

Do you remember any art you made as a kid? What was it?!

Yeah, I made a lot of ninja stars and origami.  I was also obsessed with Legos.  I loved to build cruiser space ships and large fortresses armed to the teeth.  Whenever my uncle bought us Legos, we would make the thing we were supposed to make and then tear it apart and then make what we wanted to make.  Making your own thing was much more fun.

I was a huge comic book reader and collector as well.  I bought all of the X-men, Spiderman, Spider-ham, Batman and Spawn comics.  I still buy comics.

I also really love the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  I used to record all of the episodes.  In fact, I used to press pause on the VCR and trace drawings of the Ninja Turtles by overlaying paper onto the TV.  At school, everyone thought I was the best drawer, but I never told anyone my technique til now!  Eventually I copied so many drawings I could draw it out of memory.  I tried to do the same technique with Transformers but that wasn’t nearly as successful because I didn’t understand perspective as at 12 year old.

And now what’s next for you?I’ve got a lot of things I’m working on.  I have lots of Ninja stories to tell with Maxwell. (I’m so excited about all of them!)  One of them involves an old Chinese folktale involving ghosts!

I’m also illustrating two Potty Training books for kids that are hilarious.illustrations from How to Pee

I have lots of picture book stories I’m developing and I’m also writing a middle grade novel titled Ming Lee, All American.  Ming Lee chronicles my experiences growing up as an ABC (American Born Chinese).  It’s deeply personal and is funny in that Louis CK, embarrassing but honest kind of way.  I would describe it as Judy Blume meets Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  Of course, it is its own thing that I am figuring out.  I have a sense of what I want it to be but you never know what it will be until you get there.

A huge thanks to Arree for this peek into the mind of a master craftsman. Be sure to get your hands on Ninja! this week!

With seemingly the entire Internet yakking about the new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" trailer, it hardly seemed necessary to bring it up here. But for the sake of posterity, here is the trailer for the Jonathan Liebesman-directed film, which will debut on August 8th:

Nickelodeon has rolled out a new set of promos for their upcoming slate of animated shows in a series of behind-the-scenes clips embedded in their Nick Studio 10 pre-teen programming block. Here, viewers are introduced to new series like Breadwinners and Rabbids Invasion, and reacquainted with returning players like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Monsters Vs. Aliens, Sanjay and Craig and The Legend of Korra.

In the Nick Studio 10 spots, a pair of hyperactive tweens scramble from one studio cubicle to another to chew the scenery with unidentified mononymous animation “experts” with names like “Bret”, “Ciro” and “Claudia”. The entire experience results in a headache-inducing panderfest that is desperately trying to connect to its youthful demographic.

The direction of this presentation style is the polar opposite of Cartoon Network’s recent profiling of their upcoming slate of auteur-driven, character-based properties from smart, hipster-ish millenials. While CN is at least making an attempt to shine a light on nurturing bright ideas from the next generation of talent, Nick hopes to distract from rebooted ideas and threadbare concepts with quick cuts, dubstepping ducks and rectally-focused gags that take the form of toilet plungers, cow farts and “butt kicks.”

Ultimately, Nickelodeon would be hard pressed to sell this collection of spinoffs, adaptations and desperate grabs in a sincere, straightforward way. When placed alongside CN shows like Steven Universe or Uncle Grandpa, something like Rabbids Invasion, which began as a manic, unintelligible video game, has trouble competing.

Nick management continues to wallow in its inability to find a clear creative path that distinguishes itself from its competitors. These dips in quality are cyclical in TV animation—just a few years Cartoon Network was in the same position—but Nick’s stumbles have been a ongoing concern for over a decade. These promos serve as an outward reflection of the network’s inability to come up with shows that connect with their audience, and explains better than anything why the entire network subsists on the back of a single decade-and-a-half old, as seen in the network’s recent ratings:

TweetHello and welcome! We are starting a weekly art thingy and have -rather thoughtfully- set it for Friday, that interminable day where the weekend is within touching distance and yet you still have to be at work. Hence, pretty and cool stuff that will help tide you over- forget words, just feast your eyes. This [...]

I feel like all of Scott C’s Great Showdowns have been leading up to this sublime moment. Can’t wait for that Great Showdowns Book.

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IDW is well-known for offering some of the most amazing convention exclusives among comics publishers, selling variants of their deluxe Artist’s Editions, as well as less pricey books and comics.

So here’s the list, keyed to the graphic above, taken from the IDW PR.  You can click to enlarge the above image,  and, most importantly, you don’t need to brave the hordes at Comic-Con… you can order certain copies via their website for pickup at the Con!  (Check the end of the PR… there will be URLs.)  (Of course, you can also buy them on eBay afterwards… use the money you would have spent traveling to CCI!)

Of course… the regular, everyday, everyone-and-her-cool-uncle-has-one editions will be available via IDW and your local comics retailer.

___________________________________________________________________________

1.  A limited edition of the hotly anticipated DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN ARTIST’S EDITION will be on hand. Packaged in a deluxe slipcase, signed, numbered, and featuring a variant cover of David Mazzucchelli’s historic artwork, this edition will be limited to 250 copies and priced at $200. It will be available for pre-order from IDW’s Web store.

https://shop.idwpublishing.com/david-mazzucchelli-daredevil-born-again-artist-edition-limited-edition-variant.html

2.  Speaking of Artist’s Editions, an exclusive version of SERGIO ARAGONÉS’ GROO THE WANDERER: ARTIST’S EDITION will be premiered at Comic-Con as well! Signed, numbered, and limited to 250 copies, this edition will feature a variant cover and be priced at $150. This title will be available for pre-order from IDW’s Web store.  [The regular edition is also available for pre-order!]

https://shop.idwpublishing.com/sergio-aragones-groo-the-wanderer-artist-edition-limited-edition-variant.html

3.  Continuing the late creator’s legendary legacy, IDW will have an exclusive edition of DAVE STEVENS: COVERS AND STORIES on hand. The convention-exclusive edition will have a variant cover, limited to 250 copies, of which only 100 will be available at Comic-Con, priced at $60, only available at the IDW booth!

4.  A special convention-exclusive edition of PARKER: THE SCORE by Darwyn Cooke will also be available, featuring a variant dust jacket and numbered signature plate that is signed and numbered by Darwyn! This edition is limited to just 175 copies, priced at $60, and will only be available at IDW’s booth.

5. and 16.  In conjunction with Ash’s presence in the IDW booth, two deluxe hardcover collections will be available as well!  Limited to 500 copies each and priced at $75 and

When Jack White (said he was starting up a mobile record store, this wasn’t quite what we imagined. The Third Man Standing van will make its debut at SXSW and then begin traversing the country, announcing its stops on Twitter. Along with vinyl... Read the rest of this post

I can’t get enough of these Russian Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles books. These obviously unlicensed stories have the Turtles squaring off against all sorts of monsters, demons, aliens, and unlikely foes.

But my favourites are the frequent run-ins with Batman. Oh, and that time they defeated the Predator.

With this whole 80s craze I couldn't go without doing some Turtles. So just for fun here they are!

CHOGRINART.BLOGSPOT.COM

'Midwest Teen Sex Show' on Comedy Central (the candid, hilarious web series about sexual health and sexuality makes the leap to TV. Yay! Also, a first look at TEENick's upcoming dramedy "Gigantic." and the Kung Fu Panda series. Also reviews are in... Read the rest of this post

MLB bats for Disney's 'G-Force' (with ties to the All-Star Game. Plus, Salon reviews Disneynature's first documentary "Earth") (AdAge.com, reg. required) (Salon, daypass required) - Coachella (Trendcentral lists the top trends spotted at the... Read the rest of this post