Archive for June 21st, 2012

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro Series #5 Splinter Review

Written by TaliAdina on Jun 21, 2012
Filed in: Comic Book Reviews | 1 Comment »

Rating: 4/5
Publisher Name: IDW
Writer: Erik Burnham
Pencils: Charles Paul Wilson III
Colors: Jay Fotos
Number of Pages: 29
Price: 3.99
Color: Color
Safety Content Label: A – Appropriate for age 9 and up.

Publisher’s Blurb:
Face-to-face with the man who killed his family so many years ago, Master Splinter comes to terms with a life of assasination, love and redemption. This story takes a look back at the entire life of Splinter, including his secret life as Hamato Yoshi. This soul searching provides a startling revelation for Splinter, one that will change his and his son’s lives forever!

Reviewer’s Comments:
If you’ve been enjoying the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series and have also been reading the micro series, well then are you in for a treat with is book! The fifth book in line for the micro series, this issue focuses on the father of our boys in green, Master Splinter. It’s an enjoyable book and reveals interesting details of the sensei’s former life as Hamato Yoshi.

In the main series, Splinter was kidnapped twice: first by Baxter Stockman’s mousers with his henchman Hob taking the lead; and then by the Foot who easily struck the catman down. As this book begins, Splinter faces down members of the Foot as the Shredder watches in the background. During this fight, Splinter mind wonders to his past life.

As a young member of the Foot clan, Yoshi had a temper and needed to learn how to control it before it destroyed him. Now I know where Raphael’s anger issues come from! Yoshi’s master takes him away from the Foot’s headquarters and leads him to a place by a stream where he has a heart to heart talk with Yoshi about his lack of anger management skills. The master then leaves Yoshi alone to mediate until the following day.

Yoshi doesn’t get too far in his mediation as he’s interrupted by a stranger and as a result he falls into the water below. But this interruption is the best thing that could ever happen to him for the stranger is no other than Tang Shen his future wife. It is Tang who becomes Yoshi’s anger management and controls the burning fire within in with her love, concern for others, passion, her intelligence and curiosity, and the pure joy that she took in things. And as a result, Yoshi’s focus and fighting skills improve a great deal.

Unfortunately, Yoshi’s anger gets the best of him again when he openly defies the new leader of the Foot Oroku Saki and this time it costs him the life of Tang and eventually the lives of him and his sons.

Now back in the present, Splinter decides that he must take the life of his enemy Shredder and the issue ends with a showdown that will proceed into the main storyline in issue #12…
So far, this was my favorite out of all the micro series stories. It was a great read to get into the mind of Master Splinter and learn more about him. Usually the focus is on his sons so this was a great story to learn more about the turtles’ teacher. Burnham’s writing was excellent and Charles Paul Wilson III’s artwork was great. Readers should pick this one up right away.

PLANETOID #1 Sells Out

Written by StephenJondrew on Jun 21, 2012
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PLANETOID #1 SELLS OUT Debut comic published by Image gets second printing

Berkeley, CA – June 21, 2012 — PLANETOID #1, the debut of comics creator Ken Garing published by Image Comics, has sold out at the distributor level and will be reprinted.

Entirely written, drawn, and lettered by Garing, PLANETOID tells the story of Silas, a hardened space pirate who finds himself stranded on a barren sphere made of scrap metal with no way to escape.

“Ken Garing is off to a spectacular start with this bit of survivalist SF. This is just an introduction to the ruinous, dystopian world of Planetoid, and I’m eager to see what horrors yet remain in its crevices. Highly recommended.” – iFanboy

“Every month, more and more evidence piles up that it is a good time to be a fan of science fiction comics. If this first issue is any indication, “Planetoid” is sure to be a favorite for those who enjoy the genre….” -Multiversity Comics

“Garing has done a brilliant job on both the story and art front.” – Comic Book Therapy

The second printing of PLANETOID #1 will be in stores on July 11, the same day as the second issue. It is available to order now with the Diamond code MAY128123.

TIGER & BUNNY JAPANESE PRODUCER WELCOMED TO ANIME EXPO 2012

Written by StephenJondrew on Jun 21, 2012
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San Francisco, CA, June 21, 2012 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, marks its highly anticipated return to Anime ExpoR 2012 with the announcement that it will welcome special show personal appearances by the Japanese Producer along with several top American voice actors from the hit anime action series, TIGER & BUNNY.

Anime Expo is the nation’s largest anime convention and will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA from June 29th to July 2nd. VIZ Media will be located in Booth 1401. Information on Anime Expo is available at: www.anime-expo.org.

VIZ Media will welcome TIGER & BUNNY Producer Masayuki Ozaki as its exclusive guest for a very special panel discussion to be held on Saturday, June 30th, 12PM to 1:30PM in Room LP1. Masayuki Ozaki began his anime career in 2004 at Sunrise, Inc., where he was a planning manager for Mobile Suit Z Gundam. He went on to play an important role in producing anime features including Dinosaur King, INUYASHA: THE FINAL ACT (distributed by VIZ Media), and Gintama: The Movie. In addition to producing anime, Mr. Ozaki produces a variety of live music events, musicals and other areas of show business.

VIZ Media will augment the TIGER & BUNNY fun at the Saturday panel discussion by also welcoming the talented voice actors that brought the characters to life for North American fans. VIZ Media plans to release the TIGER & BUNNY series on Blu-ray and DVD in 2013. Anime Expo attendees won’t want to miss the opportunity to meet and question the English cast members in attendance, including:

* Laura Bailey (Dragon Kid) * John Eric Bentley (Fire Emblem) * Yuri Lowenthal (Barnaby Brooks Jr. / Bunny) * Tara Platt (Agnes) * Patrick Seitz (Sky High) * Travis Willingham (Rock Bison)

Also on Saturday, catch Mr. Ozaki and the TIGER & BUNNY voice actors at the South Hall Autograph Area at 3:30pm, where fans will have the opportunity to meet everyone at an in-booth signing session.

TIGER & BUNNY (rated TV-14) is set in Stern Bild, a metropolitan city where superheroes called NEXT help to maintain peace. Sporting sponsor logos on their suits, these heroes work to solve cases and save people’s lives in order to earn Hero Points, while also helping to improve the public image of their corporate sponsors. Their activities are documented and broadcast by the popular show “HERO TV,” in which each superhero strives to become the “King of Heroes” of the year.

One such hero is Wild Tiger (real name Kotetsu T. Kaburagi), a veteran superhero who relies on his years of experience and instincts to fight crime. Though obligated to work for his boss’s best interest, Kotetsu follows his own code of honor and is even willing to cause destruction to public property for the sake of protecting the lives of his fellow citizens. Over time, he has grudgingly earned the nickname “Crusher for Justice.” Now, Kotetsu suddenly finds himself forced to team up with rookie hero Barnaby Brooks Jr.

For more information on TIGER & BUNNY and other animated titles from VIZ Media please visit www.VIZAnime.com http://www.vizanime.com/ .

Luke’s Toy Store gets exclusive Battle Beasts #1 cover

Written by StephenJondrew on Jun 21, 2012
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Luke’s Toy Store will be getting an exclusive variant cover of the new Battle Beasts #1 comic by IDW Publishing. This cover features new artwork by Valerio Schiti, and is limited to only 800 copies. While Luke’s Toy Store normally focuses on block figures such as Minimates, their customers’ high demand for this issue allowed an exclusive edition to be created.

The Battle Beasts series is written by Bobby Curnow (Godzilla Legends, Night of 1000 Wolves) and penciled by Valerio Schiti (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Donatello, Dungeons & Dragons: Eberron). It focuses on a group of renegade Beasts who return to Earth to protect the ultimate weapon (and the human who activated it) from an armada of their violent brethren.

On July 15th, IDW will launch the series with issue #1, and the first full wave of Battle Beasts Minimates will be revealed, which will be at Luke’s Toy Store in late fall of 2012! The first wave of two-packs will focus heavily on characters who appear in the comic, and will have a gameplay element, as well.

Battle Beasts #1 Luke’s Toy Store Exclusive Edition ($3.99, 32 pages, full color) can be preordered here: http://lukestoystore.com/battle-beasts-lukes-toy-store-exclusive-edition-com ic/

About Luke’s Toy Store Luke’s Toy Store is a family-run online store carrying Minimates http://lukestoystore.com/minimates/ , accessories, and customizing supplies. Luke’s Toy Store recently rebuilt their online store from scratch in order to add over a dozen new features for their customers, include customer accounts, faster checkout, cheaper shipping, customer wish lists, product photo galleries, a new mobile site, and a Luke’s Toy Store news page.

About IDW Publishing IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. Renowned for its diverse catalog of licensed and independent titles, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry, including: Hasbro’s The TRANSFORMERS and G.I. JOE, Paramount’s Star Trek; HBO’s True Blood; the BBC’s DOCTOR WHO; Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Toho’s Godzilla; Wizards of the Coasts Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons; and the Eisner-Award winning Locke & Key series, created by best-selling author Joe Hill and artist Gabriel Rodriguez. IDW is also home to the Library of American Comics imprint, which publishes classic comic reprints, and Yoe! Books, a partnership with Yoe! Studio.

IDW’s critically- and fan-acclaimed series are continually moving into new mediums. Currently, Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Disney are creating a feature film based on World War Robot, while Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes and Sony are bringing Zombies vs. Robots to film.