How strange that I didn't hear the news until now that the TMNT IP was sold to Nickelodeon last October. It's actually out of Mirage's hands now completely, having been created there more than 25 years ago. Of course, Nick has some grand plans. A CGI series in 2012 and a new movie as well. But it's going to be different, I'm sure. It's also unfortunate that the old ninjaturtles.com will be coming down at some point. What a great little site. Its webmaster did such a fantastic job over the years of keeping it a very fan-oriented site - a surprisingly low-key operation for such a major franchise - but that's what made it cool. The fan art contests, the ever-growing archive of figures, comics and stories - even those cheesy ID cards on the packaging of the old figures. You just don't get "old school" web sites like that anymore.

Even though Nick drives the franchise off a cliff, at least it ended with a bang in the 4Kids/Mirage era. Turtles Forever was a three-part miniseries that circled around the amazingly clever concept of the different generations of Turtles converging on the same reality. The whiny 80s Shredder and Krang bicker with the darker Shredder from the 2003 series, Bebop and Rocksteady muck things up as they always do, the 80s Turtles rescue April O'Neil (in yellow jumpsuit, of course) from a horde of killer mutant food (which confuses the living daylights out of the 2003 Turtles). The B&W comic book originals show up and wonder how their cousins sold out, while they conversely wonder why they are so dark, brooding, and narrate their own adventures. Even Tokka and Rahzar show up. All in all, it was a comedic send-off of everything that's great about the series.

I swear, I wish I could create something as successful yet unflinchingly ridiculous as TMNT.

On that note, I'm caught in between working on a new map right now and a drawing of Haxx from Extreme Dinosaurs. Hopefully I'll get Haxx done soon, but it depends on how I feel. ^.=.^