Raise Some Shell: a book about the TMNT

[John Pannozzi]

Amazon link (with a preview) here.


Description:

Raise Some Shell critically and cleverly examines the origins, evolution, and impact of the Ninja Turtles phenomenon — from its beginning as a self-published black-and-white comic book in 1984, through its transformation into a worldwide transmedia phenomenon by the middle of the 1990s, and up to the sale of the property to Nickelodeon in 2009 and relaunch of the Turtles with new comics, cartoons, and a big-budget Hollywood film. With the eye of contemporary cultural studies and the voice of a true lifelong Turtles fan, Rosenbaum argues that the Turtles’ continuing success isn’t mere nostalgia, but rather the result of characters, and a franchise, that mutated in a way they survived and thrived in a post-modern world.

[CyberCubed]

Is this legit ?

[NinjaPug]

I'll be purchasing this.

Only 152 pages? That sucks.

[turtlefanforever]

if it was written by someone more close to the franchise, I'll pass.

[pferreira]

I'm actually looking forward to this more:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Teenage-Muta...+ninja+turtles

[Powder]

Originally Posted by pferreira

I'm actually looking forward to this more:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Teenage-Muta...+ninja+turtles

Considering I contributed to it, me too.

[Ramboraph4life aka Matt]

Originally Posted by Powder

Considering I contributed to it, me too.

Contributed to it? That's very cool, congrats on that.

Just figure I'd also put the link to that book for the Amazon US (since that other one was for the Amazon UK):

http://www.amazon.com/Teenage-Mutant...ical+Mutations


I'd gladly pick up both books. There aren't enough of these kind of books on the Turtles, so the more the merrier (and I still have my copy of the Artobiography one with Kevin Eastman).

It's too bad there aren't release dates on either of them (or at least ones that I could see).

I believe it says June 24th at the top there for the "Visual History" book, and April 15th for the 'Raise Some Shell' book. I look forward to these releases.

[Powder]

Yeee I was contacted by the guys behind it in the hopes they could use some of my art collection. An awesome opportunity indeed!

[Mayhem]

Yes, hopefully some of my art will be in there too

[pannoni1]

The problem with a good TMNT book is that it needs to provide good insider information along with good original analysis in order to make it a good read. That said, postmodernism is a term that most people don't understand seriously and some confuse it as an extension of modernism, so that requires some mastery there, and depending on how it turns out, could be a decent more philosophical take on the evolution of the franchise. It's not so much about a chronological timeline of events that took place along with the production of each toy/game/episode/movie/issue like the old Turtle Power: Unauthorized History book sort of provided, but more of an interpretive look at how the creations have affected culture and society. The visual history book is more of the coffee table variety that should be taken as a glorified graphic novel, which should have a better appeal. However by no means this will be a definitive history/encyclopedia of the franchise.

[Jester]

Machias did a review for it on GoGreenMachine.org:
http://gogreenmachine.org/?p=6926

I read a little of the book myself, it's ok, if incredibly verbose.


[edit by Machi: sheesh, you think you'd know a person long enough to spell their name right... ]

[CyberCubed]

Is there any type of bias in the book? Like does it downplay the 4kids series in favor of the OT?

[Machias Banshee]

Art? I read the book, but I didn't see Any artwork in it....


The only real bias I saw in there is that he hates everything Michael Bay....

[Powder]

I was referring to a different TMNT book that was mentioned a few posts prior, Machi.

[Machias Banshee]

Oh! Okay, my bad... That's cool though.

[Ramboraph4life aka Matt]

Originally Posted by Machias Banshee

Art? I read the book, but I didn't see Any artwork in it....


The only real bias I saw in there is that he hates everything Michael Bay....

So if you did a quick review, what would you say about the book? Yay...Nay... 'Fergetta 'bout it'?

And does it concentrate mostly on the comics/OT, or does it give equal/decent representation of the other ones (movies, 2003 show, etc.) I know it's only about 150 pages so it won't be too much...for $10 thought it sounds decent enough.

[Ramboraph4life aka Matt]

Originally Posted by FellowChucker

First one looks boring. Just look at that bland cover. The visual history guide to the TMNT however looks really cool.

Eh, to be honest the plain cover doesn't bother me. Read some of the stuff inside it (since on amazon you can get a sneak peak and read a little bit). I'll definitely pick it up sometime down the road.

[Roseangelo]

Originally Posted by Powder

Yeee I was contacted by the guys behind it in the hopes they could use some of my art collection. An awesome opportunity indeed!

Originally Posted by Mayhem

Yes, hopefully some of my art will be in there too

Sidetracking a bit, but what art did you guys provide?

[ToTheNines]

Finally read this and it was really great. He's a wicked smart dude and a true Turtles fan. A highly recommended read for any dromie.

[thundermaster612]

Definitely gonna pick this up! I'm going to start building my TMNT library now, I only have 1 or 2 books right now.