Unpublished IDW TMNT cover

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by Powder

Someone ought to drop a link to this thread as a comment on his piece, haha.

Powder, this piece seems to have you unusually upset by my estimation. Did the artist diss one of your pieces, by chance?

[Powder]

Not at all, it's just that this piece is ugly as sh*t. I keep seeing casual fans that are talented artists do the same thing over and over, this dark knight "re-imagining" of the TMNT that are all more or less based on the infamous pic of the 4 we all know too well. It's unappealing, unoriginal, it's like the first thing that comes to mind to an artist who hasn't given a damn about the turtles in a long time. Plus the colored bandana thing is ticking me off. They don't wear colors in the comics. I don't know if that was at the request of the higher ups or what, but I don't like it. Aside from all of its flaws and things that bother me, it's Leo. My favorite turtle. Raph & Mike got decent covers, this one is ass. A lot of IDW's variant covers just seem so careless, they let anybody do whatever 'ol thing without putting any thought into the fact that it's a misrepresentation of the product and franchise.

If we're talkin' what's wrong with the art itself, looks like guy traced Batman & threw a shell on it. Plus the proportions... Dear lord.

[pl212]

I never knew I would see Leo with a semi beer-belly and chicken legs
Btw I never knew plastrons could have vains :/

[Master Splinter]

I would like to know if this is actually confirmed as being something IDW wanted from this guy but said no. Until then it's just another fan piece to me. Looks better than anything I can do, regardless I would like to see something official confirming that this piece was denied or even that this artist was tapped to do a cover.

-ms

[Bobby Curnow]

Wait, I'm confused... you guys 'just' like it, or do you REALLY like it?

This was an official submission, and Menton will be providing a cover for both Infestation issues. He has a notable history with IDW as a horror artist, and as such was asked to do covers for Infestation. He has a strong following, and hopefully this will get some horror fans into TMNT (for which this story is perfect). I think the official, approved, piece is strong, but his style is the same, so I'll assume there will still be a fair amount of non-fans on this board. Oh well, different tastes for different folks.

For what it's worth, on covers... you're going to see plenty of Duncan and Eastman covers on the ongoing. For variants, and mini-series, I like to explore and see different takes on the Turtles a la Petersen's Micro covers . Not all of them will be to everyone's liking, but hopefully seeing something new and different is fun for the most part. They're variants, so it seems like a perfect opportunity to let these artists do their own thing, as much as possible.

TMNT has a rich history of different artists tackling art duties, with wildly different styles (I'm looking at the awesome Shell Shock trade cover as I type this). I'd like to continue that tradition where I can, and again, variant and mini-series covers seem like the best place.

That being said, I'm going to keep Dan Duncan and Eastman on main covers for the foreseeable future, so you'll be seeing plenty of 'story reflective' covers, as well as classic Turtles. Trying to please everyone as best I can!

But this is your guys place to voice your pleasure or displeasure with all things TMNT, as you should be able to... definitely not trying to say you guys have to like everything we do. That would be uncool!

Thanks!

[AquaParade]

Bring on all the strange and polarizing tmnt interpretations you guys can find, Bobby!

I love that stuff.

[TristanHuwJones]

Yeah, I'll be honest -- Menton's approved cover for #1 is the first piece of TMNT art I've actually wanted to own. I really, really love it. Very different to this one, but I still quite like this. Can't wait to see #2's...!

[Master Splinter]

Originally Posted by Bobby Curnow

Wait, I'm confused... you guys 'just' like it, or do you REALLY like it?

This was an official submission, and Menton will be providing a cover for both Infestation issues. He has a notable history with IDW as a horror artist, and as such was asked to do covers for Infestation. He has a strong following, and hopefully this will get some horror fans into TMNT (for which this story is perfect). I think the official, approved, piece is strong, but his style is the same, so I'll assume there will still be a fair amount of non-fans on this board. Oh well, different tastes for different folks.

For what it's worth, on covers... you're going to see plenty of Duncan and Eastman covers on the ongoing. For variants, and mini-series, I like to explore and see different takes on the Turtles a la Petersen's Micro covers . Not all of them will be to everyone's liking, but hopefully seeing something new and different is fun for the most part. They're variants, so it seems like a perfect opportunity to let these artists do their own thing, as much as possible.

TMNT has a rich history of different artists tackling art duties, with wildly different styles (I'm looking at the awesome Shell Shock trade cover as I type this). I'd like to continue that tradition where I can, and again, variant and mini-series covers seem like the best place.

That being said, I'm going to keep Dan Duncan and Eastman on main covers for the foreseeable future, so you'll be seeing plenty of 'story reflective' covers, as well as classic Turtles. Trying to please everyone as best I can!

But this is your guys place to voice your pleasure or displeasure with all things TMNT, as you should be able to... definitely not trying to say you guys have to like everything we do. That would be uncool!

Thanks!

I really like it, like I said it is much better than what I could do. I just never heard of Menton until now and wanted to see if anyone could confirm that this was rejected or in fact he was asked to do something. Rumors get crazy here in our fandom... I think it was just a few years ago someone said this was going to be what TMNT would look like in the new movie...



Source

But that was squashed fairly quickly but of course it still pops up every now and then with someone thinking it's official. Sometimes just have to take things with a grain of salt until they are confirmed... It is good to have you here to cut any rumors or falsities before anything gets out of hand...

-ms

[oldmanwinters]

Good to hear the official word from on high! Thanks to Bobby and Tristan for clearing this whole thing up.

[Matches Malone]

Originally Posted by Master Splinter

I really like it, like I said it is much better than what I could do. I just never heard of Menton until now and wanted to see if anyone could confirm that this was rejected or in fact he was asked to do something. Rumors get crazy here in our fandom... I think it was just a few years ago someone said this was going to be what TMNT would look like in the new movie...



Source

But that was squashed fairly quickly but of course it still pops up every now and then with someone thinking it's official. Sometimes just have to take things with a grain of salt until they are confirmed... It is good to have you here to cut any rumors or falsities before anything gets out of hand...

-ms

Where IS that prop from? Fan made movie? Test models that got scrapped?

[Roseangelo]

Originally Posted by Matches Malone

Where IS that prop from? Fan made movie? Test models that got scrapped?

It was a student project for a class.

[Matches Malone]

Originally Posted by Roseangelo

It was a student project for a class.

Thanks! I've wondered for years where it was from. I knew it probably wasn't from an official production, but it looks very cool and a bit more realistic than what we've seen so far in the live action movies. Too bad the chances of something like this being a reality are pretty slim.

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by Master Splinter

I really like it, like I said it is much better than what I could do. I just never heard of Menton until now and wanted to see if anyone could confirm that this was rejected or in fact he was asked to do something. Rumors get crazy here in our fandom... I think it was just a few years ago someone said this was going to be what TMNT would look like in the new movie...
...

But that was squashed fairly quickly but of course it still pops up every now and then with someone thinking it's official. Sometimes just have to take things with a grain of salt until they are confirmed... It is good to have you here to cut any rumors or falsities before anything gets out of hand...

-ms

You should have been able to trust the info because I posted about it, and I check my sources. And, of course, I'm never wrong.

Seriously, though, I posted it with a bit of hesitancy until I found out the Menton J. Matthews was a professional comic artist who had done previous work for IDW. He did claim that he did the piece, so unless he was lying I figured it was pretty reliable.

I'm still surprised he claimed that it was Nick who ultimately rejected the first piece and not IDW editors. That makes me wonder just how much sway Nick has in the IDW approval process.

[Machias Banshee]

I Love it when Official guys stop in to give us updates...

[Sabacooza]

Originally Posted by Bobby Curnow
TMNT has a rich history of different artists tackling art duties, with wildly different styles (I'm looking at the awesome Shell Shock trade cover as I type this). I'd like to continue that tradition where I can, and again, variant and mini-series covers seem like the best place.

Not that I expect you to see or answer this but why not give someone like myself a shot? www.ninja-turtles.deviantart.com According to your comment, you seem to be open to the idea.

[Abnormal Freak]

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

For my own educational benefit, can people point out what's wrong with this piece artistically?

I'm no great artist myself, but I can note some of the things I find unappealing about it:

- The general shape of Leo. He looks big and burly and his upper body is incredibly disproportionate to his lower body. It just doesn't appeal to me in any way, and like I mentioned before, he looks like a bear (the gay term), or one of those untoned musclemen—you know, the types who are really strong and throw cars and stuff but don't have those lame bodybuilder bulging bodies. It just doesn't look very fitting for a ninja master or anything, and isn't appealing in the least.

- The lips. Why the f*** does he have lips? Not only that, but he has a philtrum. Gigantic, puffy cheeks, too. What the hell? Doesn't look good at all.

- Is that a gigantic vein on the left "breast" of his plastron? I really don't get what's going on there.

- As already mentioned, the carapace goes all the way up behind the head. Why?

All in all, it's like the artist tried to go for a "realistic" (or rather, non-cartoony) rendering, but it just looks incredibly awkward. It's nothing like the beautiful "realistic" renderings by Zulli.

I suppose the texturing and shading are all right, although I prefer color in artwork.

[Master Splinter]

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

You should have been able to trust the info because I posted about it, and I check my sources. And, of course, I'm never wrong.

Hah! You do post some pretty good stuff... Except of course that one time, in that one thread, about that one thing...

-ms

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by Master Splinter

Hah! You do post some pretty good stuff... Except of course that one time, in that one thread, about that one thing...

-ms

I blame it on the language barrier! Crafty Russians!

[TristanHuwJones]

In case folks are interested, I've just posted the covers Mark Torres has done for the Infestation event over on my facebook page. Link below. Livio Ramondelli's cover's up there too.

http://www.facebook.com/tyrannosaurusjones

[Toby Barrett]

Those are pretty darn awesome! Is the cover by Ramondelli going to be used for Cover A?