TMNT Movie Adaptation Feedback

[diegojourdan]

I was wondering if the movie adapt. came hit stores today in the US, and what your thoughts may be...

I rarely get any direct feedback from my work, and i would appreciate if you let me know your thoughts ^_^

Thnx.

Diego Jourdan.

PS: To make things more interesting, the first 4 posters send me your mailing address via PM, and i´ll send you an autographed postcard for free!

[Kunoichi_Haruko]

Does posting this count?

I'm buying the movie adapt. tomorrow. I'll give a review soon after.

[Fledermaus]

AHA! Good, now there's a review thread for the adaptation.

Just bought it dude. I'm only about halfway through at this point, so I can't give a full review YET. But so far, I'm liking it. And I've been pretty critical of the TMNT comics, in case you haven't noticed. Heheh...

I tend to rip comics apart, so the review is coming. I'll probably analyze everything you do panel by panel. So brace yourself. It's nothing personal. I just have serious issues.

EDIT: Much as I would love an autographed postcard from you, seeing as I've made quite a few enemies here, I am most reluctant to give out ANY personal info on this board. Even in PM... :/

[Roseangelo]

Well, I just picked it up.

I love your work in general, so I don't know how helpful I can be.

One thing I can't figure out is, drawn from certain angles, the Turtles seem to have an extra line drawn across their nose. Leo at the bottom of page 4 has it and Mike in the second panel of page 9 has it.

Casey in his undies...

I love that the Raph/Leo fight still ends with Raph poking Leo in the eye. Hehehe.

I love the sillouette of Leo on page 8. I also love page 20. And 46 (and 47).

In general everything is very solid, although the Turtle noses can get funky here and there with an upward point (page 30 stands out).

I definitely like seeing tidbits of the stuff that got cut out!

My biggest disappointment? That it's not in color.

[Cascadia]

It is excellent...goes very well with the movie. I wish that it was in color because sometimes it was difficult to determine who is who. Otherwise, I loved the comic book.

[diegojourdan]

Alright!

Scientific freak, Roseangelo, Fledermaus, and Kunoichi_Haruko, pse.send me your mailing addresses (AND real names) via this Forum´s Private Message service!

Cheers,

D.

[Cascadia]

sent it to through PM.

[ToTheNines]

I loved it, much better than I was expecting.

[Fledermaus]

All rightee, folks. Time for another edition of...
SCARY FLEDERMAUS REVIEWS...!

Okee... so what the hell do I talk about? Overall, I liked it. Definitely worth buying. Good designs. Oh. And did I mention that the characters ACTUALLY RESEMBLE their movie counterparts?

Much like the TMNT movie, this was a very enjoyable comic despite several "scenes" feeling very rushed.

Let's begin with the painful critiques. (All crammed into one paragraph for your aggravation.) It's hard to describe. I loved how, most of the time, the comic was well-paced and took its time. Then all of a sudden that nice pacing would flip out. I was disappointed in how quickly the fights occurred -- had I not seen the film, I would hardly have known what just happened. Examples? The Turtles vs. big ugly gorilla monster. Leo talking to Karai and suddenly Karai's gone... It felt hugely disjointed. The Leo/Raph fight, especially the aftermath was also a disappointment. How? I guess what bothered me -- what always bothers me in most movie adaptations -- his how sometimes it's like the writer tries to force all the pieces of dialog together without really "adapting" it to the comic book medium. In several places that were originally slower scenes, they're gone in a flash, and that's not always a good thing. For example, Casey and Raph having that heart-to-heart; and Raph going to Splinter loses all its impact... The comic, overall, did not flow like a comic book. Like the movie, it was not suitably "tight" enough for its medium.

But I'm thinking the main culprit might just be the writing, because there were more than a few sequences that were excellent.

Now, let us transition into the things I found interesting/worth the money.

I really don't know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing... but this moved a lot... like... a cartoon network cartoon. Nicely stylized, but... not a gritty TMNT comic book. But that's just my personal bias. I prefer filthier looks. Though, I did get a Samurai Jack vibe now and then.

Which reminds me, I'm really a sucker for facial expression and bodily gesture. Uh... yeah. Guess that's just the animator in me. In the scenes that, in the movie, were full of character expression and subtlety and... all that... I was hoping to see that somehow translated into the comic book. But I didn't. Like with most TMNT comics, expression got sacrificed for design/style. That said, the design in this comic was pretty strong, so I think it really comes down to a matter of personal preference.

On an artistic level (I say this, trying to put bias aside), the "style" (god, I hate using that word) felt streamlined, even retro-looking at times. There were parts here and there where you tried to do different things with the design -- for example, page 51. I love that soft glow effect, the tastefully stark contrasts of the buildings and Leo in the tube thingy. There were several places throughout the comic where you did some nice things with the whole b/w element. Other places, the designs were so fluid. My favorite pages would have to be pp 59 to the end.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention something: WTF was up with Michelangelo??? The first half the comic, he totally looked like he was retarded or on crack (page 22, 30). Or both. It would have bothered me if it wasn't so funny. Same thing with Don and the glasses. He looked even freakier than he did in the movie.

Sorry, but it's kinda late and I have some work to do, so I couldn't afford to make this a structured essay -- more like an exploding train-of-thought regurgitation. My points will probably become clearer as I get into more of a "conversation" mode in this thread.

[soccerstud652]

I am brand new to comics and I started out with the movie prequels and the first 4 graphic novels from the 80's.

I have to say I am a bit spoiled by those color comics from the graphics novels, but overall I really thought the movie adaption held my interest well. Some of the prequel comics were just kind of boring at spots, but I saw this comic as a true interpretation of the move.

Well keep up the good work, I hope to enjoy your artwork again soon.

-I am in a bit of a rush, so I will give a more detailed review when I get a chance.

[Fledermaus]

Originally Posted by soccerstud652

O man just missed it. I always just miss out on this stuff.

Well, I really enjoyed the movie adaption. Great work!

Dude, you can take mine -- like I said, I never give out personal info on message boards (especially now that I've become a controversial "vigilante" figure...). I got my secret identity to protect, and I don't want anyone -- even a talented artist -- to know the shocking truth.

I'll send Diego a PM and ask him to send the postcard to you instead of me.

[diegojourdan]

Thanks for the overall nice comments everybody!

D.

PS: Hey Fledermaus, i´m missing your name and mailing address via PM !

[diegojourdan]

I never give out personal info on message boards (especially now that I've become a controversial "vigilante" figure...). I got my secret identity to protect, and I don't want anyone -- even a talented artist -- to know the shocking truth.

I´m on to you pal, you´re obviously none other than BATMANUEL from The Tick !!!


LOL

[Fledermaus]

Ssshhhh....

Not that I'm sayin you're right. You could be. Maybe not. Or maybe I'm just an average schmoe with a not so average image to maintain. I've pulled the wool over the eyes of everyone on this forum -- even those who THINK they know me have also been deceived. But not without reason. For that... is the way... of the Fledermaus.

EDIT: CURSE YOU. I was planning to change my avatar next week... Now, back to topic? (I'm sorry. This is all my fault.)

[diegojourdan]

Scientific freak, Roseangelo,soccerstud652, and Kunoichi_Haruko:

Cards are on the way!!! Hope you get em soon, and pse. PM me as soon as you do!

No more movie adapt. feedback from the rest fo the technodrome?

[TheShowstoppa]

What can I say... I thought the comic was very well done. It's nice to see the ending of the comic with Splinter getting the final words in instead of Raph's monologue (I know I just pissed a lot of Raph-Shippers off).

It was very well drawn and you could just PLUCK lines from the movie out that I know I heard.

What made me crack up most of all: The VERY Front left page. (The one with Second Unit Director, Subtitles... you get the picture.) Very very good looking out on that.

Not to be a kiss ass, but you did great. Can't wait to see what's in store next!


By the way... I just got my issue today. I'm a little behind.

[StealthNinjaScyther]

It felt a bit rushed in a few parts, even more so than in the movie. The fight between Leo and Raph for example, it was a bit too rushed. I can understand the difficulty in trying to cram so much into a little comic like this, but for the most part it was pretty good. Actually, I was kind of surprised at how much you guys managed to fit in. I really liked the art direction too, very expressive. Good job.

[discordiatookie]

Dagnabbit, I missed a trick there with the signed postcards! Monday was a bank holiday over here, thus delaying the shipping of comic books to my area until friday...

I'm at work just now but still read the book, as I picked it up on the way here.. I really enjoyed it, the art was great, and I even spotted my next avatar!! (if you don't mind...) I agree with Fledermaus about the fight scenes seeming a bit rushed, but I guess that's out of your hands... Although I reaaly dug how there was slight changes from the movie, like how Winters passes at the end,

Spoiler:

getting old and then a skeleton, Indy Last Crusade style, instead of turning to shiny floating dust (which I still enjoyed though!)

I also liked the extra sentences or so that weren't in/cut from the movie, they made me grin.

Anyways, sorry this is so short, but I gotta go back to work, and I aint got the comic right in front of me to reference, but when I get home after eleven i'll pick out my favourite bits (and least favourite, can't have one without the other!) in more detail!!!

[diegojourdan]

Although I reaaly dug how there was slight changes from the movie, like how Winters passes at the end

Well, believe it or not he had little references from the movie itself...Imagi wouldn´t even provide us with WINTERS character design (we had Yaotl´s armor though), so we invented him out of the blue!

As for the fight scenes being cut short, it isn´t completely the script´s fault... given they gave us the script in the very last minute, leaving us only 3 weeks or so to turn in 64 PAGES OF ART (!) , so we took the liberty of cutting down the number of panels on ea. page (not too dramatically of course).

[discordiatookie]

You only had three weeks to work on it?!?! That's crazy! Guess you can work under pressure then, kudos to you Diego!! (And the rest of the guys who worked on it!! )

OH and I forgot to say earlier, I REALLY liked the little nods to the movie posters you put in, I've spotted two so far (both in the fight with the first monster they come across, one with Raph and one with all the guys...)

And as for you getting very little references from Imagi, I kinda like that, (not the fact that they did it in the first place, must've been proper frustrating,) but knowing that you drew that comic with no, I dunno the word, preconceptions? as to how you would do it (Like in different 'camera' angles, character positioning, etc) I feel its much better than just a straight copy from the movie, if you know what I mean. It makes it its own seperate work, and not just looking at the EXACT same thing again, but in comic form... (its awesome when movies copy the comic book, like in Sin City or 300, but the other way around, for me, I prefer a different perspective...)