Tag Archives: ronda pattison

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 sees over 300,000 copies ordered

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Turtlemania has taken over the comic book industry yet again. IDW Publishing is extremely proud to share that the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) relaunch has received a massive response from retailers and fans for its debut issue, earning more than 300,000 orders ahead of its launch on July 24. This gargantuan number officially makes it one of the biggest comic book launches of the year.

Written by Jason Aaron, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 is drawn by Joëlle Jones, and features longtime TMNT creatives colorist Ronda Pattison and letterer Shawn Lee. For the first four issues of the new ongoing series, a different Turtle will step into the spotlight for each issue and it will be impressively brought to life by a new acclaimed artist. The first issue revolves around Raphael in prison, and the second chapter will bring in artist Rafael Albuquerque for a story starring Michelangelo. Leonardo is issue #3 with artist Cliff Chiang, and Donatello is issue #4 with artist Chris Burnham.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and IDW celebrate 40 years this July

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After the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) made their debut in a black-and-white comic by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird in 1984, the Heroes in a Half Shell went on to become a global phenomenon. Over the next forty years, countless talented people across the entertainment industry worked passionately with the beloved franchise, allowing adventures with new iterations of TMNT to consistently reach new audiences. Now, brilliant TMNT creatives from different eras are joining forces to present something truly special to fans: the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 40TH Anniversary Comics Celebration.

With several new stories and pinup art pieces inspired by different eras of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, this technodrome-sized issue with more than 70 pages will feature fan-favorite creatives returning to their respective eras for all-new tales. This special one-shot issue will feature new stories and pinup art from Jim Lawson, Ciro Nieli, Tristan Jones, Paul Harmon, Steve Lavigne, Andy Suriano, Ronda Pattison, Pablo Tunica, Freddie E. Williams II, Sophie Campbell, Tom Waltz, Lloyd Goldfine, Khary Randolph, Emilio Lopez, Dan Duncan, Erik Burnham, Sarah Myer, Luis Antonio Delgado, Chris Allan and more. Plus, the one and only Kevin Eastman will be contributing a story, too! 

No TMNT anniversary celebration would be complete without the two people who created it all. This oversized issue will feature a primary cover with never-before-seen pencils from Laird that have been inked by Eastman, just for this special issue! Additional eye-catching covers will be provided by acclaimed artists Sophie Campbell, Isaac and Esau Escorza, Simon Bisley, Michael Dialynas, Vincenzo Federici, Khary Randolph, Emilio Lopez, Michael Cho, Dave Wachter, and an IDW Exclusive cover by Ben Bishop.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 40TH Anniversary Comics Celebration will leap into comic shops on July 10, 2024 for $11.99. Fans have until June 3 to pre-order at their local comic shop.

Night People #1 is a fever dream of a crime story

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Night People #1

Night People #1 is a fever dream of a crime story. Honestly, you’re better off just sitting back and enjoying the ride instead of trying to piece together every plot detail and character relationship. It’s definitely fitting that this comic is an adaptation of a 1992 collection of short stories by Barry Gifford, who wrote the novel that the David Lynch film Wild at Heart is based on as well as penning the screenplay for Lost Highway. Writer/adapter Chris Condon, artist Brian Level, and colorist Ronda Pattison bring the blood, guts, and surreality of two religiously motivated man-killing women named Betty and Cutie painting New Orleans red as well as the hapless men, who get in their way and even try to stop them. Some of the side stories like dogs mauling each other in the woods don’t connect to the main narrative except to dose up the violence, but there are some really beautiful moments of poetic justice and violence.

Level’s art and Pattison’s colors capture the small moments that end up exploding into bigger moments of violence in Night People #1. It starts on page one when we see Betty and Cutie’s first victims with Brian Level using the banality of a janitor scratching his hands on a broom before he and the police see some beheaded corpses that end up haunting Douglas’ dreams as he’s hunting down the murderers for some reason or another. This continues later to the more prominent character Rollo Lamar, a lawyer, who crosses paths with Betty and Cutie and rubs what looks like a surgery scar on his chest. This shows vulnerability, but maybe also that he’s a good person as he gets a favorable life insurance settlement for a young woman and her child. However, in this kind of story, this woman has “murderer” written all over her.

From a bird’s eye view, Night People #1 explores the noir fiction trope of femme fatale with more of an emphasis on the fatale and not the femme so much. There’s not a lot of seduction just a lot of guns being pulled and woman on man violence like when Douglas gets smothered in a sexual encounter after a frankly weird day of having hallucinations about headless corpses and weird conversations about now and urination. Honestly, he’s a good riddance as a character because he came across like a Wish.com version of Matthew McConaughey’s character in True Detective and adds to the male victim/female killer through-line of the issue as Betty and Cutie get off scot-free in a literally explosive finale.

Night People is nothing like its former hardboiled Oni Press comrade-in-arms Stumptown with Chris Condon, Brian Level, and Ronda Pattison serving up a more askew crime story with fucked up gender politics, colorful nonsequitur dialogue (Comparing Betty and Cutie to anthropomorphic beings from Greek mythology, a radio news bulletin about frozen kangaroo tails), and big-time carnage. I’m not 100% sold on the series, but wouldn’t mind picking up issue 2 and seeing Lamar’s character development after his near-death experience, or seeing what religious motivation those two freaks Betty and Cutie have for their next misandric killing spree.

Story: Chris Condon Art: Brian Level 
Colors: Ronda Pattison Letters: Shawn Lee
Story: 7.0 Art: 8.3 Overall: 7.6 Recommendation: Read

Oni Press provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Celebrate 40 years of Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo with the Usagi Yojimbo 40th Anniversary Reader

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The year 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of Usagi Yojimbo, Stan Sakai’s award-winning artistic and storytelling epic featuring everyone’s favorite rabbit ronin! Dark Horse Comics and Dogu Publishing invite readers on a journey through the series in the Usagi Yojimbo 40th Anniversary Reader. This new collection of stories presents a selection of hand-picked Usagi tales in color for the first time from Emi Fujii, Tom Luth, and Ronda Pattison. The new cover art is painted by Stan Sakai himself, adding to the appeal for collectors.

This new paperback collection presents eight fan-favorite and Stan-Sakai-selected short stories, including the fan-favorite short story “Chanoyu,” which is appearing for the first time in color! Other stories include “A Mother’s Love,” “Blade of the Gods,” “The Way of the Samurai,” “Cut the Plum,” “The Artist,” “Buntori,” and “Adachi”. Readers are invited to follow Miyamoto Usagi through four decades of comic creativity and adventure. Relive the essential moments of Usagi Yojimbo or invite a new love of Sakai’s worldbuilding into your life or the life of someone you love.

Wish Sakai and Usagi Yojimbo a wonderful anniversary when Usagi Yojimbo 40th Anniversary Reader arrives in trade paperback on bookstore shelves on June 18, 2024, and comic shops on June 19, 2024. Pre-order at your local comic shop, bookstore, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble for $14.99. 

Usagi Yojimbo 40th Anniversary Reader

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #150 is the Double-Sized Epic, Emotional Finale of the Run

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The colossal and cosmic time-consuming megalodon called Armaggon is trying to erase the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from existence. Now, only the brilliant and determined Donatello can potentially stop the fearsome foe by racing back to the past in a double-sized landmark 150th issue that celebrates more than a decade’s worth of compelling Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) storytelling.

Written by acclaimed author Sophie Campbell, the massive, epic and emotional Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #150 is the must-read conclusion of the ongoing series – fear not, shellheads, because more will be revealed about what’s next for TMNT soon! This momentous milestone issue will feature art by “Armageddon Game’s” Vincenzo Federici and longtime TMNT creatives colorist Ronda Pattison and letterer Shawn Lee. Returning for this giant issue are former series artists Dan Duncan, Fero Pe, and Campbell.

This climactic comic will pave the way for the next mutation of TMNT storytelling from IDW Publishing, but before looking forward, it’s important to visit the past, just like Donnie. IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ongoing series has presented fans with more than 10 years worth of brilliant and critically-acclaimed tales that captivated both longtime and new TMNT fans with its exciting and heartfelt stories.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #150 goes on sale April 10, 2024, and will include 68 pages of story for $9.99 USD. The milestone issue will have a Cover A by Vincenzo Federici, Cover B by Kevin Eastman and Sophie Campbell, Cover C by Dan Duncan, and cover D by Jesse Lonergan.

IDW reveals the cover for May’s Dark Spaces: Good Deeds #1

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Dark Spaces: Good Deeds—the second comic book miniseries in New York Times best-selling author Scott Snyder’s curated line of IDW Publishing original projects—has been shrouded in secrecy. This eerie historical thriller of obsession, power, and redemption carefully kept from the public, waiting for just the right time to surface…and that time is now!

In anticipation of the series launch in May, IDW has unveiled the ethereal cover artwork for the first issue of Dark Spaces: Good Deeds, giving the first tantalizing taste of the six-issue miniseries written by Che Grayson, with art by Kelsey Ramsay, and colors by Ronda Pattison.

The unifying theme of Scott Snyder’s Dark Spaces line is the exploration of decisions made—and irreversible actions taken—by desperate people in desperate situations. Each character-driven entry in the Dark Spaces anthology series is a fully contained, standalone story written or curated by Snyder, championing the new generation of comic creators.

As testament to Dark Spaces’ commitment to up-and-coming talent, Good Deeds #1 features evocative covers from a gifted handpicked team, including series artist Ramsay, Elizabeth Beals, Hayden Sherman, and Martin Morazzo, with colors by Chris O’Halloran.

In Good Deeds, teenager Cheyenne Rite and her mother, Rebecca, move to St. Augustine, Florida, in search of a fresh start. They cross paths with Jean McKnight, a disgraced big-city journalist determined to rebuild her career, starting with a fluff piece on the town’s upcoming 450th anniversary celebration. When the quaint community’s festivities give way to bloodshed, Jean begins an investigation, and the women find themselves at the heart of a supernatural conspiracy linked to St. Augustine’s sinister colonial past.

  • Dark Spaces: Good Deeds #1 cover A
  • Dark Spaces: Good Deeds #1 cover B
  • Dark Spaces: Good Deeds #1 cover C
  • Dark Spaces: Good Deeds #1 cover D

Review: Star Trek #400

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Star Trek #400

Anyone that’s a fan of Star Trek will tell you just how affected they are by the franchise. One becomes immersed within the first few minutes. It’s far more than a military science fiction thriller but a study of the human condition. Each of the properties have done an amazing job of not just entertaining but discussing relevant issues in society.

There has never been a IP which outright talks about societal ills like Star Trek. It was the first show I watched where I felt like I was not alone. It made being smart feel like you stood out for all the right reasons. In the 400th issue of the long running IDW Publishing comic, Star Trek, a collective of creators come together to tell some tales in this connected universe.

In “Captain’s Log”, we find Kirk as he writes final Captain’s log, as he recalls what would a lifetime of memories. In “Soldier On”, We find O’Brien as he foils a Cardassian spy, alerting their military, that Starfleet is a formidable foe. In “Meanwhile”, Scotty wakes up from a nap to notice that no work has been done, and decides his day is already done. In “A Matter of Choice”,  we find out exactly where Wesley Crusher has been all these years and how did he end up  being a guardian of time. In “Starfleeter”, we find a young Keyla Detmer as she bonds with a young Klingon warrior, eventually becoming friends. In “A Perfect System”, a sentient being name Gary Mitchell realizes the mission of Star Trek makes his existence, none essential, as it is in good hands.  In “Where No Publisher Has Gone Before”, the impact of the franchise in comics is told .

Overall, Star Trek #400 is an excellent tribute to this franchise which has meant so much to so many people. The stories by the different writers is astounding.. The art by the different artists is incredible. Altogether, a worthy tribute  and an excellent addition to the canon.

Story: Chris Eliopoulos, Declan Shalvey, Mike Johnson, Wil Wheaton, Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Rich Handley
Art: Luke Sparrow, Seth Damoose, Angel Hernandez, Joe Eisma, Megan Levens, Ramon Rosanas
Color: DC Alonso, Steve Dellasala, Ronda Pattison, Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Jake Wood, Neil Uyetake, Nathan Widick
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy

IDW Publishing provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – comiXology/Kindle

Review: Dark Spaces: Wildfire #2

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Dark Spaces: Wildfire #2

The first issue of this series blew me away. The concept was fresh, the art was amazing. It was a complete package and one of this year’s best debuts. Dark Spaces: Wildfire #2 does it again continuing an amazing story matched by wonderful art resulting in a second issue that keeps readers tense with the events within.

Written by Scott Snyder, the series follows a group of convicts who are also a part of a firefighting unit. This is a thing that exists and there’s a long list of reasons it’s an abusive practice. Snyder taps into that with a very capable team but one that sees the inequalities and abuse they receive from society as a whole.

In the appropriately titled chapter “Ignition,” the heist is underway as the team begins their mission and plan to rob a horrible person whose home is in the path of the fire. There’s a lot of discussion of “F.U.” which in this case means “flare-up”. It’s a lot of foreshadowing and a bit obvious that the “F.U.” Snyder hints at isn’t a flare-up at all so as a reader we continually look for where that “F.U.” might take place. We know it’s coming, Snyder shows his hand. But even doing that, there’s still a tension that something is going to happen, we just don’t know what. And when we get there, it’s both expected and unexpected.

The story is fantastic but again, the art shines. Hayden Sherman’s layouts and pencils, the color by Ronda Pattison, and lettering by Andworld Design come together for an issue that’s beautiful to look at. Sherman’s layouts continue to impress with an almost dreamlike feel at times. There’s so much extra visual detail added to the comic that goes beyond Snyder’s words. Pattison’s colors too add so much from the yellows and reds of the fire to blues and pinks. Like the debut issue, the art is beautiful.

Dark Spaces: Wildfire #2 is a hell of a second issue for one of the freshest series of the year. A unique concept with amazing art creates a reading experience that’s a must.

Story: Scott Snyder Art: Hayden Sherman
Color: Ronda Pattison Letterer: Andworld Design
Story: 8.5 Art: 9.0 Overall: 8.75 Recommendation: Buy

IDW Publishing provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – comiXology/Kindle

Review: Dark Spaces: Wildfire #1

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Taking place in California, Dark Spaces: Wildfire #1 follows a team of firefighters who are prisoners. Opportunity strikes as one recognizes a house nearby that has millions inside.

Story: Scott Snyder
Art: Hayden Sherman
Color: Ronda Pattison
Letterer: Andworld Design

Get your copy in comic shops! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

TFAW
comiXology/Kindle
Zeus Comics

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Preview: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection Vol. 14

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection Vol. 14

(W) Brahm Revel, Sophie Campbell, Ronda Pattison (A) Nelson Daniel (A/CA) Jodie Nishijima
In Shops: Jul 20, 2022
SRP: $59.99

After the cataclysmic events of “City At War,” the Turtles find New York City drastically changed-new factions and enemies are on the rise, and allies are in short supply. Jennika, the newest member of the TMNT team, embarks on her own adventure. Trying to acclimate to life as a mutant, she will be forced to come to terms with both her troubled past and conflicted present. In search of a dangerous procedure to reverse mutation, will Jennika be tempted by the call of her old life, and how far will she go to save those who gave up on her long ago? Collects Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #101-112, the 2020 Annual, and the Jennika three-issue mini-series.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection Vol. 14
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