Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: cartoons, Comics, ECW Press, entertainment, film, kevin eastman, Richard Rosenbaum, teenage mutant ninja turtles

Hero History On The Half Shell – New TMNT Book Tracks The Rise Of Turtle Power

ECW Press has released their second pop culture book in their series 'Pop Classics' and have chosen an always appealing topic in Raise Some Shell: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by Richard Rosenbaum. The handy nearly pocket sized little tome is turtle-green and tracks the history of the Turtles from their origin in the 1984 indie comic, their rise into a "transmedia phenomenon", their move to cartoons, then back into comics and now, into a Hollywood film.

The book takes on a purely "nostalgic" approach and argues for the relevance of TMNT in pop culture as an ongoing phenomenon, and for that I congratulate Mr. Rosenbaum on a job well done. It's all well and good to document comics history, and we need plenty of that still to be done, but what I find most appealing about the book is its tone of immediacy since my observation of pop culture supports the ongoing impact of the Turtles and their world.

The book is laid out in chronological order in five chapters for fans and new readers alike and takes a conversational stance that's accessible for anyone simply looking for a good read or for the pop culture historians out there. It's well researched with plenty of in-text references to sources, as well as useful footnotes, but the reference side of things doesn't get too heavy for the casual reader.

Rosenbaum describes the original TMNT comic as "a perfect confluence of beautiful art, sharp storytelling, engaging characterization, and a pair of minds thick with inspiration from which to draw". Right on. This is the kind of smart discussion we need to help us understand how comics can change the direction of the medium at key points in time. His final chapter, discussing the future of the characters and the franchise, likens the "tenacity" of TMNT to some of the "convergence culture" qualities of Star Wars and poses some interesting questions about where these "youthful" heroes are headed.

Raise Some Shell is a breath of fresh air as a substantial, accessible discussion of a major trend in pop culture, and I look forward to more books from ECW Press based on their useful presentation of Rosenbaum's study of TMNT.

You can read an excerpt of the book for free here from ECW Press.

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