Writer and Broken Pencil editor Richard Rosenbaum takes on the heroes in a half-shell, arguing that the Turtles can't be written off as nostalgia, for they have mutability written into their very DNA.
FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand NewRaise 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.
A critical and clever examination of the origins, evolution and impact of the Teenage Mutant Ninja - and Hero - Turtle phenomenon.
Richard Rosenbaum is a fiction editor at Broken Pencil (Canada's magazine of the underground arts and independent culture) and a regular contributor to OverThinkingIt.com. He received his Master's degree in communication and culture from Ryerson University, and this is what he's doing with it. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.
Introduction: TMNT & Me Origins and Evolutions Coming Out of Their Shells The Rise and Fall of Turtle Power Remixed and Reincarnated Turtles All the Way Down
"An engaging, entertaining, and highly stimulating read that is sure to satisfy die-hard fans, but also intrigue those who did not grow up yelling 'Cowabunga!'." -- Libri & Liberi: A Journal of Research on Children's Literature and Culture
"By successfully drawing comparisons to Kafka, Rushdie, and Marvel's X-Men, Rosenbaum, like Nayman with Showgirls, is able to state his case for the continued social relevance of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles unapologetically and without a shred of irony." -- Quill & Quire
"Casual TMNT fans and die-hards alike will find something to like in Rosenbaum's book, as will anyone interested in the world of animation and licensed properties, as the author looks at the Turtles phenomenon from all angles, using various parts of the franchise as opportunities to explore more academic, yet still interesting tangents. That Rosenbaum gets all of this across cleanly and with a sense of humour (exemplified by his great use of footnotes) makes it all the easier to recommend Raise Some Shell." -- DVD Talk
"It wasn't okay, it was AWESOME! And that's saying something for a book about the world of comics, cartoons and movies that contains zero pictures...Without a doubt my favourite part of this book is the non-stop ride of Nostalgia as well as the countless times I learned facts that completely blew my mind." -- The Nostalgia Blog
"Raise Some Shell is a breath of fresh air as a substantial, accessible discussion of a major trend in pop culture." -- BleedingCool.com
"The highest praise I can give to Richard Rosenbaum is that while his book is quite educational and smartly written he does so in an enormously humorous style, during my first read through I just kept imagining the author and I sitting at a restaurant just chatting about characters that we loved very much." -- The Retroist
"The second instalment in ECW's new Pop Classics series does an excellent job contextualizing the origins of Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael, following the trajectory of the various incarnations and permutations of their stories, and intelligently speculates upon their future ... His analysis is intense yet refreshing, and always delivered with humour." -- National Post
"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.
"The second instalment in ECW's new Pop Classics series does an excellent job contextualizing the origins of Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael, following the trajectory of the various incarnations and permutations of their stories, and intelligently speculates upon their future . . . His analysis is intense yet refreshing, and always delivered with humour." -- National Post "By successfully drawing comparisons to Kafka, Rushdie, and Marvel's X-Men, Rosenbaum, like Nayman with Showgirls , is able to state his case for the continued social relevance of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles unapologetically and without a shred of irony." -- Quill & Quire "The highest praise I can give to Richard Rosenbaum is that while his book is quite educational and smartly written he does so in an enormously humorous style, during my first read through I just kept imagining the author and I sitting at a restaurant just chatting about characters that we loved very much." -- The Retroist "Raise Some Shell is a breath of fresh air as a substantial, accessible discussion of a major trend in pop culture." -- BleedingCool.com "It wasn't okay, it was AWESOME! And that's saying something for a book about the world of comics, cartoons and movies that contains zero pictures...Without a doubt my favourite part of this book is the non-stop ride of Nostalgia as well as the countless times I learned facts that completely blew my mind." -- The Nostalgia Blog "Casual TMNT fans and die-hards alike will find something to like in Rosenbaum's book, as will anyone interested in the world of animation and licensed properties, as the author looks at the Turtles phenomenon from all angles, using various parts of the franchise as opportunities to explore more academic, yet still interesting tangents. That Rosenbaum gets all of this across cleanly and with a sense of humour (exemplified by his great use of footnotes) makes it all the easier to recommend Raise Some Shell ." -- DVD Talk "An engaging, entertaining, and highly stimulating read that is sure to satisfy die-hard fans, but also intrigue those who did not grow up yelling 'Cowabunga!'." -- Libri & Liberi: A Journal of Research on Children's Literature and Culture
From Chapter 2 Teenageness itself is an utterly postmodern idea. While obviously adolescence is an inherent biological and psychological period of transition and transformation, the romanticizing of the thirteen-to-nineteen-year-old age group as a unique culture unto itself can probably trace its roots only back as far as 1955, and the profoundly influential movie Rebel Without a Cause , starring James Dean. The world's moral certainty was badly shaken; question authority" became a mantra, but outright rejection of any and all authority developed into a full-blown fetish. In the post-WWII world, the generation gap became itself practically a kind of Cold War, which Rebel strikingly illustrated. The film itself probably didn't intend to lionize rebellion for its own sake
A new TMNT movie is due out in early 2014, with an all-star cast including Megan Fox, Whoopi Goldberg and Will Arnett. The TMNT property was recently sold to Nickelodeon and re-launched as comics and a popular TV cartoon. Rosenbaum's magazine Broken Pencil has a dedicated and rapidly growing fan base. One of two debut books in ECW's Pop Classics series: concise critical commentary in short, punchy volumes.
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