TMNT:C! cover WIP

So this is a work in progress of the cover for the new Fireball20xl/WTAW graphic novel, Cowabunga!

I've been talking before in my viral campaign and the Style Preview pages about how for the art direction of the story, I really wanted to mash up as many renditions of the TMNT universe as possible to create a sort of ultimate universe style. But, the story itself takes place in a universe that's mostly derivative of the original cartoon series, and I aimed to make sure that that came through in the cover.

One of the clearest memories I always had about the old cartoon was the opening shot of the theme song, where the camera cranes down from the moon to a manhole cover, which promptly explodes in a vortex of 80's pink, carrying out the four baby turtles. Well, I got to thinking about that opening from the perspective of the actual manhole cover that gets blown off, and you'll see more of that line of thought later. I wanted to make the explosion even more epic than it already was, so I expanded it and destroyed a bit of the street. There's a lot more that I could say about where this is going, but I don't want to spoil the final product, so I'll hush up for now.

As for the little branding box in the top left-hand corner, that's a nod to the actual box that currently appears on Mirage's Tales of the TMNT (not counting the special 25th anniversary tags that adorn the most up-to-date issues). Obviously, we have the FB20xl and a stylized WTAW logos, as well as mine and Psy's last names. The issue number is representative of the fact that this is mine and Psy's second comic collaboration project, and assuming all goes well I'll have the cover and first stack of three pages done within this month. The cover price is simply a further nod to Tales of the TMNT, $3.25 USD is the comic's retail price.