Raise Some Shell
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
by Richard Rosenbaum
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Pub Date 15 Apr 2014 | Archive Date 30 Mar 2014
Description
Advance Praise
Available Editions
EDITION | Other Format |
ISBN | 9781770411791 |
PRICE | CA$12.95 (CAD) |
Average rating from 4 members
Featured Reviews
'Raise Some Shell: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' by Richard Rosenbaum is part of the Pop Classics series (the first volume was about the movie Showgirls, and I didn't read it). This one comes out during the 30th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (!) and talks about their significance for a specific generation.
For those not in the know, the Turtles started life as a comic. I'm painfully familiar with this fact because I had a copy of the first issue in my hands and didn't buy it. To my credit, it was oversized (so it wouldn't fit in the bins or bags with my other comics), the comic was black and white, and, at $1.50, it was more expensive, and I put it back down. I believe that issue can go for up to $15,000 these days. Yep. I'm still kicking myself about that one.
But I digress. Mr. Rosenbaum talks about the comics era that spawned the turtles. Frank Miller's work on Daredevil and Ronin had a heavy Japanese influence. Also, comics were beginning to be deconstructed as postmodernism hit the newstands. Into this the turtles were born. Disaffected youth who were unlike other heroes (for one, they couldn't easily blend in with humans), yet they had a strong moral code.
Richard Rosenbaum is a true fan (with his favorite member of the Turtles). He talks about the various iterations of the turtles in print and on screen. He talks about the dark days of the late 1990s when the print and cartoon versions were less than true to the original, and he has a very distinct opinion about the upcoming movie.
It's a fun read and I really enjoyed the discussion at the different levels. It's nice to read something so well informed by such a big fan.
I was given a review copy of this ebook by ECW Press and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to read this fun ebook.
160 pages does not a huge book make. 160 pages on the history, cultural impact, and future contributions of the famous Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, on the other hand, seems like an uber-nerdy gift from god. The kind of god that has to push his glasses further up on his nose before he hands over said gift. ECW Press has given a pocket-sized gift to the world in the form of their latest endeavor, Pop Classics: a series of critical commentaries on various nuggets of pop culture. My first venture into this verdant forest of nerdery begins with Richard Rosenbaum's Raise Some Shell.
Not only is Raise Some Shell informative, it's entertaining as hell. The wealth of information available here on the topic of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in all of their forms: comic, cartoon, game, etc) is impressive enough as it is. Throw in the fact that this book is painstakingly researched and that Rosenbaum is a terrific writer, and you've got a book that any nerd or lover of the Turtles would be proud to have on his shelf.
There's an insight at play here that can be best understood by those of us who took classes in literary theory for fun. Rosenbaum has taken the age-old art of cultural and literary analysis and somehow made it more nerdy with the addition of some of the most beloved comic/cartoon heroes of the 90's. Despite that, he avoids making Raise Some Shell an esoteric piece that only the most dedicated of fanboys will appreciate.
The commentary is definitely for everyone, and along the way Rosenbaum explains dozens of different yet related topics. The subjects of pastiche, the socioeconomic status of various members of the Justice League, the importance of always getting a cut of the toy sales--all of this and far more is expounded upon. The direct connection of TMNT to Marvel's Daredevil, (and the fact that the same canister affected Matt Murdoch and all four turtles) for example, might be a detail that even the most devoted nerd might not have noticed.
Perhaps most important of all, Rosenbaum manages to take a seriously in-depth look at the Turtle phenomenon and its importance without losing his sense of humor. The ironic effect being that we feel that we can take Rosenbaum seriously for the very reason that he doesn't allow the subject to become muddled down by self-importance. And in a book where transformative effects and the social status dictated by them is compared to the works of Kafka and Rushdie, it is imperative that one not get too full of oneself.
I really think ECW Press is onto something with this Pop Classics collection. Raise Some Shell will be published alongside It Doesn't Suck: a similar analysis of the pop flop Showgirls, and if the quality of Shell is any indication, I'll be picking that one up next. I adored this sliver of a book and I think Turtle fans will rejoice when they discover it.