Cowabunga dude!

After almost 10 years of virtual anonymity, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles seem to be slowly returning to popular culture. With a new comic book on the stands, a brand new television show in the works and a gnarly feature film that is already in production, the quarrelsome quartet might once again be coming out from under their shells after all this time. \n"I'd love to see a comeback, and I'd say it's about time," says Brian Reitz, a senior and long-time Turtles fan. "I guess what happened was that they just got too big to the point of it being ridiculous, but I think at this point they could be well received once again." \nMatt Hawes, owner of Comics Unlimited, a store in Evansville that sells comic books, action figures, posters and other such items, has a similar theory.\n"It's a given that nostalgia runs for about a 15-20 year cycle, and maybe now it's their turn in the rotation once again. At their peak they were everywhere, and a lot of people have a soft spot for those guys that will last a long time," Hawes says.\nApparently several respective industries are noticing this.\nHawes says that after two issues, the success in sales of the new Turtles comic book (the medium by which they were created back in 1984) proves alone that at least the true fans still exist. Peter Laird, who co-created the Ninja Turtles with fellow artist Kevin Eastman almost 18 years ago, is doing the writing for the series. \n"The first issue sold incredibly well here, and I think it's probably the same on a national level. One of the original writers is staying on, (so) I'm sure that has a lot to do with it," Hawes says.\nAs early as this summer, fans might get to feast their eyes on a five-minute pilot for a new Turtles TV series. According to the official Web site, www.ninjaturtles.com, the show will be done entirely in CGI (computer generated imagery) format. Laird will be deeply involved with the creative conception of the project. The series will be produced by Digital Rim Entertainment, a company that specializes in CGI related projects.\nAnd hey, a show would help, but let's face it -- a film would make it an especially strong comeback attempt.\nIn the past year alone, Hollywood has produced several comic book adaptations. The highly anticipated "X-Men" yielded substantial numbers at the box office, and the upcoming Spider-Man, Daredevil, Incredible Hulk and X-Men 2 films all hope to follow suit. Perhaps it is this recent trend that is helping spark interest in a fourth Ninja Turtles feature film.\nSince last summer, the new Turtles movie has been in the production stages in Hawaii. It will be the first feature film for Digital Rim Entertainment, which was founded by director John Woo (of "Mission: Impossible 2" fame) along with producer Terence Chang. The film, like the TV series, will be made entirely in CGI, a method that has been used in integration with real-life scenes for popular films such as "Star Wars: Episode 1" (remember Jar-Jar Binks?) and the much anticipated "Spider-Man." \nLaird is working closely with Woo and Chang on the development of the project, which has an estimated $40 to $60 million budget. \nAccording to the Web site, Laird looks to attract an older fan base in addition to the youngsters by presenting a grittier portrayal of the Turtles. What he and Eastman created back in 1984 were much darker characters, but when the two struck a deal and the fab-four reached CBS cartoon status and later the silver screen, the changes were made for that younger audience. \n"I would hope that we could accomplish what the first TMNT movie did, which is to say, be something that appeals to both adults and kids. So maybe we can satisfy those original now-grown-up TMNT fans and their kids." Laird says.\nSebastian Johnson, employee of the local comic shop Vintage Phoenix, says recent trends might aid a bodacious comeback.\n"I think it's as good a time as any for them, because I've noticed that a lot of '80s stuff is coming back. It might take a little while, but they'll probably be mainstream again sooner or later," Johnson says.\nUntil that day -- COWABUNGA!