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“In 2003 Coloralot Books produced a series of coloring books with paper doll turtles on the back cover.
The figures were penciled by Peter Laird, inked by Ryan Brown and colored by Steve Lavigne “
Category: Special Feature Posts
The 'Panda Khan' Power Couple !!
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“Endangered Species” takes on a new meaning when the Lord of Death attacks the Brotherhood of P’an.
The Master of Nightmare plots the destruction of the Panda Clan living in the Caterpillar Mountains. Will his evil machinations rouse the Earthquake Beetle from his eternal burrowing ?
Rites of passage, story-tellers, animal warriors, wizards and more. Perhaps Panda Khan is what you’ve been searching for. Read his mini-series and find out.”
Li Yang, the Panda Khan is unique in his ties to TMNT lore and a special, though somewhat elusive ally and friend to the Turtles and Usagi Yojimbo dating back to the very early days of both comic series. Most kids in the early 1990s were familiar with the infamous Turtle action figure, but some just “BEARLY” the associated comic mini-series.
The reason for Li Yang’s inclusion into the TMNT Playmate’s toy fold aside from creator’s Garcia and Sharp’s friendship and association with Mirage was also that at some point P.K. was to appear in the original TMNT cartoon show !! This is very similar to the effect of the deal made with Stan Sakai and the now iconic cross-over history that Usagi Yojimbo and his friends have had with the TMNT.
It should also be noted that Dave has also shared his illustrative talents with the Turtles including appearances including 1991’s “Turtle Soup” anthology and some of the earliest “TMNT ADVENTURES” titles. Dave now is well known for his work on Ben Edlund’s insanely famous : “The TICK” !!
As far as i have discovered, the Big Bad boy warrior bear and all his spacey pals make some of their first appearances in Colleen Doran’s “A Distant Soil” in 1985. An early version of the “The Chronicles of Panda Khan” appear in Doran’s cult favorite book , edited by Richard Pini of ‘ Elfquest’.
The actual mini-series would span four issues and a hand full of fun crossovers between 1986 – 1990.
..comic cross-overs / pre- TMNT include an appearence in Usagi Yojimbo & the laugh out loud series EQUINE THE UNCIVILIZED #6. Here Li Yang shares cameos with the Turtles and Usagi as well as whole cavalcade of famous anthropomorphic comic critters !!
Some of his Pre-TMNT final appearances as far as i can tell are in 1989’s Varmit’s Cross – over entitled “X-Khan” & the “Panda Khan – Special #1” from 1990.
What you see here in this posting is NOT a complete listing of all of P.K.’s comic appearances. This is what i have in possession.
I shall have to confirm with Dave and Monica on ALL of his appearances.
In 2008’s Comic-con i had the special honor of meeting Dave for the very first time after many years of searching. In 2009, following the TMNT and Usagi’s 25th anniversary roles of honot at the CON.. i managed to also catch up with Dave’s better Panda Half and Li’s Co-creator Monica Sharp !! !!
The fun loving duo informed me about a few things in our exciting exchange and how some seedy ‘ SUITS ‘ wanted control over PANDA KHAN and rights outside of Dave and Monica’s to do with P.K. as they saw fit. It just wasn’t right. I have a feeling this greased the wheel to nix the appearance of Li in the Turtles T.V. show. This is speculation on my part however.
“Li Yang is an honorable and mighty leader of the genetically altered Panda people of Wu-Kung. ”
This tales of this powerful warrior and his heroic allies from the far-out, far – flung , and freeky SCI – FI future is filled with monsters, bugs, space-pirates , and a very evil wizard.
I highly recommend seeking out Li’s classic adventures not just for the Dave’s graphical visuals and Monica’s narrative excitement but just for the absolute pure FUN of it all !!
P.K. is damn FUN READING and outright COOL !!
Seriously !! You don’t know what you you’ve been missing in all of this and so much of the awesome, and unique story telling lies beyond Li’s action figure !!
Li’s signature phrase is ” I AM NO ONE’S PET ! ” .
This is not some cute little wording typed up by Playmate’s Toys marketing and packaging guys. This comes directly from the aforementioned Panda Khan short – story “X-Khan” . When the evil Business Pirate and Crime Lord known as “The Cleaver” wishes to keep P.K. and his lovely pelt as an acquisition and ‘ Beat of Burden ‘. Thus disrupting a trade with Khan’s Tong Pirate allies.
Khan signifies furiously :
“I AM CALLED KHAN AND I AM NO ONE’S PET ! ”
The Cleaver and his associates then wish to de-claw P.K. But with the help of his powerful and ancient ‘ Dragon’s Claw ‘ sword , The Cleaver and his associates leave the business to Beaver and thus retire from criminal activity permanently !!
It’s been noted to me that the classic Panda Khan stories are set to return for reading by a whole new generation via the net. As well as Dave’s awesome, Cowboy Zombie – filled fun Shadow of the West, The Legend of the Night Ranger.
I’ll have further information on this as it develops !!
Original PANDA KHAN art is still in the possession of Dave and Monica and for now is not for sale. Interestingly enough, the only P.K. art used from the original comic stories owned by a third part is in the collection of a – 1 STAN SAKAI !! !!
That didn’t stop Dave from creating some awesome NEW LI YANG art just for me .. now i have the honor of sharing it with you !! !!
** There’s even more fun on my ‘PANDA KHAN’ set on FlickR – CLICK HERE !! **
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Collector Corner – Profiles in the Fandom!
I know, I know. It’s been a while. But here is is, the latest profile! Even though I have a small queue of more collectors to profile, I’m still looking for more fans to profile so please contact me (click my name in the “Contact Us” section) to see yourself profiled. Thanks!
-Terminator
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Jerry
1) Please tell us a little about yourself.
Hello Everybody. I’m Jerry. I’m a huge TMNT fan from New Jersey. I know some of you already think I live in the sewer. I have always had an interest in toys. But the TMNT is what turned me in a toy collector.
I make my living as a lineman for the local telephone company. That just means I spend most of my days about 20 feet off the ground. I’m married and have been for over 10 years. We don’t have any kids, but we do have 2 large dogs that we rescued from the pound. Luckily my dogs have no interest in my toy collecting and never bother with anything that gets left out.
2) How long have you been collecting TMNT and what prompted you to start?
I have been a TMNT collector since the day Playmates released the toys in ’88. I’m a little older than most Ninja Turtle collectors today. I was 24 years old when the toys were released. Almost my entire collection was purchased right off the store shelves. I have bought a few things that I paid alot of money for, but mostly everything came right out of the toy store and into my home.
I remember being on vacation in Florida back in the mid-80’s. I got up one morning and flipped through the TV channels. As I watched this strange cartoon, I remember thinking ” what is this??? Those are turtles and they’re ninjas”. Well for the rest of that vacation, I got up early each morning and watched this cartoon. Once I got home, I told some friends about this show I was watching. They all laughed and told me I was an idiot. Because the cartoon had not reached New Jersey yet or we had never seen it, all my friends thought I was on drugs. And bad ones at that. Soon after that the cartoon began playing and they all also loved the show I had been telling them about. I really enjoyed the original cartoon and was always in the toy store. I just happened to be in the local Toys R Us when the stock people were putting out the toys for the very first time. They clearly had no idea what to make of these new toys and were making fun of each and every figure that they pulled from the box. I went over and picked out one of each of all the figures they had. That’s what started my TMNT collection and it continues today, over 20 years later.
3) What specifically do you collect (toys, comics, etc.) and how large is your collection?
I mostly collect the toys from Playmates and I prefer to have the figures MIB or MOC. But I have been known to pick up almost anything that is related to the Turtles.
I used to think my collection of TMNT was very very large. But after talking to a few members, I realized some people’s passion is stronger than mine! I currently have all the vintage figures carded, maybe I missing 3 at the most. If it was released in the stores, it was my mission to find it. I always liked them, but never really collected the vehicles from the line. Now that would really take up alot of room!!
4) What is your favorite piece in your collection and why?
Favorite piece in my collection??? I don’t know if I could narrow it down to just one. I liked having things that are difficult, but not impossible, to find. I have most of the Japanese figures. And have full cases of much of the figures from the end of the vintage line, such as MutantMasters, Mutaforce, Dino, Coil and Eggs. I really like the Shredder Mail-away. I also have the gold 5th anniversary Turtle and a Toyfair 1989 Promotional wristwatch. Both are limited numbered editions and I was lucky enough to aquire #00005 for each item. But probably the centerpiece to my collection is something some people liked and others hated. I am lucky enough to own probably the last full body costume from the ’90’s live action stage show “Coming Out of Our Shells”. My costume is of Leo from the stage performance. If you would like to see it, The moderators of this great site have posted pictures of my TMNT and toy collection. You can see it there.
5) How do you store/display your collection at home?
Luckily I own my own home with a full basement. The basement is my toy haven. My wife, who supports my hobby, rarely goes down those stairs because of how much stuff is displayed all over. One corner is boxes that I must still sort through, but the rest is all displayed on shelves and in glass cases. Check out the pictures!!
6) What are your top five most wanted TMNT collectibles?
Right now, I am searching for one Japanese Super Turtles. I need Raph #56 to complete my set. Probably the only other thing I would really want to have is the store opening costume. Back in the day, when stores opened or just if it was a special occasion, sometimes the Turtles made an appearence. Usually only 2 at a time were availible. I want one of those really great costumes that I remember. It was very short and stocky. It was probably about 5 and a half feet tall and near 3-4 feet wide. The best part is that it was very reminisent of the FCF Turtles. I always thought that those costumes were very well made. I’ve been looking for decades for any of those and have never even seen them or pictures of them again. They probably went out with the trash along time ago. I hope not.
7) Anything you would like to say in closing?
I just want to say that I really enjoy TMNT collecting. I have met alot of great people over the years who share my interest and they all have my respect. Some, I’ve known for many, many years and others I just met a short time ago. Collecting is alot of fun as long as you don’t take it too seriously. I want to thank the moderators of this site. They seem to think I’d be interesting enough to do a profile of. I sure hope they weren’t disappointed. Again, my pictures are all listed over under the jwiz154 collections. I’d really like to know what anyone else thinks about my stuff. Thanks for looking.
