Ninja Turtle founder launching MMA themed comic 11/4
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-founder Kevin Eastman has collaborated with former MMA manager and fighter Ian Parker to create an MMA themed comic.
You probably know of Kevin Eastman. You do know his work. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the biggest martial arts property since Bruce Lee. Eastman has collaborated with Ian Parker, a former fighter and former MMA manger for a number of fighters including current UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman.
The team is launching CAGEHERO as a four-issue comic book on November 4th, branded as an all-ages action-adventure series in the tradition of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Karate Kid.
Since the beginning, the goal of CageHero has to put the sport in a good light. This a youth-based, values-oriented Mixed Martial Arts property that inspires health, fitness, skill, and teamwork to become a real hero.
The core team is:
1. Surge Licensing – The Team responsible for creating the licensing architecture of the multi-billion dollar Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles empire.
2. Kevin Eastman – Co-Founder of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, co-wrote Cagehero.
3. Dynamite Distribution – Top Tier Comic Distribution/Marketing company that will pump the brand through all their comic channels.
4. Ian Parker/Mark Mastrandrea– Founders who oversaw / co-wrote the comic to maintain authenticity to MMA.
In Cage Hero, Ryder Stone, a small town middle school student and wrestling star raised by a strict grandfather, finds himself on a path to meet his true destiny when he is recruited to lead a super-powered team of mixed martial artists known as The Cage Heroes! Trained in their own unique martial art disciplines, all connected by a secret past, this new team will need to dig deep within themselves to protect the world from an international evil network known as The Shadow Empire. The race for control of the universe has begun, and evil has the upper hand. With only a handful of teenagers to stand in the way, can they find the hero within and stop them?
“It is time that this generation has its own group of heroes to look up to. We have created that,” says Ian Parker. “With the sport of MMA on the rise and superheroes as popular as ever, we have found a fun and inspiring way to combine the two.”
“We couldn’t be more excited to launch an MMA-inspired comic series with an all-star cast of creators and content developers,” says Elan Freedman, Surge Licensing’s VP. “The world has seen the magic created through a partnership with Kevin Eastman. Add in the sporting knowledge of Ian and Mark with the publishing prowess of Dynamite, and you have a recipe for success.”
The new series will be available at stores everywhere, and exclusively in the MMA space at MMAWarehouse.