Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Kuala Lumpur Hilton

Last Friday, I attended a knowledge sharing session organised by MDeC in KL Hilton, Sentral. The main guests were Kevin Eastman of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) and Heavy Metal Magazine fame and Joe Pearson of Epoch Ink Animation. I must confess that my single minded objective for attending the sessions were to meet Kevin Eastman and to get an autograph from him... LOL

I am a fan of the black and white TMNT comics and the Heavy Metal Magazine (acquired by Kevin Eastman in 1991). My first experience with Heavy Metal was in 1979 in Singapore. I really admired the artwork of Jean Giraud aka Moebius and Richard Corben. I have quite a collection of Moebius' work, favourite being The Incal! Anyway, that's another story... LOL.

There were easily more than two hundred attendees at the knowledge sharing sessions. The organizer had to add a few additional rows of chairs due to the overwhelming turn out.

I certainly did not expect the knowledge sharing sessions to be so very insightful and sort of rekindled my yesteryears' desire to be a comic artist cum animator. (My once upon a time attempted foray into the industry was restricted to book cover designs, book illustrations and writing children stories.)

Both Kevin Eastman and Joe Pearson shared their trials and tribulations on their journey to success. The bottom line was that it would not have happened if not for the many sacrifices, persistence and hard work.

I for one, was really inspired by them... :-)