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Peter Laird is an American comic book writer and artist who co-created the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Kevin Eastman. Learn about his early life, career, and involvement in the Turtles franchise, as well as his awards and publications.
Peter Laird is an American comics artist and writer who co-created the hit series "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" with Kevin Eastman in 1984. He founded the publishing company Mirage Studios and the nonprofit Xeric Foundation, and sold the TMNT franchise to Viacom in 2009.
- January 1, 1
- 1 min
- North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
- From A Simple Sketch
- The Daredevil Connection
- First Time's A Charm
- Going Soft
- Difficult Decisions
- The Cartoons
- The Action Figures
- The Movies
- Movies That Never Were
- The Video Games
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Struggling artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird were living in Northampton, Massachusetts, when they came up with the Turtles in November 1983. As a joke, Eastman drew a turtle standing on its hind legs, wearing a mask, with nunchucks strapped to its arms. Eastman wrote “Ninja Turtle” on the top of the page. Laird laughed and then drew a more refi...
There are many aspects of the Turtles that are a nod to Marvel Comics’ superhero Daredevil. For example, Splinter, the Turtles’ father figure and sensei, is an homage to Daredevil’s sensei, Stick. The Foot Clan is a take-off of the ninja clan in Daredevil known as The Hand. However, the coolest connection is that the Turtles and Daredevil seem to s...
In March 1984, Eastman and Laird created a new company, Mirage Studios, so named because there was no actual studio other than Laird’s living room. Then, Eastman used his $500 tax return, Laird emptied his bank account of $200, and they borrowed $1300 from Eastman’s uncle to print 3,000 copies of their first comic book, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...
The original Mirage comic book really wasn’t made for youngsters. The Turtles diced up enemies while spouting the occasional curse word, and one of the Turtles’ allies was hockey mask-wearing vigilante Casey Jones, who beat down even low-level crooks with baseball bats and hockey sticks. But when Playmates Toys expressed interest in producing TMNT ...
As owners of the franchise, Eastman and Laird had the final say on changes to their creations. However, neither of them was thrilled about the concessions made. As Eastman said in a 1998 interview for The Comics Journal, “The resolution at the end of the day, even when Pete and I both agreed that, well, there’s some stuff we really don’t like, and ...
Before Playmates would commit to a full toyline for the Turtles, they tested the waters with a five-part cartoon mini-series. It debuted in December 1987 and had to be aired three times before it finally found an audience. Once it gained traction, Playmates ordered more episodes, and the show stayed on the air from 1988 – 1996 for a total of 188 ep...
Before TMNT, Playmates Toys made almost exclusively dolls and plastic playsets for toddlers. But they were looking to get into the lucrative action figure market, so when TMNT's license manager Mark Freedman approached them, it was a perfect match. From 1988 – 1997, Playmates produced around 400 TMNT figures, as well as dozens of vehicles and plays...
In 1990, the Turtles hit the big screen with the live-action film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. With a budget of $13.5 million, the film raked in over $200 million at the worldwide box office. Director Steve Barron made some of the biggest music videos of the MTV-era. His resume includes Michael Jackson’s sidewalk-lighting “Billie Jean,” the sketch...
A live-action film called TMNT: The Next Mutationbegan pre-production in 1994, but was never made. In the movie, the mutagen in their bodies would have affected the Turtles’s physiology. According to Laird, Leonardo could change his skin into a “nearly impenetrable chrome-like surface.” Michelangelo could project human features onto his body, allow...
The Turtles have been featured in 23 arcade and home video games since 1989, on just about every console and computer system imaginable. Their self-titled debut is one of the best-selling NES games not made by Nintendo, with roughly 4 million copies sold, despite also being considered one of the toughest games for the NES.
Learn about the origin, history, and evolution of the TMNT franchise from the perspective of Peter Laird, one of the co-creators of the comic book series. Find out how the Turtles got their names, their connection to Daredevil, and their comic book adventures.
- Rob Lammle
Apr 8, 2014 · Peter Laird, who co-created Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Kevin Eastman, shares his thoughts on the first trailer for the Michael Bay-produced movie. He expresses his views on the design, origin, and motivation of the Turtles and their enemies.
Dec 25, 1988 · Here is Kevin Eastman, comic book artist and entrepreneur, describing the planning session with his partner, Peter Laird, that gave birth to a best-selling Christmas toy and a...
Peter Laird is an actor who appeared in Doctor Who, Sapphire & Steel and The Sandbaggers. He was born in Hampton, Middlesex, England, UK in 1936 and also performed in a play called "Hedda Gabler".
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Jan 8, 2015 · Peter Laird is the artist and co-writer of the comic book series that spawned the popular franchise of mutant turtles. Learn how he and his friend Kevin Eastman came up with the idea of the Turtles and their origin story, inspired by Daredevil and other sources.