Kevin Eastman (American, b.1962)

Kevin Eastman Bio - Comic Book Artist

Born in Portland, Maine in 1962, Kevin Eastman began drawing at a very young age, copying children’s books, and reading comics. He was inspired by master storyteller Jack Kirby, and later by self-publishing creator Richard Corben.

In 1982, while trying to sell some of his illustrations to local fanzines, he met Peter Laird in Northampton, Massachusetts and the partnership studio, Mirage Studios was formed. Less than a year later in the middle of a late-night drawing session, Eastman doodled a new character he dubbed a “Ninja Turtle” to make Laird laugh—several sillier sketches and a final drawing of four characters later, “Eastman and Laird’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” had officially entered the universe.

Self-published in May of 1984, the first issue sold out of its 3,000 copies overnight and quickly became a fan favorite. Catching the eye of merchandising agents and Hollywood producers, Eastman and Laird maintained full control of their creations while guiding them through toy licensing, a TV series adaptation, and feature films, and by 1990 the TMNT’s were number one in all three categories.

In between TMNT projects, Eastman launched a creator-friendly publishing company, “Tundra Publishing” where projects like The Crow, From Hell, Madman, and Understanding Comics first flourished, as well as purchased and published the world-renowned Heavy Metal Magazine for more than twenty-five years.