Robot 6
Peter Laird: 'I never expected to be working on the same thing for this long'
- Posted on October 22, 2009 - 10:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1
Although many were surprised by yesterday's announcement that Viacom had purchased Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for $60 million, co-creator Peter Laird makes it clear the sale of the '80s indie-comics hit turned multimedia franchise was a long time coming.
"Why did I sell the TMNT?" Laird wrote yesterday afternoon on his blog. "There are a number of reasons, but first and foremost is that I have been doing this TMNT thing for twenty-five years, sixteen of them in partnership with TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman and the last nine as sole owner of the property. That is a long time. It is almost half my life (I'm 55). I never expected to be working on the same thing for this long. And it has worn me down. I am no longer that guy who carries his sketchbook around with him and draws in it every chance he gets. ... I miss -- I really, really miss -- being that guy."
Laird, who in March 2008 completed a buyout of Eastman's interests in TMNT and Mirage Studios that had begun in 2000, noted that his interest in the property had faded in recent years: "As one result, the production of TMNT Volume 4 comics has slowed to a crawl. That's not good. I have a conclusion planned out for that series, and at some point I want to get to it. Maybe this sale will help me get to that point. We'll see."
He also stressed that he still owns Mirage, the company he founded with Eastman in 1983.
Debuting in 1984 as a black-and-white self-published comic, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles began as a parody of Cerebus, Daredevil, New Mutants and Ronin. However, thanks largely to the efforts of licensing agent Mark Freedman, the property soon spawned animated TV series, movies, video games and endless merchandise.
Under Viacom's ownership, TMNT is destined for a new feature film from Paramount and a CG-animated TV series from Nickelodeon, both in 2012.
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5 Comments
Squashua
October 22, 2009 at 10:55 am
Bring back Venus De Milo ( heh).
Matt Spatola
October 22, 2009 at 1:03 pm
So he still has Mirage Studios. What is that going to entail without TMNT? Also I didn't realize he had bought out Eastman. How much was that for?
KaraokeFanboy
October 22, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Disney owns Marvel. Now Viacom owns the TMNT. What's next -- Coca-Cola buys Dark Horse, and the Goon drinks a Sprite every issue? Kidding, of course, because in this case fans should praise Laird for (1.) sticking with his creation that was originally a throw away parody for so long, (2.) achieving the dream every small press publisher secretly has on making a profit -- nay, a FORTUNE -- from their ideas. Thanks for the 25 years, Peter, and I'm eager to read that wrap-up story.
I wonder, would he have maintained some vigor for the Turtles, if he KEPT them a parody -- if the last TMNT story is a Dark Knight Returns spoof? Hey, it already HAS "mutants" . . .
Eric
October 23, 2009 at 9:16 am
As long as the TMNT omnibus(es? i?) come out, then I wish Laird the best of luck in his future plans. And really? Anyone else would've sold that property for a lot less a long time ago.
Sheba
November 1, 2009 at 8:02 am
Hey I love the turtles. I watch them all the time on Saturdays. The only problem with them was season five ones. I mean the titles I didn't think the turtles would turn bad but in season five they did i mean that one title "Lap of gods" whoever made those ones were not thinking i wrote a letter to stop season five i didn't like sooo much. Also again I love the turtles but what about Venus from the next Mutation I think she should be shown to: you know how awesome would that be their sister in the cartoons with them even if you put her in the 2011 movie that would be awesome. Again love the turtles and hope that Venus will be shown and that episodes like season five and even seaseon five won't be shown again.