Editing Peter Laird (section)

==Mirage Studios==
{{main|Mirage Studios}}
With the success of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Eastman and Laird hired a core group of artists to help with the increasing workload, beginning with Eastman's high school friend [[Steve Lavigne]], brought on in 1984 as a [[letterer]].{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

In 1985, Eastman and Laird hired [[Cleveland, Ohio|Cleveland]] artist [[Ryan Brown (comics)|Ryan Brown]] to assist them as an [[inker]], and a year later penciler [[Jim Lawson (comic book writer)|Jim Lawson]] and cover painter [[Michael Dooney]] joined the studio. These six individuals would allow Mirage to expand into a number of spin-off and companion titles, starting with ''[[Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', designed to fill in continuity gaps in the main title. Operating from a renovated factory space in [[Florence, Massachusetts]], the Mirage team produced most of their work in-house, including the [[Playmates Toys]] toy designs and the Archie TMNT comic series, until Tundra Publishing took over the building.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

Eastman and Laird along with Brown, Dooney, Lavigne and Lawson toured extensively over the years, making personal appearances and attending many comic book conventions. As the Turtles' popularity increased, further people were added to the studio, including [[Eric Talbot]] (who attended Eastman and Lavigne's old high school), writer [[Stephen Murphy (comics)|Stephen Murphy]], and Brown's friend, [[Dan Berger (comics)|Dan Berger]], who was brought in from Ohio to ink the [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures]] title from [[Archie Comics]]. Aside from Eastman (whose creative differences and other pursuits saw him leave and sell his interest to Laird and Mirage), these individuals have remained with Mirage to the present. Stephen Murphy stepped down from his position as the managing editor in the middle of 2007 in favor of Dan Berger; Murphy remained as the creative director.<ref>[http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=120069 "Outgoing editor Steve Murphy on the Turtles past, present and future" by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean at Newsarama, July 9, 2007] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418042238/http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=120069 |date=April 18, 2009 }}. Accessed June 27, 2008.</ref> In [[1988 in comics|1988]], Mirage Studios participated in the drafting of the [[Creator's Bill of Rights]] for comic book creators.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}