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Mirage Studios was an American
comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
company founded in 1983 by
Kevin Eastman Kevin Brooks Eastman (born May 30, 1962) is an American comic book writer and artist best known for co-creating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Peter Laird. Eastman was also formerly the editor and publisher of the magazine ''Heavy Metal ...
and Peter Laird in
Dover, New Hampshire Dover is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 32,741 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populous city in the New Hampshire Seacoast Region (New Hampshire), Seacoast region and ...
. The company was best known for the ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...
'' (''TMNT'') comic book series and the subsequent franchise it has spawned.


History

Mirage Studios was started in 1983, in Dover, New Hampshire. The company was named "Mirage" because there was no actual company. Less than a year before ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' #1 was published in May 1984, Eastman and Laird began experimenting with numerous series. Mirage then moved to
Sharon, Connecticut Sharon is a New England town, town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States, in the northwest corner of the state. At the time of the United States 2020 Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population ...
, and stayed there for two years before ending up in
Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence, Massachusetts, Florence and ...
. With the success of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Eastman and Laird hired a core group of artists to help with the increasing workload. The first addition to the studio roster was Eastman's high school friend Steve Lavigne, brought on in 1984 as a letterer. In 1985, Eastman and Laird hired artist Ryan Brown to assist them as an
inker The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production. After the penciller creates a drawing with pencil, the inker interprets this drawing by outlining and embellishing ...
for the Turtles. Brown would be the first in a long line of artists, other than Eastman and Laird, that would work on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. In the following year, two new members were added, penciler Jim Lawson from
Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
and New Jersey's Michael Dooney who would paint a number of covers. With the addition of these four core artists along with Peter and Kevin, Mirage's Ninja Turtles output would expand over the next couple of years to include numerous Mirage spin-off titles, as well as a companion comic book entitled '' Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''. In 1989, Kevin Eastman invited freelance illustrator A.C. Farley to do cover paintings for the TMNT collected books. Peter Laird also invited Farley to do issue #29 of the TMNT comic. Farley was eventually invited to be part of the studio and crafted many paintings and comic artwork for the TMNT until his departure from the studio to resume his freelance business in 2004. In 1991, Mirage secured an interlocutory injunction against Counter-Feat Clothing for similar designs of drawings. The Mirage artists operated out of a renovated factory space in Florence, Massachusetts. This is where the bulk of the creative output was done, such as the
Playmates Toys Playmates Toys Limited is a Hong Kong toy company. The company was founded in Hong Kong in 1966 by Sam Chan Tai-ho as Playmates Industrial, manufacturing dolls for other companies. In 1975, Playmates began marketing its own line of preschool to ...
toy designs and the Archie TMNT comic series, until
Tundra Publishing Tundra Publishing was a Northampton, Massachusetts-based comic book publisher founded by Kevin Eastman in 1990. The company was founded to provide a venue for adventurous, creator-owned work by talented cartoonists and illustrators. Its publica ...
took over the building. Eastman and Laird along with Brown, Dooney, Lavigne, Lawson and Farley toured extensively over the years, making personal appearances and attending many comic book conventions in
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
,
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
,
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
,
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
,
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
,
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, and
Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on ...
among many others. As the TMNT went mainstream, later additions to the studio would include Eric Talbot from Eastman's and Lavigne's old high school, writer Stephen Murphy, and Brown's friend, Dan Berger, who was brought in from Ohio to ink the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventure'' title from
Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc. (often referred to simply as Archie Comics) is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the village of Pelham, New York. The company's many titles feature the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Jug ...
. In 1988, Mirage participated in the drafting of the Creator's Bill of Rights for comic book creators. On October 21, 2009, it was announced that Viacom had purchased most of Mirage's rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles property. Mirage retained the rights to publish 18 issues a year, though the future involvement of Mirage with the Turtles, and the future of Mirage itself, was unclear at the time of the announcement. Mirage went dormant on December 31, 2009. Already completed projects released into 2010, with the rest being canceled. The final project released by the studio was TMNT volume 4, issue 32, released in May 2014. Since August 2011, IDW has held publishing rights to TMNT comics under license from Viacom. On September 9, 2021, the company's website announced that its divisions had been completely dissolved, and all e-commerce sales would wind up on September 19, 2021. The website has remained active in archive form to document the comics published before IDW took over its rights, and is no longer actively updated.


Staff

Here is the list of writers and artists who were part of Mirage Studios. List in alphabetical order: *Dan Berger *Jake Black * Ryan Brown * Michael Dooney *
Kevin Eastman Kevin Brooks Eastman (born May 30, 1962) is an American comic book writer and artist best known for co-creating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Peter Laird. Eastman was also formerly the editor and publisher of the magazine ''Heavy Metal ...
*A.C. Farley *Tristan Huw Jones *Mary Kelleher * Peter Laird *Steve Lavigne * Jim Lawson *Ross May * Stephen Murphy *
Stan Sakai is a Japanese Americans, Japanese-born American cartoonist and comic book creator. He is best known as the creator of the comic series ''Usagi Yojimbo''. Early life Sakai was born Masahiko Sakai (坂井雅彦) in Kyoto, Japan, to Akio and Ter ...
*Eric Talbot


Titles

Mirage produced many titles, although most did not remain in publication for more than a few issues. Comics published include: *''Bade Biker & Orson'' by Jim Lawson *''Barabbas'' by Dan Vado and Gino Atanasio *''Bioneers'' by A.C. Farley *''Commandosaurs'' by Peter Laird *''Dino Island'' by Jim Lawson *'' Fugitoid'' by
Kevin Eastman Kevin Brooks Eastman (born May 30, 1962) is an American comic book writer and artist best known for co-creating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Peter Laird. Eastman was also formerly the editor and publisher of the magazine ''Heavy Metal ...
and Peter Laird *'' Gizmo'' by Michael Dooney *''Gobbledygook'' by various artists *''Grunts'' by various artists *''Gutwallow'' by Dan Berger *''Hallowieners: Invasion of the Halloween Hot Dogs'' by Ryan Brown *''Hero Sandwich'' *''Melting Pot'' by
Kevin Eastman Kevin Brooks Eastman (born May 30, 1962) is an American comic book writer and artist best known for co-creating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Peter Laird. Eastman was also formerly the editor and publisher of the magazine ''Heavy Metal ...
and Eric Talbot *''Mirage Mini-Comics'' *''Paleo'' by Jim Lawson *''Planet Racers'' by Peter Laird and Jim Lawson *''Plastron Cafe'' by various artists *''Prime Slime Tails'' *''Justice Force'' *''
The Puma Blues ''The Puma Blues'' is a comic book written by Stephen Murphy (comics), Stephen Murphy and drawn by Michael Zulli. It ran from June 1986 in comics, 1986 to early 1989 in comics, 1989, stretching over 23 regular issues and a single "half-issue" minic ...
'' by Stephen Murphy and Michael Zulli *'' Rockola'' by Ryan Brown *''Stupid Heroes'' by Peter Laird *''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...
'' and related titles by
Kevin Eastman Kevin Brooks Eastman (born May 30, 1962) is an American comic book writer and artist best known for co-creating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Peter Laird. Eastman was also formerly the editor and publisher of the magazine ''Heavy Metal ...
and Peter Laird *''
Usagi Yojimbo is a comic book series created by Stan Sakai. It is set primarily at the beginning of the Edo period of Japanese history and features anthropomorphic animals replacing humans. The main character is a rabbit '' rōnin'', Miyamoto Usagi, whom ...
(volume 2)'' and related titles by
Stan Sakai is a Japanese Americans, Japanese-born American cartoonist and comic book creator. He is best known as the creator of the comic series ''Usagi Yojimbo''. Early life Sakai was born Masahiko Sakai (坂井雅彦) in Kyoto, Japan, to Akio and Ter ...
*''Xenotech'' by Michael Dooney


References


External links

* * {{Authority control Publishing companies established in 1983 1983 establishments in New Hampshire Publishing companies disestablished in 2021 2021 disestablishments in Massachusetts Northampton, Massachusetts Privately held companies based in Massachusetts American companies disestablished in 2021