Born in Portland, Maine in 1962, Kevin Eastman began drawing at a very young age, copying children’s books and reading comics. Inspired by master storyteller Jack Kirby, and later by self-publishing creators Richard Corben, Vaughn Bode, and Dave Sim, all of his early work focused more on science fiction influences than traditional superhero style comics.
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, TV series adaptation, as well as feature film exploitation, and by 1989 the TMNT’s were number one in all three categories.
Thanks to “THE BEST FANS ON THE ENTIRE PLANET!” according to Eastman, after 35 amazing years the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles STILL continue to find their way into the hearts and imaginations of kids, large and small.
In between TMNT projects, Eastman created an artist friendly publishing company, “Tundra Publishing” where projects like “The Crow” “From Hell” and “American Splendor” first flourished, as well as purchased and published the world renowned “Heavy Metal Magazine.”
When not having way too much fun drawing the TMNT, he also launched three new series in 2015/16; Fistful of Blood, Lost Angeles, and Underwhere. In 2017/18, Kevin launched his first ever Kickstarter that was fully funded for his new projects, Drawing Blood and Radically Rearranged Ronin Ragdolls.
In 2020 Kevin launched The Last Ronin. An epic like you’ve never seen before. It continued on to become the TMNT event of the year decade and hit the charts as the Number 1 comic publication in the USA. The series continues with the launch of The Lost Years in early 2023.
Kevin Eastman lives in San Diego with his wife Courtney, son Shane, a few insane and thoroughly lovable Dachshunds, and two silly, bad kitties.