Peter Alan Laird (born January 27, 1954 in North Adams, Massachusetts) is an American comic book artist. He is best known for co-creating Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the fall of 1983 with Kevin Eastman. He lives in Western Massachusetts along with his wife and daughter.
Laird and Eastman's creations went on to become cultural phenomenons, which forced them to take regular sabbaticals from the comic to deal with the day to day pressures. Eastman eventually sold his share of the franchise to Laird and the two went their separate ways.
In addition to his other interests, Laird founded the Xeric Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides grants to new comic book creators to self-publish their work.
After minimal involvement in the development of the original animated series, and even less with the Next Mutation series, Laird took a more important role in the next TMNT animated venture. While final preparations were underway, he relaunched the official comics canon of the franchise with "Volume Four" (the third published by Mirage comics), with artwork supplied by fellow TMNT writer, friend, and Rat King creator Jim Lawson. When the new series proved a success, Laird relaunched Tales of the TMNT to accompany the fourth volume.
Following a successful deal to revive the TMNT theatrically, Laird put Volume Four on hold to develop the new movie; he has yet to return to the comic, leaving several plot lines unresolved. Tales of the TMNT was thought to go on hiatus in 2008, and the franchise's future beyond its on-screen presence was uncertain, but staff confirmed that this was not the case. It was recently confirmed on Steve Murphy's blog that Peter Laird is returning to Volume 4 later this year and the title would return, distributed digitally by Mirage.
Laird rejected the pitch for TMNT's disputed seventh season, as it again attempted to give the franchise a "gimmick" to sustain itself as a series, he has since finally accepted a proposal, though when it will be revealed remains to be seen. The new season is expected to air in 2008
Peter has also published the graphic novel trilogy, Planet Racer, along with Jim Lawson. In season 3 of the 2003 TMNT series, an episode was based on the Planet Racer ' s theme.
Laird has an ongoing friendship with Stan Sakai, whose cult manga character Usagi Yojimbo has made multiple appearances in various TMNT mediums.
On June 1, 2000 Peter and the Mirage Group purchased all of Kevin's ownership in the TMNT property and the corporations, execept of a small continuing income participation which was bought out on March 1, 2008.
