Why Did Eastman Sell His Shares?

[Konchadunga]

So, recently I posted about Peter Laird's reasoning for selling TMNT to Nickelodeon, and it's certainly marked quite a change in the direction of the franchise. It made me wonder, though, does anyone know what made Eastman sell it over a decade ago?

[Powder]

Pretty sure he felt more or less the way Pete does now, but in a sort of "parting on good terms with the property" way. They became businessmen, leaving their role as creators to the wayside, which made life a lot less fun presumably. Plus Kevin was to take on the reigns at Heavy Metal.

[CyberCubed]

After Next Mutation bombed and the Image run ended, he probably felt like the franchise had run its course. He probably never thought the series would come back in 2003 and again in 2012.

[pingclang]

If you look it up, Eastman wanted to do his own thing. Things between the guys were getting tense and Eastman moved away and sold his share to Laird after Tundra failed. He lost a ton of money on the Tundra flop so he pretty much had to to keep afloat.

[TigerClaw]

However Eastman is still heavily involved because hes one of the writers for the IDW TMNT comics.

[Powder]

Originally Posted by TigerClaw

However Eastman is still heavily involved because hes one of the writers for the IDW TMNT comics.

You sure do have a talent for stating the most obvious of the obvious.

[CyberCubed]

I don't think Eastman had any confidence of TMNT returning at the time. The original cartoon ended, Next Mutation flopped, and both Mirage and Image were done publishing the comics.

He probably thought TMNT ran its course and was going to be shelved for a long time. Little did he know that Pete would start the comics only 1 year later and the 2k3 series would begin.

[Roseangelo]

Kevin and Peter had different creative visions. So long as Kevin's share of ownership required his approval for every new TMNT project, it would have been near-impossible for them to agree on anything new at that point in time. The reason Peter was able to move forward with new comics and the 4Kids series is precisely because Kevin wasn't involved. Kevin was involved with enough non-TMNT projects at the time, and lived on the other side of the country from Peter, that it really just didn't make sense for him to stay on board.

[***First of Two Latin Kings***]

Did it ever occur to any of you that issues in his personal life that had NOTHING to do with Peter or the business or Heavy Metal were at the helm of his decision making process?

[pingclang]

Originally Posted by ***The One True Shredder***

Did it ever occur to any of you that issues in his personal life that had NOTHING to do with Peter or the business or Heavy Metal were at the helm of his decision making process?

Maybe, I'm just going off interviews so he's just telling what he wants folks to know.

[Leo656]

I know the Tundra collapse was a fairly big deal; I'm sure it led to a serious amount of stress and burnout for Kevin all by itself.

[Grimlock]

Stress, creative differences and his new gig Heavymetal all contributed to him selling his shares, among other things.

[Irishmile]

It HAS to be one of those things where you have something that you KNOW is worth some money that you do not plan on using yourself.. so you figure... heck I might as well sell it.

[Grimlock]

Originally Posted by Irishmile

It HAS to be one of those things where you have something that you KNOW is worth some money that you do not plan on using yourself.. so you figure... heck I might as well sell it.

What the hell are you talking about?

[zbowen]

I always assumed it was because of his strained relationship with Mirage at the time. It's not like him for Peter Laird have ever hidden the difficult working situation at the time, or how their relationship has been repaired quite a bit at this point.

On a related note, does Eastman have any rights to the characters now, has IDW just hired him as a writer. I know the only reason I picked up the IDW in the beginning was because Eastman was a part of it. I'm picky when it comes to other creative teams taking over a property who did not share the original vision.

[Irishmile]

Originally Posted by Grimlock

What the hell are you talking about?

Well he had something (the rights to tmnt) that was worth money and dint plan on doing anything with it so he sold it... Lemme know if you have further trouble understanding things... I love how pleasent people are around here.

[CyberCubed]

Isn't Eastman already a millionaire? I doubt whatever money Pete gave him to buy his shares made much of a difference.

[DK2]

I believe the situation with Kevin was to "move on" just like how Peter eventually let go of the TMNT when he sold it. Their relationship had faded during the 1990's and they were just hanging on with the TMNT with nothing to do with it. The Image comic stopped and just before that Next Mutation only went a year. They were at opposite ends of the USA. Kevin admitted in an interview he doesn't even speak to any of the Mirage guys anymore. When he did see them it'd be no more than a "hey". They don't keep in touch at all. But he cherishes those old days, they all had fun. I know the Tundra thing was a bust for Kevin and don't forget he was running that Words & Pictures Museum until 1999. Running it for as long as he could afford to. I don't think focusing on his ownership of Heavy Metal was any factor. Its still running and has no problems of any sort that we know of. So I think thats the only solid thing he got from his publishing ventures next to Mirage. Remember at their hey dey of TMNT's peak Eastman & Laird were making $50 mil a each. To think they completely spent all that money is crazy. Maybe Kevin came close to doing that (maybe not even). I can't help but think Peter maybe more well handled financially. He didn't really do much with his earnings it seems other than the Xeric Foundation. I assume he pocketed the $60 mil from the TMNT sale to Paramount? But the irony is that both of them have sold off all their TMNT merchandise they had kept. Eastman auctioned it all off in one big ebay listing and Peter has slowly sold it off through Mirage on ebay. I'm most curious does anyone know how much Kevin made off the TMNT with only the partial royalties bit from 2000-2008? Also how much did Peter and Mirage spend or give Kevin to completely buy him out of the TMNT ownership in 2008? Would be nice to know the numbers there.
But I think Kevin is with the TMNT again in a sort of renewed interest to tell stories he didn't get to do or just have freedom of doing TMNT comics without any corporate bigwigs getting in his way of life.

[Irishmile]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Isn't Eastman already a millionaire? I doubt whatever money Pete gave him to buy his shares made much of a difference.

I have no clue how responsible with finances either man is but I do know plenty of millionaires that never seem like they feel they've made enough.

But I suppose you could just as easily be right about it too.

[pingclang]

Originally Posted by zbowen

On a related note, does Eastman have any rights to the characters now, has IDW just hired him as a writer. I know the only reason I picked up the IDW in the beginning was because Eastman was a part of it. I'm picky when it comes to other creative teams taking over a property who did not share the original vision.

No, he has no share in the Turtles anymore. IDW did bring him on to help with the writing. He also did the first annual himself and does covers. He's pretty much an employee now whichis pretty much what he wants to be.