When Kevin/Peter became millionaires what did they do with their money

[Andrew NDB]

Laird not wanting to exploit the Fred Wolf series for financial gain or otherwise is the biggest reason I respect him. He held the line at what he determined was, on this side of it is nonsense, and this side of it is OK. And time has proven how right he was in that regard in what we've gotten when the floodgates of idiots is open.

[CyberCubed]

$60 million went to Mirage but $10 million went to buying out the 4kids cartoon. So there should be $50 million left, how much of that is taxed and besides that how much did PL have to give to Gary Richardson or other Mirage staffers? Did Jim Lawson, Dan Berger, etc. get anything?

[Wildcat]

They don’t get some royalties for merchandise or tv/movies?

Some people own rights to things they only created for another franchise.

[staypuftweepel]

Originally Posted by BornAgain

Probably kicks himself if he’s a negative thinker or he can focus on the fact that he can still sign a book and throw it on eBay for a pretty penny and his artistic creations will outlive him. Missing out on money certainty stings but he won in the end. Everything else is nitpicking really.

Eh, I’m betting he wishes he had the money. At this point it seems like all those signatures and stuff he does is his way to survive. It also seems like he has to shill whatever stupid thing Nick or Idw may be doing so he can stay on and continue to get paid to consult. I don’t care what anyone says, there’s no way that guy liked the boring slow pace of mutant town. Every comic he ever wrote or drew had direction and was exciting. Every comic he says inspired him was usually action oriented.

Him stuck consulting is a pretty ridiculous situation when you think about how he and Peter created the turtles. Especially since he fought for creators rights. But I also think his situation is his fault. I agree with Andrew I think he needed to sell his half in order to make some money quick. Maybe he had some debts piling up living where he was living at the time with Julie Strain. He sold them in 2000. That’s the same year Heavy Metal 2000 came out. I read it has an estimated budget of 15 million, but all I could find was the box office revenue for the first film. I bet it didn’t reach anywhere near that. You’d think he’d just retain the rights and continue to make money off the brand while Peter does what he wants with it (2003/volume 4/2007 movie). Or at the time was his and Peter’s relationship so bad that he didn’t want anything to do with the turtles until Peter wasn’t involved anymore.

I respect the guy as an artist and creator, but like people said above he was bad with money. When he was doing Tundra he gave friends and family jobs and it just sounds like he was hiring people who didn’t know what they were doing and in the end it went under. I think maybe in one of the cartoonist Kafaybe interviews with him or someone else they said he would give comic creators huge advances before they even put anything down on paper. He was a young dude. I couldn’t imagine being mid 20s and having as much cash as he had. I’d probably buy a tank too.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

$60 million went to Mirage but $10 million went to buying out the 4kids cartoon. So there should be $50 million left, how much of that is taxed and besides that how much did PL have to give to Gary Richardson or other Mirage staffers? Did Jim Lawson, Dan Berger, etc. get anything?

Absolutely. All of the "house" people at Mirage got some kind of payout. I have no idea what it is. Depending on who you ask it was either fair or merely a pittance. I have no idea.

Originally Posted by Wildcat

They don’t get some royalties for merchandise or tv/movies?

I guess they would have to, regardless of who still owns rights to anything.

Originally Posted by staypuftweepel

Eh, I’m betting he wishes he had the money. At this point it seems like all those signatures and stuff he does is his way to survive. It also seems like he has to shill whatever stupid thing Nick or Idw may be doing so he can stay on and continue to get paid to consult. I don’t care what anyone says, there’s no way that guy liked the boring slow pace of mutant town. Every comic he ever wrote or drew had direction and was exciting. Every comic he says inspired him was usually action oriented.

Him stuck consulting is a pretty ridiculous situation when you think about how he and Peter created the turtles. Especially since he fought for creators rights. But I also think his situation is his fault. I agree with Andrew I think he needed to sell his half in order to make some money quick. Maybe he had some debts piling up living where he was living at the time with Julie Strain. He sold them in 2000. That’s the same year Heavy Metal 2000 came out. I read it has an estimated budget of 15 million, but all I could find was the box office revenue for the first film. I bet it didn’t reach anywhere near that. You’d think he’d just retain the rights and continue to make money off the brand while Peter does what he wants with it (2003/volume 4/2007 movie). Or at the time was his and Peter’s relationship so bad that he didn’t want anything to do with the turtles until Peter wasn’t involved anymore.

I respect the guy as an artist and creator, but like people said above he was bad with money. When he was doing Tundra he gave friends and family jobs and it just sounds like he was hiring people who didn’t know what they were doing and in the end it went under. I think maybe in one of the cartoonist Kafaybe interviews with him or someone else they said he would give comic creators huge advances before they even put anything down on paper. He was a young dude. I couldn’t imagine being mid 20s and having as much cash as he had. I’d probably buy a tank too.

I don't think it was really ever that serious. Maybe around 2000. He was definitely very, very interested to get back into the game when it was unclear who would nab the comic rights for TMNT after 2009. I know because I helped him.

[CyberCubed]

I'm wondering why all the Mirage guys aren't rich then. Even if they only got a small percentage say 5% or so of that $60 million, it should still be enough for them to live comfortably for the rest of their lives. It's been 14 years since 2009, I don't see Jim Lawson or Dan Berger in huge mansions or Steve Murphy or the rest of them. Most of them were actually still with Mirage all throughout the early 2010's.

[frank_one]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

It's been 14 years since 2009, I don't see Jim Lawson or Dan Berger in huge mansions or Steve Murphy or the rest of them.

Does Peter Laird live in a mansion?

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I'm wondering why all the Mirage guys aren't rich then. Even if they only got a small percentage say 5% or so of that $60 million, it should still be enough for them to live comfortably for the rest of their lives. It's been 14 years since 2009, I don't see Jim Lawson or Dan Berger in huge mansions or Steve Murphy or the rest of them. Most of them were actually still with Mirage all throughout the early 2010's.

It definitely wasn't a %. It sounds like it may have been a flat fee and maybe only 5 figures.

[Powder]

It's a real shame that guys like Lawson, Brown, Lavigne, etc aren't rich or bordering on it. Mutant Mayhem for example used so many Ryan Brown characters that are cemented firmly in the brand as being iconic/popular, but they didn't so much as mention his name in the credits. Rat King lives forever, Lavigne/Brown's style guide art is still being made into merch to this day, these guys should be more of a household name, at least with TMNT fans, anyway. They get their flowers from the more hardcore fans, but still there are so many who don't realize that the bulk of the brand owes itself to that gang of guys, not just Kev & Pete.

[Shinningbolt]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Laird not wanting to exploit the Fred Wolf series for financial gain or otherwise is the biggest reason I respect him. He held the line at what he determined was, on this side of it is nonsense, and this side of it is OK. And time has proven how right he was in that regard in what we've gotten when the floodgates of idiots is open.

I don’t know the 2003 series being more immediate nostalgic hate backlash, that was attached to it and sparing us from stuff like mutant mayhem seems like an easy necessary evil I mean really if you’re going to do an evil Utrom warlord banished earth, what’s the point of not naming him krang I’m keeping shredder originally a human oroku saki