Does the Fred Wolf show get unfairly blamed?

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by plastroncafe

If memory serves Eastman and Laird pitched to the big two, and turned down.
Mirage helped to usher in the age of the Indy Comic, which I think would have happened regardless of whether or not the FW toon came to be. I think the TMNT would have had the same impact it did on comics, just not the global phenomenon that it became because of the toon.

These "what-ifs" are fascinating. Curious if you know of any statements or interviews from larger independent comic publishers (e.g. Image) that attribute any inspiration to Mirage?

It seems to me that more impact on comics simply came from those half dozen creators at Marvel who finally said "screw this" and left to form creator-owned companies?