Palladium's role-playing game brought the Turtles to the attention of licensing agent Mark Freedman and the Turtles phenomenon took off, with the various characters soon appearing on T-shirts, Halloween masks, mugs, and other paraphernalia. Dark Horse Miniatures produced a set of 15 lead figurines for role-playing gamers and collectors, Palladium Books produced a role-playing game featuring the Turtles, and First Comics reprinted in four volumes the first eleven issues as color trade paperback collections. Eastman and Laird began to widely merchandise their property. Mirage's Turtles comic led to a widening media presence for the heroes.
Solson would follow this up with the six-issue Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Authorized Martial Arts Training Manual as well as one issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Teach Karate volume in 1987.
Also in 1985, Solson Publications released How to Draw Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The previous four issues were also reprinted in this size and format with new colored covers.
Their fifth issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was released in November 1985, and was downsized to the more common American comics-format and size.
The Turtles phenomenon saw the duo invited to their first comics convention at the tenth annual Atlanta Fantasy Fair in 1984, where they mingled with notable comic creators like Larry Niven, Forrest J Ackerman and Fred Hembeck. This earned Eastman and Laird a profit of $2,000 each and allowed them to become full-time comic book creators. With their second issue, Eastman and Laird's Turtles comic began a quick rise to success, bringing in advance orders of 15,000 copies, five times the initial print run of the first issue. This led to widespread press coverage of both the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mirage Studios itself, creating a demand for the comic. They sent the press kit to 180 television and radio stations as well as to the Associated Press and United Press International. Laird's newspaper experience led to the two creating a four-page press kit, which included a story outline and artwork. Main articles: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Mirage Studios) It was published by the duo's Mirage Studios, a name chosen because, as Eastman says, "there wasn't an actual studio, only kitchen tables and couches with lap boards." By September 1985, their first issue had received three additional printings. The forty-page oversized comic had an initial print run of 3,275 copies and was largely funded by a US$1000 loan from Eastman's uncle Quentin. In May 1984, Eastman and Laird self-published the first black & white issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
While searching for a local underground newspaper to publish his work, he began a professional relationship with Peter Laird, who worked at nearby Dover, New Hampshire, and the two collaborated for a short time on various comics projects. He met a waitress who was attending the University of Massachusetts Amherst and followed her to Northampton, Massachusetts. In 1983 he worked in a restaurant while he searched for publishers for his comics. He grew up a comic book fan, with Jack Kirby as his idol and Kamandi as his favorite title of his. He attended Westbrook High School in Westbrook, Maine, with comic book illustrator Steve Lavigne.