On this day in 1954, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Peter Laird was born. Based on a drawing by co-creator Kevin Eastman, the Turtles debuted in 1984 and the first issue was intended to parody four classic comics: Dave Sim’s Cerebus, Frank Miller’s Ronin, and Marvel’s Daredevil and New Mutants. A smart merchandising plan turned Eastman and Laird’s TMNT into an 80s and 90s phenomenon. In addition to being involved in various comics projects, Laird now, most laudably, has the Xeric Foundation that generously awards grants to self-publishing cartoonists (and Western Massachusetts charitable groups). Check out an initial TMNT sketch plus a later comic book cover below: