Steve Lavigne  was the very first artist employee hired by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird in 1985 during the original TMNT/Mirage Studios comic run. He started out lettering the comics, then became colorist for graphic novels and Mirage issue covers. He also colored a majority of the TMNT Archie Adventure covers. As the franchise grew into huge success, he became the Licensing Artist & Licensing Art Director. He was responsible for creating a majority of officially licensed TMNT artwork on packages and products seen across basically every medium in the late 80s and early 90s. He created art for Konami, Pizza Hut, Burger King, to name a few. If you had TMNT products such as clothing, bedding, backpacks, lunchboxes, greeting cards, birthday party decorations, furniture, or video games, he likely created the art on those items. Steve created the TMNT characters Sergeant Bananas, Cuddly Cowlick, Code Name Chameleon, Screwloose and others.

Fun Fact: Michelangelo’s character/personality is based on Steve.

Currently, Steve continues to create covers for IDW TMNT books. In recent years he’s also created art for Limited Run Shredder’s Revenge and the 2019 TMNT Topps Trading Cards. He currently appears at conventions and shop signings. He owns Shellback Artworks which is a Facebook page and Instagram where fans can view current projects and his event schedule, order commissions and purchase a variety of vintage and new comics/art/memorabilia.

Shellback Artworks