Yes I read some of the old black & whites from Mirage and also played a bit of the Palladium RPGs which sometimes contained stories and artwork by Eastman & Laird. I was always a bit disappointed that the cartoon was so watered down and the live-action movie was kind of a midpoint between the two, not as good as the comics but better than the cartoon.

I missed most of the post Eastman & Laird stuff. When Erik Larsen brought them back at Image I enjoyed it for a while. I also enjoyed Laird's solo V4 for a while but that series definitely started to wander and just petered out without a finish.

All in all I like the Turtles but even E&L never really had a definitive story or conclusion, just random highlights and lowlights.

I agree that it was definitely a great mix of weird, funny, and grim 'n gritty.