Mark Bodé

Mark Bodé

Bode at the Big Apple Convention in Manhattan, October 17, 2009.
Born (1963-02-18) February 18, 1963
Utica, New York
Nationality American
Area(s) Cartoonist, Artist
Notable works
 Cobalt-60
The Lizard of Oz
Notable collaborations
 Vaughn Bodé, Larry Todd
http://www.markbode.com

Mark Bodé (born February 18, 1963 in Utica, New York) is an American cartoonist. The son of underground comics legend Vaughn Bodé, Mark often produces works similar to the elder Bodé’s style. He is best known for his work on Cobalt-60, Miami Mice, and The Lizard of Oz. Bodé has also worked for Heavy Metal magazine and on The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Bodé is also a tattoo artist, spending many years working around Northampton, Massachusetts, although he now lives in California.[1]

Early life

Mark Bodé was born February 18, 1963 in Utica, New York, the son of the cartoonist Vaughn Bodé. Bodé began drawing at age three, and even colored in some of his father's artwork with markers. He claims that his father...

“ brainwashed me into seeing his world, so the characters I started coming up with were heavily influenced by him. Right before he died he told me: 'We'll always be Bode and son. Share my style, but don't get too close.' I couldn't wait to work with him.[1] ”

Vaughn died when Bodé was 12 years old, on a visit with his divorced father in San Francisco.[1] Mark found his father's body.[2]

Bodé attended art school in Oakland, California. He also studied animation at San Francisco State University. In 1982, he attended The School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City as a fine arts major.

While attending SVA, Bodé met Marvel Comics editor Archie Goodwin, who was starting up a new magazine called Epic Illustrated. Bodé became a contributor from 1983 to 1986.[3]

Career

Comics

Bodé has completed and expanded upon many of his father's works.[2] As a 15-year-old Bodé colored the unfinished work Zooks, the First Lizard in Orbit for Heavy Metal.[2][4] In 1984 he expanded and illustrated Cobalt 60, originally created as a short story by his father in 1968. Written by Larry Todd[5] and fully painted by Mark Bodé, the story was serialized in Epic Illustrated, and later collected by The Donning Company/Starblaze Graphics and re-published as a four-issue limited series by Tundra Publishing.[6]

Bodé was the creator of black-and-white comic Miami Mice, published by Rip Off Press in 1986. Bodé and Todd collaborated again on Rip Off Press' 1987 comic Gyro Force.

From 1988 to 1995 Bodé wrote and drew comics with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman. The two collaborated on several issues for Mirage Studios, including issues #18 & #32. Bodé was also the solo creator on the special edition Times Pipeline of TMNT. The Cobalt 60 saga was completed and was published as four graphic novels with Eastman’s company Tundra Publishing.

In 2004, Fantagraphics published Bodé's The Lizard of Oz, a send-up of The Wizard of Oz, starring his father's iconic creation, Cheech Wizard.[1]

Bodé's anthology work includes Subway Art, Spray Can Art, Mugs and Mascots, Burning New York, Broken Windows, Dondi White, Aerosol Kingdom, Picturing the Modern Amazon (by New Museum books), Jack Kirby’s Heroes and Villains, 15 Years of Heavy Metal, 20 Years of Heavy Metal, and Comic Book Superstars.

Tattooing and spray can art

Bodé took up the art of tattooing in 1994. He trained under the guidance of tattoo artists Al Valenta, from western Massachusetts, and Myke Maldonado, from New York.

Bodé also took up spray can art, and has done many mural tributes to his father’s characters over the years.[2] In his career as a spraycan artist, he has done mural work globally in London, Spain, Italy, and Germany as well as locally in his hometown of San Francisco.[7]

Personal life

Bodé lives in Daly City, California, with his wife, Molly; they have a daughter named Zara.[2]

Exhibits

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Frucci, Angela (2004-05-31). "Following a Wiz to a Far-Out Oz; A Son Completes the Legacy Of an Underground Cartoonist". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Harmanci, Reyhan, "The Bay Citizen: In Finishing Comics, a Son Completes a Legacy," New York Times (July 1, 2010).
  3. ↑ Bode credits, Grand Comics Database.
  4. ↑ "Artist Bio - Mark Bodé," Fantagraphics website. Accessed May 8, 2014.
  5. ↑ Todd was Vaughn Bodé's friend and collaborator in the 1960s on projects for Eerie, Creepy, and Vampirella magazines.
  6. ↑ Cobalt-60. Book one created by Vaughn Bodé, illustrated by Mark Bodé, written by Larry Todd. Northampton, Ma.: Tundra Publishing, 1992. ISBN 1-879450-35-6.
  7. ↑ Mark Bode interview, www.lectrics.fr
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