Mark Bodé
Encyclopedia
Mark Bodé is an American comic book
author and artist
. Bodé is best known for his work on Cobalt-60
, Miami Mice and The Lizard of Oz. Bodé has also worked on 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.
He is the son of the cartoonist Vaughn Bodé
.
. In 1982, he attended The School of Visual Arts
(SVA) in New York as a Fine Arts major. He also studied animation at San Francisco State University
.
in New York, Bodé met Marvel Comics
editor Archie Goodwin
, who was starting up a new magazine called Epic Illustrated
. Bodé became a contributor from 1982 to 1986. In 1983 he launched Cobalt 60. Originally created as a short story by his father, Vaughn, in 1968, Mark expanded and illustrated the story, which was written by Larry Todd in 1983. Todd was Vaughn's friend and collaborator in the 60's for Eerie
, Creepy
, and Vampirella
magazines.
Later in Bodé's career around 1986 he was the creator of the hit black and white comic Miami Mice printed by publisher Rip Off Press
in San Francisco, the comic book sold over 180,000 copies in a year's time and was considered one of the best selling independent comics of that year.
Bodé then ventured from 1988 to 1995 to write and draw comics with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
co-creator Kevin Eastman
. The two collaborated on several issues for Mirage Studios
, issue #18, #32, and special edition "Times Pipeline" of TMNT in which Bodé did solo. The Cobalt 60 saga was completed and was published as 4 graphic novels with Eastman’s company Tundra Publishing
.
Bodé took up the art of tattoo
ing in 1994. He trained under the guidance of tattoo artists Al Valenta, from Western Massachusetts, and Myke Maldonado, from New York. He is presently tattooing at Sacred Rose Tattoo in Berkeley, California
.
Bodé also took up spray can art
, and has done many mural tributes to his father’s characters over the years. 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.
Bodé's art and illustrations has appeared in many publications, including Heavy Metal
, Epic, Penthouse Hot Talk, Gauntlet, While You Were Sleeping, Graphotism, Spray Can Art, Taboo Tattoo, Juxtapoz, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle
and USA Today
.
Bodé has worked on comics such as Miami Mice #1,2,3 and 4, Gyro Comics #1, 2, and 3 from Rip Off Press
, and Fantagraphics' The Lizard of Oz.
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.
Bodé is interviewed in The Run Up, a DVD produced by Upperplayground.
Bodé has designed toys for Kidrobot, Planet 6, and Mike Company in Japan. He has also licensed art to Ecko unlimited, and has made the name "Bode" a brand name with Puma International.
Bode has signed with Universal Pictures
for a film based on his graphic novel Cobalt 60. Production is scheduled to start in 2009 and will be directed by Zack Snyder
.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
author and artist
Comic book creator
A comic book creator is someone who creates a comic book or graphic novel.The production of a comic book by one of the major comic book companies in the U.S...
. Bodé is best known for his work on Cobalt-60
Cobalt-60 (comic)
Cobalt 60 is the title of a comics series created by the late underground cartoonist Vaughn Bodé.-Description:Cobalt 60 takes place in a post-apocalyptic, Mad Max-like world inhabited by mutants, aliens and other fantastic creatures. Its titular character embarks on a quest to avenge the death of...
, Miami Mice and The Lizard of Oz. Bodé has also worked on Heavy Metal
Heavy Metal (magazine)
Heavy Metal is an American science fiction and fantasy comics magazine, known primarily for its blend of dark fantasy/science fiction and erotica. In the mid-1970s, while publisher Leonard Mogel was in Paris to jump-start the French edition of National Lampoon, he discovered the French...
Magazine, and on The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Bodé is also a tattoo artist
Tattoo artist
A tattoo artist is an individual who applies permanent decorative tattoos, often in an established business called a tattoo shop, tattoo studio or tattoo parlour...
, spending many years working around Northampton, Massachusetts, although he now lives in California.
He is the son of the cartoonist Vaughn Bodé
Vaughn Bodé
Vaughn Bodē was an artist involved in underground comics, graphic design and graffiti. He is perhaps best known for his comic strip character Cheech Wizard and artwork depicting voluptuous women. His works are noted for their psychedelic look and feel...
.
Early life
As a teenager Bodé worked on his father's unfinished work titled "Zooks the First Lizard in Orbit" for Heavy Metal while attending The Art School in Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
. In 1982, he attended The School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
(SVA) in New York as a Fine Arts major. He also studied animation at San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
.
Career
While attending the School of Visual ArtsSchool of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
in New York, Bodé met Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
editor Archie Goodwin
Archie Goodwin (comics)
Archie Goodwin was an American comic book writer, editor, and artist. He worked on a number of comic strips in addition to comic books, and is best known for his Warren and Marvel Comics work...
, who was starting up a new magazine called Epic Illustrated
Epic Illustrated
Epic Illustrated was a comics anthology in magazine format published in the United States by Marvel Comics. The series lasted for 34 issues, from Spring 1980 to February 1986....
. Bodé became a contributor from 1982 to 1986. In 1983 he launched Cobalt 60. Originally created as a short story by his father, Vaughn, in 1968, Mark expanded and illustrated the story, which was written by Larry Todd in 1983. Todd was Vaughn's friend and collaborator in the 60's for Eerie
Eerie
Eerie was an American magazine of horror comics introduced in 1966 by Warren Publishing. Like Mad, it was a black-and-white newsstand publication in a magazine format and thus did not require the approval or seal of the Comics Code Authority. Each issue's stories were introduced by the host...
, Creepy
Creepy
Creepy was an American horror-comics magazine launched by Warren Publishing in 1964. Like Mad, it was a black-and-white newsstand publication in a magazine format and thus did not require the approval or seal of the Comics Code Authority. The anthology magazine was initially published quarterly but...
, and Vampirella
Vampirella
Vampirella is a fictional character, a comic book vampire heroine created by Forrest J Ackerman and costume designer Trina Robbins in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine Vampirella #1 . Writer-editor Archie Goodwin later developed the character from horror-story hostess, in...
magazines.
Later in Bodé's career around 1986 he was the creator of the hit black and white comic Miami Mice printed by publisher Rip Off Press
Rip Off Press
Rip Off Press, Inc. is a seminal publishing company that specializes in adult-themed literature and graphic novels, mostly in a specific comic book format known as underground comix.-Overview:...
in San Francisco, the comic book sold over 180,000 copies in a year's time and was considered one of the best selling independent comics of that year.
Bodé then ventured from 1988 to 1995 to write and draw comics with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a fictional team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu and named after four Renaissance artists...
co-creator Kevin Eastman
Kevin Eastman
Kevin Brooks Eastman is an American comic book artist and writer, best known as the creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Eastman is also the current owner, editor and publisher of the magazine Heavy Metal.-Early life:Eastman was born on May 30, 1962 in Springvale, Maine...
. The two collaborated on several issues for Mirage Studios
Mirage Studios
Mirage Studios is an independent American comic book company founded in 1983 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, based in Northampton, Massachusetts and best known for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book series.-History:...
, issue #18, #32, and special edition "Times Pipeline" of TMNT in which Bodé did solo. The Cobalt 60 saga was completed and was published as 4 graphic novels with Eastman’s company Tundra Publishing
Tundra Publishing
Tundra Publishing was a Northampton, Massachusetts-based comic book publisher founded by Kevin Eastman in 1990.-Overview:Tundra was meant to provide a venue for high-quality work by talented cartoonists and illustrators. Its publications were noted in the trade for their high production values,...
.
Bodé took up the art of tattoo
Tattoo
A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...
ing in 1994. He trained under the guidance of tattoo artists Al Valenta, from Western Massachusetts, and Myke Maldonado, from New York. He is presently tattooing at Sacred Rose Tattoo in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
.
Bodé also took up spray can art
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
, and has done many mural tributes to his father’s characters over the years. In his career as a spraycan artist, he has done mural work globally in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
as well as locally in his hometown of San Francisco.
Bodé's art and illustrations has appeared in many publications, including Heavy Metal
Heavy Metal (magazine)
Heavy Metal is an American science fiction and fantasy comics magazine, known primarily for its blend of dark fantasy/science fiction and erotica. In the mid-1970s, while publisher Leonard Mogel was in Paris to jump-start the French edition of National Lampoon, he discovered the French...
, Epic, Penthouse Hot Talk, Gauntlet, While You Were Sleeping, Graphotism, Spray Can Art, Taboo Tattoo, Juxtapoz, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
and USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
.
Bodé has worked on comics such as Miami Mice #1,2,3 and 4, Gyro Comics #1, 2, and 3 from Rip Off Press
Rip Off Press
Rip Off Press, Inc. is a seminal publishing company that specializes in adult-themed literature and graphic novels, mostly in a specific comic book format known as underground comix.-Overview:...
, and Fantagraphics' The Lizard of Oz.
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.
Bodé is interviewed in The Run Up, a DVD produced by Upperplayground.
Bodé has designed toys for Kidrobot, Planet 6, and Mike Company in Japan. He has also licensed art to Ecko unlimited, and has made the name "Bode" a brand name with Puma International.
Bode has signed with Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
for a film based on his graphic novel Cobalt 60. Production is scheduled to start in 2009 and will be directed by Zack Snyder
Snyder
- Cities and towns in the United States :* Snyder, Colorado* Snyder, Missouri* Snyder, Nebraska* Snyder, New York* Snyder, Oklahoma* Snyder, Texas- Persons :* Allan Snyder, an Australian professor and researcher of the human brain...
.
Exhibits
- The Psychedelic Solution Gallery, New York City, 1993
- Museum of Contemporary Art NYC Picturing the Modern Amazon 1999
- The Upper Playground Gallery, San Francisco, 2004
- Oaklandish Gallery, Oakland, California 2005
- Berghain Club, Berlin 2008
- 1:AM Gallery, San Francisco, 2010
External links
- "The Official Bodé Site"
- "Sacred Rose Tattoo", the San Francisco tattoo parlor.