BODE MARK

MARK BODE American illustrater, born in Utica (NY) in 1963.

A «Cartoonist» Comix artist, he is the son of the legendary illustrator and author of underground comic strip Vaughn Bodé, who inspired the whole emerging scene of American and mainly New York graffiti in the 80s. Vaughn Bodé died prematurely in 1975, his son Mark was only twelve years old. Continuing to perpetuate the Bodé’s legacy, Mark directed his career in illustration and began his studies at the art school of Oakland in California, then at the University of San Francisco in animation. He graduated from the New York School of Visual Arts (SVA) in 1982. Mark completed and continued many of his father’s works. At fifteen, he colorized Vaughn’s unfinished album Zooks, the First Lizard in Orbit for Heavy Metal Magazine. In 1984, he took over and illustrated Cobalt 60 that his father had started in 1968. Written by Larry Todd and entirely drawn by Mark Bodé, the work is published by the Epic IIlustrated Editions of his friend Archie Goodwin. Later the album will be colorized by The Donning Company / Starblaze Graphics and reissued in four seasons, in limite d editions, by Tundra Publishing. He also worked for Heavy Metal magazines and The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It is there that he met the editor of Marvel Comics, Archie Goodwin, who was working at that time on a new magazine, Epic Illustrated, in which Mark participated from 1983 to 1986. In 1986 Mark Bodé published the album in black and white Miami Mice at the Rip Off Press Edition, and collaborated again in 1987 with Larry Todd for the album Gyro Force, also at the Rip Off Press Edition. From 1988 to 1995, Mark Bodé co-wrote and co-illustrated albums with the creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kevin Eastman. Both worked on numerous publications for Mirage Studios; Mark Bodé is also the author and illustrator of the Times Pipeline of TMNT Special Edition. In 2004, Fantagraphic published Bodé’s The Lizard of Oz, the original edition of his father’s album in which one of his most iconic characters was born, the “Cheech Wizard”, which some precursors of graffiti like DONDI, SEEN or TRACY168 would largely absorb; Cheech Wizard became one of the founding stylistic elements of graffiti. Even today the characters of Vaughn and Mark Bodé are widely used by graffiti artists. Mark Bodé has also been a tattoo artist since 1994 – he apprenticed with artists Al Valenta (Massachussetts) and Myke Maldonaro (New York).