Michael Roden Papers

Michael Roden was a multi-faceted artist who worked primarily with the comic book medium, but he also delved into sculpting and music. Roden’s contributions to the small press scene of the '70s and '80s made him a prominent and influential underground comix artist and his work has appeared in hundreds of comics publications, magazines, and fanzines.

Michael Roden was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1952 and was raised primarily by his grandparents after his mother gave him up to them. At the age of 18, he moved into an apartment shared by the family of his future wife, Linda Carter, and began transporting pianos in order to support himself. A few years later, Roden, Carter, and her brother moved into a streetcar fashioned into an apartment. It was at this point where Roden, a self-proclaimed hippie, began experimenting with LSD. The resulting hallucinations played a major role in influencing his style of art.

Roden entered the underground comix world in the late 70s when he began self-publishing fanzines. His first publications were Thru Black Holes Magazine and Nemesis Horror Artzine, released in 1978 and 1979, respectively. From there, the 1980s became a highly productive period for Roden. It was during this decade that he created some of his most iconic properties, such as the Crazy Men franchise and his annual Halloween comic.

In 1988, Roden’s father passed away and left him with the family business: a pianos and furniture repair shop. Roden decided to leave underground comix in order to continue his father’s work. However, he managed to keep his creative muse alive through music when he formed the Thru Black Holes Band with a group of friends. The band, which specialized in what Roden called psychedelic space rock, created 24 albums in a 20 year period. Roden retired from his father’s shop and returned to underground comix in 2003. However, Roden was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2007. He passed away on June 14th of the same year.