Please welcome Mike Diana to Blackhouse Limited.
Underground art has always served as a beacon for self-expression and freedom. The world is already a pretty insane place, where fake outrage and loud, outspoken, uncultured populations of people take offense to forms of expression and opinions that differ from the perceived “majority.” Over the years, these same people in positions of power try to enact inept policy and law enforcement overreach simply because they “don’t like it.” These vast droves of people create the ever-lasting bummer that becomes a “morality squad” of sorts. Nothing more than people being scared to be outside of their comfort zone and thinking “they” know what is best for everyone. For New York artist Mike Diana, he knows firsthand what it is like to have the hammer dropped on him by this so-called “morality squad.” It is because he LIVED it, and he wound up in jail as a result.
Most in the underground art world are well aware of who Mike Diana is. For those of you who don’t, Mike is an American underground cartoonist. He is the first person to receive a criminal conviction in the United States for artistic obscenity for his comic, “Boiled Angel.” His work deals with themes including sexuality, violence, and religion. In 1994, he was thrown in jail (without bail) on obscenity charges for publishing, advertising, and selling his zine BOILED ANGEL. The judge emphasized that he personally found Diana’s comics “patently offensive.” and stated, “The evident goal of the appellant’s publication is to portray shocking and graphic pictures of sexual conduct so it will be noticed. If the message is about victimization and that horrible things are happening in our society, as the appellant alleges, the appellant SHOULD HAVE created a vehicle to send his message that was not obscene.” Mike was then placed on strict probation for a total of 3 years, which included fines of $3,000, no contact with minors, 1280 hours of community service, maintain full time employment, and at his expense, see a psychiatrist and take journalism courses; AND no drawing for his personal use… his home was subject to unannounced searches by local police to make sure he was complying. All this for simply creating art.
Fast-forward to 2018: All of this is well-covered in the full-length documentary film “Boiled Angels: The Trial of Mike Diana”, directed by legendary cult film auteur Frank Henenlotter (Basket Case, Frankenhooker, etc.), soon to be available for purchase and streaming. From the release of the film in 2018 leading up to today, Mike has bounced back ten-fold, continuing to create and release some of the most undisputably mind-bending, engaging, confrontational and graphic artwork that exists today. He has released a multitude of books, prints, and put together cover art and other works for countless bands.
His body of work is prolific to say the least, and we here at Blackhouse Limited are proud to announce the upcoming release of his newest book, “Killer Bands,” coming later this Summer. More details will be available soon, including pre-order info, sneak-previews, and some other surprises surrounding the first edition of the book release. Stick around.
Educational Purposes:
Official Site: www.mikedianacomix.com
Boiled Angels Film: https://www.amazon.com/Boiled-
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Mike Diana shop – Test Press: https://testpress.net/product-
