Michael Christopher DianaShepherd, Chuck (August 1994). "Loony Toons: Florida puts the boot to a cartoonist". "The Playboy Forum". ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'' magazine. Pages 41-43 (born 1969) is an American

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

. His work, which is largely self-published, deals with themes including sexuality, violence, and religion. He is the first person to receive a criminal conviction in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

for artistic

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be use ...

for his comic '' Boiled Angel''. During his childhood and teen years, Diana took an interest in creating art that others found disturbing. Living in Florida as an adult, he began publishing his comics in

zines A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very sma ...

, which he primarily distributed through the mail. His work came to the attention of the FBI during their investigation of serial killings in another Florida city, and they forwarded it to Diana's local police after ruling him out as a suspect. In 1992, after he sent copies of his work to an undercover police officer, Diana was charged under Florida law with obscenity. The jury found him guilty, and his sentence included supervised probation, during which any art or writings he produced were subject to unannounced, warrantless searches and seizure by the police. Two of the three counts of obscenity were upheld on appeal, and an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was denied. Meanwhile, Diana had moved to New York, which declined to extradite him to Florida, and he completed his probation there.

Early life

Mike Diana was born in 1969Comic Creator: Mike Diana
Kees Kousemaker's

Lambiek Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

Comiclopedia. Retrieved November 4, 2011. in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He, his younger sister, and younger brother MattWilliams, Monte (2001)
"They told me I was not to draw."
Comic Book Galaxy. Retrieved November 4, 2011. were baptized Catholic.Watt, Morgan (2011)
"Mike Diana Interview"
. ''Richardson Magazine''. His mother placed him in an after school art program where, for one assignment, his class was to collect seashells on the beach and incorporate them into a collage made with

plaster of Paris Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

. Diana instead incorporated the garbage and a dead fish he had found, referring to the beach pollution that was the topic of contemporary news stories. Diana later related this story during his obscenity trial to illustrate his point of view that "art can be ugly and convey a message." In 1979, when nine-year-old Diana was in the middle of fourth grade, he and his family moved from

Geneva, New York Geneva is a City (New York), city in Ontario County, New York, Ontario and Seneca County, New York, Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is at the northern end of Seneca Lake (New York), Seneca Lake; all land port ...

Largo, Florida Largo is the third largest city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, as well as the fourth largest in the Tampa Bay area. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 82,500, up from 69,371 in 2000. Largo was first incorporated in ...

. Though Diana received barely passing or failing grades, he received As in art classes.

Amateur publishing career

Diana began drawing comics in high school, influenced by macabre subject matter such as

Topps The Topps Company, Inc. is an American company that manufactures chewing gum, candy, and collectibles. Formerly based in New York City, Topps is best known as a leading producer of American Football Card, American football, Baseball card, baseb ...

Ugly stickers,

Wacky Packages ''Wacky Packages'' are a series of humorous trading cards featuring parodies of consumer products. The cards were produced by Topps beginning in 1967, first in die-cut, then in peel-and-stick sticker format. There were 16 series produced betwee ...

and Creature Feature cards. Publications that he drew inspiration from included '' Heavy Metal'', ''

Creepy Creepiness is the state of being wikt:creepy, creepy, or causing an unpleasant feeling of fear or wikt:unease, unease. A person who exhibits creepy behaviour is called a creep. Certain traits or hobbies may make people seem creepy to others. The ...

'', ''

Eerie ''Eerie'' was an American magazine of horror comics introduced in 1966 by Warren Publishing. Like '' Mad'', it was a black-and-white magazine intended for newsstand distribution and did not submit its stories to the comic book industry's volunta ...

'',

Basil Wolverton Basil Wolverton (July 9, 1909 – December 31, 1978)
at the

Plop! ''Plop!'', "The New Magazine of Weird Humor!", was a comic book Comics anthology, anthology series published by DC Comics in the mid-1970s. It falls into the Horror fiction, horror / humor genre. It lasted 24 issues and the series ran from Sept./Oc ...

'',

Bernie Wrightson Bernard Albert Wrightson (October 27, 1948 – March 18, 2017), sometimes credited as Bernie Wrightson, was an American artist, known for co-creating the Swamp Thing, his adaptation of the novel ''Frankenstein'' illustration work, and for his o ...

's run on ''

Swamp Thing The Swamp Thing is a superhero in American comic books published by DC Comics. A humanoid/plant elemental List of swamp monsters, creature, created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing has had several humanoid or mo ...

'', and the work of Jack Davis. He also enjoyed underground comics from creators such as S. Clay Wilson,

Greg Irons Greg Irons (September 29, 1947 – November 14, 1984) was an American poster artist, underground cartoonist, animator and tattoo artist. Profile Irons was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He moved to San Francisco, California, in 1967, w ...

Rory Hayes Rory Hayes (August 8, 1949 – August 29, 1983) was an American underground cartoonist in the late 1960s and early 1970s. His comics were drawn in an expressionistic, primitivist style and usually dealt with grim subject matter such as par ...

, and

Jack Chick Jack Thomas Chick (April 13, 1924 – October 23, 2016) was an American cartoonist and publisher, best known for his fundamentalist Christian "Chick tracts". He expressed his perspective on a variety of issues through sequential-art morali ...

religious tracts A tract is a literary work and, in current usage, usually religious in nature. The notion of what constitutes a tract has changed over time. By the early part of the 21st century, a tract referred to a brief pamphlet used for religious and polit ...

, which he describes as "sick". He also enjoyed visiting the

Salvador Dalí Museum The Salvador Dalí Museum is an art museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, dedicated to the works of Salvador Dalí. It is located on the downtown St. Petersburg waterfront by 5th Avenue Southeast, Bay Shore Drive, and Dan Wheldon Wa ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Though Diana enjoyed the

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

windows in the church he attended every Sunday as a child, seeing Jesus hanging on the cross disturbed him. He eventually came to so loathe the donating of money into collection baskets following sermons that spoke of burning in Hell, his Sunday bible study class, and the denouncing of popular music among his fellow congregants that he stopped going to church by age 16. The animus he developed toward the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, along with the Jack Chick tracts, influenced Diana's depiction of anti-religious themes in his work. The conservative Florida atmosphere against which Diana chafed also influenced the graphic nature of his imagery. In 1987, during his senior year of high school his aversion to class inspired him to draw his own comics depicting unpopular teachers being graphically killed. He distributed them to his friends and submitted them to horror magazines, but was met with rejection. Diana, who lived with his father, would stay up late at night and into the morning working on his comics following working shifts at his father's convenience store in Largo. The content of his work was often characterized by nudity, violence, caricature of the human form and scatological themes, which he says he produces in order to "open people's eyes" by shocking them.Henry, Sean (November/December 1994)
"Comic Threat"
''

Mother Jones Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...

''. Retrieved November 4, 2011. In 1988 Diana and his friend Robert, who was also born in New York State, bonded over their mutual dislike of the Florida climate, and after Robert got a job at a print shop, he convinced his boss to let them print at cost 960 copies of a

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to writ ...

on which they collaborated called ''HVUYIM'', provided that they did the labor. Later that year Diana created another zine called ''Angelfuck'', which was named after a song from the

Misfits Misfits or The Misfits may refer to: Film and television * ''The Misfits'' (1961 film), a film starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Clift * ''The Misfits'' (2011 film), a Mexican film * ''The Misfits'' (2021 film), an American ...

album '' Static Age'', of which he published three issues. He then decided to do a

digest size Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately , but can also be and , similar to the size of a DVD case. These sizes have evolved from the printin ...

magazine, which he called ''Boiled Angel'', which also depicted such horrors as cannibalism, torture, rape, and murder.Siano, Brian (July/August 1994)
"Boxing Diana - obscenity charges against comic book author Mike Diana"
''

Humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

''. The first issue had a print run of 65 signed and numbered copies, and by the time he printed issue #2, demand by readers, who were mostly people in other states and those who had read write-ups in review publications like ''

Factsheet Five ''Factsheet Five'' was a periodical mostly consisting of short reviews of privately produced printed matter along with contact details of the editors and publishers. In the 1980s and early 1990s, its comprehensive reviews (thousands in each issue ...

'', increased its print run to 300. In 1988 nineteen-year-old Diana was working as an elementary school janitor in Largo, where he would use the school's copy machine to print out the magazine.Horak, Ben (February 12, 2010)
"The Trial Of Mike Diana"

Schulz Library The Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) is a two-year institution focusing on sequential art, specifically comics and graphic novelsbestiality, human mutilation, and drug use, was distributed to about 300 subscribers. Diana was fired by the school after some of the material that he had left there was discovered.

Legal troubles

Investigation

In 1991, a California law enforcement officer came into possession of one of the comics, parts of which reminded him of the then-unsolved Gainesville student murders in Florida. Copies of the books were also found in the possession of a suspect in that case, which brought the publication to the attention of the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI). Later that year, a few days before Christmas and after Diana had sent out a few copies of the just-published ''Boiled Angel'' #6, FBI agents showed up at Diana's mother's house, which Diana was known to visit. They showed him a copy of that issue, told him that he was a suspect in the Gainesville case, and requested a blood sample for DNA analysis. The test results ruled out Diana as a suspect, so the FBI forwarded their information on Diana and his work to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office in Florida. Later, after Diana had printed ''Boiled Angel'' #7 and 8 (the final issue of that series) and a new

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

called ''Sourball Prodigy'', he received a total of ten letters from a police officer named Michael Flores. Flores was posing as a fellow artist who had just moved to Largo from

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

and requested copies of Diana's books. Flores insisted in his letters that he was not a policeman, and despite declining to meet Diana in person, Diana obliged him with copies of his comics. In 1992 the Assistant State's Attorney, Stuart Baggish, later came across the books and sent Diana a certified letter that said he was being charged with

, pursuant t
Florida Statute § 847.011(1)
once for publishing the material, once for distributing it, and once for advertising it.

Trial

Diana contacted the non-profit

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

organization the

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) is an American non-profit organization formed in 1986 to protect the First Amendment rights of comics creators, publishers, and retailers covering legal expenses. Charles Brownstein served as the organiza ...

(CBLDF), which provided him with a lawyer, Luke Lirot, and paid Diana's legal fees,"CCBLDF Case Files – Florida v. Mike Diana"

. January 20, 2010. which would later total $10,000. Lirot argued that Flores' letters constituted entrapment, but failed to get the case summarily dismissed, or to get the case moved to Tampa, where he and Diana felt they would get a more sympathetic jury. They went to trial the following year, in March 1994, in Pinellas County Court."Mike Diana Talks to Richardson Magazine"

. September 2, 2011 Baggish argued that Diana's work was obscene in a way that an easily available teen

horror movie Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...

was not, because the latter "portrays violence in a gross way, but it does not portray sex in a patently offensive way", which is one of the criteria for obscenity under the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ''

Miller v. California ''Miller v. California'', 413 U.S. 15 (1973), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court modifying its definition of obscenity from that of "utterly without socially redeeming value" to that which lacks "serious literary, artistic, polit ...

'' ruling, the other two being an appeal to the "average" prurient interest in sex, and the lack of any artistic, literary, political, or scientific value. According to Lirot, the jury was visibly disgusted by the examples of ''Boiled Angel'' that they were made to read. According to Diana, the jurors were asked "what their idea of art was, and one of them said '

needlepoint Needlepoint is a type of canvas work, a form of embroidery in which yarn is stitched through a stiff open weave canvas. Traditionally needlepoint designs completely cover the canvas. Although needlepoint may be worked in a variety of stitches, m ...

'." Baggish also called as a witness Tampa psychologist Sidney Merin, who stated that people "of questionable personality strengths" could be aroused by the comic book. The prosecution also made a point of informing the jury that Diana had been a suspect in the Gainesville murders, despite the fact that the real killer,

Danny Rolling Daniel Harold Rolling (May 26, 1954 – October 25, 2006), known as the Gainesville Ripper, was an American serial killer. He murdered five students in Gainesville, Florida, over four days in August 1990. Rolling later confessed to raping severa ...

, had been caught and pleaded guilty before the trial started, and Baggish told the jurors that if Diana weren't stopped he might become a mass murderer or turn others into killers, as Diana's comics were clearly aimed at such people. Baggish drew parallels with the Rolling case, stating, "This is how Danny Rolling got started. Step one, you start with the drawings. Step two, you go on to the pictures. Step three is the movies. And step number four, you're into reality. You're creating these scenes in reality." Baggish would later argue after the trial that serial killer

Ted Bundy Theodore Robert Bundy (Name change, born Cowell; November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989) was an American serial killer who kidnapped, raped and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970s and possibly earlier. After more th ...

had blamed pornography for his crimes. Diana testified for over three hours to explain his art to the jury, though the judge denied his request to enter into evidence a stack of his old

underground comics Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...

, with which Diana wished to illustrate that he was not doing anything unprecedented. In his summary, Baggish told the jurors, "Pinellas County has its own identity. It doesn't have to accept what is acceptable in the bathhouses in San Francisco, and it doesn't have to accept what is acceptable in the crack alleys of New York." On March 29, 1994, after a week-long trial, the jury found him guilty after deliberating for 90 minutes, making Diana the first artist to be convicted of obscenity in the United States. According to Robyn Blumner, executive director of the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

(ACLU) of Florida, the comics' political and anti-establishment themes, which included its depiction of pedophile priests, crosses smeared with feces, and a drawing of two eggs frying atop a Bible with the caption "This is your brain on religion" should have protected Diana from an obscenity conviction under the First Amendment, but instead inflamed the jury toward a conviction. Pointing to the prosecution's allusions to serial murder, Diana opined that he was railroaded. Diana further likened Largo to a "

police state A police state describes a state where its government institutions exercise an extreme level of control over civil society and liberties. There is typically little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the exe ...

", saying that the police had the fire department evict his family from their house with only one week's notice, and bulldozed it.

Sentencing

Judge Walter Fullerton ordered Diana held in jail for four days until sentencing without bail, which drew criticism from publications such as ''

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

'' and ''

'' magazine, with the latter's Sean Henry stating that while this was the norm for murderers and drug lords, it is not so for those convicted of misdemeanors. Fullerton explained, "I felt incarceration in jail was part of the sentence, so why not begin? He learned some good lessons." Though Baggish recommended Diana be incarcerated for two years, Fullerton sentenced Diana to three years of supervised probation, a $3,000 fine ($1,000 for each count), 1,248 hours of community service, and ordered him to avoid contact with minors. Fullerton also ordered Diana to follow a state-supervised psychiatric evaluation at his own expense, to take an ethics-in-journalism class, and ruled that he was to submit to unannounced, warrantless searches of his personal papers by the police and deputized probation officers from the

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

, which would allow them to seize any drawings or writings. Although such random searches during probation are typical only in drug and weapons cases, Baggish stated that it was natural to extend this for obscenity convictions, saying, "Treatment is the most important part of the sentence", and that such searches were needed to force Diana "to refrain in a rehabilitative vein from this conduct. To cure the psychological maladjustment, t's necessaryto catch him in his true state." Aspects of this sentence drew critical reaction from the

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...

community.Tallmer, Jerry (July 6, 2005)
"Illegal comic book inspires play"
'' The Villager''. Blummer was surprised by these provisions, saying, "I don't know of any time when such monitoring has been used on an artist. It reminds you of mind control. The fact that the state doesn't like Michael Diana's attitude and will send him to experts and conduct searches is like legalized lobotomy." Susan Alston of the CBLDF branch in

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...

argued, "There have been about half-a-dozen comic book obscenity cases in the United States, but most involved store owners--and nobody was ever ordered to stop drawing. Diana is definitely the first artist who's been banned as part of his sentence." Richard Wilson, a national officer of the First Amendment Lawyers Association, called the sentence "absolutely illegal", saying that it amounted to unconstitutional prior restraint. Noted

comics creator developed specialized terminology. Some several attempts have been made to formalize and define the terminology of comics by authors such as Will Eisner, Scott McCloud, R. C. Harvey and Dylan Horrocks. Much of the terminology in English is un ...

s also were outraged. Comics writer and novelist

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

spoke out in support of Diana, and writer and theorist

Scott McCloud Scott McCloud (born Scott McLeod; June 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist and comics theorist. He is best known for his non-fiction books about comics: ''Understanding Comics'' (1993), '' Reinventing Comics'' (2000), and ''Making Comics'' (200 ...

called the inspection and seizure of Diana's personal drawings "sheer lunacy". Writer

Peter David Peter Allen David (born September 23, 1956), often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films and video games.Buxton, Marc (March 29, 2014)"From 'Future Imperfect' to '2099': Peter David's Greatest Hits" Co ...

characterized the sentence as "onerous".

Probation, appeals and other legal troubles

Despite his and others' reaction to the sentence and Diana's bitterness toward those who targeted him, he says his probation officer, who followed his trial, was generally sympathetic and wished only to help him through his probation. During that time, Diana took up painting, and he produced one for ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

'' magazine that depicted himself as a tiny figure in the courtroom and the judge and prosecutors as monsters surrounding him, which he jokingly suggested violated his probation. Following his sentencing, Diana consulted with a psychiatrist who told him she charged $100 an hour for his exam, which she said would take three hours. Upon conclusion of the exam, which involved an interview, an examination of his work, true/false questions, and a

Rorschach test The Rorschach test is a projective psychological test in which subjects' perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both. Some psychologists use this test to examine a pe ...

, she charged him $1,300, informing him that she had spent 10 hours reviewing his comics. Diana, who suspected her of inflating her bill because she knew the court had ordered him to pay for the exams, refused, and was never given the test results. According to the November/December 1994 ''Mother Jones'' magazine, Diana had been recently arrested in Orlando when he tried to pay for a horse-and-carriage ride with a $1 bill doctored to look like a $20 bill. His attorney stated that Diana was unaware of the forgery and charges were dropped when Diana agreed to a pretrial probation program. Two appeals to the State Appellate Court failed to have the case reversed or reheard in Florida. During the first appeal process, the prosecution used evidence gathered after the original trial, a move that, according to the CBLDF, is usually considered unethical. On May 31, 1996, Douglas Baird upheld Diana's conviction on two of the counts, affirming the original ruling that Diana's work was "patently offensive" and that if Diana's intent was to show "that horrible things are happening in our society, eshould have created a vehicle to send his message that was not obscene." The only count of the three that was judged incorrect was the one for advertising obscene material, because the advertisement in question was the "Be on the lookout for the next issue #8!" blurb that ran in issue #7, and the Court agreed that it was improper to convict someone for advertising material that had not yet been created since Diana could not, at the time, know the nature or character of the work. In 1996, while his case was still on appeal in Florida, Diana moved to

, where he was granted permission to serve out his sentence, and fulfill his community service obligation through volunteer work for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Soon after the move, the Court refused to accept an

amicus brief An ''amicus curiae'' (; ) is an individual or organization who is not a party to a legal case, but who is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. The decision on ...

submitted by the ACLU, and responded without comment to the second appeal. Because Diana was no longer in their jurisdiction and New York City refused to extradite him because his convictions were for misdemeanors, they allowed him to serve his probation by mail, and took the required journalistic ethics course at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. Diana found another psychiatrist who charged him only $100 and concluded that he was perfectly normal, which she reported to the Florida court. He performed his community service by working about ten hours per week at a

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

community garden and another six hours per week at God's Love We Deliver, a group that delivers food to HIV patients. Before his probation officer quit the Salvation Army-run probation department, she told the court before that Diana had violated his probation. Still owing $2,000 in fines, a warrant was issued for his arrest in Florida. In May 1997 the CBLDF and the ACLU submitted a petition for a

writ of certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of an English prerogative writ, issued by a superior court to direct that the record of ...

to the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

to hear Diana's case, with First Amendment attorney George Rehdart assisting in the petition. On June 27, the Court denied the petition without comment, effectively ending his legal options in his battle to overturn his conviction. In February 2020, 26 years after his sentence, Diana was removed from probation.

Post-legal trouble work

Mike Diana was published and represented by Shane Bugbee and Michael Hunt Publishing. Angry Drunk Graphics now publishes his work. In a 2011 interview, he indicated that he planned to release a box set of ''Boiled Angel'' #1–8. He also indicated a desire one day to produce a graphic novel about the court case and how his life in Florida influenced the rebellious nature of his art. He also continues to enjoy painting. He has collaborated with Carlo Quispe on ''Uranus Comix''. In 2017 Superchief Gallery in Los Angeles hosted an exhibition of his multimedia work, in addition to several ''Boiled Angel'' reprints.

Personal life

As of 1994, Diana was engaged to Suzy Smith, who once produced a local cable show. They both posed nude for an underground magazine. Diana has indicated that he usually does not vote, the one exception being the 1992 U.S. presidential election, in which he voted for

Ross Perot Henry Ross Perot (; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American business magnate, billionaire, politician and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an inde ...

in the hopes of preventing a victory by

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

. Regarding the 2000 Presidential election, Diana says that had he voted, he would have voted for

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the Un ...

Cultural references

Mike Diana's legal troubles inspired ''Busted Jesus Comix'', a 2005

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

play written by David Johnston and directed by Gary Shrader. The play borrows many particulars from the legal case and punishments meted out to Mike Diana, while the character of the comic artist in ''Busted Jesus'' and the background story are entirely fictional. The play was produced on

Off-Off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commercialism of the prof ...

and in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, and received favorable reviews. Diana's prosecution was referenced in the graphic novel ''Teenagers from Mars'' by

Rick Spears Rick Spears is an American comic book writer, best known for ''Teenagers from Mars'' and '' The Pirates of Coney Island''. Early life Both Spears and his main collaborator Rob G. grew up in Richmond, Virginia, although they first met only after ...

and

Rob G. Rob G (born December 4, 1973) is an People of the United States, American comics artist who has done work for DC Comics, Image Comics, and AiT/Planet Lar, and is best known for ''Teenagers from Mars (comics), Teenagers from Mars'' and ''The Couri ...

''Boiled Angels: The Trial of Mike Diana,'' a documentary detailing Diana's legal battle and its ripples within the comic artists' community, was successfully

crowdfunded Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

by artist Anthony Sneed and directed by

Frank Henenlotter Frank Henenlotter (born August 29, 1950) is an American film director, screenwriter and film historian. He is known primarily for directing horror comedies, especially '' Basket Case'' (1982), ''Brain Damage'' (1988), and ''Frankenhooker'' (199 ...

. It was released in 2018.

Bibliography

Books

* ''Hvuyim'' issue #1, zine with Robert Rootes, 1988, published by Red Stew Comix * ''Festering Brainsore'' issue #2, 1988, published by David R. Williams * ''Slaughterhouse Comix'' issue #1, 1988, published by Red Stew Comix * ''Angelfuck'' issues #1-3, 1989, published by Red Stew Comix * ''Boiled Angel'' zine issues #1–8, 1989–1991, published by Red Stew Comix, 1992 reprint of 7 & 8 by Michael Hunt Publishing * ''Sourball Prodigy'', issue #1-2, 1992, published as book in 2002 by Portuguese publisher MMMNNNRRRG * ''Superfly'' comic book issue #1, 1993, published by Michael Hunt Publishing * ''Cherry Bomb Revolution'', 1995, published by Michael Hunt Publishing * ''Worst of Boiled Angel'', 1996, published by Michael Hunt Publishing * ''Superfly'' comic book issue #2, 1997, published by Michael Hunt Publishing (delayed until 2001) * ''Mobile Instrumentation Van'', silkscreen fold-out, 1997 * ''Unholy Art'', 1997 * ''War Sex'', 2000, published by Le Dernier Cri * ''Go to Hell'', 2003, published by Le Dernier Cri * ''Scummy Comix'' comic book, 2007, published by Angry Drunk Graphics * ''Goo of the Gods'', 2010, published by Smittekilde * ''AMERICA'', two volume retrospective: LIVE & DIE, 2014, published by Divus * ''Needler'', 2014 * ''Firebrat'', hardcover with new and old work, 2015, published by CrnaHronika * ''Upsidedown Cross'', in the style of a Chick tract, 2015, included with limited edition of movie of the same name directed by William Hellfire

As a contributor

* ''

ANSWER Me! ''Answer Me!'' (typically rendered ''ANSWER Me!'') was a magazine edited by Jim Goad and Debbie Goad and published between 1991 and 1994. It focused on the social pathologies of interest to the Los Angeles–based couple. ''Answer Me!'' also f ...

'' #3 and #4 * '' Zero Zero'' * ''CriCa Ilustrada mag'' published by Chili Com Carne (Portugal) * ''Angry Drunk Graphics' Holiday Spectacular'' #2 published by AngryDrunkGraphics * ''Kekrapules'' published by Atoz Edition (Switzerland), Mille Putois (Canada) and Z Production (Switzerland), 1993. * ''TESTicle PRESSure'' #1-#4 published by Propulsion Productions * ''Zine Soup: A Collection of International Zines and Self-Published Art Books'' (2009) TTC Gallery. * ''Comic Book Artist'' (Vol 2) #6

Films

* ''Baked Baby Jesus'' directed by Mike Diana, 1990 * ''Ecstasy in Entropy'' directed by Nick Zedd, 2000"Ecstasy in Entropy (2000)"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Retrieved October 25, 2013.

References

External links

Mike Diana's Official Website

Mike Diana's Updated Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diana, Mike American comics artists American comics writers Underground cartoonists People from Geneva, New York 1969 births Living people People convicted of obscenity Obscenity controversies in comics People from Largo, Florida