Born in the cold and gloomy confines of Michigan, fantasy and escapism were a natural retreat for Mike. Comics of all sorts – westerns, funny animal, horror and even costumed heroes- were his introduction to literature and art. He soon moved up to the illustrations of N.C. Wyeth and the the stories of Sax Rohmer, Dashiel Hammet, Raymond Chandler. the Twilight Zone and anything else that caused a chill to run down his spine. While his mom had banned TV from the household there were weekly trips to the movies (usually with a bag of his dad’s homemade popcorn). Bob Hope, Randolph Scott, Danny Kaye and occasionally some bit of brilliance from Hitchcock filled his life. All of this was a drug that lifted you above the mundane experiences of life. Storytelling was a religion, and Mike wanted to be a high priest. While he had virtually no formal art training Mike did have several jobs that helped him prepare for a career in art. As a library page he learned how to do research; as worker on the line in a bus factory he learned how to assemble and put together a project; as a schoolteacher he learned how to educate both himself and his clients; as a basketball coach he learned it’s all about teamplay; and as a janitor he learned how to clean up after someone else.

As a teenager Mike edited and produced the fanzine Masquerader, which introduced him to many of his cohorts in the comicbook world and helped jump start his career. He worked for Marvel and DC for a number of years until moving to LA in the mid 80’s where he branched out into the fields of animation, advertising and film. He has produced artwork for the LA Museum of Tolerance, has drawn the entire run of cover inserts for the HBO Tales from the Crypt series, won an Emmy as a director on the HBO animated series Spawn. Besides any number of advertising projects he has done storyboards for a number of music videos for the like of Emimem, Marilyn Manson and Gwen Stefani. Most recently Mike has storyboarded The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, Voyage of the Dawntreader and Journey to the Center of the Earth.

In his spare time Voz continues to attempt his pursuit of excdellence by attending weekly figure drawing workshops and doing still life drawing exercises every day. Voz now concentrates on continuing to produce his own comic book creations, most recently finishing The Mad Mummy , as well as his Reel Art illustrations. And while the vertical leap is long gone, he still shoots baskets in his back yard when he finds time.

His beautiful wife Anna is a jewelry designer. They share studio space, he quietly listening to Mozart and she pounding away with her hammer and revving her power tools.