Hi, my name is Mike Indovina -- writer, artist, and publisher of various comic books under the name Satyr Play Productions.

My first published comic book was called Chimera, which had as its inspiration the movie serials of the 1930s and 40s. I’ve always loved the look and feel of those old films: the mysterious villains, the knock-down-drag-out fight scenes, the secret entrances, the damsels in distress. But, I wasn’t satisfied simply imitating the genre; I wanted to put a twist on it. I wanted to bust a few cliches. The end result was a Don Quixote-type masked crime-fighter with questionable sanity.

I first created Chimera (originally named “Nighthawk”) for an assignment when I was attending the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in the early 90s. About two years later I decided to resurrect the character. I renamed him “Chimera” and commenced work on my very first mini-comic. In 1994, the book was picked up by a company called 5th Panel Comics (which published a variety of ashcan-sized books). Five issues later, I decided to upgrade to a full-sized comic. Since 5th Panel didn’t publish standard comic books, I thought it best to simply publish the book myself. Over the next few years, I produced five full-sized Chimera comic books before finally moving on to other things.

That "other thing" was Satyr, a book which took advantage of my life-long interest in Greek Mythology. For this book, I switched to a more humorous style -- of both writing and illustration. The half-goat-half-man Satyrs of myth enjoyed the various pleasures of life: music, wine, dance, and the company of Nymphs. Though often portrayed as indulgent and frivolous they also accompanied Dionysus (the god of wine) on his travels, and were his faithful guardians and companions. Silenus and the Satyrs were the major characters in the comic “Satyr Plays” of 5th-century Athens. In these plays, the Satyrs would cross paths with famous characters of Greek Myth, and bumble their way through various well-known tales. Although only one survives in full, the Satyr Plays are what formed the inspiration behind this book.

Next I worked on some Satyr-related one-shot projects such as The Grand Tour of Greek Mythology, Hercules: Choose Your Destiny, and Situation Tragedy. I have also started publishing new Chimera comics with art by Paul Schultz.

And, Timeless, my new web comic is now up and running.

Feel free to send me an E-mail or check out my website.