Mike DeBalfo was born and raised in Hewitt, New Jersey, later moving to Raleigh, NC, where he studied computer animation at The School of Communications Arts. He also attended the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in Dover, NJ, focusing mainly on comic book illustration. DeBalfo broke into the industry doing covers for Zenescope Entertainment in 2009, and in the last two years he has illustrated more than 48 covers for Zenescope, Big Dog Ink, Moonstone, and Jay Company Comics.