Getting Started

This has been a long time coming. I think it was about 3 years ago I was looking at the comics being made locally and I thought to myself – there’s gotta be more than this. I looked and believe me when I say, there wasn’t. So I felt like it was time I put my money on the table and have a play. That was 3 years ago.

I’m often amazed at how long it could take from the moment of conception to the actual product being in my hands. I’d heard so many local creators talking at conventions about how it’s such a slow & arduous process, but I honestly thought it was gonna be different for me. “I’m not a creator. I’m the publisher! I’m not gonna be sullied by the same fickle problems you others whinge about!”

I had a team of writers ready & raring to go. I was building a healthy number of artists to team them up with for collaboration. And then….nothing.

Well, not nothing but it certainly felt like it at times. There was a website up....there was a website down. There were new people coming on and the occasional one getting off. There was script drafting and character designs and all that good stuff. But it always seemed to take so much longer than what I was expecting. And that’s when I knew what all these independent creators were talking about. It IS a slow process. But that’s why it’s always important to keep your eye on the prize. And gradually, as you get further into the creation, you get more pace to the production.

Now it’s 2010 – 3 years later – and the first issue is ready for release. Great Works – a revenge story set in the worlds & works of Shakespeare. Now this isn’t the first issue of the only comic for release. There are a few more in the works. Cabin Man is currently waiting in line to be printed. Epoch has about half the pages done (I'd like to discuss Epoch some more, but I think it's a subject that'll require a bit more time). And Ars Moriendi page layouts are getting locked in. The teams I’ve got working on these projects are all new-comers to making comics, but that doesn't mean they’re lacking in skills. I won't pretend that we're not still learning some important lessons but I believe, as time goes on, the standards we reach will be beyond anything we'd ever imagined. They’ve all got a passion for this craft and a determination to bring you the best comics this country has to offer.

In regards to the themes of comics that FEC will be releasing, it’s very loose. I didn’t start this to recreate a bunch of superhero stories. Nor is it to show how “real world” and “gritty” our comics can be. I just wanna see some great comics – whether it be a Shakespeare story, a bio, a parody or just simply a piece of sequential art. I love when I'm reading a comic and there's such a great moment that I just HAVE to turn to the person beside me (hopefully not a stranger) and say "Look at this! How awesome is that?!"

THAT'S what I want our readers to experience. Those kick-arse moments where you can't contain your sheer enthusiasm for what you've just witnessed.

Alright, enough jibber-jabber. I think it's time I just shut up and get the ball rolling.

Folks, welcome. I hope you enjoy what's to come.

Steve Sparke