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Fact: FEC might not have happened if it wasn't for Dave.
I guess I should make it clear from the get-go. Dave passed away back in February. He’d been fighting cancer for almost the whole time we were working on comics together.
When Dave found out I was trying to make comics, his curiosity was piqued. He definitely had ideas & stories to share which would’ve been perfect for comics, but he’d not had the avenue to go about actually MAKING them. I was now his avenue and he intended to exploit that as much as he could! He came to me with an idea he’d been sitting on for quite some time. The premise was fantastic; what would happen the world if the bad guy wins the day? No if's, no buts. Hero loses and villain wins. I was definitely fascinated to see where that could go, so I got behind it. I found him a really well suited team mate in Pleydo and the three of us began to bash it around.
The great thing about Epoch was that it wasn’t just one little story being told. Dave had built a whole world based around this concept. This kind of perspective allowed him the opportunity to tell HEAPS of stories. As soon as we got going, he started belting out pitches to me. I could hardly keep up with him! He had so many ideas that, rather than wait until I found him an illustrator, he began learning a program to do his own illustrations. This was the kinda guy Dave was - he would just pick something up and run with it.
I guess I should make it clear from the get-go. Dave passed away back in February. He’d been fighting cancer for almost the whole time we were working on comics together.
When Dave found out I was trying to make comics, his curiosity was piqued. He definitely had ideas & stories to share which would’ve been perfect for comics, but he’d not had the avenue to go about actually MAKING them. I was now his avenue and he intended to exploit that as much as he could! He came to me with an idea he’d been sitting on for quite some time. The premise was fantastic; what would happen the world if the bad guy wins the day? No if's, no buts. Hero loses and villain wins. I was definitely fascinated to see where that could go, so I got behind it. I found him a really well suited team mate in Pleydo and the three of us began to bash it around.
The great thing about Epoch was that it wasn’t just one little story being told. Dave had built a whole world based around this concept. This kind of perspective allowed him the opportunity to tell HEAPS of stories. As soon as we got going, he started belting out pitches to me. I could hardly keep up with him! He had so many ideas that, rather than wait until I found him an illustrator, he began learning a program to do his own illustrations. This was the kinda guy Dave was - he would just pick something up and run with it.
I remember telling him on one of our long road trips that working with him was like having my very own Bendis. He had so many things going on in his brain - so many stories to tell - that I could just let him just go for it and he'd come back to me with piles of different tales to be shared. Just saying this in passing, I didn't realise the effect it had on him. It wasn't until months later that he confessed to me that moment had left him feeling quite chuffed. Hell - I'd just compared him to my absolute favourite writer - of course that's gonna make a person feel pretty damn pleased with themselves. But I wasn't lying - he really was an unmeasurable asset to have involved with FEC. His passion seeped into the way I felt about this whole project. Every time I felt like I was going nowhere with this project, he just had a way of kicking my arse that would get me so fired up to push myself harder. It was always supportive, but with a 'stop whinging, ya bitch' kinda slant to it. The perfect blend of hard-arsed affection that only a true friend could manage.
It's hard to not let my mind slip occasionally; forgetting that Dave's not around anymore. Just small moments, where I'll read a particular scene in a comic and my first thought is "Fuck, wait'll Dave sees this!"
It's only a second or two after this thought that reality kicks in and you're left with that horrid reminder that you won't be sharing these great things with them anymore. Who knows - maybe he's up in doggy-heaven, reading the same page and saying to himself "Man, Sparky's way off. The first panel on the next page shits all over this one."
So that's Dave. My very own Bendis. I'll not find another creator like him and I'm certainly never gonna have another friend like him.
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