PatrickDevine

Just to give you guys an advance notice for something I'm starting up, August 24th is Gift a Comic Book Day! What is Gift a Comic Book Day? It's when you give someone; friend, family or whatever, a comic book secret Santa style. The idea is that you strive to give something that this person would like but might not buy for themselves. Self-made comic books are encouraged! So mark your calenders, plan your parties and start thinking about what comic book you want to get for whom and let's make the first year of this a good one!

There have been a combination of various life events that have made me wonder about something for a long time, would I be doing more for comics as an art form as a fan or as a creator? Someone once pointed out to me  that so many people that enjoy small press comics are creators themselves and the scene feels self-congratulatory because of it. This really bothered me, it's nice that so many talented people get recognition from their peers but it's disappointing that that's the only place they get recognition from. To paraphrase this guy's basic point people who are not musicians appreciate music, people who are not film-makers appreciate film

Not so very long ago I found out that my friend Dylan Williams has passed away. What I had heard before then is that he was starting chemotherapy almost a week ago, he will most certainly be missed. He was only 39 years old. At this point I still find myself in disbelief that it happened, it almost seems like a horrible worst-case scenario though randomly entered my head and I keep hoping that it turns out to be wrong. No such luck however. Other than that I can't seem to find the words and am feeling extremely sad. If you're one of the people that ordered books from Sparkplug to help Dylan out, then thanks. Dylan was a great and wonderful h